The journey continues…🏃🏻‍♀️

Second day in Jodhpur... 

I was dragged out of bed because my mom and aunt wanted to go for a walk and god knows why they wanted to take me along! They could have considered papa or Mausa ji as suitable candidates but nooo, they had to choose me, muttering something about girl gang. They really need to act their age! 😳What a marvelous start to the day!!!

After a thousand morning photo shoots, all around and in every nook and cranny of Hotel, we met up with the others at the dining hall and did justice to delicious breakfast spread and commenced the journey to Jaisalmer. We had hired a tempo traveller... On the way, we visited Umaid Bhavan Palace museum and got acquainted with its history dating back 1925 or so... As is the norm, we clicked some 100 pictures once outside the museum ... NO BLUFFING. I don’t joke about phone storage 📱. After that, we spent like 6 hours travelling to Jaisalmer. 6 damn hours! 

Enroute, my grandparents, aunt and parents stopped to visit Sanchiya Mata mandir and had to walk for almost 15 minutes from the parking to the temple. I, my brother and uncle remained in the vehicle spending time watching Squid Games (the goosebumps). Huhhh..I definitely got the better end of the deal. On their return from temple after an hour or so, the pilgrims ( ha ha) purchased lot of local stuff like masalas, pickels and papad and whatnot. My mom suddenly wanted to sharpen up my non existent bargaining skills and damn, she is what we call a desi at heart. She might have saved a few bucks but I was dying of embarrassment. KILL ME NOW!!

We resumed our journey with one or two pit stops. We played Antakshari and dumb charades on the way, loosing interest quickly and then, peace at last.. We took a break in the evening in a highway restaurant to fill our tummies and then fell asleep for rest of the journey to catch upon much needed sleep of last night ...Almost everyone was sleeping when we entered into Jaisalmer. 

Finally, we reached the hotel, which was comparatively small to the one in Jodhpur but was very inviting and cozy. And no!  the day wasn’t over yet, we went to dinner at the Marriott. WE HAD TO WAIT FOR MORE THAN AN HOUR FOR THE TABLE. A whole good damn hour even after reservation! I went ballistic. Like sorry but after a whole day of being cramped in the bus and feeding off chips and coke, a girl gets cranky!🙎🏻‍♀️ The food though, was delectable but at that point I was so hungry that I could have even eaten khichdi! We reached the hotel at around mid night. I crashed onto the bed and slept like a log,

The next morning, again on the insistence of my oh-so athletic family members, we went for a walk🏃🏻‍♀️. Till then, I had developed a huge appetite and oh, the breakfast was so damn good. There were muffins and pancakes to pakodas, puris and bhaturas.  The menu was a lot different than the Taj hotel we had stayed at Jodhpur and you don’t see me complaining! After a heavy breakfast, off we were to explore the wonders of Jaisalmer🧳. Oh oh, before I forget, it was BHAI DOOJ. I guess it goes without saying, who sponsored all my shopping for the rest of my trip.💅🏻😎

First, we went to Gadisar lake where I, my grandparents and my brother had a camel cart ride. Gadisar lake was…eventful, to say the least. My family even danced to some folk songs played by local artists. They were behaving like they had some Michael Jackson-worthy moves up their sleeve but those were a huge letdown. I isolated myself and put on my I-don’t-know-them face but by the end my cheek bones hurt from guffawing at the familiar comedians. But I was really happy that we all had fun. After our photo shoots, we headed to the Jaisalmer Fort. 

It was crowded. Full stop. I have nothing else to say. Half the Gujarat and Maharashtra population was frolicking there. I couldn’t walk without hitting my shoulder with someone every 2 minutes. Frankly speaking(or writing), that kind of spoiled the experience for me. 

Jaisalmer fort is known for yellow stone architecture and our guide told us that no binding chemical was used in building the walls. But the most surprising thing of all is that even today it houses a population of around 3000! There are a few tiny shops selling camel leather purses, Hand paintings etc. andddd you guessed it right..... We walked through the narrow lanes of the fort. My poor aching feet! We, as usual clicked thousands of pictures. Our photo shoots took place at the havelis and Jain mandir there. 

Afterwards had lime juice and ice creams. It was heavenly after trudging in the scorching sun. After finishing, we got back into the tempo and I tortured everyone with my DJing skills (Kpop is so good.. these people don’t have a  sense of music!). Then we reached our tent resort. I was so excited! It was my first time in a tent! It was a huge downfall when I found that they weren’t real tents and did have a wall made of brick :(. After unpacking, we went for a desert safari in an open air jeep. 🤪🤪

That was JOLTING. Full stop. Literally, all my bones were displaced. That was the beauty of it. But due to the rough trip on the dunes, only bhai and I enjoyed like crazy.  My grandparents faces, oh god! They went pale and clutched the railings tight. It was too hilarious to watch as they squirmed in their seats. There, we went for camel rides and clicked so many pictures with the beautiful sunset in the background. The sky was painted in so many colors, it was just so..so..so picturesque!😍

After returning to the half tents, we freshened up and changed into traditional outfits for the cultural program being held in an open air theater.. The event was filled with fun, laughter and paneer tikka. A jaw dropping folk dance on the nails was performed which, for me was the main highlight of the show. After that, we had a scrumptious dinner and then, all the guests were invited to perform with the dancers. The night ended with a bon fire, the warmth very welcome in the cold night. Am I the only one of finds burning flames interesting? The way they flicker and dance is riveting, right?

This was the 2nd part of my trip, Day-2and 3. Do stick around for the last part and write your comments below. Ohhh.. before I forget, Merry Christmas! Make sure to try out plum puddings and decorate a Christmas tree. Signing out, your favorite blogger🤟🏼