Jaisalmer: The Golden City
As I write, I feel nostalgic!
It was October 2017. The three of us sat on the swing and started exploring places we could go after our exams finished.
I couldn’t remember when I did my last adventure trip and so I was adamant on going on a trip full of challenges. I remember mentioning to Niral and Sid how we could do a “7 Day, 7 Cities” trip and experience the culture of different places. (It’s been a dream to do that since forever.)
Niral wanted to explore the beaches and hence suggested Goa and we always have that one friend who is fine with anything and in our group, that was Sid.
Our exams started and we met a few times in between to finalize things but we couldn’t do it. It was also election time in the state and I was busy campaigning for a relative and the trip was almost forgotten about.
One day Niral gave me a call and said that we gotta finalize things and book the tickets. But I just did not want to lie on the beach and playing games.
So while surfing the net, we came across the Invincible website and guess what? Our priorities were sorted!!
It didn’t take us even 10 minutes to decide what we wanted. For me, I wanted something adventurous and Niral wanted something to chill. Jaisalmer was a city to chill and desert camping was fun and adventurous and we decided to go to Jaisalmer.
The challenge I was talking about started from the next day itself. The date we were planning to go on didn’t show up on the site the next day and that was enough to demotivate us because we knew that the batch was full. We had no other options because we had our external vivas from 20th December. That’s when I decided to just go down to the Invincible office and talk to them about other availability of dates. They were really helpful and accommodate us in the dates we wanted to go and that was the start of an amazing experience from Invincible.
Our exams were over and our bags were packed. My election campaigning was over but I was not in the mood to go. We were gonna miss voting and it was my first time. I somehow managed myself and packed my rucksack and rushed to LD Engg. from where the bus was to depart.
Most of the people were in large groups and we were just three. We then saw two guys standing alone and learnt that they were from Surat and we teamed up with them. Dvij and Deep, two more engineering students, sharing the same plight with three other engineering students. Isn’t that exciting? 😂
So, the journey was about to begin, it was cold outside, we had our jackets on and we planned to sleep as we got on the bus. I kind of knew that we might not get a chance to charge our phones so I took my iPod Touch for music and pictures.
We left Ahmedabad somewhere around midnight and reached Jaisalmer in the morning. Freshened up and were all set for the adventure that was to follow. (This place had a charging point so few of us smartly charged our phones)
Day-1: The Ruins of Erangel to The Dunes of Miramar
Our first location was very exciting. It was the abandoned and cursed ghost village of “Kuldhara”. There are multiple stories that support why it was abandoned but it’s hard to believe which one of them is true. The government has prohibited visitors to enter the village premises after the sunset because of paranormal activities.
After we were done with Kuldhara, we were on our way to the very well known “Sam Sand Dunes”. This was the best start to the trip. It felt like Dubai in Jaisalmer as we watched the sunset while taking a camel ride and eating theplas.
Soon after the sunset, we left for our campsite which was at “Barna”. It was pitch dark and heavy winds made it colder than it actually was. We couldn’t see a thing and Thank God we had extra torches for the next few days because we felt that we were gonna need them.
We then settled down in our tents, started the bonfire and waited for our dinner.
The food tasted amazing and we cleaned our dishes. Since we were in the desert, we had to focus on saving water because there was very limited supply of it.
And our first night of desert camping began. All of us sat in a circle around the bonfire and introduced ourselves. It was basically a team building activity which was filled with both, excitement of making new friends and fear of being with them for just a few days.
All the instructors from Invincible shared a lot of stories at different camps which set up the tempo for the rest of the trip.
Day-2: A Productive Multi-activity Day.
It was around 7:30am and the sun was exactly on top of us. The day started with some warming up and stretching exercises. We didn’t get much of sleep the previous night because of the temperature that kept sinking.
After some healthy breakfast, we started going to the “Desert National Park” which was not very far from our campsite. We reached the national park and we were allowed to roam around and explore different areas in the hope of spotting some animals and were asked to return back in an hour at a mutually decided place.
It was exciting because we started going deep into the park. By this time, we made good friends with the instructors and few others at the camp. So all of us were walking together and cracking jokes.
We didn’t see any animal but it indeed was great because the bonding we created during that time is still there and it’s an amazing feeling.
