Explore the Desert of Rajasthan at Jesalmer in India

India is a large country having all types of beautiful places, from snow cladded Himalayan Mountains to hot deserts, the beautiful sea beaches to finest hill stations. Most of the people may not have seen the sand covered deserts in their life. One such city from where you can visit the desert interiors is Jesalmer in State of Rajasthan in India. Jesalmer is located amongst the desert of Rajasthan.

You can reach Jesalmer by all the three transportation ways. Jodhpur is the nearest airport, around 175 miles away from Jesalmer. Jesalmer is connected by railway from Mumbai and Jaipur, and is a railway station itself. You can also reach Jesalmer by road through hired car or taxi or State transport buses from any major cities of Rajasthan. Jesalmer is signing with light and beauty of its own due to the near-by desert. This city was established by the Raval king Jaisinh in the year 1156 on the Trikut mountain. Jesalmer was used in transporting hot masalas and Resham cloth to Delhi in earlier days.

Hence, it got developed as a commercial center. There are very good hotels available at Jesalmer like Sudershan, Rangmahal, Himantgadh Palace, Neeraj, Priya, Jesal Palace, and Panihari. We had stayed at Hotel Panihari that is situated slightly away from the city. The air-conditioned double room was available at the rate of Rs.1800 ($44) per day in the month of October. The hotel has nicely decorated rooms with freeze and the coffeemaker provided in the room. The check out time is 12 noon at this hotel. However, late checkout at around 6 pm is generally acceptable on request without any extra charges. Make sure to enjoy the Rajasthani food items like dalbati and churma. These are the specialties here. All other standard food varieties are also available in Gujarati, Punjabi, South Indian, and continental style.

There are quiet a few sites seeing places here at Jesalmer. The first is the fort of Jesalmer. This historical fort was made by the king Jesal in the year 1158. The fort is spread in large area and has four gates, namely Ganesh pole, Suraj pole, Bhoot pole, and Hava pole. You can enter through any of these gates inside the fort. There are ancient palaces in the fort, having fantastic engraving designs in its architecture. There are also famous Jain temples inside this fort, which were made in 12^th and 15^th century. Manek Chok is situated just outside the fort. You can go in all the streets of Jesalmer through this central Chok. Jesalmer can also be called city of Havellies as there are many havelis like Nathmalji ki haveli, Salimsingh ki haveli, and Patwa's haveli. All these havelis have fine designs and engravings that were made in 18^th and 19^th centuries.

Lodruva is the next spot to be seen. It was the capital of Jesalmer State in ancient times. It is located around 10 miles away from Jesalmer and has famous Jain temples. Barmer is the next spot. It is famous for wooden artistic furniture items and hand embroidered saris. The fairs are held here regularly that can help us to see and feel the life of desert very closely. Barmer is also famous for the animal fairs that are held here 3 to 4 times every year. If you want to have real experience of staying in the desert, you must visit Sam. It is around 24 miles away from Jesalmer and provides cottages to stay for couple of days in the middle of the desert. The views of sunrise and the sunset are really mind blowing here. The calm and peaceful desert environment shall help you to forget all your hassles and tensions. The Rajasthani folk dances are also worth seeing here that are arranged every night here. You can plan your stay at Jesalmer for around 2 to 3 days to fully enjoy the desert scenario.

Jesalmer shall turn out to be slightly different type of outing than the standard hill stations and sea beaches. However, this difference only shall make your stay here very enjoyable and pleasant.