Gurgaon - Jaisalmer - Jodhpur - Bikaner - Gurgaon

[asejwal]

Originally Posted by suman

I'm surprised you guys are going on & on & on about the roof lights (which are more than a year old) and are not asking him anything about the brand new Hella 4000s on his bull bar

Get a life guys, motivate the poor man

We still haven't got our answer... And with all those lights, he definitely is not a 'poor man'

[gd1418]

For all those who wanted to know about those roof lights, they are of Korean make, purchased nearly 18 months ago and costed me then Rs. 8.5K without installation. I picked it up from Khan Market, Delhi.

Originally Posted by wanderernomad

Excellent GD Bhai. BTW how much did those lights on the roof cost you and from where did you pick them up?

As I mentioned, these are pictures taken by me when stationery. While driving I don't snap... The others in the travelling group must have done but have yet to share them with me. Till then, make do with whatever is available...

Originally Posted by getsurya

GD and others, good write up!! Wish there were more pics to go with. Also, same query as wandernomad, How much are the roof lights?

Yes, it is the one with the Bull on the bonnet and also with a small bee in the bonnet as well. I used to do a lot of nocturnal driving in the past but now desist, as I start feeling drowsy after 9 pm. The drive in the night becomes very monotonous and boring; at least during daytime one can enjoy the surroundings & scenery and some lissome village belles... I don't have any snaps of the road ahead with all lights blazing.

Originally Posted by Strangerintown

GD, I presume your scorp is the one with the Bull on the bonnet. If so, I must say you are the one most equipped for night driving though you may not like to do so! Do you have any snaps of the road ahead with all lights blazing?

Originally Posted by asejwal

GD Bhai, those roof-lights seem to have evoked quite some response!!! I've even come across Safari with those 4 lights mounted on the roof - I presume it must be a different fitting than the one on your Scorpio. However, could you furnish more details about the same - price? where from procured etc. etc.? Puh...lease...

They are Hella Rallye 3000 with genuine Hella 100W tubes.

Originally Posted by suman

I'm surprised you guys are going on & on & on about the roof lights (which are more than a year old) and are not asking him anything about the brand new Hella 4000s on his bull bar

Get a life guys, motivate the poor man

[gd1418]

We all had planned to get some shut-eye and then meet up for dinner. I and family had a nice hot bath and tried sleeping, but couldn't. Got up around 7 pm and then went to the reception. My room was on the ground floor. I had a shock of my life seeing the receptionist. I almost thought that the car rat had over grown and standing there. With squint in his eyes, bushy moustache that almost covered his lower lips and tufts of hair protruding out of his ears, he almost resembled a huge rodent. I would, here like to reproduce what SS wrote about him on the yahoo forum. Actually this was something about Anil's skills that he exhibited on the last day, about which I will write later. This seems to be a very apt description of the receptionist whom I called - "walking London & looking Tokyo".........

-----------------------------------------
" For a while there, I was almost sure Anil's persuasive reasoning had permanently fixed the awful squint of Ol' Hairy Ears at the reception at near midnight! I say so, since when we entered negotiations on the refund for AG's cancelled room, he was looking at both Anil and me, albeit cross-beams. But good ol Honey Tongue kept up a steady barrage of logic so ruthless, Crossbeams had to drag his erring eyeball away from me and focus with all his might on this Hound from Hell, lest he gets 'reasoned' out of a job. "
---------------------------------------

I asked him if the hotel had any orange juice, he answered no and said that there was a market a few metres away from the hotel and I would get the stuff there. So, I with wife walked towards the market and enroute were joined by Anil who up and about and ready and was in an exploration mood. After enquiring and walking a bit we found only one shop in that market that stocked Real juices and picked up some. Returned, opened the boot of the Bull to get my tripod and the rotten stench hit me again almost nauseating. Hurriedly closed the boot and then rushed to the terrace, that also was the dining room. And lo behold, the Fort was all lit up and looked magnificient. Set up my camera on the tripod and started clicking away to glory.







Jaisalmer at night from the Hotel roof



After all this it was time for dinner. We all went and took our place at the table and had dinner of Egg curry, Daal, Chawal, hot rotis with ghee, Curds, Vegetable (I forget what it was) and Gulab jamun. After spending afew more minutes discussing the next day's plans, we retired for the night..

To be continued.........

