Monday, March 11, 2019

The Beauty of Thar Desert



It’s a beautiful year when you end your January and begin your February in Kashmir to enter into March from the beautiful deserts of Rajasthan. Travel is beautiful, spiritual and addictive.

Upon returning from Kashmir early January, I realized that March begins with a fabulous travel opportunity with a long weekend at its beginning. There was going to be a Holi weekend and thus a perfect time to paint a new travel canvas. It took me about 5 minutes to decide that after touching the extreme North of the country just a few days back, I will now go and touch the extreme West, Jaisalmer and Longewala.

I cannot really call it an impromptu thought, for Jaisalmer was on my bucket list for a long time. But once I realized of this long weekend, in the five minutes I was prepping up for the trip. My initial thought was to drive down to Jaisalmer from Ahmedabad, which is an approximate distance of 500 Kms. The road as I understand is beautiful and one can easily drive down to Jaisalmer from Ahmedabad. I decided to put up a post on Facebook & Travello inviting interested backpackers to join in if they wish to, however didn’t find anyone willing to travel at that time. I thus dropped my plan to drive down and rather decided to take a bus.

Driving solo all night drains out a lot of energy and makes me tired the next day. I rather decided to preserve the energy by taking some rest on the bus and making the most of it while in Jaisalmer. This is when I realized that the road connectivity between Ahmedabad and Jaisalmer is also pretty limited. There were very limited options available on redbus.com as well. Finally, I adopted the old fashion method of visiting a few travel agents and managed to book myself on a Rajasthan based (probably) travel company's bus. (Thar Travels) about 10 days in advance to my travel.

Unknown destinations and solo trips are definitely exciting, but the thought once materialized always makes me nervous, for you are alone soaring into the unknown. But it is always a good idea to experience the unknown rather than being afraid of it.

I boarded this bus – an AC sleeper (mind you, not a Volvo) from Ahmedabad on the Thursday night, a day before Holi after work. When one travels it amazing to see how diverse our country is. I was observing my fellow passengers as we were waiting to board the bus. The men in their loose white shirts and white Pajamas with a turban on their heads and big silver earrings and women in colorful sarees and huge ornaments made of white metal showcased the traditional Rajasthani style of attire.
The bus left Ahmedabad at 10:00 PM. Though not from a prominent travel agency the bus was pretty much comfortable to get a fair sleep. I have long learned from my three years in Gujarat that one cannot always expect clean restaurants and good food on the highways here. Unlike some highways, these states don’t have MacDonald’s and Pizza Huts. Rather once you leave Ahmedabad and travel further west there are no major cities that one comes across, thus luxurious restaurants are out of question. It’s best to pack dry snacks for these journeys. At about 1:00 AM the bus stopped at a filthy food joint for about 20 mins to reach Jaisalmer at 9:00 AM – about an hour and half past its scheduled arrival time.

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I arrived into Jaisalmer on the Holi day. The bus stand was just near the fort, and I was to go to the Swan Hostel as the place was referred to me by a friend. I decided to walk rather than take an auto to start exploring the city. I turned my GPS on and started walking. As I entered into the town, I could easily see that the city was closed for the festival. On the streets I could see kids playing Holi, throwing colors and splashing water at each other. As I walked into the small lanes of the city kids started following me with colorful intentions. They were a little curious and scared as I walked with a big rucksack on my back. Some brave hearts were trying to ask me ’which country’, which country’. I decided to act alien and kept walking, in an attempt to escape the situation. 

An even braver kid then decided to splash water on me using his splash gun (pichkari), and as I tried to avoid him, someone scolded him asking him not to trouble the tourists. The kinds withdrew. As I walked out of the small alley and stepped onto the big road three men fully smeared in colors were passing by and stopped seeing me walking on the road absolutely uncolored. They decided to stop and then there was no escaping as they put colors on me head to toe. This continued to happen at every corner after that as locals as well as tourists were playing Holi. By the time I reached the hostel I was completely immersed in colors.




