Solo Trip (Rajasthan - Jaisalmer)

This is part of my solo trip series on Rajasthan. I am yet to complete rest of the series and still not happy with the completion of this entry too, so will keep on updating until I am happy with the output 😀. Please bear with me😆😁.

My trip to Jaisalmer was after my Jodhpur trip. I had booked a sleeper ticket in "Ranikhet Express" via IRCTC site. Train was late by 1 hour and I reached around midnight. 

Jaisalmer was my dream location after I saw the movie Nanhe Jaisalmer. Jaisalmer is known as the Golden city of India due to its yellow sandstone buildings which really shines like Gold in the sun.

Dormitory : Hotel Tokyo Palace

My stay was booked at Hotel Tokyo Palace dormitory for 350/- per day with free WiFi along with a free pickup from Railway station. The hotel guy picked me up though he was not happy as my train was late. The hotel is close by around 10 mts by car.  It's very beautiful building. 

I had booked my desert safari with Tokyo Palace online but they increased the charges without any intimation so I had to cancel. When I reached the hotel, they were ready to give me the safari at the lowest rate as few Japanese people were already going on trip and they had vacant seats. But then I had booked my safari with Dilbar so decided not to go ahead with these guys. The only difference with Tokyo Palace arranged safari is the tent facility (that means toilet availability) and cultural programs but no night stay at desert and no camel ride. 

Bathroom was common for Men's and Women's dormitory. Beds were arranged well but not so clean bed-sheets. My expectations were low as I just wanted to sleep at night. I was too tired to even think so happily slept off in minutes.

I woke up early, had my bath. The tap gives only hot water (faulty tap) so I had to take bath in burning hot water. Check out timing is 10 AM. So I kept my luggage in the reception, checked out and went for my outing. 

Dilbar was to pick me up from hotel around 2.00 PM for my safari. To utilize my time till then, I decided to walk to fort, thanks to Google map. Google map was my companion throughout my solo trip as walking was the medium I used throughout my trip. 

On the way to fort, I saw a couple selling hot Aloo paratha (Sunrise Paratha House). It was 40/- and you get 2 tasty garam Aloo Paratha's which will fill your tummy for a day. I had my share of comforting paratha's from there for the duration I stayed at Jaisalmer. 

Jaisalmer Fort

Jaisalmer fort is at a slight elevation and on the way you will find a lot of Rajasthani folk singers, ladies selling jewelry, shops selling embroidery work bed-sheets, cushion covers and leather goods. This is one of the living forts in the world and only one in India, as nearly one fourth of the population still resides within the fort.

Built in 1156 AD by Rawal Jaisal, Jaisalmer means "the Hill Fort of Jaisal". The hill on which Jaisalmer’s fort complex is built is named Meru Hill, and fort was named as Trikooth Garh. Before the British came, Jaisalmer was a part of the Silk Route and an important stop-point for the travelers and merchants. 

It's also known as the Golden Fort/Sonar Qila as it glows like gold in the morning and evening sunlight. Fort looks amazing with its Rajput and Islamic architecture. Please make sure you go to the sunset point on the top to have an amazing view of Jaisalmer. 

Jaisalmer Fort is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Jaisalmer is called the “Golden City of India” because the yellow sand and the yellow sandstone used in the architecture of the city gives a yellowish-golden tinge to the city and its surrounding area.

Jaisalmer Fort - Pols (Gate)

In order to enter the fort, there are four pols - Ganesh Pol, Akshay Pol, Suraj Pol, and Hawa Pol. There are various carvings to make each gate different from each other. The Suraj Pol or Sun Gate has the carvings of Sun. Hawa Pol or Wind Gate is plain and have the courtyards surrounding it get the flow of air.

Fort is also in serious threat of damage by ground erosion due to which the World Monument Fund has listed it in the 100 Most Endangered Sites list. The inadequately planned drainage system causes water to seep back into the soil behind the fort causing severe damage to the foundations.

The window designs in concrete, wood or metal is really amazing. You can spend almost half day's time enjoying them. 

Hand-painted interiors are the other attraction. Shades and designs are really colorful and shows the lifestyle of the people from that era. Gold shade is used throughout and gives a grant look and feel.

