Around & About Jaisalmer
How do I get there?
By Air
India Travel Packages - Important: All commercial flights to and from Jaisalmer have currently been discontinued - Travel Packages of India.
Indin Travel Packages - Jaisalmer has its own airport, 10km from the city proper with connections to Delhi and Mumbai; other important cities in India are connected via Jodhpur (275km). Jodhpur is also a convenient flight destination because the airport at Jaisalmer is very small and can accommodate only small aircrafts. Tourist taxis, jeeps and auto rickshaws are available outside the Jaisalmer airport to travel the short distance into the city while jeeps and tourist taxis, mini buses and coaches are available in Jodhpur, both outside the airport and through travel agents and tour operators - Indian Travel Packages Asia.
By Train
Travel Packages to Jaisalmer - Jaisalmer is now connected by both metre and broad gauge rail lines to other cities in Rajasthan and to important destinations like Delhi, Ahmedabad and Mumbai via Jodhpur. The luxury tourist train, the Palace on Wheels halts at Jaisalmer as it travels through Rajasthan - Jaisalmer Travel Packages.
By Road
Travel Packages of Jaisalmer - Jaisalmer is connected to Jodhpur (275km), Bikaner (328km), Ajmer (500km), Udaipur (663km) and to Delhi (900km) by well-maintained state and national highways. Rental jeeps, MUVs, buses and cars are available in these cities for those keen on travelling by road. All vehicles are with a chauffeur. If you do want to buy and drive your own car, a valid international or local license is mandatory and traffic drives on the left of the road. Most state highways are two-laned and traffic can be fairly heavy during the tourist season. It is always advisable to hire the services of an experienced driver as driving in the Thar Desert can be extremely hazardous for the first time traveller - India Travel Packages.
Getting Around
Travel Packages of India - Walk around the fort to best glimpse a lifestyle that is almost anachronistic. However, it is recommended that you rent a car, jeep or minibus with a tourist guide from a good travel agent or tour operator. Tourist taxis, auto rickshaws and Rajasthan Tourist Development Corporation conducted tours are also available. Traffic drives on the left and it is advisable to use the services of an experienced driver if you are heading off into the desert. If you take an auto rickshaw insist on the use of the meter although a cheaper but slower mode of travel in the city would be a cycle rickshaw - Indin Travel Packages.
Tourist Offices
Indian Travel Packages Asia - The Rajasthan Government run RTDC has two tourist offices in Jaisalmer. Their Tourist Reception Centre is just off Gadi Sagar Pol, Tel # 52406. The staff is friendly and helpful, speak English and will assist with reservations, tour bookings, camel safaris and other tourist information. RTDC also has a Tourist Information Bureau, Tel #52392, at the RTDC run Moomal Tourist Bungalow, which will supply basic information, maps etc - Travel Packages to Jaisalmer.
When to Go
Jaisalmer Travel Packages - The winter months between October and February are most definitely the best time to visit Jaisalmer. The weather is comfortable and the sun is not as harsh as in the summers. The three-day extravaganza of the Desert Festival is also scheduled for January, with most visitors coming over here during this time - Travel Packages of Jaisalmer.
Where do I Stay?
India Travel Packages - Jaisalmer has plenty of accommodation for tourists and travellers in all price segments. Most hotels are conveniently located within a 5km radius of the airport. Accommodation options would include deluxe and heritage hotels with air-conditioned rooms, multi cuisine restaurants and bars alongside other facilities, modestly priced standard hotels that includes the RTDC run tourist hotels and bungalows and low cost budget hotels and tourist lodges. Desert Camps are organized by tour operators and the tented accommodation is more than adequate - Travel Packages of India.
What to bring
Indin Travel Packages - Visitors to Jaisalmer need to carry light cotton clothing, sunscreen with at least 20SPF, shady hats and sunglasses to combat the bright hot summer sun. Carry wet wipes, tissues and moisturising lotion to combat the after effects of a few hours in the harsh sun and sand. Winter visitors will need one thick jacket/coat, socks, gloves and sweaters. A comfortable pair of walking shoes, binoculars, camera and a back pack/valise for the short trips to animal sanctuaries /excursions is a good idea. A first aid kit with essential medicines for fevers, colds, tummy upsets, sunburn and antihistamine is necessary even though most chemist shops will have well stocked shelves - Indian Travel Packages Asia.
