Jodhpur to Jaipur Road Distance: 340 km · 5-6 hours · Cab from ₹3,740

The Jodhpur run shares its first half with the Udaipur road, so it is the same fast four-lane through Kishangarh and round the Ajmer bypass, but at Beawar you fork right onto the NH-62 and the country starts to dry out. The Beawar to Pali stretch is the one to enjoy: the highway crosses the tail of the Aravallis near Bar, with proper Rajasthani dhabas either side of the hills, and the Ranakpur turn comes up at Pali for anyone with a spare couple of hours for the marble temple. From Pali the land flattens and bleaches to scrub, and Mehrangarh appears on its rock a long way before Jodhpur does. Winter mornings out here are colder than people expect, cold enough for a shawl at the Beawar tea stop, though the day warms quickly once the sun is up. In July and August a rare storm can put water across the road for an hour outside Pali. From April to June the afternoon heat is brutal, so we leave Jaipur early and aim to be in Jodhpur by lunch.