After finishing a small trek at the park, we were back at our campsite for lunch.
We had the very famous “Gatte Ki Sabji” along with some traditional sweets (I forgot the name), both very famous in Rajasthan.
After lunch, the temperature again started to drop and it was getting very pleasant.
After lunch, it was time for some team games and we know the game trending at the moment in India.
So in the desert, we selected a flat patch near our tents and the fun was about to begin.
It was “LINE DRAWN! GAME ON! KHELLLLLL KABADDDIIIII!!! “
The best part of it was that all of us played the sport. We had equal number of boys and girls in the team so everyone would get a chance.
Post dinner, we had a “Folk Dance” show at a nearby place which was followed by a DJ party.
And for the end of the second day, let me say “Bonfire Off” instead of lights off.
Day-3: Through The Mountains, To The Temple.
We had the same routine for morning on the third day. Excercise and breakfast.
We had to trek to “Malan Baisa Temple” which was situated at a very serene place and the trek route was itself a stress buster. Going through patches of windmills, climbing a mountain of sand and then going down and climbing another one.
All this was worth a view from the top of the temple. The temple doors were prohibited to be opened because of some ritual. While coming back, on one hill, we saw multiple camels that were all set to carry us back to our campsite.
I remember sitting on a camel named “Priyanka Baby”. We had a hilarious moment when our camel guy called the camel loudly as “Priyanka Baby” and the girl on the camel in front of us thought that she was being called because her name was Priyanka too.
There were two people on one camel and I paired up with one of the instructors, Piyu Bhai! He knew how to ride the camel and while all the other camels walked, we made our camel run faster and faster and reached the campsite. It was my first camel ride but not the last one.
After having lunch, we started shifting our tents back to a safe place which would save them from the winds of the desert as we were going back to “The Golden City Of Jaisalmer”. We cleaned off the campsite and burnt all the waste so that we kept our Earth clean.
We were so thankful to the nature for blessing us with such an amazing experience with it.
Heading back to Jaisalmer, all tired from the trek and very hungry, “Dal Bati” waited for us.
As we reached, everyone jumped on the Dal Bati, which is another famous dish of Rajasthan. We had this meal at Kamal Bhai’s restaurant, who was also our local guide for the trip. Younger than me and my friends, Kamal bhai was already an entrepreneur who had his own restaurant, some pieces of land and was studying in college.
This was gonna be the last night at Jaisalmer so we decided to have some fun.
Once we checked in to our hotel and freshened up, we met at the top floor and started playing some games. And you know that the most famous group game is Truth, Dare or Stare. Once we started playing it, there was no end to it. It was almost 1:30 at night and we mutually decided to go to sleep even though none of us wanted to.
Next morning we had to be ready by 9 for a free day to explore the city.
Day-4: When in Jaisalmer, visit the Jaisalmer fort.
The first thing we did next day was getting ready before others. We wanted to make sure that we don’t waste time in waking up, chatting with people and in that process the fort gets filled with visitors.
The entrance of the fort itself was the beginning. It was huge. In fact, calling it huge would be an understatement.
Entering the fort, some amazing carvings everywhere, city view restaurants, local shopping and a lot more to do inside the fort. I’d suggest you beware of the rates they charge because everyone’s a visitor there.
We then took a small tour of the place where all the stuff and weapons used by the rulers are preserved. Thereafter, we left from the fort and went to some other famous places in Jaisalmer like The Gadisar Lake.
We left Jaisalmer at around 1:30 and visited the Jaisalmer War Museum and then were on our way back to Ahmedabad.
It was one of the best trips I had in a long time and I’m looking forward to many more experiences like this.
I just hope that as you read, you imagined and as you imagined, you lived.
Some things to keep in mind if you wanna have a good time.
1. It’s better to forget your phone and spend time with friends and nature but if you still don’t forget it, TAKE A POWER BANK or TWO.
2. Take very warm clothes if you’re going in December. Don’t carry many clothes and fill your bag. You won’t feel like changing your clothes. Instead, take a blanket.
3. Keep an extra pair of socks, a pair of flip flops and some Camphor (Kapoor). Kapoor if crushed and put inside socks and worn will make your feet warm.
4. Don’t forget to ENJOY with Invincible NGO.
