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Out Of Office - JaisalmerJaisalmer - The most touristic place of the touristic Rajasthan..!!!
This blog post is going to be little lengthy and may be boring too. I would suggest skip to the Photos part if you feel lazy to read or bored once you start reading :)
Sand earns money..!!! Yes... Be it is the Dubai sand or our Indian ones.. They are earning money these days. Because these days people are becoming little wise and spending money on travelling more than they used to earlier. Call it lifestyle change or people have more money or for whatever reason it is. I see a positive change.. :)
Jaisalmer is One of its kind in the entire country where we find a desert and Sand dunes. A total dry land with lot of tourists flowing in and the city owns a legacy too..!!! The fort, the temple, the Hawelis everything here is so wonderful.
For the first time I travelled beyond Mumbai and off course was a dream travel for me. Thanks to the Company shut down which let me plan this and go. After a really bad experience of travelling in Bus from Udaipur to Jaisalmer in biting cold, I was here in the city which I was longing to visit. For me the main destination was the Sand dunes. But I did not know Jaisalmer has lot more to offer.
As the day proceeded, the place was getting warmer and then turned out to be Hot. But, nothing could stop me from wandering alone in the streets of Jaisalmer to all those great historical places near by. At first look, every building here looks like its some old palace. The hotels are built in such a way here. (In fact in all touristic places of Rajasthan)
All most all the major destinations are at a walk able distance. Unless you are so lazy to walk even a mile, do not take auto or hire a touring taxi which are offered by Hotels for around 300 bucks per head.
The Fort
The main attraction is the fort and the fort are is so large that I initially refrained taking a guide but later felt without a guide I would be missing most part of it. There are plenty of local guides who take you around the fort for around 150-200 rupees. The Jain temple, the museum, and the entire fort area would easily take around 2 Hrs to visit even if you race. The fort has temples, museum, at least 50 shops, a few restaurants, Lodges and now you can imagine how big the area would be. The architecture of Jain temple in the fort is something to be witnessed and to capture it in your camera you will have to buy a ticket of Rs 50. There is a view point in the fort from where you see the Golden City of Jaisalmer and the horizon you see is our Country's border shared with Pakistan.
I started at around 11am and I had to go back to Hotel by 3 pm to join the Safari Trip and by then I had cover as many places as possible. Completed the havelis and the Palace quickly and raced back to the hotel where the Jeep was waiting to take me to safari. Got some friends in safari since I was travelling alone.. Thats an advantage of travelling alone.. You tend to speak to strangers :)
Jaisalmer Desert Safari
This is the major attraction and the most unique one in entire Rajasthan. But very much touristic, lot of crowd during season yet wonderful. The hotel where I stayed arranged for safari in a non touristic desert (Yet atleast 150 people were there and in Sam dunes which is the touristic one, thousands of people will be there.) It was 2+ Kms of Camel ride to the sand dunes and actually not a pleasure to ride camel.. Only the 'take off' and 'landing' is exciting and if you are suffering from backpain dont even think of taking it.. :D Its a different experience to see the breeze setting back the sand into the wave kind of pattern inspite of people walking over and changing the pattern.. The sunset over there was nice one to experience. Got a few nice photos and next was the resort where some Rajasthani folk program and a buffet was arranged. And these much was a package for ~1600 INR. An option of staying back in the Desert that night was available for extra 1000 or 1200 INR but I opted to go back to the hotel.
Gadisar Lake
Visited the lake next day early in the morning and got some photos. A normal lake but serene early in the morning. The structures around the lake adds to the beauty and the History of the lake is something to be heard about. There is a huge arch built by some prostitute of the then king and even today the King's family does not come to the lake via that arch since they believe it to be an insult..!!! Oh yeah.. There are many such stories you hear about when you are in Rajasthan since it has got a huge history. From here I headed towards Jodhpur. My next destination in Rajasthan again filled with lot of excitement... :) Blog on that some day..
Put in bullet points, these are the places you should not be missing if you are in Jaisalmer.