I reached the hostel, dusted off the color and washed my face (No shower – no no no) and came down to the lobby to plan my day. It was clear that the town was close for the festival and there was no point staying back in Jaisalmer. One of my plans was to rent a Bullet and ride down to Longewala about 120 Kms. from Jaisalmer where the famous battle of Longewala was fought in 1971. As I came down to the lobby to explore the possibility of getting a Bike, I met Shivam – another solo traveler who was exploring the same possibility. He immediately offered me to tag along and said there was another couple who was travelling and if I wanted, I can join them all and thus I met Ankit and Rachna. This is the beauty of Solo Trips – you may go solo, but you don’t come back solo’ and thus the four of us became great buddies from the moment we met.
We had breakfast at the beautiful rooftop restaurant at Swan hostel. Rachna in the meanwhile had planned to go to Sam Sand Dunes – a must visit when in Jaisalmer. Post breakfast we headed to the Sahara Dessert Safari office through whom we booked over dessert Safari. There are several other who organize such safaris but our experience with Sahara Dessert Safari was reasonably good. It is advised that one books these Safaris through trussed organizers who have established offices around the fort area. It is advisable to negotiate as well. Generally, you would get a good deal in INR 2k per person, which involves transportation (Jaisalmer to Jaisalmer- generally in a Jeep or an open 4x4 vehicle), desert safari in an open gypsy, Camel Safari, stay in a tent (individual tent if you are travelling alone) and meals.
While we were waiting for our transportation to go to the dunes near the fort area, we tried our hands on the local delicacy (or the one that is rather more popular in the Sindh region in Pakistan) known as Dal Pakwan.


 The road from Jaisalmer to Sam Sand dunes is a desert road and run in between the between the barren ran and has got hundreds of windmills on both sides. Jaisalmer is one of the biggest Windmill farms in the country and is surrounded by windmills on all sides. The road is truly beautiful as the vehicle cuts through the dry Thar winds. 

On our way to the dunes we stopped at the Kuldhara village. It’s an abandoned village basically in ruins believed to be abandoned in the 19th century. The exact reason though not known, there are several beliefs behind it being abandoned. Over the years it has also developed a reputation of being a haunted village and as we Indians love to tell and listen to stories, there are several stories told locally about the paranormal activities in this village.  Not sure about the paranormal activities, the village in the daytime looks good and shows ruins of beautiful 13th century architecture. A beautiful place to take pictures and a location worth using for rustic theme photography folios. (Please seek local permission from tourism department) After spending about an hour at the village we moved further to reach the sand dunes.



 The landscape changes dramatically as we reach the Sam Sand Dunes. The barren rann changes to huge sand dunes giving one a real feel of the desert. We checked in into the resort and had a lazy afternoon by the tents having tea and long chats. As we planned to get ready for the evening, we realized there was no water in the camp site and that we had to wait as water needs to be brought from another water source 15 Kms away from the camp site and the tanker was on its way. After about 40/45 mins a tanker carrying water arrived at the camp site and water was supplied to all tents. We could see several other tractor pulled tankers running on the desert road. 

Water which is an (apparently) easily available resource for us in the cities is an extremely scarce resource in this part of the country and needs to be used very carefully.

After a quick shower, we were taken out in an open Mahindra Thar on a Sundown desert Safari. This is a mind-blowing experience, as the vehicle takes a small road out to the dunes and then runs wild into the dunes.  Extremely well-trained drivers drive you through the dunes at a high-speed giving you an adventurous experience of the dunes. Watch a short video here –



The safari stopped in between the desert after about 20 mins at a strategic place from where we could enjoy the sun set. The place was pretty crowded and commercialized (though not exuberantly expensive like many other tourist places). We settled ourselves on one of the dunes to experience the desert sunset. While we were enjoying our time taking pictures, sipping on the tea the sun was almost touching the horizon on the verge of setting in. The evening was pretty cloudy and dusty and the sunset was kind of a quick one into the defused clouds. Though we enjoyed the experience it was not a contending one majorly due to the weather. After spending some more time in the desert, we moved back to the camp site to enjoy the night.

As we arrived at the camp site we were invited for to join in for a folk evening. A stage was set in the center of the huge camp site and local singers presented Rajasthani folk music. Not the best of the artists, but they did the best they could.

(We also enjoyed a beautiful moon rise over the camp site. Enjoy a few pics as the artists performed and moon rises right behind them)

We decided to take a walk into the desert after the event and walked deep into the dunes in the moon light. I think these are the experiences one should travel for. It was a blissful experience to sit in the middle of the desert with three new friends and share our experiences of travel. If there was anything that connected all four of us together there in that moon light was our passion for travel, apart from that we didn’t know anything else about anyone of us. We were truly at that moment travelers of life meeting each other momentarily in this eternal travel in a deserted Thar desert.
After a long chat session we moved back to the camp site for dinner. The chat session continued for a while after dinner and we moved back to our tents to call it a day.

