nice going sachin and deepan
you people rode 4 km on camel ? riding on animals is tough with all the movement going on.
Are bikes allowed till the sand dunes ?
No adventure rides there like quad bikes etc ?

Thanks Ashwin.
No there is no restriction. You can take any transport upto the dunes where there are less of public. But the dunes are pretty high and the sands are too loose. Its pretty difficult to walk upon, so imagine how tuff it would be on an automobile. We met some guyz who tried to take their Ford Endeavour (2x2) and got stuck in the sands. They had to finally deflate the tire and a lot of pushing and wriggling to help get out of the sands.
Moral for fun you can try taking ur bikes into the sands, but dont go deeper.
Not heard of Quads there but yeah jeep safaris of the sands are available.

Regards,
Deepan

Entertainment guaranteed! - Folk Dance & Music of Rajasthan
24th Dec'12

What day we had so far, if I look back we saw Jaisalmer fort, Gadisar Lake, Patwon ki Haveli & Sam Sand Dunes. As beautiful was the day time experience, the night experience was something I was looking forward to simply because we were spending the night in tent at Sam.

As we came back from the camel safari, we were welcomed by a girl applying Tilak on our forehead. Girl named Rekha completely dressed in traditional Rajasthani avatar. Nice touch I say to receive a welcome like that. It's been rightfully said that the vibrancy of Rajasthan is never completely discovered until you engulf yourself in the music and dance of it. As we sat on the ground right in front of the musicians, Deepan was ready to click all the best pictures he could possible click. Wish he had a tripod for night shots.

We were given a welcome drink and welcome snacks as we returned and the performance started. Group of 4 musicians and 1 dancer who were our entertainers for tonight - One of them was the lead singer and also played harmonium while other person was playing foot tapping beats from Tabla. Heard many known songs like Khwaja ji, Padharo maro desh, Jhule lal, etc. Saw & heard a Jungalbandi too where using 2 different music instruments exactly same music is heard. Though the boy sitting next to me did not find it amusing as he did not understand what they were upto
































Dance with the beat - After a few songs, In came Rekha the girl who welcomes everyone! She was the lead dancer & I must say she did manage to catch everyone's attention by her moves and kept the show alive. We were taken aback by her extraordinary skills with her sheer perfection and excellence. Saw her perform 'Bhawai' which is one of the traditional folk dances of Rajasthan which is performed by dancing & spinning even though maintaining a fine balancing act and poising seven to nine brass pitchers over her head & standing gracefully on the edge of glass.

By the end of the show, she brings on the floor all the ladies who are willing to dance and soon you'll find the tourists also engulfed in the music & dance. As we enjoyed the dance performance, I can say for sure that ladies could n't help themselves from shaking their body to the beat & hypnotizing melody




































After watching the glorious Rajasthani dance & music, dinner was open for everyone. It was a buffet and typical Rajasthani plate. Ate all I could and though it is completely different to what we are used to eating in our daily routine, it was delicious in it's own way. Post dinner, spent time with many tourists near bonfire and lot of good discussion happened as we met a Punjabi group who also travel a lot and have seen many different places in India and their diversity. We went in our tents soon after and a nice sound sleep followed thereafter.

More to follow as we woke up with sun rise the next day!

I would never forget, in that cold morning u woe me up saying its 09:30. I got up and saw the time it was just 07:30 and i was lie Faaaaaacccckkkkk . But all was for a better future. because of that we could accomplish the next task on time.

Regards,
Deepan

Thanks Prasad. More pics will come up by tomorrow I guess. Sorted out close to 100 pics from the next leg to be added. Hope a century of pics would be enough for a day

Thanks Shardul. All the best for your ride, Have a safe one!

Ha ha. If I would have said to you that it's 7:30 you would have slept for another 2 hours at least. For Next day you have clicked almost 200 photos dude and I have managed to sort out and bring the number to half. So I cannot add it today, hopefully by tomorrow.

P.S. All the above night shots of tent are non - edited pics so well done! It has come out well

A Visit to Longewala & Tanot
25th Dec'12

Distance Covered - 350 kms

Longewala, The first thing that strikes my mind when I think of this place is 120 soldiers defending the post when Pakistan army attacked us during the 1971 war. Despite all the odds the post was not abandoned and we held 2000-3000 strong Pakistani Army at bay for the full night until Indian Air Force arrived in morning.

I woke up and started the day with a big fat lie. I told Deepan to wake up it's 9:30am and we need to go asap. That was the only way he could have jumped off the bed. Actual time was 7:30am
Made an early morning call to HV Kumar and confirmed on how to reach Longewala and any watch-outs. Well, there were many watch-outs we had to take care off. So let's start with the watch-outs first.

