Trip to Jodhpur, Jaisalmer & Bikaner

This being my second road trip to Rajasthan, was working on the plan since some time. However, considering the distances to travel, the idea was not getting materialized. And with people adding in and dropping out, it was getting tough to freeze the plan.

Any ways, after lot of planning and discussions, we finally started during the last week of January. The total distance to travel was 1700+ KM. With a kid on board, I decided to have a few stop-overs, before reaching Jaisalmer.

Following were the cities that were there on the list

a. Jaipur

b. Jodhpur

c. Jaisalmer

d. Bikaner

The other places of interest that were on the route-map but I skipped (for the time) were Ajmer, Pokharan, Osian.

The hotel bookings were done through Yatra. After a usual pre-requisite check for a road trip, I started from Delhi at 4PM. It was a late start, but considering the objective of Day1 was only to reach Jaipur, it was still fine. Delhi – Jaipur highway is good and with distance of only 250 KM, it is only a matter of 5 hours at max, with one stop in-between. For a night-halt, I had booked

Hotel Ananda Greens. This is a new hotel, just behind Fortis Hospital. Stay was cozy and food was good.

Next morning, after having breakfast at hotel, we started for Jodhpur at 11AM. Jodhpur is around 350KM and route goes through Ajmer and Beawar. Both these cities have a by-pass road, so the local city traffic was avoided. Traffic between Ajmer & Beawar kept me slow. Rest the roads are great and drive is fun.

Mehrangarh Fort view from Hotel

Umaid Bhawan Palace

 Reached Jodhpur by 5PM and moved to Hotel Jee Ri Haveli. The hotel is in heart of city, with a good view of Mehrangarh Fort. City of Jodhpur has lot to offer. Mehrangah Fort & its museum, Umaid Bhawan Palace, Jaswant Thada (a Royal crematorium). The view of City from the Fort is astonishing.

View of Jodhpur City

There is a cafe at the fort, which servers great food to the visitors. A must go place.

Stone carved buildings @ Mandore Fort

After spending my day at Jodhpur, we started for Jaisalmer the next morning. The hotel guy suggested to take a de-tour and visit Mandore fort, which is around 10 KM from the Hotel. The Fort is mostly in ruins now, but the sand-stone carvings are still clear.


After a quick stop at Mandore Fort, we were on the way to Jaisalmer. It is around 300KM from the place. The roads are great and mostly deserted. One can easily drive the car at its peak speed. I enjoyed the drive all the way till Jaisalmer city. However, the moment you reach city, tour-operators / guides will start flocking around you. It gets tough to get through them. As I had to go to the dunes, I wanted the directions. And my best bet were the guys at filling station.

Sam (pronounced as 'sum') sand dunes are further 40M from the city. I had booked a camp stay for myself and family. As the booking was totally based on the feedback of previous travelers,

Desert Camp

I was little apprehensive. But the Prince Desert Camp had lot in offer for me. The camps were neat and comfortable. They had even arranged for the camel ride to the nearest dunes, for sun-set. In evening, there was folk-dance, music, drinks & dinner. It was windy that evening, and very cold out in open. But camps were cozy inside.

Desert Panorama

Sun Set @ Dunes

Next day, while checking-out from camp, noticed one of the tyre was flat. The taxi drivers around offered help, and quickly replaced with spare wheel. It was so nice of them.

After breakfast we left for Desert National Park. I wanted to explore, so drove though the place.

Museum @ Jaisalmer Fort

But, it had not much to see. It was all 'deserted'. So we turned around and came back to the city. The visit to Jaisalmer Fort was nice. It is one of the few living Forts in the world. I would consider it mostly as a shopping place, than of fort.
Palace museum has a nice tour.

Wood Fossil Park

Also, close to Jaisalmer, on Barmer road, is Wood Fossil Park.
There are a few fossils of more than 180 million years old. It is a good place for people who have interest in archeology & pre-historic era, but it is poorly maintained.

After spending a night in Jaisalmer, I left for Bikaner. The place is some 350KM. Again, the roads are great for a day drive. Bikaner is mostly popular for Fort, and 'Karni matamandir'.

Bikaner Fort

We had a short stop at Bikaner and early next morning started for Delhi. As this is the longest stretch of my road-journey, around 450KM, my plan was to be at home by evening. There are multiple routes that connect Bikaner & Delhi, and going by my experience, the one via Hissar should be preferred Though it is 50KM longer, the roads are good and drive is swift.

The week long trip turned out to be 1900KM for me. And I enjoyed every moment of it.