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

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Day 3 | 18th, December 2010 | Sonar Fort, Jaiselmer

It was 9.00 AM when we left the campus of Gadisar lake as tourists had started to rush into the complex. It was time to move towards the local fort of Jaiselmer named Sonar Fort. It was very near to the lake complex hardly 1 KM away, so within no time we reached the fort and parked our vehicle in the parking. Surprisingly, Sonar Fort is the only living fort in India and has an approximate population of 3000 people … As soon as we stepped out the local guides vouched on us like anything but we successfully rejected their services gracefully …

Some Incomplete Steps…

A Circular Formation…

There were quite a few shops for food in front of the entrance of Sonar Fort and since we were hungry for breakfast we explored few of them. We happened to find one German Bakery where we ordered sandwiches and a cup of coffee which was given to us in a huge cup … Somehow we managed to sip that into our bellies and went outside to explore the fort. As we entered the fort, one of the local guides caught us and didn’t stop following us. He chased us to our patience when finally my wife asked me to took him along. He was in old age and was trying desperately hard to get one of the tourists for some earnings.

A Tall Figure…

The architecture… A Temple Inside…

The architecture… A Closer Look…

We told him that we are only interested in passing time and not much of history. Hence, requested him to be as brief as possible in explaining things. He took us to the palace where the king lives, showed various temples inside the fort, some beautiful architecture and a barrel gun sitting right on the top. The barrel gun was made of silver-gold and a lot of thieves have attempted to steal it over a past without any success. What we were interested was the view of entire city of Jaiselmer, it offers. We didn’t take any pictures due to lots of haze and fog over the view, so quickly went back to the original central point in front of king’s palace. We paid the guide Rs 100 and were free after that … Personally, I didn’t like the fort at all as it was as if you are walking in the streets of some crowded place of old Delhi not some historic fort in Jaiselmer.

King’s Palace…

King’s Palace… The Top…

King’s Throne… Now Under Protection …

The architecture… Again…

The architecture… Another Temple Inside…

Anyways we were not interested much in the history of the place as none of us liked it even in our academic era as well … So, after clicking few more pictures we were out of the fort and sat down near the entrance on bench to take some rest. After a while we went to a corner shop to have some more kachoris in order to fill our tummies. By 11.30 AM we were completely free and had none interest left in exploring further architecture of the place … We wanted to see sand dunes only which was supposed to happen in the evening only. But, since we had time I thought of hitting to Khuri sand dunes further 45 KM away but after driving for 5-6 KM found it ill-logical to drive 90 KMs just to touch the place and come back … So, we headed straight to hotel Moomal, RTDC where we were supposed meet that guy and leave for Sam sand dunes along with other tourists. It was around 12.30 by the time we reached back hotel. The guy had not came yet for his shift by that time, so we asked the other guy about the location of the Sam Dhani and he guided us perfectly.

The Well… Dug by Lord Krishna…

The architecture… Another Temple Inside…

Some Experiments… The Shadows…

The Fort… Outside View…

Without wasting any further time we excitedly left for the Sam sand dunes. It was for the first time we were going to witness the sand dunes of hot desert as I have already seen the sand dunes of cold desert Ladakh (If you missed it then read this post Sand Dunes of Hunder, Nubra Valley). The drive to Sam sand dunes from Jaiselmer is about 45 KM and the road was black flat metal all the way… The smooth up and down turns on the road made us enjoy every bit of it as if we were in a roller-coaster … By 1 PM we reached Sam Dhani, RTDC and were amazed to see the Sand Dunes of Thar Desert, Rajasthan. As we entered the Hotel there was a surprise waiting for us …

Jaiselmer to Sam Sand Dunes…

Sam Sand Dunes… First Views…

Hotel Sam Dhani, RTDC at Sam Sand Dunes…