We left from Pune at 5.30 am and reached Mumbai at around 8.30 am. Aditya got almost no sleep because he was partying through the previous night (Dec 31). We picked him up from his friend's place in Baner. Our flight from Mumbai to Jodhpur was at 10.45 am and it landed at 12.20 pm. We were picked up by a hired taxi.

We immediately proceeded to Mehrangadh fort. It is a very well maintained fort.  It is definitely a place to go, but on Jan 1 it was extremely crowded. Mehrangadh Fort covers an area of 1,200 acres (486 hectares) in Jodhpur, Rajasthan, India. The complex is located on a hilltop around 122 metres above the surrounding plains, and was constructed around 1459 by Rajput ruler Rao Jodha, though most of the existing structure is from the 17th century.

We had hired a tour guide, but he did not turn out to be great. He was in a hurry to finish the tour. He was useful for taking photos though :) We saw the insides of the fort palace. Personally, I like history related to war, politics, sociology. I get bored seeing ornate palaces, rooms, chambers etc.

We finished Mehrangadh around 2.30 pm and proceeded to Jaswant Thada, a cenotaph built in the memory of people who have passed away. It was very close to Mehrangadh and quite beautiful. 

We proceeded to eat some Kachori and Mirchi Vada.

From there we went to Jodhpur Ghantaghar (clock tower). We had some lassi at Mishrilal, but it was not great. We were expecting lassi with a top coating of malai as we had earlier in Jaipur, so we were a little disappointed.

Our final stop was Umaid Bhavan palace. It is a royal abode now converted into a heritage hotel.

We had booked a train from Jodhpur to Jaisalmer at 11.30 pm, but that got delayed by 3 hours. So we simply booked a taxi from Jodhpur to Jaisalmer for abou Rs. 4,500. We left Jodhpur around 5.30 pm and reached Jaisalmer by 10.30 pm. Rawat family had arrived in Jaisalmer from Jodhpur around 7 pm.

The road quality was excellent. We also saw signboards for Pokhran (the location of India's atomic tests)

We stayed at Murad Haveli, a basic but decent hotel costing about Rs. 3,000 per night. It was a great view of the fort from Murad Haveli.

Jai, Jyoti, Anu and Samir went for a walk early morning to Gadisar Lake, a beautiful artificial lake in Jaisalmer. It was built by the founder of Jaisalmer, King Rawal Jaisal in 1156 AD and later rebuilt by Gadsi Singh around 1367 AD. The lake is located about 1.5 km from Jaisalmer Fort. It is said that this lake once provided water to the entire city. 

We had a fantastic breakfast on the terrace of Murad Haveli. The daal was delicious.

We proceeded to Patwon ki Haveli, a complex of houses. The carvings in the houses are very intricate. The tour guide showed us the way people lived in the 19th century.

We visited a place where we had Kachori, Jalebi etc. 

We continued on to Kuldhara, an abandoned village near Jaisalmer. Established around the 13th century, it was once a prosperous village inhabited by Paliwal Brahmins. It was abandoned by the early 19th century for unknown reasons, possibly because of dwindling water supply, an earthquake, or as a local legend claims, because of the atrocities by the Jaisalmer State's minister Salim Singh.

From Kuldhara, we went directly to the Exotic Desert Camp around 4 pm. The camp was quite nice. The insides of tent were quite luxurious.

We started for the desert safari at around 4.30 pm. Though the desert safari was interesting, it was not anywhere close to the Dubai experience. But it was decent.

We did camel rides. 

Gaurav and Yashvi also did ATV rides.

We watched the sun set in the desert. 

Jai also got some drone footage. 

We came back to the desert camp around 6.45 pm. It was getting quite cold. I put on my goosedown jacket.

There was an evening entertainment program. There was one performer who was particularly talented.

There was some dancing and fun.

We went to sleep around 9.30 pm. 

We had breakfast at around 8.15 am. 

Then Anu and Samir suddenly decided that we would visit Laungewala war memorial this day rather than the next day on Wed, Jan 4. 

So we left for Laungewala around 10 am and reached around 12 noon.

This battle is the main topic of the popular movie Border (1997). However, in the movie lot of things are shown incorrectly. But it is a worth a watch.

The war memorial has been developed very nicely. It is inspiring to see the bravery displayed by a small Indian force winning against a much larger Pakistani force.

 

The entire battle scene is maintained very well. Indians took advantage of high ground very well.

The 4 Hunter aircraft that took off from Jaisalmer were also a decisive factor in the victory.

From Laungewala, we drove to Tanot Mata Mandir (about 40 km north) on a beautifully built black top road. We left Laungewala at around 1.30 pm and reached Tanot Mandir in about 40 mins.

Contemporary folklore credits the Tanot Mata temple for the outcome of the battle.

We received a special pass to visit Indo-Pak border post that is about 10 km from Tanot Mandir. There is a 4 storey observation deck from which we took this photo. 

We also got an opportunity to walk very close to the border fence.The fence is the no man's land.

We left the border post around 3.15 pm, reached Tanot by about 3.50 pm and then headed back to Jaisalmer. 

We directly went to Bada bagh, another cenotaph complex. Bada Bagh is a garden complex located about six kilometers north of Jaisalmer in the Indian state of Rajasthan. Overlooking a mango grove sits a set of royal chhatri (cenotaphs) constructed by the Maharajas of the Jaisalmer State in the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries. This complex was extremely beautiful and perfect for a movie shooting location. Lots of people were taking wedding photos.

We then proceeded to Mandir Palace hotel, a heritage hotel in the heart of Jaisalmer. The royal family currently stays in that complex. It was beautiful.

We had a great dinner at Nachana Haveli (Saffron Restaurant), a hotel next door from Mandir Palace. The food was fantastic. We had gatte ki sabji which was delicious. The dinner was paid for by the host, because Jai's brother was her cardiologist.

We walked over to a stall selling boiled sweet milk. 

We had breakfast around 8.30 am. Gaurav and Gauri had to leave for Jaipur. Aditya, Anu and Samir went to Jaisalmer fort. We went to Jaisalmer fort around 10.30 am.

Jaisalmer Fort is one of the very few "living forts" in the world (such as Carcassonne, France), as nearly one fourth of the old city's population still resides within the fort. For the better part of its 860-year history, the fort was the city of Jaisalmer. The first settlements outside the fort walls, to accommodate the growing population of Jaisalmer, are said to have come up in the 17th century.

We walked around the fort and along the ramparts.

We were done by about 12 noon. We then picked up some laddoos from a specialty sweets shop. They were ground boondi laddoo. Delicious.

We decided to go backt o Nachana haveli restaurant for our lunch. 

This was followed by shopping.

We headed for the airport around 2.45 pm. Our flight was delayed. It took off at 5.30 pm and landed in Mumbai at 7.30 pm. It was 12.30 am by the time we reached our home in Pune.

It was great to do this trip with the Rawats.We have such a close bond from our days in the San Francisco Bay Area. We really enjoyed our time together.