 Credit: iStock |
01 Grandeur be thy name – Jaisalmer
A super special trip or shall I say a “Golden Trip”? The maiden travel, post the COVID era, needed to be grand and not the cliche Goa beaches that kept popping up on my feed across social media. The city is truly known to be the Golden City – literally because the stones used in construction are yellow golden, but also figuratively because the people of this nimble and gorgeous city – have a heart of pure gold – a class apart! This may be exceptionally true for this city even though the feel of it is in the whole of Rajasthan, Khamma Ghani!
 Credit: iStock |
02 Jaisalmer Fort Palace & Temple
Sonar Quila – the Golden Fort is the most scenic and the only inhabited fort in the world that is found right at the heart of this beautiful city, so not only does one have the option of putting up inside the fort and feel like a priceless part of a great historical era, or look for stay options overlooking the fort with mesmerizing views. I chose the latter and couldn’t be happier with the decision as I could soak in the grandeur any time of the day and night, also being stone’s throw away from the fort, could walk across umpteem times and experience best of both world feel – as personally, I need open spaces against the tiny narrow fort lanes during my travels but for the ones planning a trip to Jaisalmer, there is an array of great stay options for inside the fort as well. The other unique attraction inside the fort was the historic and ancient Jain Temple which was made more than 500 years ago and took 16 years to conclude. The manner in which they managed to restore and keep the sanctity intact is a treat to the eyes. The fort palace is also a tourist delight though I used that time to savour my taste buds to great local cuisine at a bunch of boutique cafes with mesmerizing city views.
 Photo courtesy: Nami Luthra |
03 Bada Bagh & Vyas Chhatri
This being one of the first niche places as soon as I entered Jaisalmer to explore, remains totally worth the timing and uniqueness of its class which remains unmatched even with a few really royal structures across Rajasthan. These are like the rare openly resurrected structures that were built as memorials that represent a combination of various Rajput styles of architecture. Chhatri (a Cenotaph) was made for Maharaja Jawahar Singh, which dates back to the 20th century, and that remains still unfinished. Hence, you see these open spaces next to the gorgeous creations – so uniquely charming. The best thing about this place is the sunset. It’s the best I have witnessed. Although I have witnessed quite a few around the globe, nothing can come remotely close to this surreal sight, given it is almost the western-most point and the view of the sun is this orange ball of light and you see the sundowner right in front of you along with the royal feels. It’s breathtaking to say the least and one needs to experience it to live the feeling as words can’t do justice to it!
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04 Gadisar Lake & surroundings
Jaisalmer is golden and to enhance the beauty of it, I think it got blessed with such exotic yet totally natural sightseeing spots. One of the primary attractions is Lake Gadisar which has these gorgeous self erected structures right in the middle of a serene lake named after a surrounding Gadisar village. It is known to be visited during the wee morning hours as it is called the Sunrise Paradise, only because of the breathtaking views one ends up capturing, however, me being a sunset lover, I decided to walk by to this ‘must experience’ sight at my favourite time of the day, right before the sundowner as in my mind I wished the surreal experience of the sunset at Bada Bagh Chhatri could be surpassed. However, the beauty of it all was out of the world, with those little swans and their sounds clearly piercing through the lake waves, the muttering of touristy boat rides. For me, I was busy clicking the place and also getting clicked only to make memories to share as stories with travelers who have had Jaisalmer on their list of places to visit, for a bit. I hope I can do a good job of selling and motivating you to plan this destination sooner than later.
 Photo courtesy: Nami Luthra |
05 Desert Safari across the Thar Desert
This of course is like going to Goa and staying away from the beach. Thar Desert is second largest desert in the world and one starts to feel the length and breadth of it whilst enroute from Jodhpur to Jaisalmer as it starts to show up quite early making you feel like you’re in the vicinity, but thats just to feel the meganess of the desert. This was such a feeling, it was planned as a full-day event given the distance one needs to travel to get there. There is a flurry of options to choose from but I wanted a bit off-beat safari as against the commercial ones which I had the opportunity to experience in Abu Dhabi and Dubai. The dune bashing and dances is what I decided to forego and went ahead with the one in wilderness with camel rides into witnessing another golden sundowner on that land of gold sand all around. The staff who anchor the camel safari then turn into cooks and help you camp etc. It is a feel to actually, literally be able to stargaze in the clear skies with a nip and the most authentic experience of wilderness so much that I decided to not camp, rather spend the last night in my very unique cozy bed made of carved stone with an exclusive sit out back at the hostel I stayed at – a typical Jaisalmer luxury (touch of class and comfort). The deserted feeling in the desert just gets the better of you – for me that is a break from the lives we lead as against the fancy beachy sit outs. Nevertheless, the Thar safari is one- of-a-kind and stating the obvious is that you can’t leave Jaisalmer without actually experiencing it.
 Photo courtesy: Nami Luthra |
06 Kuldhara Village – the deserted village with remains
Enroute Jaisalmer from Jodhpur, Pradeep, the driver a young boy, kept me engaged with conversations about spooky/haunted places within Rajasthan. Upon searching, I realised Kudhara is a deserted village, which is ranked number two right after the Bhangarh fort which I had visited a couple of years ago. Hence, this definitely ranked high on my list of to do’s, however, I didn’t want to start my trip with it and rather save it for later, and yes, it is a bit away from the main city so needed half a day to be accomplished. Upon entering the vicinity of this village and driving through it just felt like a bit overrated not in the sense of it not being deserted, but the hype around it being haunted etc. The legend has it that a king from a nearby kingdom wished to marry a beautiful daughter of the priest of the village which was denied and refused, and that led to the family cursing the village to be uninhabited and the village was evacuated overnight forever. There is a vibe which I must say piques a lot of spook yet it’s far from being haunted because logically there hasn’t been any unnatural loss of life, purely because no one ever lived here, which could transcend into supernatural. So guys, must visit and totally safe, so highly recommended for some great photography of not only the empty village with a larger reach, homes, temples etc., but also the gorgeous windmills which Jaisalmer is full of.
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07 Patwan Haveli & Local Delights
Havelis are synonymous to Rajasthan, but to Jaisalmer, they are so complementing because after seeing them in this city, it feels like they belong here and for some reason, they fit in so organically that one can actually get lost in those golden mansions aka Havelis. The Patwon Ki Haveli is a cluster of five palace-like houses which were built in the 19th century by a rich trader for himself and his five sons. It apparently took over 55 years to be constructed, which is why it is such a delightful must-visit place in Jaisalmer. The surroundings are so lively too with street puppet shows and folk music echoing around. I would make sure to sit back and spend time just staring at those intricate beautiful palace-like structures to imbibe the vibe and feel so deeply connected with the royal aura of this place and others in the city. A fun trivia about Jaisalmer which is so unique to this city and not heard of is that the wedding invitations are open to all and they are put up on house walls, painted like murals from days before the wedding so anyone who gets to read it, is welcome to attend the ceremony. Now isn’t that something? Truly Royal, I say!
