Dreaming of Camping in the Thar Desert? Here's All You Need to Know!

I had never seen the desert before. I'd only ever imagine what it would be like standing in the middle of a desert just glancing into the desert horizon.

My trip to Jaisalmer was an unplanned one. Infact my trip to Rajasthan was a completely spontaneous one, just like most of my other trips. I was in Manali sipping on a cup of tea, when I decided I really wanted to go to Rajasthan, and hence began my journey to this princely state. When I finally reached Jaipur after a tedious 2 day journey, my cab driver told me about the magnified desert sunset of the Thar desert, in Jaisalmer. How could I not visit the Thar desert after hearing such a vivid description about it. So I took a train to Jodhpur, did a little sightseeing there and then took a train to Jaisalmer from Jodhpur. I caught a small glimpse of the desert from the train and I couldn't wait to see the real deal.

Jaisalmer is in the heart of Thar desert surrounded by a lot of sand dunes. The most popular dunes is 40 Kms away from Jaisalmer, called Sam Sand dunes. It is known for its large dunes and camping under the stars in the desert is an experience like no other. I went in December, close to New Year 2020. December being a busy month for tourism, most of the camps were already occupied. I luckily found the perfect camp called Limra. They just had one tent left. After I kept my luggage in the tent I headed for some fun desert activities like dune bashing and a camel ride that took us pretty deep into the desert. After watching the most magical magnified sunset, I headed back to the camp. There was a cold wave in Rajasthan. As ironic as it sounds, yes it was freezing in the Thar desert. They had set up a massive bonfire and were serving hot tea while we watched some local art performances organised by the camp. Later, had some amazing Rajasthani Dal Baati Churma for dinner and slept right under the stars right in the middle of the desert. What an experience that was! Will definitely cherish it for the rest of my life.