Jodhpur Jaisalmer

As I am in the last year of graduation, this was my last Industrial Visit. So all of us were very excited and wanted to make the most of our last college trip together. We were going to Rajasthan: Jodhpur and Jaisalmer, which are both great places and I had been wanting to go to Jaisalmer since a long time. So at 12 noon sharp we assembled at Bandra Terminus to embark our journey...our last one together...We took the Suryanagri Express to Jodhpur and had loads of fun enroute.

Early next morning we reached Jodhpur around 7 am to find our bus waiting for us. The bus transferred us to our hotel, Mapple Abhay where we had breakfast and checked into our rooms. After freshning up, we set forth to Jaswant Thada which is the traditional cremation ground of the Jodhpur rulers and the memorial of Maharaja Jaswant Singh. From Jaswant Thada one can see a magnificent view of the blue city with the Mehrangarh Fort and Umaid Bhavan Palace standing out.





Next we visited the neighboring Mehrangarh Fort, which is the third largest fort in Rajasthan after Chittorgarh and Jaisalmer Fort. The fort was founded by Rao Jodha in 1459 and is very well mantained. It houses the Moti Mahal, Phool Mahal, courtyards and various galleries displaying palanquins, armoury, paintings and artifacts belonging to the historic era.






The next day post breakfast we left for Jaisalmer, the golden city. It was a 6 hour long journey through small towns and villages, sand and dunes. I had never seen sand dunes ever in my life and was elated when I spotted the first one!! Finally we reached our hotel, Thar Vilas and checked in after lunch. It was a beautiful property located in the midst of nowhere, surrounded by the Thar desert on all sides. The view from the hotel terrace was beautiful, only sand and dunes as far as one could see. It was very windy and some courageous people braved to enter the freezing pool for an afternoon swim. In the evening there was traditional Rajasthani song and dance and puppet show followed by dinner and a kind of ghostly encounter!!










The next morning we went for Jaisalmer sight seeing starting with the Jaisalmer Fort, which is the second largest fort in Rajasthan. Even today one fourth of the population of the old city resides within the fort. The fort also houses a Jain temple with Dilwara-style carvings, an old cannon and a view point from where one can see a panoramic view of the city. The fort is a great place to shop with small shops lined in the by-lanes selling clothes, artifacts, ethnic jewelery and a lot more. Next we visited the Patwon ki Haveli which is one of the elaborate and fascinating mansions in jaisalmer. After lunch we visited the gadi Sagar Lake which was the only source of water in Jaisalmer city in the olden days.

Later we went to Sam for the desert safari, which was a camel ride to the dunes. This was the first time I had been in sand dunes ever and made the most of it by clicking a lot of pictures as the sun set. That night we were camping in the desert, living in tents. The tents were comfortable with a bathroom equipped with modern amenities. At night there was bonfire and a traditional song and dance performance.

The next morning we left for Jodhpur and went for our Industrial Visit, the sole purpose of this trip!! We visited the Rajasthan Patrika office, a prominent newspaper in Rajasthan. Where we learnt what goes behind the publishing of a daily. At night a dance party was arranged for us as it was our last night in Rajasthan.




The next morning we went to Umaid Bhavan Palace which is one of the biggest private residences in the world. A part of it is now converted into a luxury hotel managed by the Taj group of hotels. The palace houses a museum displaying pictures, arms, swords and other artifacts of Jodhpur's royal heritage. Later we went to shop at the local market where one can shop for the local goods and ariifacts. There is also a flea market near the Clock Tower where one can get a good deal on local products. After shopping we boarded our train to Mumbai with a heavy heart and fond memories of the trip....our last trip together!!