Walk through the side roads to see the architecture of buildings, there are 7 Jain temples (there is a fee if you have to take pics- but I didn't take the coupon though I took some pics), lots of Rajasthani souvenirs- wooden items (Rajasthani complete set of musicians was costing about 650/-), tiles, plates, fossil stone pyramids (famous at Jaisalmer)@40/- onwards, metal items, embroidered bags and silver jewelry. Walking through the gali's gives you a good vibe and a feel of the place. 

Jaisalmer Fort - Jain Temples

There are seven Jain temples which were built in around 12th century. In the temples, there are carvings made up of yellow sandstone. The temple is opened for the tourists till 12:00pm. Each temple is dedicated to different Jain Tirthankara whose names are Parsvanath, Sambhavanath, Chandraprabhu, Rishabhadeva, Shitalnath, Shantinath, and Kunthanath. 

King Jaisal had lands but not wealthy. Jains (mainly Patwa family) were wealthy due to flourishing trade along Silk route. They wanted king to protect their temples from invasion so they agreed to finance King's fort if he agrees to have their temples inside Jaisalmer fort. King Jaisal agreed to their deal and this explains the Jain temples inside the fort.

The temples have around 6000 statues which were donated by Jains when they had to move out of Jaisalmer in search of jobs, when the business went down (Silk trade route was shut down when Pakistan was formed in 1947 - borders were closed).

There was a huge rush in entering the temples but its still worth spending time enjoying the architecture marvel.

Salam Singh Ka Haveli (Moti Mahal)

This was built by Salim Singh, who was then Prime Minister of Jaisalmer. I went inside paying a nominal fee, nothing much to see, only the top wind cooling type balcony (Peacock shaped roof with 38 windows) is the main attraction and I couldn't figure out the best way to see it from inside the building and there are still people staying in one part of this haveli. An elephant statue at the entrance means it’s a royal family building. I also met a man selling antique's in one part of the haveli, looked like a permanent shop setup. The man who was guiding was not friendly as well.

After roaming around, I came out through another route to the famous and oldest traditional Sweets & Namkeen shop - Dhanraj Ranmal Bhatia. I asked the guy to give me sample of what they are famous for and he gave me Ghotua ladoo (made of Gram Flour) and Panchadhari ladoo (made of Wheat flour). They were yummy.

 Guys, get a pack of these as I got to know later that people come from far away places just to buy this. I even got to taste these from another couple in the railway waiting room and they were talking about these laddus as though it was a big struggle to get 😃.

Camel Desert Safari & Overnight Stay

I had booked my Desert Safari and night stay at desert with Dilbar Jaisalmer (Backpacker Safari Day Tours) for 1500/-. If you stay at his hostel, you will get stay free as he charges 1500/- inclusive of stay. I was not aware of the same. I got his information from Backpackers group. He is the one whom everyone is happy with- be it Indians or foreigners. So contacted him via FB and booked it vocally. Payment was to be given when I met him in direct. 

I walked back to my hotel and called up Dilbar and in minutes, his brother came and picked me up in a bike. Dilbar's hostel (Cazza Backpackers Hostel) was near fort but in other direction and you even get a view of the fort from the roof top. I had to wait there for 2 hrs. for the pickup vehicle to arrive. There was a couple from Tamilnadu and another guy who mentioned himself as a traveler and not belonging to any location. We boarded into vehicle and almost 45 mts, was dropped at a location, from where we had to start Camel safari. 

Camel safari was for another 45 mts, it was tough to get on the camel and even sitting on it was uncomfortable but then it's a lifetime experience. Two guys who were navigating the camels came with us. We went through deserted areas and then slowly we could see the dunes. We had reached our location- Sam sand dunes, where we will stay the entire night in open air, gazing at the stars. They had kept the coats, beds and blankets ready. We walked around enjoying sunset, enjoying the beauty of the dune and I even had video call with my mom and kids to show them the beauty of sunset and the desert. 

We had tea and biscuits and it was getting cold, we put on all our woolens, covered our head and I settled down on my coat while others went away roaming around. I forgot my socks so covered myself in the blanket they gave. I was the happiest soul that day. Never ever in my life, I imagined myself in a desert and sleeping in open air, gazing at the stars. It was a dream come true. My thoughts wandered a lot, it was tough to control when you are amidst the beauty. I somehow always felt emotional at such moments. 

