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Lucky catch
This was a lucky frame - caught while leaving Udaipur, en route to Ranakpur. Don't miss the sleeping child! This was the realization of a long-overdue journey. For the longest time I'd wanted to visit Jaisalmer. When one thinks Jaisalmer, all that comes to mind is an endless expanse of sand. In reality it was, of course, much more. But nonetheless, the journey for me turned out to be one straight from the Arabian Nights.
The best way to experience such a picturesque place was to travel by road. There were four of us - my friend Ankan, his parents and me. Ankan and I flew to Ahmedabad, and drove to Udaipur, his home. Hence began the road trip.
Day 1 - Ranakpur, Manvar
Our first stop was Ranakpur, an exquisite Jain temple, 96km from Udaipur. It is hard to come to terms with the skill of stone carving one sees here. This is a regular feature of most Jain temples, as we would soon discover.
After lunch at the temple's mess, we drove onward toward Jodhpur. We crossed Pali and then took the Jodhpur bypass, skirting the city at around 2.00 pm. A common feature en route were the pink sandstone mines - the stone that gives Jodhpur city its
Ranakpur Temple
Ankan & I in front of the majestic temple. We didn't click any pictures of the stunning carvings inside the temple. colour. The summer sun was at its hottest and we could see the surroundings getting scarcer as we went along. There were times when we felt like we were the last 4 souls left on this hot earth! It really amazed us how people lived in such barren land.
Our stop for the day would be Manvar - a resort 130km ahead of Jodhpur. The thing about Manvar was that it sprang out of nowhere. If we hadn't been desperately looking for it, we would have driven right past. But it turned out to be such a pleasant stop. Having found a deep tubewell - a source of the most precious resource in these parts - they had developed a cozy lush green dwelling with mud finishing that created a calm soothing ambiance. It certainly was a good break from the sweltering heat outside. We reached Manvar at 3.30 pm. After relaxing for a while, we explored the place and then headed for the pool.
Day 2 - Jaisalmer: Sam Dunes
We left Manvar at 11.45 am the next day - destination Jaisalmer! It was a clear sunny day and we covered
Lady in Pink
A lady in a quiet corner - outside the temple the 120 km without incident. An obvious change as we got closer to Jaisalmer was the colour of the buildings. The city seemed to be turning yellow, in contrast to the very pink Jodhpur. This was due to the use of the yellow sandstone found in this area, as opposed to the pink variety of Jodhpur.
We reached Jaisalmer at 3.00 pm. We had booked a place called Heritage Inn. It was as deserted as Manvar had been - we had expected this due to the off-season. We headed straight for lunch in the hotel and then rested for an hour.
It was now time to head for the dunes!! The hotel informed us that we could reach the dunes in time to catch the sunset. These were the famous Sam dunes - a taste of the real desert. This is the point where the uninhabited Thar begins - about 25 km from the main city. We left the hotel at 5.30 pm and reached there to find a barrage of camel riders swarm around us - again a by product of the tourist scarcity. It was unnerving to be pulled from all sides towards different camels! But
Ranakpur Residents
These are a common sight it was finally settled and all four of us mounted our camels and set off! The little drivers were safely navigating from the back seats, of course.
It is difficult to describe this experience - being atop a mound of sand, surrounded on all sides by it, with a gentle breeze whistling by and the sun settling into its abode - this was why we were here. And as a cherry on the cake, some local musicians kept popping up to complete the experience.
We reluctantly left Sam as it grew dark and reached the hotel at 8.30 pm. The day wound up with dinner at the hotel and a stroll with a view of the mountains.
Day 3 - Jaisalmer: Fort
We had asked for a local guide through the hotel to take us through the fort and learn some history in the process. Guide in tow, we departed for the fort at 8.00 am. As I caught the first glimpses of the fort, I knew this was going to be something to write home about 😊.
Jaisalmer is the larger of only two forts where the population resides
Sandstone mines
Sparkling under the harsh sun within the fort to date. Although the city has grown outside the fort as well, a large chunk still lives, earns and prays within. One of the striking aspects of this gigantic structure was the lack of cement or any other binding agent. The large chunks of sandstone are held together by metal clamps. Now of course we see traces of cement wherever the portions have been renovated.
We walked through the fort, learning about the culture of its people, their customs, their festivals. Where the Raja addressed his public and where the Rani watched from. There were some exquisite temples inside - a lot of them Jain temples. The story goes that afraid of plundering by the Mughals, the Jains requested the king to allow them to move their temples inside the protective walls of the fort. They also constructed an underground tunnel from within one of their main temples so that they could carry the precious statues to a remote location called Ludrawa.
It was impossible to cover the entire fort so we satisfied ourselves with a small portion. We reached one of the highest points and, after catching a breathtaking view of the city outside
Mine child
A little worker on the stone mines the fort, headed back to our next destination - Patwon ki Haveli. Known for its exquisite architecture, this is the most famous residence in Jaisalmer. On reaching the haveli, I realized there would be no dearth of Wow moments in this land. The facade was mesmerizing. The haveli was built in 4 sections - one for each son of the rich merchant. Now 3 of these have been declared tourist destinations and opened to the public. It was a sad irony that the descendants of this rich merchants now live in extremely modest circumstances.
I was also excited about shopping here - having heard so much about their traditional handicraft. Our guide took us to a recognized government emporium run to benefit the widows in Jaisalmer. Some exquisite wall hangings and much lighter wallets later, we thought it was time for lunch.
Ludrawa and Amar Sagar were our next destinations. They were about 19 km from the city - en route to Sam dunes. These again were some fabulous examples of Jain temples, Ludrawa being the one connected to the fort through an underground tunnel. To finish off our rather long day, we spent some serene moments at
Manvar entrance
The sign we longed for... Bada Bagh, and some fun time boating at Ghadisar lake. Dinner was a quick affair at the hotel before we crashed for the night.
Day 4 - Ramdevra, Mt. Abu
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