For the first time I travelled beyond Mumbai and off course was a dream travel for me. Thanks to the Company shut down which let me plan this and go. After a really bad experience of travelling in Bus from Udaipur to Jaisalmer in biting cold, I was here in the city which I was longing to visit. For me the main destination was the Sand dunes. But I did not know Jaisalmer has lot more to offer.
As the day proceeded, the place was getting warmer and then turned out to be Hot. But, nothing could stop me from wandering alone in the streets of Jaisalmer to all those great historical places near by. At first look, every building here looks like its some old palace. The hotels are built in such a way here. (In fact in all touristic places of Rajasthan)
All most all the major destinations are at a walk able distance. Unless you are so lazy to walk even a mile, do not take auto or hire a touring taxi which are offered by Hotels for around 300 bucks per head.
The Fort
The main attraction is the fort and the fort are is so large that I initially refrained taking a guide but later felt without a guide I would be missing most part of it. There are plenty of local guides who take you around the fort for around 150-200 rupees. The Jain temple, the museum, and the entire fort area would easily take around 2 Hrs to visit even if you race. The fort has temples, museum, at least 50 shops, a few restaurants, Lodges and now you can imagine how big the area would be. The architecture of Jain temple in the fort is something to be witnessed and to capture it in your camera you will have to buy a ticket of Rs 50. There is a view point in the fort from where you see the Golden City of Jaisalmer and the horizon you see is our Country's border shared with Pakistan.
I started at around 11am and I had to go back to Hotel by 3 pm to join the Safari Trip and by then I had cover as many places as possible. Completed the havelis and the Palace quickly and raced back to the hotel where the Jeep was waiting to take me to safari. Got some friends in safari since I was travelling alone.. Thats an advantage of travelling alone.. You tend to speak to strangers :)
Jaisalmer Desert Safari
This is the major attraction and the most unique one in entire Rajasthan. But very much touristic, lot of crowd during season yet wonderful. The hotel where I stayed arranged for safari in a non touristic desert (Yet atleast 150 people were there and in Sam dunes which is the touristic one, thousands of people will be there.) It was 2+ Kms of Camel ride to the sand dunes and actually not a pleasure to ride camel.. Only the 'take off' and 'landing' is exciting and if you are suffering from backpain dont even think of taking it.. :D Its a different experience to see the breeze setting back the sand into the wave kind of pattern inspite of people walking over and changing the pattern.. The sunset over there was nice one to experience. Got a few nice photos and next was the resort where some Rajasthani folk program and a buffet was arranged. And these much was a package for ~1600 INR. An option of staying back in the Desert that night was available for extra 1000 or 1200 INR but I opted to go back to the hotel.
Gadisar Lake
Visited the lake next day early in the morning and got some photos. A normal lake but serene early in the morning. The structures around the lake adds to the beauty and the History of the lake is something to be heard about. There is a huge arch built by some prostitute of the then king and even today the King's family does not come to the lake via that arch since they believe it to be an insult..!!! Oh yeah.. There are many such stories you hear about when you are in Rajasthan since it has got a huge history. From here I headed towards Jodhpur. My next destination in Rajasthan again filled with lot of excitement... :) Blog on that some day..
Put in bullet points, these are the places you should not be missing if you are in Jaisalmer.
- The Jaisalmer Fort
- Patwon ki Haveli (This is a must visit amongst 3 main Havelis including Natmal ki Haveli and Salim ki Haveli)
- The Mandir Palace
- Gadisar Lake (Visit here early in the morning to feel the serenity)
- The Badha Bhag (I missed it. :( )
- Most Importantly the Desert Safari..!!!
Note - Hotels here are pretty cheap. You can easily get good accommodation for less than INR 200. But be aware of touts since there are many offering Safari saying they will do it for a cheaper price. Unless you are sure about them do not go for them. Better take from some hotel Every hotel offers a safari Here.
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| The golden City - Jaisalmer. Guide said the dead end what we see from this point is India - Pak Border..! |
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| Sand... Sand and..??? Sand...!!! |
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| Patwon ki Haweli |
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| Sunset in Sand dunes of Jaisalmer |
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| Camel Safari..!!! (You are in Jaisalmer hence you gotta do it.. if not its not that great.. ) |
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| Gadisar Lake - Jaisalmer |
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