Delhi -> Jaisalmer -> Udaipur -> Delhi

"Travel - It leaves you speechless, then turns you into a storyteller"

Trip  date - 21-25 dec 2017
Commute - Train, Bus, Car, Bike
Total Persons - 2

This was the instant trip as we decided to go to Rajasthan just 1 week back. we were just 2 friends and we planned to take a day off from office so that we would be having a total of 4 full days to travel around Rajasthan.

Firstly we checked the availability of tickets as we were planning to go via sleeper Volvo bus or train but finally we decided to book a tatkal train ticket for Thursday evening from Delhi to Jaisalmer and then the plan was to spend 2 days in Jaisalmer and thereafter leave Jaisalmer in Saturday evening for Udaipur by Volvo sleeper bus and then for Udaipur we planned for another 2 days and then we did board a train on Monday evening from Udaipur to Delhi so that we could easily attend our Tuesday office.

JAISALMER (22-23 dec)

The journey from Delhi to Jaisalmer was covered via train and it was fun to travel with your friend and obviously with a lot of Bakar. So Friday around 1 PM we reached to Jaisalmer railway station and we saw many travel agents approaching us to book a hotel, desert tent, and safari. As we had not booked anything in advance so we went with 1 travel agent and did some bargain about the sand dune tent and safari for a night.

By 5 PM we reached sand dune area via travel agent car and it was a beautiful landscape and also it was the first time we saw sand all around. This was the place where our camel ride started for another 3-4 km and I suggest to do camel race also by paying extra money that would be totally worth of. It takes around 45mins to reach the top of sand dunes and it was the sunset time so the view was amazing like we see in the movies. After spending 3 hours at sand dunes and clicking a lot of photos we went to our tent. We met a family(uncle and aunty) based in Canada and got familiar quickly and they were very fun loving persons. There were some activities organized near tent area. We were happy to see the bone fire with a Rajasthani traditional style dance program and snacks ( chai + pakoda ) in such a cold weather. After some time, the dinner was ready and that was too delicious in a typical Rajasthani style. After dinner, we went to our tent to sleep. Next day we had to wake up early in the morning 5 AM because at 6 AM our jeep ride was arranged. It is advisable to go for jeep ride early in the morning to get the astonishing view of sunrise. Jeep safari was an hour-long and after that, we returned back to Jaisalmer city by 11 AM.

Now it was the time for sightseeing in the Jaisalmer city so we hired an avenger bike and the plan was to have a bike trip from Jaisalmer city to tanoot mata ka mandir that was around 130km far followed by longewala checkpost that is the last check post to see at Ind-Pak border and it was around 80kms and then finally to Jaisalmer city. We were confused initially whether to go to mandir and checkpost or not but finally, we decided to go there and later on we realized it should be a must go road trip to enjoy the serenity when sand is all around. You will get a feeling like you are in an Arab country that you normally see in the movies. At 4 we returned to Jaisalmer city and there was nothing much in the city for sightseeing but we covered Jaisalmer Fort, Patwon ki Haveli, a lake in 2hrs and then we had the bus to catch @6 PM from Jaisalmer to Udaipur.

UDAIPUR (24-25 dec)

We boarded sleeper bus @6pm Saturday(23dec) from Jaisalmer that reached @6AM(24dec) to Udaipur. It was very cold in the morning and also we did not have the hotel booking. So we hired an auto and started searching a hotel. It was a Christmas eve so most hotels were so full up that after trying 7-8 hotels we finally got a hotel for 2 people. We got ready quickly and planned out the places for sightseeing. On Saturday, we decided to go to ShrinathJi temple followed by a fort but due to Padmavat movie, there was a protest going on in Chittorgarh so we decided to go to Kumbhalgarh fort. We quickly hired a scooty and started our road trip to ShrinathJi temple that was around 50km. As Udaipur is situated on hills so the weather was a little bit colder that’s why we were not feeling hot in 33°C. It took us around 2hr to reach ShrinathJi temple. We were dazzled to see the crowd standing in queues waiting for darshan of lord ShrinathJi that it took us around 2hr to get the darshan. Then @3PM, we started heading to the Kumbhalgarh fort. We did not know the route so we were completely relying on google map but at many times we did not get the network so we took the help from localites. The route was so perplexed and looked like the remote villages where we hardly found anyone but it was a daytime so it was easy for us to get the route. There were no shops for food and finally after 2hrs we got the local village shop of samosa and bread pakora. We reached Kumbhalgarh fort @6PM after 3 hrs of long journey. It was a very happy moment for us as we thought many a time to return back to Udaipur during the journey. So now the plan was to see the fort in an hour as we have to leave for Udaipur on the same day and also the route was not safe(remote villages). So we took the tickets and started exploring the fort. The fort was huge and it can be said that it is India’s great wall of China. It was very tough to explore each and every corner of the fort in an hour but after covering a tough journey we were determined to explore the fort narrowly so we did it and also clicked a lot of photos.

Now at 7.30PM, it was completely dark so it was a tough decision to return back to Udaipur but as our hotel already booked in Udaipur and also all the hotels were full around Kumbhalgarh fort due to a huge crowd. Now we started moving to Udaipur and next 2 hours was like a thriller movie. The roads were secluded and it was completely dark without street lights so we were managing via scooty headlight. We were driving as per google map but the weather was cold and turbulent and since we were wearing half sweaters so it was causing us to shiver as well. I was driving and the only thing I wished not to have a puncture this night otherwise it would have added to a perplexed situation. Whenever any vehicle followed or overtook us, we used to tremble with fear of not getting looted or kidnapped. It was a narrow road with the mountain at one side and valley at other and we were seeing the sky that was full of stars. After 2 hours we somehow covered the NH-27 highway and got the main road where running traffic was there. We went to our hotel after having a relaxing and delicious dinner at a lakeside lounge. Next day we woke up early in the morning @6 and we planned for sightseeing the places, we had already noted down. The first place was city palace and it was 25th dec so as expected the crowd was huge so we reached early @9AM at city palace. The city palace is situated at lake pichola and it was too beautiful and worth visiting. Then we went to the Jagdish temple that was as beautiful as we expected followed by rajasthani breakfast, daal-baati with chaaz and headed to our next place Sajjangarh fort. The fort was opposite to our expectation so we covered it quickly. The next place was Sahelian ki bari and that was also not as good as we expected. Meantime on the way we tasted the local chaat and famous matka-kulfi that was too mouth-watering. We spent some time at Fatehsagar lake, clicked photos and enjoyed the pristine lake view. It was 4 PM and we had our returning train at 6.30PM so we quickly finished our lunch, returned the scooty, checked out the hotel and headed to the railway station. We packed our dinner from IRCTC shop at the railway station from where we had to board our train. Next morning 26dec @6AM, we reached Delhi and as expected the weather was very cold. Finally, we took our taxi’s and went to our home and ended the trip successfully.

It was one of the best trip of my life and we clicked around 1000 pics in 4 days trip.