The Journey so far-

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• Rats Rule in Karni Devi Temple, Bikaner
• Bikaner to Jaiselmer, The Zooming Drive
• Beautiful Sunrise over Gadisar Lake in Jaiselmer
• Sonar Fort in Jaiselmer

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Day 3 | 18th, December 2010 | Sam Sand Dunes of Thar Desert, Jaiselmer

There was a surprise was when we reached the Sam Dhani, RTDC hotel complex when the manager told us that there are no bookings confirmed for us to him… I can’t give you any accommodation… I was furious to hear that and told him that we have already paid the advance to the guy at the reception last evening in Hotel Moomal, RTDC. He asked us to contact him before leaving but since we had nothing to do we came directly here. The manager too was surprised after listening to us and asked us to show the cash memo. The guy at the reception didn’t give us the cash memo last night, which I thought would be settled at the bill finalization. But, in the morning there was some other guy at the reception who gave us the number of the manager and reference behind the card but I got a clue of the whole drama which the last night guy had scripted. So, I took that visiting card and showed the manager by telling him that he even gave us your reference for any issues …

Family Photo Frame Picture of the Trip… …

He immediately called that guy from his phone and shouted on him regarding writing his name and taking the advance. Then, that guy in order to hide his foul play told the manager that he forgot to leave behind the cash memo for us and now anyone from RTDC staff can come and collect the money from him. Thank god he was not aware of the hand writing at least at that time…The manager apologized to us and sent a guy to collect the money from hotel Moomal, RTDC. He told us that he can only give us the cottage as there is no hut left and even all the cottages are booked. But, since they had some booking for a guest since yesterday and they have not turned up so he can give us that cottage. He also offered 10% discount to compensate all the melodrama for past 30 minutes which actually is the double game, played by the internal staffs of many hotels in Rajasthan.

I felt that many people working in one or the other popular hotel in Rajasthan becomes agent of some other hotel or tour operators as well from where they get handsome bonus. The guy at the reception last night took the advance from us for some private operator for whom he was an agent and plotted to send us along with other people at the same time so that we have no option left rather to finally stay in that private property only. But, the actual height was he had pictures / videos from that local operator on a RTDC computer which he displays to the people staying at hotel Moomal, RTDC in Jaiselmer, maps the things to Sam Dhani but ultimately sends them to some private property which pays him handsome commission… Sick …

Anyways we got the room now, after resting for couple of hours and having food we went for Camel Safari which was part of the payment (Rs 350 per person) took from us by RTDC for cultural program. The payment included one tea+snacks, camel ride to sunset point, dinner and cultural performance by the local artists. The lunch at Sam Dhani was pretty much OK but actually we were bored of that Dal Tadka and rice available for last few days now. There was nothing else available …

It was around 4 PM that we started the ride and my wife had a tough time climbing on to the camel but eventually she got onto it… When the camel took off she was pretty afraid of falling from it for quite some time … The camel caretaker told us that he has been given Rs 100 by the RTDC for a drop to sunset point but I knew that point will be chaos(ed) with tourists and vendors as the sun goes down. We asked him to take deep into the desert for which he asked Rs 500 more as he cannot undertake more runs of tourists in that case due to full time availability with us. We agreed and he took almost till start of Desert National Park though no wildlife was visible that time of the day . In between we really enjoyed the sand dunes by clicking the pictures and enjoying the music played by few locales for their earnings…

The Sand Dunes… In the midst…

The Shadows…

Its Not That Easy…

The Ripples in the Sand…

The Ripples in the Sand… A Closer View…

The Ripples in the Sand… A Curvy View…

The Ripples in the Sand… A Broad View…

(Not sure why the unusual colors are present when sun was on the left side in above picture.. is it something to do with not using a lens hood… I saw such strange colors in some other pictures too… )

You need to carry some change (money) when you go into the desert to offer these locale artists as tips for their performances … These locales play different types of instruments to entertain tourists and earn their living from their tips. I feel it doesn’t matter to pay a little to these locales as well who run their houses based on tips tourists keeping in mind that tourists season in Rajasthan is very limited due to scorching heat for rest of the year. So, even if I didn’t wanted to hear the music or wanted to get entertained again and again to enjoy peace, I offered them the tips …

The Ripples in the Sand… A Broader View Continues…

The Ripples in the Sand… A Curvy View Continues…

The Ripples in the Sand… Making their way…

The Ripples in the Sand… I messed some of them by sitting…

The Ripples in the Sand… A Macro View …

We enjoyed the peaceful moments in the regions of sand dunes devoid of tourists for more than an hour and waited for the sunset now at a nice secluded place far away from the tourist rush…

Finally we both are there in a click…

Shahrukh Khan… was the name of the camel …

As the sun starts to set…

The Elongated Shadows…

A Fest in the Thar Desert…