We were called for dinner, they made Chapati, Rice and potato curry. It was good enough. I didn't eat much fearing about the morning ritual next day as there is no option to go out in the open as there are not much hidden places around. (Thank god, I didn't feel any uneasiness till I got back to the hostel.)

Now sleeping time, looking at the stars. It was too cold. Even with all the woolens, shawl and blanket, I was shivering. I put my head also inside the blanket and was peeping in at stars in-between too. Donno when I slept. But woke up around 5.30 am, sun was about to rise, around 6 am, I called up rest of the guys as it was an amazing time to have beautiful photos. We did click a lot of pics. By 7 am, they provided us tea, bread and Jam. Once we finished, we started back to the location where we were dropped.

The return was cool and super exciting as one guy was sitting behind me, on the same camel and was controlling one camel from behind. We had 4 camels, so other guy did the same too. Then came the interesting part, Camel's were running this time, I felt like a Princess sitting on a horse, I was almost jumping up and down, but made sure that I never left my hand. At first, it was terrifying experience but then it became so exciting that I wanted the camel to run throughout. Guys, never miss this experience. You will love it 💓. When we reached the location, the vehicle was waiting for us. This time Dilabar's brother- Arman had come. 

On the way back, we talked to the driver and arranged to have a drive through Khuldhara- the abandoned/ghost village. We had to pay 100/- per head and the vehicle entry charge. But it was worth the visit. 

Kuldhara was an ancient village of Paliwal Brahmins who migrated from Pali. They build around 84 villages in Kuldhara but had to abandon them. It seems prime minister of the Jaisalmer court, Salem Singh wanted to marry village headman’s daughter against her will and the villagers fled their homes overnight to uphold their honor. After this incident, none stayed here as the place is believed to be cursed. After 6, they believe that ghosts roam around in the whole village 🤪.

Only one house had roofing and it was with wooden logs as u can see in the pic. Mud was used to hold the rocks together while constructing houses. Now it’s deserted with rocks here and there. But if you are coming to the sand dunes side, do visit this village. It's even covered in Lonely Planet site.

Now we are back to the hostel and Arman dropped me back to Hotel Tokyo Palace around 11.00 am. My stay for that day was booked there. Check in was around 12 pm but they allowed me to check in early. Management is really horrible but there was this guy- Sakhi Khan who was the helper and was good.  I took bath, did all morning rituals and went out after keeping my bag outside in the reception as I was not sure whether I will reach before check out time. This time I walked in another direction and met an Auto guy on the way. I wanted to go to Bada Bagh and knew that it was far away from city. This guy told he will take me there along with War Museum and Amar Sagar Village - Jain temple and back and would take around 900/-. These guys demand a lot of money as they know that there is no other option available once you go out of city. We finalized for 600/-. Issues of being a solo traveler is you don't have anyone to share the expenses. 

Jaisalmer War Museum

We started our journey. He was showing me each and every building on the road as if I can't even read boards. It was funny but then I acted as if he is helping me with his talks. First was war memorial and on the way you see all these army centers, really amazing entry gates and the entire road is empty. If anything happens, none will even know. But the guys whom I met in my journey were all nice. We enter war memorial, my auto guy gets entry free as my guide. I had to make a minimal payment and show my Aadhar card. This was a nice complex maintained by Army. You have display items

The Jaisalmer War Museum was conceived by Lieutenant General Bobby Mathews, Desert Corps and constructed by the Desert Corps of the Indian Army, with a view to showcase India's military history and war time experiences. Jaisalmer district was chosen for its rich martial traditions and for being witness to numerous battles including the famous Battle of Laungewala in 1971. They have a small documentary show showcasing all important events and also a souvenir shop too. 

Buy Fossil stone and the yellow stone cups from here as they are nominal priced. Yellow stone bowls (starts from 350/-) can be used to make curd - we can put milk one day and next day it would have turned into thick curd. It seems it has that chemical properties as well as absorbing powers to absorb more water. Fossil stone cups (starts around 250/-) are useful for treating diabetics and pressure. Keep water for a night in the cup and next day you have to drink it, if you repeat this for a month, your diabetics  and pressure would have got cured to a good extend. How far we can believe this is not sure, but it's always best to carry some souvenirs of the place.  They did have many quick dry type T-Shirt, caps, key-chains, flasks and jackets. Quality was good as well. So try to pick up these stone wares at good rates from here.