Things to Do
Dining & Entertainment
Shopping
Special Events
City Getaways
Dining & Entertainment
Travel Packages to Jaisalmer - An array of restaurants serve an a la carte selection of Indian, Chinese and Continental dishes, but what most visitors to Jaisalmer really look forward to is the traditional desert food of the region. A standard Rajasthani meal will consist of many bowls of different curries made from dried beans, vegetables and lentils with spices that reputedly have a cooling effect in the desert heat and come accompanied by thin wheat flour breads. Watermelons, melons and milk-based desserts round off the meal usually served on large platters called ‘thalis’ - Jaisalmer Travel Packages.
Travel Packages of Jaisalmer - Those visiting Jaisalmer during the Desert Festival will find plenty of exciting things happenings in the evenings what with snake charmers, camel races, camel polo, puppeteers, folk dancers and musicians that enthral most visitors. But other than the odd cultural performance, entertainment options are limited to movies, most often re-runs of old Hindi films and new blockbusters - India Travel Packages.
Shopping
Travel Packages of India - Intricately carved wooden boxes, brassware, textiles, woven rugs and blankets, ethnic silver jewellery, leather bags, hand embroidered slippers and slip-ons called mojris and jootis are a speciality of the region. Visitors look for beautiful mirror work and embroidered articles, traditional rugs, blankets and shawls in typical Rajasthani colours of bright greens, vivid blues and oranges and shocking pinks - Indin Travel Packages.
Indian Travel Packages Asia - The shopping areas are inside the Fort and include the Rajasthali Government Emporium as well as the Khadi Gramodyog Emporium. The Urmul Cooperative eliminates middlemen and sources handicrafts straight from artisans, with benefits and profits also going to them. Urmul workers make cotton and wool dhurries and rugs, woodcarvings, vegetable dye block prints on furnishings, mirror work and patchwork items - Travel Packages to Jaisalmer.
Special Events
The Desert Festival held in January/February is the most popular festival of Jaisalmer, which draws large crowds of participants from far and near. With camels silhouetted against the setting sun providing a backdrop, Rajasthan’s finest folk musicians and dancers come out and enthral visitors on the sand dunes late into a moonlit night. It is a three-day extravaganza of colour, music and gaiety; snake charmers, puppeteers, ‘Gair’ and fire dancers sway to the rhythms of traditional tunes. A turban tying competition, a Mr. Desert contest, camel rides and folk dances on the sand dunes at Sam are part of the festivities. The festival culminates in a grand finale at the dunes in Sam, where it ends with a nightlong celebration around campfires.
City Getaways
Lodurva, the ancient capital of Jaisalmer and an important Jain pilgrim centre lies 16 km to the west. Among the ruins of the city is a complex of magnificent Jain temples with ornate archway at the entrance, perhaps the finest of its kind in Rajasthan.
The Akal Wood Fossil Park (17km) on the road to Barmer is an interesting stop to the fossilised remains of a forest that grew 180 million years ago. Not far from there is another prehistoric site at Kandiala where different kinds of fossils are found – still older, but undated fossilised rocks, with tiny sea shells embedded in them, that show that this sandy desert wasteland was once part of the ocean bed!
The Sand Dunes at Sam: No trip to Jaisalmer is complete without a visit to the sand dunes at Sam, 42 km away, on the edge of the Desert National Park. The varying patterns, ripples and waves that the wind creates on the undulating, ever changing dunes is awesome to behold. The sunsets at Sam are particularly beautiful, with the desert changing into a kaleidoscope of red, orange and copper before darkness engulfs the desert in a blanket of sheer black.
The Desert National Park (45km) stretches across 3000km of protected biosphere, where the fragile ecosystem of the desert is preserved in its natural environs. The native flora consists of cacti, thorny shrubs, bushes and trees and vegetation that survives in the dry and arid soil grow here and some of the local fauna- few animal species like the monitor lizard, desert foxes, porcupines and herds of black buck live in this protected park.
