Soothing experience at Ananta Spa and Resort
Nestled in the foothills of Aravalli Range, Pushkar is a quaint yet very popular town in Rajasthan. This place has a great cultural, mythological and historical significance. It is an abode of Lord Brahma and it is one of the oldest cities in India. It is believed that Pushkar has one of the 5 Brahma temples on the world and is considered the most important one. the lake is surrounded by many temple and ghats for the pilgrims and tourist to offer prayers.
Pushkar caters to a lot of Israeli tourists, many locals can speak and understand Israeli and there are a lot of places where you will find Hebrew content especially in menu cards of the restaurants, museums and other sign boards in Pushkar. Many restaurants also offer Israeli dishes.
Pushkar is popular for its Brahma temple, Pushkar Lake and the Pushkar Camel Fair. Pushkar Camel Fair that happens between October-November is the world’s largest Camel Fair. I had heard about Pushkar from a lot of people. But we wanted to avoid the rush and hustle during the Camel Fair. So we decided to visit Pushkar on the Dussera long weekend this year. Actually the fair the best place to experience the shades or rural India along with the beautiful Rajasthani culture, through its art and handicrafts.
While checking out some hotel properties online, we came across 'Ananta Spa and Resort' with a good deal and we booked it for 2 nights immediately. We did not do a road trip since long time and so we were really excited about this one. Starting at around 6:00 am in the morning we were quite on schedule but as usual we were stuck near Manesar for about 25-30 minutes. The traffic was moving absolutely slow but after this jam, we're didn't get stuck anywhere else. The road as quite free and traffic was clear too. We had our brunch on the way before taking the Jaipur bypass. We avoided the city traffic of Jaipur and could save almost one and a half hour. Drive to Ajmer is pretty easy. Just follow the Google Maps but don't forget to take the bypass at Jaipur. Pushkar is almost 30 minutes by car from Ajmer. It's a short drive through a hill road. Ananta Spa and Resort lies on the right side of the road towards Pushkar almost 2-3 kilometres before you enter Pushkar.
Ananta Spa and Resorts is an amazing property a little outside Pushkar, huddled between lush green hills. You can experience the tranquillity and peace here quite away from the hustle bustle of the main city. You are hosted and welcomed with the great Rajasthani Royalty and they take a very good care of all their guests personally and try their best to meet their needs. The most important thing about this resort is, you have baggies or golf karts to take you to your rooms from the reception or vice-versa. So you do not have to walk if your room is not close to the reception area. They will drop you to the room along with your luggage.
We were traditionally welcomed at the resort with a lady staff putting a Kumkum Tika on our forehead and a tasty and refreshing Welcome drink. We finished the check-in formalities and then walked down to our small villa type room. They all it 'Super Deluxe Room'. After an easy 7 hour ride to Pushkar, we decided to go for a quick lunch and rest for a while till the Ravan Dahan at the resort itself. It was Dussera that day and we were quite happy that we could witness the Ravan Dahan in the resort itself.
Taking a small walk in the property we spent some time near the pool. We took some information from the Travel Desk about the places in and around Pushkar. We took a relaxing massage at the Spa too and they also gave us some good deals for a couple massage.
Later, with a chilled bear and some snacks to much we enjoyed the folk music and dance performance at the amphitheatre which was arranged by the resort. Ananta Spa and Resort arranges a folk concert as a complementary entertainment for its guests every weekend.
After the small folk concert, we had our dinner. Simple yet delicious and a great spread with different varieties of Indian and Continental dishes. It was a really delicious dinner.
As per our regular habit, we decided to go for a small city drive of Pushkar, like we always do in other places. It wasn’t late as per Delhi standards but the city of Pushkar was fast asleep after celebrating the Dussera and Ravan Dahan at the Mela Ground. Pushkar city is hardly 2 to 3 kilometres away from the resort.
We drove through the quiet lanes of Pushkar, exploring the city at night. Roads were empty, houses were quiet and lanes were isolated. There were hardly few 12-15 people near the Mela Ground clearing the mess after Dussera celebrations.
Misguided by Google Maps again as it happens most of the times in small town, we entered a small dark lane missing out on a large manhole and till the time we realised, we had already bumped really hard into it. The front right tire burst and we could hear the ‘phussssss’ sound of the air gushing out of the tire. The large iron rods coming out of the manhole had punctured the tire. And it wasn’t very difficult to understand that we were in great trouble. We were not far from the Mela Ground and hence decided to go back to it as we had seen some people there. We thought, they would help us. Slowly reversing back the car, we carefully drove to the Mela Ground and parked the car in front of the main gate.