Watch-outs -
1) No Fuel Station - From Jaisalmer to Longewala - Tanot and back to Jaisalmer is 320 kms. There is no petrol pump present anywhere between Jaisalmer & Longewala. So who ever is planning to go to Longewala please ensure you fill your tank completely at Jaisalmer before you start your journey. We carried 3 litres extra fuel in plastic bottle extra just in case if it was required. There is petrol supplied in Bottles in Ramgarh at higher rate and highly doubt the quality of fuel. This can be an option in case of emergency.

2) Private Vehicle only - There is no means of transport, carry eatables and enough water since there is nothing available on the way.

3) Longewala Route - There is a left turn board from Ramgarh to go to Longewala however we took the left and were lost in a very remote place without any boards or people. Please inquire at Ramgarh which is the correct left turn as it might be a little ahead.

We rode from Sam sand dunes back to our hotel to collect our luggage and to fill petrol. Priyank had left us a note last night that he has left Jaisalmer and was returning home as her mother was still in hospital. We filled one full tank of petrol and with that Ninja 650 can do at least 280-300 kms and total travel distance without fuel was 320 kms hence, I carried 3 litres of extra fuel to be on the safer side.



























One of the finest roads in the country - What can I say about the roads. I am speechless when I try to recollect the fun we had riding big bikes here. From Jaisalmer to Ramgarh was a blast. One particular strecth I was riding behind a Ritz (car) at around 100 kmph and overtook him at around 120 kms as I looked ahead I saw a super tempting open strecth and decided to tuck in and twist the throttle. I ended up doing 198, 199, 200, 202 and back to normal speed. Phew what a rush! The 650cc Ninja proved its worth and was stable even doing those speeds. I loved it!















We reached Ramgarh within no time and from here one has to take a left turn to go to Longewala border which happens to be around 43 kms. The roads are exceptionally maintained by BRO (Border Roads Organization) and this is definitely one place I would recommend everyone to ride on. Open roads which are stretching as far as your eyes can see with desert on both sides. Roads sometimes are arrow straight sometimes they incline upwards and sometimes decline downwards, it is nothing short of a brilliant experience riding here. We reached Longewala by around 1pm and spend a lot of time chatting with BSF guards who were friendly and gave us all the information about the place. I felt completely different being there, lost in the various chapters from the history of Indo-Pak war which happened here. Here we saw a Pakistani tank & a truck which were destroyed by us in 1971 Indo-pak war. The journey is quite panoramic, a road within huge sand dunes present in actual Thar desert.

















































































Tanot -
We moved on to reach Tanot in no time. Another wonderful strecth of road as good as what we experienced so far but the sand dunes we saw while riding to Tanot were the real thing, these dunes were huge. After seeing the dunes in Tanot, suddenly Sam sand dunes felt very small and like tiny mounds. Tanot is another special place which is a must watch when you are in Rajasthan. It is said that during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965, Pakistani Army dropped several bombs targeting the temple but none of the bombs could fall on the temple and large number of the bombs in the vicinity of the temple did not explode. After the war the temple management was handed over to Border Security Force of India. On date Border Security Force Jawans man the temple. The temple has a museum which has collections of the unexploded bombs dropped by Pakistan. The place is close to the Pakistan border, an unfertile land, and is prone to enemy attacks. The governments of both countries have planted land mines in the area. Animals like camel or cattle are the worst sufferer of these devices.
After taking darshan of Tanot Mata we moved on and did some nice photo session in the dunes. Final leg of return journey started!





















































When I hit a dog
It was around 5pm and we were doing good speeds of around 100 kmph when suddenly in front of my bike looking at the opposite side a dog crossed the road. It happened so quickly that there was no time for me to react or brake or even slow the speed. As the dog crossed the road my bike hit his back leg and he was pushed on the right side of the road. My bike wobbled but due to the strong chassis I was able to sustain the bike and it stabilized. I narrowly escaped from having a fall. We stopped the bike but the dog was dead and nothing could have been done. We moved on and reached Jaisalmer to halt for the night.

















This was personally my most memorable day of the trip as the whole point of going to Rajasthan was seeing the Thar desert. And we saw many different vistas of Thar desert and it was worth the time spent. I would recommend this place to all who are going to Rajasthan.

Sachin and Deepan - Thats a really nice RR there guys and awesome pics as well !
It has always been a pleasure reading your logs Sachin! Somehow can instantly connect to your writings.
Loved ur last log as well - starring N650 . Keep it up. All the best and keep riding mate!

Thanks Nagesh!

