Jaisalmer, also called “the golden city” lies in the west of the desert state of Rajasthan. Betweeen Jaisalmer and the ca. 50km far away Pakistan border lies the Thar Desert.
Jaisalmer
Getting to Jaisalmer from Mumbai
After a 2h flight from Mumbai to Jodhpur, I still needed to figure out how to get to the 280km far away Jaisalmer. The next bus would only go in 3 hours, and take about 8. So I opted for the easy but slightly costly option: after some bargaining, a taxi drove me there for about 4500 INR (a lot compared to other Indian standards, but hey, driving 6 hours for about 50€… sounds okay in my european ears). Still it felt a little like cheating and I swore I would finally delve into the confusing world of booking trains in India to avoid further situations like this 😉
Jaisalmer
As soon as I arrived in Jaisalmer I was completely amazed. I knew within minutes that I would like this place more than any other I had seen so far in India, and this proved to by right. Jaisalmer’s cultural heritage feels much more like pure India than the south where you can see the heritage of the colonial times in every corner. The city is dominated by its impressive fort. Inside the fort you find a lot of shops and restaurants, but also homestays, guest houses and people actually living there. I found the best place, for about 300 INR (yes, 3,50 € !) a night inside the fort. The host helped me to join a desert safari for my 2nd night in Jaisalmer, and pointed out all the other not-to-be-missed bits about Jaisalmer. The Jain temple inside the fort is really impressive as aere the views over the city from the former canon points.
Jaisalmer is definitly worth spending two nights, one for a desert safari, and one for strolling through the cozy streets when the big rush of daytime tourists has disappeared…
Desert Safari
There are different types of safaries, you can join the more luxurious ones for about 7000 INR. I can only tell, what I heard, but apparently the facilities here are quite good, they offer lots of fun activites like drifting over the dunes with desert buggies and, accordinng to what my host tells, there are “a lot” of people.
I opted for the “non-touristic” variant (funny way to sell it, just because our group was smaller doesn’t make us less of tourists…). We were quite an international group, a couple from the UK and three solo travalers from Japan, Taiwan and myself from Luxembourg. After about 90 minutes in a Jeep bringing us inside the desert we rode camels deeper inside, away from any sign of civilization until we reached our camp, This did not offer much more than a place for cooking (where a delicious meal was prepared for us) and a place for sleeping. It was a nice and quiet experience, the group bonded well and we enjoined gazing at the starry night sky.
The next morning breakfast was prepared for us and we returned the same way we came, to be back in Jaisalmer around 11 am.
Our joyfull desert gang
Finally, after Jasialmer, and with help of my new friend Wu from Taiwan, I managed to book a train. I had to return to Jodhpur (the same place i took a 6h taxi from earlier) and did so in a comfortable 2nd class sleeper wagon. This was so superior compared to the bumby bus rides in every possible way! I feel like I finally see through what apps to use and which onces to avoid for both buses and trains – stay tuned for a comprehensive guide coming soon!
And now time to admire the wonderful Jaisalmer :
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