We rent a car today and this is todays itinerary. Today is the solar eclipse and generally temples are all shut today. Hence we couldnt visit the Lodurva Jain temple. We get back into the car and proceed toward Kuldhara
Kuldhara
“The haunted village – once the home of Paliwal Brahmins”
There are people who have had paranormal experiences here post sunset. You have to take a night tour to experience it if you are the ghost-buster types. We went for a day tour. Beautiful ruins, which is now a heritage village. Read up more details on the internet.
It must have been a close knit village, self sufficient with small homes made of typical yellow stone. A temple and a house is reconstructed here to give visitors an idea about the life here. Conditions must have been really harsh and painful that these villagers must have made a decision to abondon this village. Kuldhara and several villages in the vicinity, like khaba fort, all together vacated in the same night.
Wonderful experience like a time travel to the past. Must visit – surely stop by at kuldhara and khaba fort on your way to the sand dunes.
Khaba Fort
“Yet another spooky abandoned fort” – 35 kms from Jaisalmer
This one too like Kuldhara was once inhabited by Paliwal Brahmins. Around 80 homes in ruins surround the fort. All these villages were deserted all in the same night. The chiefs of these villages had some stellar reason for taking this extreme action.
Its a crumbling structure, with very minimal human activity around it. There are efforts being made to redevelop this one and it even houses a small museum within it. Its a photographers delight – an abandoned fort at a height with a birds eye view of the ruined houses and surrounding villages.
Desert national Park Bird watching safari
Home to the “Great Indian Bustard”
20 % of the area of the desert are sand dunes. Rest is dry and arid, with regional green trees and lots of migratory birds. This national park is a haven for migratory and residential birds. I am not too much into bird watching, but our group members were, hence this safari was decided. I do not even have binoculars, so for me any bird is just a “bird”, however it is an adventure to navigate through these dry desert regions in a jeep. Do read up about my Jodhpur trip, where also we do a national park safari and spot a lot of deers, antelopes, chinkaras( black buck ) and a blue bull as well.
Sam sand dunes
We spend some time observing yet another sunset in the dunes. Beautiful photography done by the kids. Moments to cherish forever. Remembering my all time favourite movie “Lamhe” which had scenes from Jaisalmer. And its song “Yeh Lamhe, yeh pal; barso yaad karenge, yeh mausam badal gaye to, hum fariyad karenge”. Translated into English – “We will cherish these beautiful moments for years to come, We will grumble when these moments will come to an end”