Thar Desert, Rajasthan.

A couple of days in Thar desert

The Thar is a vast chunk of an arid and sandy landscape in India located mainly in the western state of Rajasthan (it spreads across into the neighbouring state of Gujarat too). Part of the desert also lies across the border in Pakistan.  Area wise the expanse of the desert is about 200000 SqKm with 85% in India and the remaining 15% in Pakistan. Also called the Great Indian Desert, it is a vivid tourist attraction from all over the world.

 

A majority of tourists throng the desert to see the sand dunes and ride a camel. Their quest ends mostly with a trip to the Sam sand dunes. However, from a tourist perspective, there is much more sand elsewhere than the Sam sand dunes. Some good tour operators can be found in Jaisalmer – the base town to take a desert safari. We were a group of 7 tourists to take a two-day desert safari. It was in the second week of December this year when the state was under a spell of poll fever and decreasing winter temperature.

The desert safari included traversing about 25 km either on the back of a camel or on foot. I explored and enjoyed both the options.

Day 1.

We were taken in an open jeep to a place about 45 Km out of Jaisalmer. On the way, we had a brief stopover at the abandoned and the so called cursed village of Kuldhera which has a history of about 300 years of lying in the ruins. After a jeep ride of an hour and a half, we were met by our camel driver, Abhay Singh Soda, on the outskirts of village Barna where our camel ride was to start.

Starting at 3:30 pm the camel caravan took us to Subhu ka Dhoba – the sand dunes where we were to spend the night in the open under the stars. We reached the open camp at 5:10 pm. Abhay Singh told us that we had traversed 9 Km on the camelback. It was the right time to roam the large dune and enjoy the sunset as the safari staff set up the cots with heavy winter bedding and started the preparations for the dinner and the campfire. The night was cool but pleasant and comfortable. There was no dew. A cool easterly breeze started at around 5 am and continued till the sunrise. 

Night visitors to the camp were two foxes. Desert fox abounds the area. At the daytime deer can be seen roaming here and there. Herds of up to eight or nine can be seen either sheltering under the trees or running across the desert.

Day 2.

Our day 2 started at around 9 am when five of our group went back to Jaisalmer and two of us started our adventurous march ahead. Having watched the sunrise and taken our breakfast we set out on the trek. Our first stop was village Daneli some 9 km further west.

I decided to walk along with Abhay Singh while Thomas, the French tourist, preferred to be on the camelback. We reached Daneli at about 11:10 and had a short break. The day was getting hotter as the noon approached. We had a tour of the village and enjoyed tea with the locals at Mr Narayan Ram’s house while the camels had their drink at the local water point.

Our lunch break was scheduled under a big Berry tree (bad ber) some two km out of the village where we reached around 12:45 pm. I did this two km trek on the camelback while Thomas walked along.

After having lunch and well deserved rest under the big tree, we resumed our journey at around 3 pm to another sand dune some 9 km away. This entire journey was on the camelback and took nearly two hours. After reaching the dune we had tea and traversed the approximately a kilometre and a half long dune before the jeep arrived to take me to a nearby camp (tented accommodation) where I had planned the night stay. Thomas stayed back at the dune.

Suddenly the weather showed a change with the north-south wind blowing the whole night. It was colder than the previous night in the open desert. The tour operator organized an evening of a cultural show by the campfire followed by dinner. The cultural event included traditional Rajasthan song and dance programme for about two hours. It was worth the penny and entirely enjoyed by a houseful of the audience.

 

Day 3.

After the breakfast, we were driven back to Jaisalmer at around 12 noon. In Jaisalmer, everyone was glued to TV screens as it was the election results day. I had enough time to visit Patwon ki haveli before taking a night bus to Jaipur.

 (Dec 9-11, 2018)