This is a delayed trip report and I am putting it together after 3 years. Main photographs of Jaisalmer trip are on my flickr gallery.
India is extremely diverse country in terms of geographic structures. From snow covered mountains of Himalayas to pristine sea beaches of Andamans & Lakshdweep. From high altitude desert of Ladakh to Sand covered desert of Jaisalmer. I am addicted to Nat Geo and Discovery channels. So one of the natural reaction after looking at desert videos is to think about visiting there.
I planned a trip in the month of November 2007. It was quite unusual not because of place or time but the reason why I was visiting. It was honeymoon
trip. Normally people visit hill stations and sea beaches for honeymoon but me and Reena decided to do something different and planned to visit Jaisalmer. Jaisalmer is probably the only place where Sand dunes are there and have facilities for tourists to stay (till date I have no information of any other place).
I planned my travel with Raj Travels in Bangalore and I must say they did an excellent job of planning my trip. Local travel requirements in Rajasthan was taken care by Rajputana Travels, which probably has arrangement with Raj Travels. We landed in Jodhpur by flight (Bangalore -> Mumbai -> Jodhpur) and stayed overnight at Hotel Mapple. We were provided 24×7 TATA Indigo car with driver. Next day we went to visit Jodhpur Palace. It seems half of the Jodhpur palace is converted into hotel and rest half is available for general public viewing.
After visiting palace we had lunch and then started for our main destination Jaisalmer. On the way we stopped briefly at Jodhpur Fort.
Jaisalmer is approx 250 kms from Jodhpur and road was quite good. Generally the car was travelling at 90 kmph. The scenery between Jodhpur to Jaisalmer is amazingly nothing. What I mean is you don’t see a human being or animal or human settlement or greenery for miles. The only thing you see is small desert bushes. But don’t let the nothing cheat you as there are quite a few places where wildlife can be seen.
If you keep your eyes double open and gaze continuously in the bushes, hold your breath, you will spot Indian Army tents, tanks, big guns in the bushes.
We reached Jaisalmer in the evening and checked in to Hotel Rangmahal. Wow what a hotel it is. I had never stayed in a hotel like this before not because of luxury but becuase of exterior look of the hotel. It’s huge and hospitality is quite good. Worth every penny I must say.
Places to visit around Jaisalmer:
We started our visit with trip to Kuldhara & Khabha Villages. These are deserted villages and most of the houses are destroyed but some are still intact. This is must see place for somebody wanting to get a feeling of a ghost town.
After deserted villages we went to a jain temple while making our way towards Sam sand dunes. Finally we reached the dune area around 3 pm. It was hot and we somehow tried to settle in the tent, which wasn’t ideal
place for relaxing during day time. But it was cosy during night time.
We started our excursion to Sam Sand Dune around 4.30 pm and were simply wowed by the beauty of sand dunes. We reached to a place by car where camels were lined up for prospective customers.
We took a camel named “Babloo” for our ride to sand dune. We were into splits after hearing name of Camel as it is nick name of my elder brother. It was really kind of roller coaster ride to begin with. Slowly we adjusted and then started enjoying.
Once we reached into dunes, we started walking around and admiring the sheer natural beauty.
We came back from dunes late in the evening and enjoyed folk songs and dance. It amazes me sometimes that how much talent is hidden inside our country who mostly don’t get chances to make it big.
Next day we were back to jaisalmer and we had Khuri Sand dunes on our visit itinerary in the evening. Khuri sand dunes may not be as versatile as Sam dunes but they are no less either.
Some of the other places we visited were Royal burial ground
Jaisalmer Fort: This is the only fort in India, where common people were allowed to live inside the fort and they still live there.
Wood fossil preserve park
We had a week long vacation and I must admit it was mesmerizing experience. We departed from Jaisalmer with a promise that we will come back here.
nice post.what about KHANAKHAZANA part?was it very cold at night?
Food was generally good to excellent. I never encountered bad food on the trip so that says it all. I had visited in November, so nights & mornings were just enough cold to wear light jacket. Days were warmer than my likings.
Thanks a million for this, I appreciate the info