This was happening to us in last one and a half year since we had bought the car. Do we did not know how to change the type. We have an Audi Q3 and it has a little different way to change the type. We patiently sat down on the road, literally on the road with the user manual of the car to find out in every possible way to change the tyre. Eventually seeing us, some locals walks to us and tried to help us in every possible way. We Googled and also checked on Youtube about how to remove the punctured type and fix the spare tyre. After almost an hour and a half of so much struggle, a local car mechanic was passing by, returning home from his work. He stopped by and asked us, what the issue was. Being experienced, he very well knew how to change the tyre. He helped us change the tyre and also assured us that he would fix the punctured tyre so that we can at least drive back to Delhi safely.
Thanking everyone who helped us, we drove back to the hotel with the emergency tyre. Next morning, after breakfast we drove directly to the car repair shop and hot the car’s tyre changes before we moved forward for the sightseeing in Pushkar and then Ajmer. We had a great trip later and reached back home safely.
But in this chaos, I would like to specifically mention a few things.
The locals in Pushkar were very helpful and did not try to misguide us of loot us in any way, taking advantage of our situation.
There is small shop, right in front of the Mela Ground. The owner of the shop stayed with us the whole time and confronted us by helping in any way possible. Unfortunately, we couldn’t visit him again when we were in Pushkar and even forgot to ask his name. But, if you happen to be in Pushkar, I would request you to buy something, some snacks, chocolates, cold drink, chips or anything else you want from that poor fellow.
When we reached back to the hotel with the extra tyre late at night, the staff at the resort immediately understood that we had some trouble seeing the spare tyre on the car. They asked us if we needed anything. They also insisted if we wanted to change the tyre at night. But since, we didn’t want any more adventure, we told then we were fine if we changed the tyre in the morning and thank them for their concern. After giving the description of the mechanic’s shop, the staff assured us that the mechanic was good and take rest stress-free.
About the room:
We had booked ‘Super Delux Room’ with double bed and breakfast included. It was a small villa with four rooms in each villa, two on the ground floor and two on the first floor. There are similar villas across the resort property, it is just that the amenities and room size would differ depending upon the type of room you select and the tariff.
Our room was pretty spacious. There was a large window that opened outside into a small area like a veranda with two chairs and tea table. It also had an outdoor shower area well equipped and covered and had hot water running from the taps in the outdoor area too. The room had a small laptop table with a chair if someone wants to work on their laptop, a small tea table with two chairs. if someone wants to work on their laptop. Other things included a small refrigerator, bar cabinet, electric kettle, some varieties of tea bags, centralized air conditioning, Television, ironing facility and equipment, newspaper, a safety box or cabinet inside the wardrobe, clean bath sets including towels and had towels, clean and hygienic washroom.
In-room dining has all the dishes that are included in the restaurant’s menu. Even if you don’t wish to walk all the way to the restaurant from your room, you can order anything that you wish to have from the menu to your room itself. Also, the service is pretty quick. But it would be great if you order food well in time to avoid unnecessary delay.
About the SPA:
The SPA had some refreshing and rejuvenating massage and therapies. It also had a sauna and steam room as well as jacuzzi. The different massage and therapies also included some herbal and ayurvedic options. There were some couple packages as well. And all of these are available at a reasonable price.
About the Hotel:
To start with, the hotel/resort is spread over lush greenery and surrounded by hills. You are welcomed with a traditional Indian ritual of Kumkum Tika and then a refreshing welcome drink.
Check-in process is smooth and would not take much time. There is very well trained staff to guide you through the check-in process and then later help you to your room along with the luggage.
For recreations, hotel has a SPA, gym, swimming pool, and a lawn area where you can play out door games like cricket if you are going there in a big group. Generally, over the weekend, they arrange a folk music and dance show for their guests.
Being outside the main Pushkar city, the resort serves alcohol as well as non-vegetarian food to serve to their domestic as well international guests, which is otherwise not served inside the Pushkar city.
We had dinner at the resort on both days as we were not really keen to explore the town and find a restaurant for dinner. We were too tired to leave the property on both nights that we stayed there. There was a great variety of dishes served at the buffet for dinner. You also have an option to choose a la carte. The buffet had some local Rajasthani cuisine, some international and continental dishes and some North Indian dishes. Even the breakfast buffet had a lavish spread with a variety of dishes to choose from.
Talking about the service and the quality and the taste of the food at the restaurant, the food was really good ad the quantity of the dish was also a good large portion.
Ananta Spa and Resort is a very beautiful, peaceful place to spend some leisure time and enjoy the luxury.
Happy Travels!