This is my first thread on Team-Bhp. Went on this trip almost a year ago in Feb 2012. Was meaning to write about this journey soon after, but my laziness got the better of me. Finally, here are my experiences on a trip to Rajasthan, Hope you all like it. (Wish there was a like button on Team-Bhp!)
The Story
2000 kms. A Mahindra Thar. 3 Childhood Friends. An epic road trip. We were three young souls, all in our mid twenties trying very hard to establish ourselves in this mad competitive world. One is a consultant (me), the other a finance geek and one a chef cum entrepreneur. In our daily home-office – home grind we tend to forget the fact that this is not what we human beings are made for. At frequent intervals, We seek change, travel, adventure, fun and something to look forward to, we are no robots and can’t live like one.
One of us – the chef, is more of the adventurous kind as you must have guessed it already. He always had a dream to own a jeep. He dreamt of himself driving the jeep around town wearing a sleeveless T –shirt and sunglasses (Though he soon realised that it is not possible to fulfil this part of the dream thanks to the extreme Delhi weather combined with the lung choking pollution).
Chef’s business picked up and he managed to save some cash to finally fulfil his dream. Soon his dream came true and there came the Mahindra THAR in his life. It was a cherry red THAR CRDE. He called the other two friends straight from the showroom saying that his one dream has come true the other two doesn’t seem to be far away. Among the other two ; one was to drive the Jeep to Rajasthan and the other one was to drive it to Goa. We decided we should go to Rajasthan first and that’s why you are reading this travelogue.
The Planning
Our trip was planned for 4 nights and 5 days (How we got our leaves approved is a different story!). We planned to stay in Jaisalmer, Jodhpur and Jaipur along with stopping by at Bikaner for a few hours on our way to Jaisalmer on the first day. The guy who is a financial geek is also the best planner I ever know. He scanned about a zillion reviews on hotels and a million websites and got us the best hotel at the best rates. I can’t doubt his ability one bit. He was also our accountant all the way and did all the calculations along with keeping a check on our expenses. He is a top negotiator and helped us save a lot of money while negotiating with guides, shopkeepers and restaurant owners. You need to have a guy like this on a long trip and I am glad he is my friend. To our amazement, he also arranged a BSNL/MTNL SIM card because that is the only network that works when others don’t and vice versa.
The route planning was my responsibility so i checked up with team bhp and a few people who have recently travelled. After a lot of deliberations we finally froze on the route discussed later in the post. Planned to stay together a night before at chef’s home as he stays in Gurgaon which made it convenient. We went to a supermarket in the evening to get a few refreshments for our long journey. Bought a carton of mineral water, few biscuits, chewing gums, namkeens, chips , chocolates , energy bars, sun tan lotions and face wash .
We refuelled the Thar with a full tank , checked tyre pressure, electricals and all fluids. Also converted the rear compartment of the Thar into a cozy bed. How? We got a heavy quilt from home and two pillows. We put our bags in between the two seats and then put the quilt on top covering the whole area, making it a very comfortable bed at the back. The drivers took turns to relax at the back ,while the navigator persisted on sitting at the front (Whatever said and done the front seat is the best seat in the THAR for a passenger). Now, we were ready to go.
The Itinerary
DAY 1 – Gurgaon to Jaisalmer via Bikaner (810 kms)
DAY 2 – Visit the Jaisalmer fort
Visit the Patwon ki Haveli
Go to Sam (Pronounced as sum) sand dunes
At Sam sand dunes - camel safari, traditional dance and dinner
Back to hotel
DAY 3- Visit the Gadisar lake
Off to Jodhpur (270 kms)
Sweets and Kachoris at Janta Sweets
Jodhpur city at night – Went to ‘On the rocks’ Restaurant
Back to Hotel
DAY 4- Jodhpur Sightseeing
Visit Mehrangarh Fort
Visit Ummaid Palace
Off to Jaipur (340 kms)
Check in at the Hotel
DAY 5 –Visit the Amber Fort
Shopping at the emporium
Back to Gurgaon (235 kms)
The Route
We were two drivers (me and chef ) and the finance geek was the navigator, his GPS enabled phone kept him busy and the GPS lady’s voice kept us amused. Though she was irritating at times with her persisitent “Take left” “ Take Right” commands. We wanted to stick to the route we had planned for and not do much of an experiment because its a long way to Jaisalmer and we wanted to avoid any trouble on the way.
Start Time: 5:00 A.M (Gurgaon)
End time: 7:15 P.M. (Jaisalmer)
MAP :
We took the Gurgaon- Kotputli-Sikar-Fatehpur-Bikaner-Pokhran-Jaisalmer route. Gurgaon-Kotputli is the usual truck traffic heavy NH-8. Though we started early we were able to cover the distance of 130 kms in almost 2 hours. The road from kotputli to Sikar is a mix of good and bad. By bad I don’t mean that they are not driveable or too uncomfortable. There are some rough patches and some maintenance work is going gone which takes away some of your average speed figures.
The road from Sikar to Jaisalmer is a dream to drive. One of the best roads i have driven on. Dead straight ,pot hole free and traffic free. Driving the Thar on these roads was super fun. Average 90-100 KM/H on that stretch was easily achievable. Occasionally we took the THAR to 130 KM/H but it became a bit unsettled. We covered this 810 Km stretch in 14 Hours including 2 hours of stoppage time – 1 hour at Bikaner for lunch and another hour for bio breaks , some occasional tea breaks and driver swapping time. So total driving time was 12 hours. We were not at all tired at the end of the day, thanks to the amazing roads.
Came back from the route
While coming back we took the Jaisalmer- Jodhpur – Beawar – Ajmer –Dudu-Jaipur- Gurgaon Route. The route till Jaipur was good. Though not as good as the Jaisalmer route as this route had more traffic and there were a few diversions also. The road is also not as well laid as the Jaisalmer route. From Jodhpur to Jaipur it took a total of 6 hours and then the next day from Jaipur to Gurgaon it took around 5 hours. Jaipur to Gurgaon was bad , full of truck traffic and multiple diversions.
MAP :
Pictures of the road :