There was a time when Diwali (the Hindu new year day precisely) was the opportunity to meet all our relatives & friends for whom we had no time throughout the year & was the greatest festival of social networking. In those times telephones were a luxury & all social gatherings were physical only. Those meetings had its own charm as we could not personally meet as frequently.
But now after voice/video calling reaching to all the corners & classes of the country, the appeal of those meetings is lost & the festival is forgotten. So now everyone has a different agenda to spend the mini vacation of Diwali. And as I never had any agenda, It has always been difficult to spend time during these group of festivals.
Anyway, this Diwali I was conscious of the upcoming holidays & had made up my mind to have a getaway tour. So, I joined a package tour of Jaisalmer as a solo traveler & what follows is the story of this Diwali Getaway.
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| Sam Desert Evening scene |
Jaisalmer city is very interesting for people loving historical places but for fun loving people it may be quite boring to spend a day in Jaisalmer. Golden colour is what you can see all around the city. Jaisalmer fort - a UNESCO world heritage site, Mandir palace - a nice palace where movie Sarfarosh was shot, few Havelis with beautiful stone carvings - all are made with yellow stone which is the colour of Jaisalmer & was the colour of our hotel room too.
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| Mandir Palace |
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| Bada baug |
Jeep & bike rides feel almost like a rollercoaster ride but they end too soon. A partial solar eclipse was our bonus package as we got to see it from desert. I couldn't capture it on camera but it did show up on my arm by reflection or something.
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| Sam Desert |
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| Solar eclipse |
The war memorial of Longewala, Tanot mata temple & Ghadisar lake in Jaisalmer were visited the next day but most of the day was spent in bus playing childish games. Boating & laser show were enjoyed by few, I made shopping trip outside the lake but found nothing special to remember Jaisalmer by.
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| Ghadisar Lake |
Anyway the days away from home are always memorable & this Diwali will surely be remembered as a fun Diwali.