Amar Sagar Jain Temple

Now we move towards Amar Sagar Jain temple, it's a very beautiful Jain temple in the Amar Sagar Village. On the way, you can see all lovely ladies in the traditional Rajasthani colorful attires. Kids flying kites all around. When we enter the temple, we see few guys sitting in the front with the musical instruments, they play them and allow us to take pics or videos and is happy when we give them some money. It was interesting to watch them play. 

Located adjacent to the famous Amar Sagar Lake, dedicated to Lord Parshwanath, called Adeshwar Nath Jain temple. It's is one of the oldest structures situated in Luderwa, Jaisalmer, Rajasthan. Luderwa, was once the capital city of Jaisalmer. It was built by Patwa Bafna Himmat Ram in 1928. Amar Sagar once was a water reservoir but now it is dry. It is just about 5-6 km from city limit.

There was none inside when we entered. Poojari also came in that time and he asked me to do Pooja/Aarti while he was chanting mantra in the background. Amazing experience!!! It seems we are lucky to get such chances. The temple is a beauty in itself. We spend time clicking pics and finally decided to move on to Bada Bagh- our final destination.

Bada Bagh

Bada Bagh (Big Garden) is a garden ,6 km from Jaisalmer city limits. You can find royal cenotaphs (memorial) of Bhati dynasty of Jaisalmer -rulers of Jaisalmer state, queens, princes and other royal family members and is carved in sand stone. Each ruler’s cenotaphs has a marble slab, with inscriptions about the ruler and an image of a man on a horse.

Story says that a descendant of Maharawal Jaisal Singh (the founder of the state and Maharaja of Jaisalmer State), Jai Singh II, commissioned a dam(Jait Bandh) to fill the water tank (Jait Sar) during his reign. This made the desert green in this area. After his death, his son Lunkaran built a beautiful garden next to the lake and a chhatri (Hindi for cenotaph) for his father on a hill next to the lake. Later on, many more cenotaphs were constructed here for Lunkaran and others. The last chhatri, meant for Maharaja Jawahar Singh, dates from the 20th century and remains unfinished. An earthen pot with water and the portrait of the ruler is placed in this cenotaph. This seems to indicate that the thirsty soul of the departed, being quenched with the water from the pot! His son died within one year of accession to the throne, which was considered as a bad omen. India got Independence in the same period and the princely state of Jaisalmer was merged into the Republic of India. These things contributed to the decision, to abandon the construction of Maharaja Jawahar Singh’s tomb.

The entire structure is on top of a hill and very beautiful. It's an amazing location for photography too. You can have a relaxed time sitting and enjoying the beauty as well as the place is not that crowded.

We were back to city and I asked him to stop near a place where I can get Dal Bati Churma and he stopped near a Brahmin Bhojanalay ( he is a Brahmin). He ordered for simple rice, dal and chapathi and at the same time helped me to break the Bati and helped me to mix all. Such a nice guy. The hotel guys didn't charge for his food as I was the only women who came to their place to have food, all because of him 😀. Now I went back to my hotel and took my bag and went to Dilbar's Cazza Backpackers Hostel. 

Dormitory : Cazza Backpacker's Hostel

Here lies the background story. I had booked in HosteLavie for a night but then I received a call from them the day before mentioning about some drainage issue at their site due to which they are cancelling my booking. I checked everywhere for an accommodation but all were coming expensive and these guys mentioned it at last moment. Then I remembered Dilbar, called him up, within no time he told me to come. This is how I guess networking helps, I was not sure how I would have tackled the situation if he was not there to help me out. Dilbar's hostel was good but rest rooms are less and is inside the rooms. Rooms are given to families or groups. Once they close rooms, you can't use rest rooms. One rest room was there on roof top but it was not that good. Except this, it's at perfect location, very nice host, whoever comes there speaks of only travel. Dilbar himself is a backpacker. The way they treat girls/ladies are appreciable. Very well mannered people. I had a good time talking to his brother Armaan too, nice guys.

