Stories from the sand dunes

As a family, my wife and our two kids travel at least twice a year on a holiday — and we get to know each other more and get to spend quality time together. Also, we prefer to don the role of ‘travellers’ over ‘tourists’ — in the sense that our holiday is not jam-packed with sight-seeing as many places as possible, especially in one of those tourist buses; rather, we spend time leisurely and explore the beauty of nature. This year, we decided to travel to the most unexplored part of India, the north-western areas where the Thar Desert is located. By far, this was one of our best holidays not just from a leisure perspective, but also in terms of understanding the expanse of India and her beauty.

View of Thar Desert

We decided to explore the most beautiful part of Rajasthan, the Thar Desert and hence kept our base as Jaisalmer. We flew from Chennai to Delhi and then took a train to reach our destination. The 18-hour train journey was a first for my kids and they enjoyed every bit of it. Jaisalmer is the most parched part of India with almost no drinking water from below the ground. The small town thrives mostly on tourism. The temperature hits extremes — 55 degrees in summer and sub-zero in December. September to mid-December is the best time to visit Jaisalmer since the place has moderate weather at the time, which may suit most people in India.

Most Indians visit the Middle East to get a feel of deserts. How I wish they visit Jaisalmer instead! History has it that the entire desert was once a waterway and the desert was formed as all the water receded into the seas.

We visited just a handful of places, but each one of them is filled with rich history. First, we spent a few hours at the famed Jaisalmer Fort which was built in 1156 AD by a ruler named Jaisal, and is supposedly built on the ‘meru’ hillock. Right from the main gates (of the fort) to the rooms where the kings and queens lived, there is rich history in every square inch of the town. Then we visited a few havelis, which are building structures with exquisite stonework carved on their exteriors. We then travelled over 200 kms on unending, unwinding straight roads all the way to the sand dunes and even stayed there overnight in the tents before enjoying camel rides and watching local cultural shows. We also visited the Tanot Mata Temple which is located on the Indo-Pak border, where the temple is maintained by the Border Security Force ever since the 1971 war with Pakistan. At the Tanot Mata temple, there are exhibits of live grenade and bombs which were hurled at the Indian border by the Pakistan army.  

Lastly, we visited Longhewala, another border check-post where the Pakistan army entered India at the wee hours of 5th December 1971, and attacked India on her own land. Our brave soldiers sacrificed their lives and ensured the enemy country was put in their place. The 1971 victory should not just be read about in school text books and reference books. One has to stand there and live the moment! We also visited the small lake in the Jaisalmer town, which is the main feeder body of drinking water.

The lake in Jaisalmer town

Our local guide, Durgesh, was a very friendly person and took us through the rich history of the centuries-old town. He conceded that tourism was the only source of income for the 4,000 strong local people and that they take pride in taking the best care of visitors. He also said that the town was relatively safer than others in the state, since each local is always on the vigil and ensures safety and security of the visitors.

Rajasthani food is one of the most cherished all of India. Interestingly, it is not just the sweets that the state cuisine is known for, but also their spicy ones. We had the thali meals almost every day and tried several local items including pickles and other delicacies. 

Jaisalmer Fort

The other key cities in Rajasthan such as Jodhpur, Udaipur and Jaipur are 3-4 hours in distance between each other and have their own rich histories, while Jaisalmer is the least crowded and perhaps the least commercial in nature.   

— As told to Merin James