What is a typical picture that comes to a head when someone says Rajasthan? A camel, the desert dunes and the sun shining bright. This is what almost every South Indians might describe Rajasthan as. While Rajasthan does not look that way, some parts do. That’s what I witnessed in Jaisalmer.
While I was driving to the sand dunes, I found the terrain to be so different. It was a road with desert on both sides. This was not the white desert like the one in Gujarat but a pure sandy desert. It was just sand and shrubs all over with little or no trees.
Desert activities are quite popular in Jaisalmer. It is EXTREMELY commercialised and it’s probably the most popular activity done by the tourists. There is a desert safari where the guy madly drives the Mahindra Thar through the sand dunes. It is extremely unsafe but still a new experience if you want it.
I wanted to see the sand dunes and so there was a camel ride that took us to the dunes. The only sand that I have known is the river sand or the sea sand. The desert sand was very different. It was very fine compared to sea sand. It was also very dry. So even if it sticks to your body you can dust it off unlike sea or river sand that sticks. It felt good to play and roll on the smooth, soft non-sticky sand.
The wind was quite strong and we could clearly see the patterns in the dune forming. When you walk on the sand, your foot prints are formed on it. But when you let it untouched for about 20-30 mins, it’s all covered again with the beautiful sand patterns. It was very nice to watch the wind filling up and making pattern in real time.
Once we have dunes and the sun setting behind it, silhouette photographs are mandatory. We did the same. And yes anyone can be Shahrukh Khan when it comes in a silhouette.
We also did some paragliding which lasted for hardly 2 mins. You get attached to a parachute and you are pulled by a jeep. That propels you about 50 feet above the ground in the air and you are brought back down all in a couple of mins. You get an arial view of the desert for about 60 seconds that you can enjoy.
Most folks from the south go to the Himalayas when they want to experience a different terrain and environment. While the mountains and the terrain there is definitely different from what we see in the south, the desert terrain is also equally different. Yes it is hot and barren with thorny shrubs like some places in the south. But the sand and the experience in it is a very very different and it’s worth to experience it.
Endless thoughts 