On the way to Jodhpur - Moments to remember
26th Dec'12
Route: Jaisalmer - Pokhran - Jodhpur
Distance Covered - 290 kms

If Jaisalmer was all about fascinating desert safari, beautiful sand dunes, incredible architecture & atmosphere then Jodhpur in contrast offers breathtaking panoramic views of the city, home to forts, palaces and temples. Our journey started from Jaisalmer and was fast paced because of a beautifully laid tarmac, a 2-lane road with limited vehicles early morning. The road was good all the way till Baleshwar however after Baleshwar the road becomes worse and remains bad all the way till Jodhpur (last 60 kms)

Heart in Mouth Situation - Because the roads are well laid we were cruising at around 100 kmph and here came a speed defying situation or should I say here came a Baby Goat (Kid)
I could see this goat crossing the road from the other side and because the goat was walking very slowly with no intention of stopping as per my judgement even if I would have braked hard I would have collided with the goat. I decided to increase the speed so that before the goat can even cross half way I ll go through safely. Well! It did n't quite go as per plan & as soon as increased speed to move quickly the baby goat had its own plan. It suddenly started running and I went to as much left as possible to avoid collision but it was too late and I was going to collide if the baby goat would not stop on its own. With almost cms away from the goat in front of me the baby goat suddenly stopped right beside the bike and if I have to put in words then it was like he/she applied brakes using her front legs dragging the front 2 knee's on the ground stopping him/herself from hitting my bike. Phew! All's Well that end Well's

Luckily I did not hit and survived. Trust me, It's absolutely crazy riding in open Rajasthan roads with all these cattle crossing. I can only wish if something can be done to avoid these situations the ride would have been much more pleasurable





Meet Kim Sinclair -
As we continued our journey after the goat fiasco, I saw a guy geared from Head to Toe and was riding solo with luggage. As we rode for some distance and then because I put the parking lights on and moved on the side of the road, Kim stopped as well to say Hi to a fellow biker. As soon as Kim removed his helmet I was surprised as I did not expect a foreign tourist riding solo in RJ.
Kim explained that he is from Australia, 60 years old and works in Dubai. Kim works in Emirates as a Training Captain Examiner & owns a BMW R1200. He was riding solo exploring Rajasthan. It was a pleasure riding with Kim for the next 100 kms and since Kim did not know exactly where his hotel was in the crowded city of Jodhpur we guided him all the way to his hotel before we moved on. Let me tell you it was like searching a Tiny Diamond in a coal mine. Jodhpur city is so crowded that finding a home-stay was like Mission Impossible. It took us close to 90 minutes to find the home-stay where Kim had booked his stay in Jodhpur. Nevertheless, We thought it would be easier for us to communicate and find the place rather than Kim as we are in our own country.

As we bid Good Bye to Kim we moved on and we struggled to find hotel for the next 30 mins and Jodhpur city was giving us a tuff time with all the traffic around us. Finally we asked one Auto Rickshaw about hotel and we guided us to a hotel where we finally halted. Since it was already 4:30, we could n't see the fort or palaces intended to be seen today as a result we called it a day and started walking in Jodhpur city.









As we walked we reached the center of city where we tasted Special Lassi from Famous Janta Sweets which is opposite to Priya Hotel. Priya Hotel is recommended for Delicious Rajasthani Thali and we were not disappointed. It was very tasty to our delight. We also went to Mehrangarh Fort at night to enjoy the beautiful Panoramic view of the Jodhpur City before we ended the day.

























Our Hotel Owner told us to park the bikes inside the hotel so that theft can be avoided. We parked the bikes inside the hotel as suggested to avoid any sorry situation.

Very Nicely explained...you made me laugh thank you very much bro...Bada majja aaya :P

I had shared Kim the link to this thread in email so that he could read our experience. Today, I got a reply from Kim so posting his email here. It's good to tour as it gives us a chance to meet new people, make friends and share experience. Below is one such experience.

Sachin Nair <******@gmail.com>

to Kim

Hello Kim,
Just Penned down our experience of meeting and riding with u. Once u get time please click on the below link and read.
http://www.xbhp.com/talkies/tourer/2...tml#post913908

Kim Sinclair
to me

Hi Sachin,
Its ironic. I was thinking of you yesterday when I received your email. I had been telling a girl about my ride and I guess my mind wondered to that chance encounter.
Read your blog and your baby goat encounter. In my mind I had rated goats as perhaps the greatest hazard on RJ roads. Cattle are predictable. Goats are not and they are much more flighty.
Your recollections of our ride into Jodhpur that day were accurate. I found the first and last 5 miles in and out a city the most challenging and usually found a toot-toot driver to show me the way.It was amazing how few people could accurately describe how to get somewhere. Thus our random meandering to my home-stay.
As I had a few days there I actually got reasonably comfortable with navigating in Jodhpur, although one evening I got hopelessly lost. Night time is far more challenging.
My bike here is in for service. It was cutting out periodically and I thought there might be a fuel or injector problem. Turns out a rat had climbed into the air-filter and nested there! This must have happened when the previous owner had it garaged for a long U.S. winter.
No rides planned for the immediate future. I had hoped to do a ride down into Oman last week but the mountain retreat I wanted to go to is restricted to 4WD so I did not go.
I wonder whether Bombay is motorcycle cycle friendly? Or do you take a bus!
All the best,
Kim.

