People forget years and remember moment- Ann Beattie
Sometimes all you need a road trip to remind you that the world is still full of so many beautiful things which are yet to be discovered by you. Road trips make you realize that the journey is also the major part which is to be enjoyed with your full heart.
My road trip to Neemrana or specifically to Neemrana Fort Palace was full of magical moments. It was a one day trip and we had to leave early to reach early and to leave early as well (the downside of not being a fully grown adult yet!).
THE ROAD, MUSTARD FIELDS AND ARAVALLI HILLS
We left around 7:30 am in our pretty comfortable car (we as in my five other friends) and it took us less than 1 hour to reach Gurugram and then our real super amazing road trip finally begin! The roads were pretty and mustard fields along the way made our morning full of bliss and nostalgia (who doesn’t think of DDLJ when they see a mustard field?). We were drooling over the clear blue sky with yellow and green landscape below. This is what travelling does to you. It makes you appreciate nature more as you draw closer to it. Neemrana Fort Palace is just 122 km away from Delhi and since there was no traffic early in the morning, we reached at our destination around 11 am (we also stopped for a quick bite at a small hotel/ restaurant and had super delicious stuffed parathas!).
When we parked our car in the parking (which was not at all a proper parking area in my opinion), we could see the grand fort built inside the Aravalli hills. The fort looked so magnificent and beautiful that we were filled with excitement to just hurry up and explore the 700-year-old fort-cum-hotel. Thankfully, our excitement was worth it.
HISTORY OF NEEMRANA FORT PALACE
I am not going to tell you the deep 700-year-old history as you’ll have to go and see that by yourself. Instead, I would gladly tell you that the fort was built in the 15th century, and was established by Raja Dup Raj. The ruling family is considered to be a direct lineage of Prithviraj Chauhan. Now fast-forward to 1947, the ruling family shifted to Vijay Bagh and the fort became just a ruin. It was vacant for almost forty years as they looked for someone else to take the fort. Then in 1986, the Fort-palace was announced for restoration and finally in 1991, it was restored. Over the years, it has managed itself to restore the lost beauty of the Palace.
FORT AND ZIP-LINING
We were mesmerized with the fort, we explored almost all the wings of Neemrana Fort Palace and then we indulged ourselves at the famous adventure sport- zip lining. It was the best experience so far. We were zipping from one hill to another hill and the view from up there was a soothing sight for our soul. There was no fear, just the hills, fort and the small town of Neemrana below, fresh cold winds and us. I would suggest everyone to not miss out on this exhilarating experience! Everything felt surreal and I am glad that I tried this sport. We completed 5 levels (yes we crossed over 5 hills!) in 2 hours and after that, with losing most of our energy, we all felt more alive than before.
EXPENSES
Neemrana Fort Palace is now a super- luxurious hotel which has so many facilities like any other five-star hotel so yeah, the point is- it is expensive. There were two options for us to choose for one-day exploration of Neemrana Fort Palace– Zip+Fort Entry or Lunch+ Fort Entry. We chose the zip+fort entry excluding the lunch for INR 1700. And for this combo, you have to book in advance. We ate our lunch at Highway King at Behror which was another great experience. For more details, I am going to leave two links from where you can choose your preference and can know more about their pricing policies.
https://www.neemranahotels.com/m/fort-palace-neemrana/rooms/rooms.html
https://www.flyingfox.asia/Destination/Neemrana.php
IT ALL ENDS!
After exploring the fort, clicking numerous photos of almost every corner (every little thing was worth a click), doing zip-lining and lunch, we bid farewell to this amazing place. The whole experience was surreal and worth a visit. It is a very famous saying that every year, go someplace which you have never seen before and see how it changes you in the most positive way. Neemrana Fort Palace is truly a weekend getaway and worth a visit.