[gd1418]

I'm posting a couple of links for video and photgraphs that were taken by other members of the team. Maybe you all can relate some of them with the narrative..

YouTube - Jaisalmer roadie

[COLOR=#0000ff]http://www.flickr.com/photos/suvolens/sets/72157611868383092/[/COLOR]

[ashthedivx]

Looking at posted video, i can only say "WoW" !! Its was indeed something where one can spend as much time as available !!

[ramkya1]

Hai GD,

Just caught up with your thread, great going and waiting for more. Though I read the posts in another place, this has the story and some pictures to back up, more lively, paints a live picture..... keep them coming.

--Ramky

[Rajesh Rawal]

the sunheri fort (jaisalmer fort) indeed is a treat to watch with all those lights...

did you guys eat at this restaurant called 8th june or was it 8th july at the entrance of the fort ,its like a rooftop restaurant ..the food there is amazing with great hospitality by the owners..

[gd1418]

Date: 26-12-2008

This was a day when sometime in the noon, the hotel guys were to take us to The Thar for a night stay in tents that was part of the package deal. Hotel Jaisal Palace has a desert resort called the Moonlight Resorts in Khuri. So we had practically something more than half-day with us to browse around Jaisalmer.

The previous night SS, Vaishali and I had decided to get up quite early to catch a sunrise over the Fort. Morning I got up and opened the door - SS & Vaishali's room was next to ours, and find SS & V already ready and raring to go. I put a shawl over my shoulders and ran up the stairs with the camera, along with them to witness the sunrise. What a disappointment...!!! The sun came up from behind the Fort and by the time the Red Star was visible, it was all in its blazing glory.

Jaisalmer fort was built in 1156 and is the second oldest in Rajasthan. Two hundred and fifty feet tall and reinforced by an imposing crenellated sandstone wall 30 feet high, it has 99 bastion, 92 of which were built between 1633 and 1647. Wells within the fort still provide a regular source of water.

SS clicked some dawn pictures and after a while we went back to our rooms to get ready.

SS & V wanted to explore the city, so they took an auto and went around and inside the Fort as well. Actually that was the best way to do since the truck would not have entered the narrow lanes.

The Rajasthanis have a way of naming their cities. While Jaipur is the Pink City, Jodhpur is called the "सूर्य नगरी" or the Sun City (don't confuse this with the one in SA). Jaisalmer is called the "स्वर्ण नगरी" or the Golden City. The houses constructed here from the stones availalbe has a golden hue that get enhanced by the Sun. Hence the name. Given below is a small example:



All of us bathed and went up the roof for breakfast - boiled eggs, omellettes, Pohas, Toast, butter, Jam, Milk, Tea etc. According to the package deal we had to vacate our rooms and shift to the tents in desert and then come back and again occupy the rooms for the rest of the stay. After breakfast, we packed our stuff and reloaded the vehicles and set out to explore the city and also to have lunch.

Each reasonable city of Rajasthan is a former kingdom and mostly have Hindu Rulers. Rao Jaisal is credited with finding Jaisalmer and it is on his name the city is thus named. The erstwhile rulers had a special cremation ground for them and after cremation a " छत्री " or a Cenotaph is built at that place witha plaque for remembrance. About four miles outside of Jaisalmer in the desert is Bara Bagh. Here, clusters of beautiful cupolaed marble cenotaphs of the maharawals of Jaisalmer sit on a small hill. A small shrine to women who have committed sati here can be found within the complex.

After topping up the vehcle tanks, with SS in the lead we headed towards the Bara Bagh. After asking for directions we were on our way. Nearing the cenotaphs we saw the skyline dotted with several windmills. 60% of Jaisalmer is powered by these windmills. I had only seen them in some Bollywood/Hollywood movies; now was seeing them for real. I shall now let the pictures do some talking.

















The less said about the rotting flesh inside The Bull, the better. Suffering and enduring.

To be continued.........

[gd1418]

Some more photographs at Bara Bagh......

















To be continued.........

[Axe]

gd1418, this is excellent. I want to drive to Jaisalmer and Bikaner too, but from Mumbai obviously. I'm looking forward to the rest of this story.

Great pictures, by the way. What camera do you use?

Axe.

[gd1418]

While all this was happening on the hillock where the Cenotaphs were built, we all suddenly heard the alarm of one of our cars blaring. They were parked below and at a distance. Couldn't make out which one. Grabbed SS's camera with the 18-200 and peered through it to see which truck's lights were flashing.