After checking in to Cazza hostel, I kept my bags and went to see Gadisor Lake. Its again walk-able distance, there is a Desert Cultural Center opposite to Gadisor lake where they have traditional puppet show at 6.30 pm and 7.30 pm. My plan was to go and watch the show at 6.30 pm and till then was planning to sit around and enjoy the beauty of Gadisor lake.

Gadisor Lake

The Gadisor Lake was constructed by Raja Rawal Jaisal, the first ruler of Jaisalmer and later reconstructed by Maharawal Gadsi Singh in the year 1367 AD. It was the only source of water for the Jaisalmer city in the olden days, a man-made reservoir. They do have boating facilities as well. The way to lake is lined with shops selling all types of souvenir's. You can even find lots of jewelry too.

Boating area is overcrowded by people. I bought some Jhalmuri (Jhalmuri is a street snack originating from Bengal, made of puffed rice and an assortment of spices, vegetables, and chanachur or bhujia.), went and sat at the farther most corner facing the lake. Sun was at its peak and lake was looking very beautiful. The area was overcrowded so I couldn't take more pics and even I didn't even feel like going around. While lost in thoughts, I came across my dorm mate, she is from Brussels and we kept on bumping into each other so decided to take a selfie .  .I taught her basic words in Hindi, then gave ideas on food items to try and in turn she told me about her travel experiences. I guess we Indians are not that great with travelling even if we get some holidays though travelling is picking up slowly. These people travel for months together. Imagine the experiences that they achieve through it. I am sure that's only needed to live our life. I am loving my solo trip and hope that it never ends.

okay back to Gadisor lake, I would recommend you to go in the early morning around 7 am as the place seems to be empty and you get a good chance to meet folk singers who do sing for you. My friend got a chance to even make him sing a song in her name. If you hate crowds, go in the morning. Now it's time for me to go for puppet show.

Traditional Puppet Show at Desert Cultural Center

Must visit for puppet show and also for the museum. Run by NK Sharma,  retired teacher has set this up and the fee collected goes towards supporting the artists and the center. They have shows at different timings and I went for 6.30 PM show. Puppet show is accompanied by Rajasthani famous folk songs performed by locals in the local attire. Katputali or String puppets are used throughout the show and is enjoyable for both adults or children.

Shades of Jaisalmer

Rajasthan is a state of colors, it reflects everywhere. Never miss a chance to walk around without any plans. 

Jaisalmer Railway Station

Jaisalmer railway station also has lot many paintings depicting the village life. Don't miss them.

Musical Instruments

Along with the colors, traditions, Rajasthan is also famous for its traditional musical instruments. I have jotted down information on whichever instruments I saw and the music they make is just a class apart. Few of them will be singing along while playing the instruments.

Ravanahatha is an ancestor of Violin. According to legend, Ravana used the Ravanahatha in his devotions to the Hindu God Shiva. I met guys playing these on the road near the shopping areas or infront of forts.

The Manganiyars (Muslim Musiccians) played the Kamaicha to entertain the royals and were musicians at the Rajput courts. You can see one guy playing this inside the fort entrance.

Morsing is an instrument mainly used in Rajasthan, for Carnatic music. I saw this being played by an old man sitting in front of Amar Sagar temple.

Khartal is an ancient instrument in the form of a wooden clapper, used in devotional / folk songs. It has derived its name from Sanskrit words ‘kara’ meaning hand and ‘tala’ meaning clapping. You see Khartal being used in puppet shows.

What I Missed

• Bhang is legal in Jaisalmer which can be bought from the official government-sanctioned bhang shop near the main entrance to the Jaisalmer Fort. You will get Bhang in biscuit form as well. I did miss this as I was not aware.
• Tanot Mata Temple has an amazing tale that Tanot Mata didn't let Pakistani bomb explode. It seems more than 3000 bombs were dropped. We can also see these bombs in the Museum built by BSF inside the temple premises.
• Located near the Tanot Mata Temple, the Indo-Pak border is among the most sought-after tourist attractions in Jaisalmer. Travelers can extend their desert safari and visit the Indo-Pak border area with prior permission and permit passes from the Indian Military.

#Travel Diary, #Rajasthan, #Jaisalmer, #solotrip, #solo, #trips