fulltankers: Day 24 - Jaisalmer (first day)

23.10.2022

Day 24

Today we are travelling further West, to Jaisalmer, approx 290 kms and five hours drive, where we have planned two nights stay. Jaisalmer is a former medieval trading centre in the heart of the Thar Desert.

We started at 7.15 am and planned to have breakfast on the way and took NH 125 and later NH 11. We could see the terrain changing with cotton fields, quarries and soon thorny desert plants and signs of sand dunes, typical of desert land. Our drive took us close to Pokhran (India’s first nuclear testing site in 1974) and in the car we were discussing about the event still embedded in our childhood memories!!

Both NH 125 and NH 11, though two lane, are excellent roads and at times we exceeded the desired speed limits and were flagged down by Rajasthan Highway Interceptor team for speeding. Time for some introspection, and we gave the officers our license and papers. We also told them of our trip across India and the excellent roads in this state, a reason for speeding. They were extremely polite and asked us to be careful and waived the penalty. They also started following us on Instagram!

We reached Jaisalmer at 12 noon and checked in at Club Mahindra resort.

After a hearty lunch at the resort and a quick nap, we drove about 50 kms to Sam desert camp where we have booked our evening program - desert safari, camel ride and folk songs and dinner at the camp.

Just as we arrived at the camp, the final over of India-Pak T20 World Cup was in progress and fulltankers caught the final moments and soaked in the excitement!

Desert safari in a Mahindra Thar jeep triggered butterflies in our bellies and the camel ride though looked easy, but once on top, it becomes a dicey balancing act for us novices!