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Our day 2 began at 5:30 in the morning as we were to leave at 6 AM for our Camel safari back into the dunes and enjoy the desert Sunrise. Two camels namely ‘Chunnu’ and ‘Hritik Roshan’ (whom we rechristened as ‘Duggu’) lazily came to the camping site and quietly waited for us to board them. The both appeared to be juveniles (and they were, as we confirmed with their care takers). We boarded the camels and they began their guided walk into the desert. After about 15 minutes we arrived at a spot in the desert from where we would see the Sun Rise. ‘Chunnu’ and ‘Duggu’ sat down as we alighted down to see the sun rise. Though this place was again a bit crowded I must say it was a pleasant morning and a beautiful sunrise. We made a lot of images of the sunrise while ‘Chunnu’ and ‘Duggu’ were our models.


(Hritik Roshan aka our Duggu in his 'Suraj ko main nigal gaya' pose)

I am an animal lover and generally not in favor of riding over them for fun. I shared this thought with the others and turned out that they were not very comfortable with that either and we decided to ask the camels to be taken back while we will walk our way to the camp. We spent some more time in the dunes and came back to the camp for breakfast.

We were to check out post breakfast and I and Shivam had planned to rent bikes and ride to Longewala while Rachna and Ankit were to leave from Jaisalmer the same evening. However they were pretty excited to know our plan. They excused themselves and went into their tents to come back after ten minutes declaring that they had cancelled their tickets and will be coming with us to Longewala.

We reached Jaisalmer at about 11 AM, immediately explored our options to fond good bikes and hired two Royal Enfield’s 350 all set for Longewala. You can hire bikes from outside the fort. Generally the rent is INR 800 for a day, but the moment you declare you are going to Longewala they will charge you more. We were running short on time and hired two bikes for INR 1200.00 each. The bike guys generally advise you to tank up the bikes, however that is not required. We filled about 9 Ltrs. of petrol. You may also be told that there are no petrol pumps after Jaisalmer, which is not true. You will find a few petrol pumps in Ramgargh, about 55kms. before Tanot, which is basically our first stop.

We left from Jaisalmer at 12:00 noon and rode straight till Ramgarh which is about 70 Kms. This drive is pretty much through the dry runn. We took a tea break at Ramgarh and started our journey further to Tanot (the famous Tanot Mata Temple shown in the film border which stood its guard during both 1965 & 1971 Indo-Pak wars).

The road from Ramgarh to Tanot is a beautiful two lane road made and maintained by BRO and run through the Thar Desert. It’s a blissful ride as one rides through the extremely well maintained roads and the sight of the desert on all four sides is nothing less than divine. Watch a small video of our drive on this road here – 



We reached Tanot Mata Temple which is maintained since 1965 by the Border Security Force. It is believed that the deity worshiped here has protected our land from enemies in supernatural ways. In the 1965 war Pakistani army targeted the temple and dropped over 3000 bombs in the temple area, however not one exploded. The area was again targeted in 1971 and it is believed that the war tactics of the enemies failed as Tanot Mata stood guard with the Army and our land. It is a place of immense faith for the Army and BSF soldiers who also consider the sand in the temple area to be sacred. The temple is surrounded by huge sand dunes and sand hills on all four sides. Unexploded bomb shells are displayed in the temple which are said to be fired by the Pakistani army on the temple premises during the war.

We humbly offered our prayers at the temple praying to Tanot Mata to always stand by our soldiers and protect our country from our enemies.  



We then drove down to our next destination – Longewala. Longewala is about 40 Kms. from Tanot. Ramgarh – Tanot  & Longewala form a triangle. After a 40 kms. of desert drive we arrived at the Longewala war site. The war site is merely 15 Kms. from the international border and is developed as a tourist awareness site by the Border Security Force. A company of 120 soldiers of the Indian Army’s 23rd battalion, Punjab Regiment under the commandment of Major Kuldip Singh Chandpuri fought a war against 2000 Pakistani soldiers who opened attack at the war site during the night hours of 04th Dec, 1971 and showed exceptional war skills and defeated the enemy along with the Indian Air Force who arrived in the morning. They were given a choice to withdraw if they wish to, however the brave soldiers stayed back and fought the war to victory forcing the enemy to withdraw (Rather run away)

The war site is developed to give visitors a feel of how the war was fought. Two Pakistani tanks out of those captured during the 1971 war are kept here on display. The site gives us a feel of how the war must have been fought and makes us realize what a heroic decision it was by Major Chandpuri and his team to stay put and not withdraw. A small film is shown at this site which is basically a mix of a documentary and some visuals from the movie ‘Border’. The documentary shows that had the Indian Army moved back allowing the enemy to enter in Pakistan had probably taken over important cities like Ramgarh and Jaisalmer in 1971 gaining an easy access into other parts of the country. It was this terrain from the international border to Longewala which was tough due to the sand dunes and sand hills where the enemy could be stopped. Once in Ramgargh we would have lost the natural protection available in the form of the desert making it difficult to control the war – not to mention the much higher magnitude of loss to life and property.

