Mandawa is a relatively small village placed in the Shekhawati region, Eastern Rajasthan. It was founded at the middle of the XVIIIth century and became a prosperous trade centre for some more than one hundred years. Its main feature are "havelis", big mansions built by local rich traders in centuries XVIII and XIX. Havelis are found all over Rajasthan, but those from Mandawa stand out because of beautiful frescoes decorating walls and doors. Its castle was the residence of the Mandawa's rajas, and it has been converted into an enchanting heritage hotel. Frescoes of the castle account among the best ones. A trip from Delhi to Mandawa by road (around 250Km) takes no less than five hours. You spend most time on a secondary road, crossing flat agricultural lands that look quite well. We run slowly in our trip, but it was quite interesting and we didn't get tired.

Coming to Mandawa Castle was quite spectacular, not only because of the beauty of the historical building, but also because of the quality of the hotel facilities. We had there the best room in our trip. Weather was excellent, not too hot, nor rainy, and the hotel was almost empty except for dinner and breakfast. Tour operators use to bring groups to Mandawa in the evening and leave to next destination on next morning, so the hotel is almost yours for the rest of the day if you stay there for two nights, which we find very sensible once you have got in such a remote and beautiful place.

We haven't seen yet the havelis of Jaiselmer or Udaipur, but we can ensure that those from Mandawa deserve a quiet visit, much more than one or two hurried hours between the check-out and the bus. Frescoes from the Castle and from havelis are really good, not only valuable as pieces of art, but also teaching and fun. Mansions are also interesting in architectural aspects, and you can visit them with freedom, free from stupid rules and from the pressure of "officially guided" visits.

The village has a nice atmosphere, not too much contaminated yet by the effects of massive tourism, though some symptoms begin to rise up. Natural surroundings have no special interest, but watching the sunset on that mix of desert and savannah is nice and peaceful, much better if you do the way riding a camel. It's amazing, in addition, to see the elegance of countrywomen, who look like pretty princesses wearing that colourful dresses, but this is common among Indian women, the Rajasthanian in special.

Mandawa is, in summary, a very nice place to spend two journeys of a trip by India. Its havelis and the Castle make a collection that, after some effort of restoration, might well be declared a World Heritage Site, we have seen some others places of less value that have already got such distinction. Including Mandawa in your itinerary is, in our opinion, an excellent idea.