Blue + Gold = Lots of memories! 8 days in Jodhpur & Jaisalmer

Day 1:

Taking all the covid precautions we (2 of my friends and I) started my trip from Bangalore to Jodhpur. As wary as I was about the whole covid situation, I was double the amount excited about traveling after a while. After a steamy flight to jodhpur with the mask and the face shield and tons of sweat on the face shield, we landed in Jodhpur at 11am. It was a small airport. Before we could exit we booked an Uber to take us to some place to eat. But later did we realize there are autos that take you to the city as well from the airport. We took the cab and got down at Bombay motor bus stop. There was absolutely nothing around to eat. While on Maps, we found a hotel which was railway themed called Vegetrainian. The food was bad, but grabbed a quick bite and headed towards Bombay motors to catch our bus to Jaisalmer. As we had just missed one bus by 2minutes, had to wait for another hour. We then got the bus and reached Jaisalmer at around 930pm. The city seemed pretty calm, not many people, cool breeze. We had booked for a place inside the Jaisalmer fort. We took a rickshaw and headed to the fort where our lovely host was waiting for us.

Tip: If you have the chance of taking a cab/car to Jaisalmer, go ahead with it, as the bus journey can be a little exhausting and time consuming.

We were freezing. It was around 2 degrees in the morning. We were bummed out that we might miss out on all the places that we had planned for the day. Quickly got ready and had Dal Pakwaan and Jalebis outside the fort for breakfast. It was HEAVENLY! I would go back just to taste that. By then the sun was slowly coming out. We went to Salim Singh ki Haveli, Nathmal Ki Haveli & Patwon ki haveli in the first half of the day. Also did a bit of street shopping. From there we headed to the Thar Desert (Sam Sand Dunes). We went by a Bolero which was arranged by our host. We reached there at our Tents, it was beautiful. In the evening we headed to the dunes for some dune bashing, Camel rides(Optional), some pictures, hot maggi in the cold weather. After returning back to our tents, we had a lot of cultural programs. It was good fun!

Day 3:

We started from Sam Sand dunes back to Jaisalmer. We spent the day at Badha Bagh, Jaisalmer Fort, did some shopping, explored the cafes inside the fort and the streets of Jaisalmer. During the afternoons do not forget to have the buttermilk inside the fort 10 rupees only.

Today was a leisure day but we ended up visiting Gadisar Lake, Lodhurva Jain Temple and explored the Fort. Vyas Chatri was closed when we went so couldn't cover that one. The Jain temple was BEAUTIFUL! On the way to The jain temple you can visit the most famous Kuldhara village which is known to be haunted. It was a little eerie for me to visit as I am not fond of haunted movies/places or anything haunted.

Day 5:

We headed back to Jodhpur today. Visited Jaswant Thada and the famous and iconic Ghanta Ghar. Did lots of shopping at Ghanta Ghar and the most famous Lalji handicrafts.

We planned a half day trip to Bishnoi Village where they showed how block prints are made, weaving, rug making, pottery. We spotted the black buck and many migratory birds. We also got to feed the injured deers at one of the rescue homes. Had a famous Bishnoi Village Thali for lunch. Post Lunch we went to our room, changed and got ready for the flying fox experience at the Mehrangarh fort. It was so THRILLING!

We went to Mandore Gardens and covered the entire Mehrangarh Fort today.

We wanted to experience at least one day of heritage stay at Jodhpur. So we had booked at a hotel called Ratan Vilas. I fall short of words to describe my stay at Ratan Vilas. The ambience, the food, the staff, the hospitality, the cleanliness, everything was top notch! We spent one night at Ratan Vilas and regretted not staying there the entire stay in Jodhpur. Next Day we checked out and headed back home :)