Colors of Rajasthan: Jodhpur | Jaisalmer

Living in Ahmedabad, Rajasthan has always been my go-to place for a weekend getaway. But since I had a long vacation, I planned to explore more of Rajasthan. So, we planned a 4-day itinerary to hit the road on Ahmadabad – Jodhpur – Jaisalmer – Ahmedabad route. We hired a Scorpio from Revv and decided to explore the ‘Blue City’ and the ‘Golden City’ of Rajasthan.

Distance from Ahmedabad to Jodhpur was a good 450 km and should have taken around 8 hours to reach our destination. Unlucky for us, we had a flat tire halfway through our journey and had to spend our time fixing it. We reached Jodhpur at around 6 pm and rest for the day. We decided to visit the Rawat Misthan Bhandar, one of the famous places for Kachoris and Indian snacks. We had booked our stay at Moustache, a backpacker hostel chain. The hostel was very well maintained and had a great ambiance.

We started our day by traveling up to the Mehrangarh Fort. The solid stone fort from the 1400s stands high up on the hill giving a splendid view from a distance while you travel towards it. We were welcomed by a small group of Rajasthani folk buskers right outside the fort. The fort houses several ‘mahals’ or palaces and some temples. There are beautiful intricate carvings over these majestic stone structures within the fort. The panoramic view of the ‘Blue City’ from the fort is one of the best parts of our visit. We also made a short visit to the Umaid Bhavan Palace. Although the entry inside the palace is not allowed for visitors, there is a museum that is accessible through tickets. We tried our hands on ‘Ghevar’, a traditional Rajasthani sweet, and decided to set out to our next stop.

We drove a distance of 280 km from Jodhpur to Jaisalmer in about 6 hours. The route had very less traffic and was scenic as we went through Pokhran and other small towns of Rajasthan. We had decided to stay in a desert camp that night. Most of the camps are located outside the main city of Jaisalmer. Our camp was in Sam, which was about 40 km from the main city. Most of these campsites have bonfires and traditional folk dance and music to entertain the guests. We enjoyed the local delicacy set up at our campsite. The nights can get very cold in December. So, we made our bonfire and enjoyed the weather amidst the sandy desert until 3 am.

Our last day in Jaisalmer was one filled with camp activities. We started with Camel Safari. We were taken around the dunes on camels and it was a little scary on the steep dunes. We were then taken on a Jeep Safari again to a larger desert. The driving was a little rash but intended to give us a thrill of the ride. There are plenty of fun activities available on these campsites including paintball, quad bikes but most of them would be charged exorbitantly high during peak seasons. We spent the afternoon on the site and moved back to the city in the evening.

We strolled around the Gadisar lake in the city for sunset and roamed the local markets. We went to the Jaisalmer fort after sunset. The fort is again situated on a hilltop like Jodhpur. Although we could not explore the insides of the fort, we had a glimpse of the night view of Jaisalmer from the top of the fort. We bought some souvenirs from the local market. There is a licensed ‘Bhang’ shop at the bottom of the fort and serve lassi, cookies, and cake to the customers.

While we could not explore more of the historical aspects of Jaisalmer, we were glad to have gotten a flavor of traditional Rajasthani culture and cuisine. We spent most of the next day driving back a distance of 540 km from Jaisalmer to Ahmedabad planning our next visits to explore more of Rajasthan.