We came across many familiar names at the small war museum here. Names which we have mostly heard in the 1997 Bollywood film – Border (A film based on the 1971 war ) making us feel proud about these brave sons of the mother land.

We had plans to go closer to the border area (Border Pillar 609) which requires permission from the Border Security Force. We were denied of the permission by a BSF officer who told us that the area these days is extremely sensitive. The word uttered by BSF is the law there – all in a right way and we decided not to explore the possibility any further or insist on the permission (not that there was a choice of insisting).

It was close to 06:00 PM now and we had a good 108 Kms distance to go back on the lonely desert road. We started our ride back to Ramgarh. Just 12 Kms before Ramgarh we took an impromptu stop over to see the sunset on the desert road, which turned out to be the best sunset we had ever seen in our lives. Please enjoy the image here –


After enjoying the sunset we started our journey back to Jaisalmer with a pit stop in Ramgarh. It took us a little longer than 3 hours to reach Jaisalmer as we rode a little slower in the dark desert road. By far this has been one of my best experiences of the few road trips I have had. 

Upon reaching Jaisalmer we had a quick dinner at a beautiful joint facing the fort (which later became super famous as some parts of the film Parmanu were shot here) and bid farewell to Ankit and Rachna who were to leave for Delhi the same night. 

We checked in into a small hotel to spend a few hours at night as we had plans to see the fort the next day. Generally Jaisalmer fort will be the first place to visit once you reach Jaisalmer, however we were visiting it the last, just before leaving Jaisalmer.

Jaisalmer fort is a stunning architecture and is perhaps one of the very few forts which have got people living in it. An entire colony is based inside the fort with houses, restaurants, shops etc. In fact the city of Jaisalmer was based in the fort only - in the olden days. As population started increasing people started dwelling outside of the fort which is now known to be the Jaisalmer city. The fort is made up of yellow sandstone and thus has a beautiful and distinctive yellow color, which in the morning and evening hours looks stunningly golden, rightfully being known as the golden fort. This yellow color is also used to paint most of the construction in the city to hold its reputation of the Golden city. The color strongly matches with the desert sand around the city. 

(Entrance to the Jaisalmer Fort)




One has to walk through the crowded and small by lanes inside the fort. We arrived pretty early in the morning to get good photographs during the golden hour. The small by lanes are pretty crowded as locals, tourists, shop keepers and two wheelers all try to make their way through them. We walked our way up to make it to one of the bastions. The fort is said to have about 100 bastions which were used to keep a watch on the surrounding area. Some bastions still have canons placed on them and offer a very panoramic view of the city and the vast desert around Jaisalmer. One can take a walk around the fort and visit such bastions located on all four sides of the fort and have different views of the city. After quite a walk we settled down on one of the bastions where a big canon crafted out of five metals was placed. Please enjoy a few images here.  





We then headed to a beautiful café called ‘The Fort Pearl Homestay’. It’s one of the most beautiful homestay and café in the fort (and perhaps the most expensive – but worth the experience). We took a table overlooking the by lanes of the city and had our breakfast. This café offers a lot of photo opportunities and thus one should visit.


We further walked a little more into the fort before Shivam left for Jodhpur, leaving me to spend some time by myself in the city. I decided to see the Patwon ki Haweli . It is more of a tourist attraction and yet again the architecture is marvelous. The net-work in the stone (traditionally known as ‘Jali’) is truly worth seeing as one wonders as to how talented the carvers must have been to create such creations. Enjoy a few pictures of the Haveli – 



I then took a walk in the city market. Though not a great fan of buying stuff from these highly commercialized tourists markets, I did buy some stoles and Afghani lowers from a local shop. By the time I reached the hotel, lunch time was over, thus had to move out again for lunch which turned out to be a good decision as I came across a place where I had traditional Rajasthani Thali.  It was a good lunch with Kersangri, Gutte ki Subji, Ghewar and other Rajasthani items. A perfect way to finish the trip.

I walked back to the hotel to leave for my bus to Ahmedabad.


That one thing that prominently one notices while travelling in India is its uncleanliness and Jaisalmer was no exception. The old city is extremely filthy and apparently lacks washrooms as people use streets and road side gutters to relieve themselves. Even inside the fort where most tourists visit is not well kept. One can smell filth everywhere which doesn’t give a great feeling. Local authorities, locals as well as tourists need to be more responsible in maintaining cleanliness in our cities.


Alas that is one bad thing amongst a hundred good, but Jaisalmer is truly a great place to visit and one must visit it at least once.


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