None were flashing. That set my mind racing. Did the ghost rise from the dead and triggered of something else or with all that hard driving and bumps, something else came out loose. In the meanwhile Suman had walked down and called on the cell to say that it was The Bull that was wailing. When the siren came on again, looked through the long lens again and didn't see the lights flashing.

Worried, went down and found that the boot dorr was partially shut and that had triggered the siren. But why were the lights not flashing? I was focussing on the right side indicator. It wasn't and the sun was shining very brightly on the right rear indicator, hence couldn't see. I thought the bulb of the right side indicator must have fused. How wrong I was...

By this time the rest had also come down and it was nearing lunch time. We went hunting for a place to have lunch. After looking, asking, stopping at some roadside restaurants, we went to Gandhi chowk that happens to be the marketing hub of Jaisalmer. We were told that there is a restaurant called the Trio, frequented by foreigners and it is good. Reached Gandhi chowk and parked the beasts. This is what I saw when I got down.. I call this the Queen's English...



Reached Trio, the dining area is on the first floor overlooking the market. There was waiting but it didn't take long. In the meanwhile Shanno dived into the Jaisalmer Handloom Emporium and Debarati and Smita went to the Gandhi Crafts fair to do their bit of shopping. We ordered for Lal Maans (not the authentic variety - they can't serve openly), curds, assortments of breads, kadhai chicken and suji halwa and had our fill. More on Lal Maans. It is so called because the deer meat is very red, but since the chinkara is an endangered and protected animal this is not allowed. Hence the goat meat is prepared spicily and passed off as Lal Maans.

After lunch, that finished around 3, it was time to pick up our escort to go for the stay in desert in Khuri. Some of the womanfolk wanted to get fresh, so they went with Anil to the Hotel to pickup the escort and we would join them enroute. After a while we got a call from Anil that they were all set to leave and we moved on to join them. Met Anil near the Fort and then the caravan moved to Khuri on a winding narrow lane that went via the Desert National Park. After about a drive of an hour and plus we were at the Moonlight Resort.

More on this later....

To be continued..........

[gd1418]

Just soaking the ambience on one of the roads in Jaisalmer

[gd1418]

Thanks Axe. I use a Nikon D80 and have the following lenses & accessories:

Zoom Nikkor AF 35~70

Zoom Nikkor AF-S 18~135

Zoom Nikkor AF-S VR 70~300

Speedlight SB-24

Speedlight SB 400

Bilora Pro tripod

Originally Posted by Axe

gd1418, this is excellent. I want to drive to Jaisalmer and Bikaner too, but from Mumbai obviously. I'm looking forward to the rest of this story.

Great pictures, by the way. What camera do you use?

Axe.

[deepgautam_qa]

Wow! What a trip and collection of pictures!
Reading this thread takes me nostalgic.

Cheers!!!

[gd1418]

That never ending almost straight, narrow single lane tar road almost looked like as if it would take us all the way to Pakistan. I did spot Munabao written on some of the mile markers. From the tar road we turned right onto a dusty, sandy road that took us to resort where mud huts and tents were visible. We had to hurry because the camels were waiting for us to take to the sunset point on the dunes. We had to park and shift our stuff to the allotted tents and then mount the camels. These camels were making all sorts of noises and grunts and one of them was frothing copiously.





I must mention something here. This was my first visit to a desert. Had read about the Great Indian Thar, Gobi and the Sahara in the books and had some pre-set imagination in the mind as to what a desert would look like. I had visualised vast expanse of sands, with huge dunes and no vegetation at all for miles together. DISAPPOINTMENT..!!

I saw the greenest of desert ever in my life. There was vegetation everywhere and the sand dunes were at a distance from that tar road. Unlike what I had visualised. Asked around and was informed that the heavy rains followed by flooding in Rajasthan, some years back had changed the topography completely. And also the fact that the rainwater is still stagnating in some villages as the silica in the ground doesn't allow it to seep. And it also had rained moderately just three days back...!!

Anyway, we unpacked, freshened up and proceeded on camel back to the dunes. The tents were out of this world. Hot & cold running water (Sairee please note), spick & span and very comfortable. Wish we could have stayed there a couple of more days...

To be continued.............