Jaishalmer

 Though i had seen many parts of India i haven't been to Gujarat ,Rajasthan and madhya pradesh and interiors of Maharashtra

After our three days in Ahmadabad which we enjoyed we were off to Rajasthan

We planned three days in Jaishalmer ,two in jodphur and two more in Udaipur ,we had a day free which we would go to Mount Abu .

as you can see from the map Ahmadabad was south of Jaisalmer which was near the Pakistani border almost ,it was around 536 km away and we went by an overnight train .

We had a booking in Mahindra resorts in Jaisalmer which we found was nowhere near the town on our inquiry ,we knew checking in there and coming back for sight seeing would be a costly affair as we would needed to depend on resort cabs which are generally priced more .

So we did some online search and found a

father son duo running a family enterprise established in 1987 named Adventure travel agency .

Their office is near Jaisalmer fort first gate .

They are ranked no one in Trip advisor and recognized by Dept of tourism Rajasthan .

Fathers name is Indar ujjwal and sons name Vikram ujjwal .

Phone no 00912992252558

info@adventurecamels.com

Website ..www.adventurecamels.com

We explained our plans and asked him to advise best way to see jaisalmer in 3 days ,Inder told us the main sight seeing was around fort very close to the Railway station ,it had inside several houses and havelis and then here was a lake ,then the most important sight would be a trip into desert ,he told us his jeep will pick us take us to his office near fort where we keep luggage see the fort have our lunch and his jeep would drop us in resort after seeing lake and the next day by evening his jeep would take us to a desert safari in a desert camp he owned and return by night and a price was fixed it all went like clock work

The fort itself was in an altitude with very narrow streets huge havelis or heritage houses and ornamental balconies the kings palace which was huge and gave a wonderful view fro top reached by a lift ,there were lot of jain temples inside too ,after coming from fort we went to a very famous hotel for our lunch and then were driven to the resort after seeing Jaisalmer lake

next day we went to the

The deserts of Rejisthan .

The diversity thats India is waiting to be explored .

Off the distant outpost a 100 km from Pakistan border and near Pokhran where our atom bombs burst ,with freezing winters, fuming summers ,amazing sunsets,and shrub ridden sand dunes .

The desert safari is a very common outing from Jaishalmer .

once famously known for its being in the silk route but once Pakistan was formed the border effectively cut off the land route .

It became just a lonely desert outpost .

the jeep and driver Devi singh recounted us with tales we went around 50 km away through a self contained village with its own school and electric connection ,Rajasthan was not at all a backward state but a reasonably prosperous state culturally and artistically inclined hospitable people

Devi sing took us till we reached the camp from where we climbed into a camel each ,we were told the names of the camels were Al

pacino and mackennas gold ! it was a happy ride in the evening into the sand dunes through the shrubs and we waited in the sands to watch the sunset ,after getting back into the camp we sat around a fire to listen to folk music and dance eating rich Rajasthani food ,we too took part in the dancing ,we were then dropped back into our resort

Later they allow you to ride a camel each for one hour into sand dunes to watch desert sunset .

They drive you back to resort, for music dance ,drinks if one wants ,and return you to your hotel .

Every single thing they promised they delivered .

Private exclusive tour

Excellent drivers and camels

Sunset in real dunes far into desert

Delicious veg food

Music dance to a small crowd

Drop back

We were picked up in jaisalmer station in afternoon on Saturday taken to adventure office .

We kept our bags there went into fort an 800 year old one still alive with more than 2000 people living in it

We went around had late lunch in a famous restaurant Thakurjees .

Later we went patwon ki haveli a very old house of a very rich family and also a famous lake .

It was in eighties that Indar with his world wide travelling experience started a desert resort .

Today his son Vikram is an efficient partner and like most in Rajasthan live happily as a joint family with Indars brothers etc .

We were dropped into mahindra resorts later in evening .

Next day we were picked up by Devi singh in his jeep at 3.30 pm for desert safari .

Devi singh gave us a lot of insights into Rajasthani life specially in villages .

He told us of the changes that had happened .

How even far flung villages had piped water and almost 95 %had electricity .

Most or all had primary schools in their village with high schools quite close.

Most girls too studied these days as TV brought to them life and luxuries after education .

But they loved their culture of joint families ,simple nourishing food ,respect to elders and weak,village rules,festivals etc

They would vote with great common sense these days for center for Modi as they know he brought development to their far flung villages

To state they would vote those who did good mostly not the one ruling center

Though BJP had both center and state they rejected Vasundhroa scindia who did nothing and elected congress with Asokh gehlot s CM though with a strong opposition by BJP .

And we in south think most of north India has uneducated masses whose votes are casteist and communal

Actually its more fitting to states like Kerala which preens itself as an educated state with evolved voters .

What a misconception .

People here are not at all rolling in poverty

They are happy cheerful and delighted with thier way of life .

After a long camel ride on Al pacino my camel and Michael jackson premilas we sat on the sand dunes waiting for the sun to set.

A hot chai given to us invigorated us

It was cool and breezy .

We went back by jeep to desert resort for excellent music dance and food and returned to mahindra by 10 pm .

Anyone going to Jaishalmer and i feel all should please use the services of this travel firm .

You will not regret it