Located 75 kms from Akshardham temple, Mudfort offers an excellent option to unwind oneself in the countryside. We booked rooms for the night of 29th and prepared ourselves for the travel. When we woke up on 29th, it was unusually foggy outside. The fog got thicker and dense with the passage of time. At one point of time , we thought of cancelling the booking. However, I was determined to make it and motivated others to wait patiently. Finally, the weather gods listened to us and the fog got cleared by 2'oclock when we could embark on our journey. Outside, it was bright and sunny, much to our astonishment. As we reached the country roads, we could see mustard and sugarcane all around the fields. On the way, we stopped by to eat some raw sugarcane. We reached our destination at sharp 4 in the evening. As we entered the compound of the fort we could see a magnificent fort wall defining the boundary of the palace. The entrance was marked with a huge iron gate which reminded us of royal lineage.There was a big open courtyard with a fountain in the middle. My son, Yuvraj was so excited that he kept running around it. We checked into our rooms and dumped our luggage first. Then we went out to explore the place and the best way to do that was to take a bullock cart ride arranged by the resort. The drive was unique as we were steered through the uneven village roads by Raju, a well-bred buffalo. The ride was quite bumpy but we enjoyed every bit of it. The village was dotted with mud huts having thatched roofs. It was a typical village sight which we are deprived of seeing in the cities. The place appeared slow and calm compared to the fast pace of life in our metros. People were just about winding up their day at 6'o clock and retiring to their huts for dinner. We could smell charcoal and bio-gas fuel in the air. As we returned back to the resort, we heard the sounds of Rajasthani music echoing in the courtyard. We felt like conossuiers of art patronizing music and dance performance. It was also captured in our video camera to be shared with friends and family. Our meals at the palace were marked with farm fresh vegetables and curd produced in the fort complex itself. It was a pleasure to savour these meals which tasted like home-cooked food and combined spices and condiments in the perfect proportion. However, the menu was limited so we had to be content with what was prepared for us and did not have options to choose from. The resort staff shared with us that it was a lean period for them and a lot of bookings by foreigners had been cancelled owing to terror attacks in Mumbai (26/11). On this particular night of 29th, we were the only family staying in the resort. It was our privilege and we got VIP treatment from the staff. Next morning, we spared some time to see the family photographs which narrated the royal lineage of Kuchesar. It was interesting to see how the family tradition was preserved generation after generation. We understood that the current royal descendant was managing the establishment and running the entire show. As we returned back we carried vivid memories of our royal retreat to cherish in the future.
