Chokhi Dhani - Perfect place for Short visit to Jaipur

 

Rajasthan is a place where I wanted to visit when I was 10 years old, that dream realized after 20 years. When I think of Rajasthan, thought of vibrant colours, music, dance, history, architectural buildings, artistic culture and authentic Rajasthani food flies through my mind. I had a privileged to experience it thoroughly as only 2 of us (me and my friend) had decided to explore the beauty India has!

 

The entire trip was outstanding and one of those was 2 nights stay in Chokhi Dhani towards end of the trip. A resort with a setup of Ethnic village, surrounded by trees, Chirping birds and away from city’s hustle bustle. Our room was in a shape of a Hut, with wooden doors & a lock and key of ancient times.  

It was very fascinating to see and experience the village style living after spending so much time in fast pace life of Mumbai & Dubai. The staff were overwhelming and always looked to help you with what you need. We checked in the afternoon and were served with fresh lemon mint juice. It was very refreshing after 6hours of travel. The entire place was throbbing with vibrant colour and positive vibes. We had finished all our shopping and sightseeing and all we had to do was relaxing in this piece of land and feed our soul. The room was very neat and clean and person escorted us briefly explained about the room and resort.  

He also informed us that our complimentary dinner is awaited in a place adjacent to the resort which was the classic experience to feel the beauty and cultural heritage of Rajasthan. It is an extended part of Chokhi dhani and open to public every evening between 5pm to 11pm. We were in Rajasthan and seen the beauty of it but now it was the time to experience rich culture of Rajasthan.

After taking some rest, around 6pm we headed to this place. As we entered, we started hearing sound of Rajasthani music, people chattering, and it gave a feeling like a fair. We were very excited to see what was going on there. There was a puppet show happening to the right, quickly our attention was drifted to the folk dancers who were going to start their show, a Henna artist who offered us to put some henna. After giving some brief look on to the place we decided to have our dinner as we were very hungry. We had realized that it would be our first time to eat the most famous food of Rajasthan, Dal-Bati.

The place where the dinner was served was in the old hut style mansion with sitting arrangement on floor with old wooden style table. We both do not eat Onion & Garlic and had informed the hotel staff beforehand. The restaurant had made pre-arrangements for people with specific requirements. We were served thali and sat in Pangat. We were served 2 vegetables, salad, ker sangri, Gatta curry, Dal Bati, Chappti & Rice. The food was very delicious, but bit spicy for me.

 After eating our dinner, we quickly went to surrounding areas as there were lot of things to do. I felt short of time and made sure that I reach on time next day as soon as it open. There were chat corners, kulfi parlor, (Indian ice-cream), magic shows, games for children & big area for shopping. The shopping area was known as ‘Kalagram’ and I thought it would be very expensive as it was within a 5 star resort, however, I was proven wrong as ‘Kalagram’ was an initiative of Chokhi Dhani group to preserve the craftsmanship and art of Rajasthan and facilitate livelihood of craftsman and hence the artisans were at very reasonable rate. I bought so much that I had to literally borrow a bag from someone to carry till Dubai.
 Another interesting thing was to see a Fortune Teller, we decided to visit them for fun. I do not believe much but who is not interested in knowing the future!! One of the fortune teller told me that my life is going to change in 1 year of time, now I am waiting very excitedly. It was around 10.30pm and we were very tired, we badly wanted to go to our room and drift into the soft bed and cushions and enjoy the sweet night dreams.

Next day we got ready for the breakfast. To our surprise there was no breakfast without onion & garlic, but the chef was very quick to make few dishes especially for us. I was very thankful to him and liked the hospitality to the core. Manager & waiters were making sure that we were comfortable. They wanted us to make sure that we enjoyed our time when we were with them.

Now was the time to explore the resort. As I mentioned earlier, the area was given a look of village and all the facilities provided were compensating that theme. Exotic Spa, huge swimming pool, big garden were some of the facilities we spotted and enjoyed remaining time doing all of that.

Overall the experience was very relaxing and highly recommend it. If you have very little time in Jaipur and want to experience all of Rajasthan, it has to be Chokhi Dhani!!

Visit: http://www.chokhidhani.com/