Oh my RJ goats...Even I had my part of it..so many close calls..damn..

Jodhpur Exploration & Ride to Pushkar
27th Dec'12
Route Taken: Jodhpur - Bar - Beawar - Pushkar
Distance Covered: 220 kms

Mehrangarh Fort - Personally, this is my favorite fort in Rajasthan. It's above the city and looks so huge and beautiful that you gotta love it. There was huge crowd building to enter the fort as early as 9:00AM in the morning when we entered. Audio tours where available however we decided to skip it. It stands close to 400 feet above Jodhpur, in red sand stone and very huge no matter from which angle you look. From the fort due to its elevation above the city, one look towards the city and you realise you have left behind a city painted in Blue. The entrance took us to a wide courtyard around which the Palace rises. In many places of this palace we could notice the Rajasthani architectural marvel. Inside the palace, we could make out that Mehrangarh has been maintained brilliantly and all the paintings and wall art have been restored with great precision. Deepan clicked as many pictures as possible for memories while I looked around. Pictures don't do justice to this beautiful fort so just go there to see for yourself the beauty of Mehrangarh.















































Jaswant Thada - On the way down from the Mehrangarh Fort, on the left is another architectural landmark. Jaswant Thada is a white marble memorial built by Sardar Singh in memory of Maharaja Jaswant Singh. Paid for tickets and camera again as we moved in. It's also called as Taj Mahal of Marwar and to be honest it did look very impressive in white marble. The main tomb is built like a temple carved in marble stone. Clicked photos and heard some really good songs from a local Rajasthani singer who was singing for tourists. You get another beautiful view of the Mehrangarh fort from Jaswant Thada and as we came out we gave our entry tickets to few localities to save them some money :P





We moved on to check out the final place in our list to see in Jodhpur.

Umaid Bhawan Palace - It was almost noon as we headed to Umaid Bhawan Palace. It took us sometime to figure out the correct gate open fore tourists but once we reached we found ourselves standing in hot sun in a huge queue lined up for tickets to enter the Palace. It was complete chaos and very crowded. Schools, Foreign tourists, Local crowd, you just name it and everyone was present :P
After close to 30 minutes of standing in queue we got the tickets. We saw some really cool vintage cars parked here but unfortunately covered in Glass which meant No good photographs. As we entered inside the palace, there was no place even to stand forget admiring anything. From what I could find about the palace is a portion of it is converted in hotel and the other portion is open for visitors in form of museum. Checking out the place was less royal and more of a hassle due to enormous crowd inside. We decided to leave the palace and move on.











With Umaid Bhawan seen, it marked end of Jodhpur sight seeing and it was time for us to checkout from the hotel and head to Pushkar where our dear friend Rahul Kakkar was waiting for us. Rest of day was spent riding from Jodhpur to Pushkar.

Roads were in terrible condition till Beawar and the final 50 odd kms was back on NH8. We passed Ajmer by evening and reached Pushkar by around 8pm. Met Kakkar, bikes parked and chit chat session began :P
We had lot of stories to talk about as we took a stroll till Pushkar lake at night. Followed by visiting the Brahma temple in Pushkar. Pushkar is abode of Lord Brahma and the world's only temple dedicated to him is located here.

According to the legend, Pushkar means a pond created by flower. It is believed to have been formed when Brahma dropped a lotus flower on the earth to determine a place for his yagna, a holy sacrifice. The story goes that Brahma wanted to perform the yagna at the most auspicious time but his consort Savitri whose presence at the yagna was vital for its performance kept him waiting. Irritated by this Brahma married Gayatri, a milkmaid and installed her instead. Savitri on seeing someone else in her place was infuriated and cursed Brahma that he would be forgotten by people on earth and never worshiped. She relented on pleas from other gods that he could only be worshipped in Pushkar; hence there are no Brahma temples elsewhere.





Post our visit to Brahma temple, we had our dinner and headed back to our rooms for a good sound sleep.

Re: Sands of Time - Rajasthan

no more posts after pushkar..did you guys leave for mumbai after pushkar

Re: Sands of Time - Rajasthan

After Pushkar, we explored Ajmer - Jaipur - Bhangarh Fort - Udaipur before we started the return journey back to Mumbai.
I will write all that and eventually finish everything but it will take its own sweet time.