Sam Sand Dunes

We chose a camp in Sam Dunes who had access to the virgin dunes deep into the desert. We drove into the desert on a Mahindra Thar on what I'd call the bumpiest ride of my life with bedding and blankets and enough food and water to thrive the night. We descended deep into the desert until all the lights coming out of the various camps died out. We stopped on a dune and unloaded our stuff. The darkness around us was eerie. It was so dark that we couldn't see anything further than 3-ft. A torch was indispensable to see each other or navigate. The only light source was the stars. It was so dark that when we got up in the morning, we felt like we were in a complete different place.

Imagine being in the middle of a desert with your one and only love, spending the day enjoying adventure sports over the sand dunes, watching a beautiful sunset and then finally sleeping over charpoys watching the stars twinkle. This night under the stars will surely be great for romantic conversations and lots of good food.Things to DoCatch a beautiful sunset over the sand dunes and wake up early to capture a mesmerising sunrise in your camera lens. Spend the rest of the day running around, playing silly games in the sands with your love and indulging in adventures like dune bashing. Reserve the evening for a live cultural performance by Rajasthani folk artists.The list doesn’t end here! Spend the night stargazing, spotting constellations and chatting with your partner as you lie down on a charpoy under the magical starlit sky.How to Get ThereBoard a train from your city to Jaisalmer Railway Station, from where you can hire a cab or pre-book a jeep with a local agent to get to Sam Sand Dunes.WITH FAMILY: COORG

Night Safari in Desert - BEST IDEA EVER!This was the highlight of the trip for me, it is a memory which will be etched in my mind forever. You know when they say, it is the experiences which makes your life worth living. This was it for me. Desert safari is basically sand dune bashing in a jeep (not your regular ones), wherein you move from one sand mountain to another at a high speed, except you do it at night, in pitch dark. And when it is December, add extremely chilly temperature to it. You need at least 6-8 people to book a jeep and we were just the two of us. Even after asking a lot of people no one was up for it. But Aarti was adamant. She said I should not miss out on it because she had done it before. She somehow spoke to Mr. Bhati, owner of DDS who at 11.00 pm told us that he would take us for it for 2k (its around 3-3.5k for the whole jeep otherwise) and took us in his own personal Thar, which was a beast of a vehicle. And it is pretty scary at 11 pm, just the two of us, literally in the middle of nowhere. I am so glad Mr. Bhati himself decided to drive us or else I doubt we could trust anyone else to go with at that point. So, we head out with music, glaring on the Thar, holding on to the open air jeep tightly as it was freezing cold. I had so many emotions at once, excited, nervous, numb with cold! It was pitch dark, the sky was full of stars and the song Musafir from Jagga Jasoos was playing in the background. It was far more poetic than I can express in words. So DO NOT miss out on the night safari. It is worth every penny that you spend.

Sam Sand Dunes - The Might Thar DesertWe reached the DDS Camps for the best part of our trip, celebrating Chirstmas in Desert. We quicky checked our tents which felt very comfy with cosy beds, multiple blankets and attached bathroom in the desert. Though, the whole stretch of Sam sand dunes is filled with camps, ours did not feel very crowded as it was in the last part of the stretch. We were ready for our camel ride till the sunset point which actually is not very far from the camps. Even though the camel rides were short but was fun and initially scary nevertheless. Be aware of the camel guys promising to take you to where 'Border' was shot. They will take you only a few meters and charge a bomb for it. We quickly decided to reach the sunset point as the sun was setting rapidly, we actually had to make a run for it (bad idea in the desert). Please make sure that you are fully clothed to avoid the sand getting inside or getting tanned. All the camps had a musical night organised and the noise was unbearable. But eventually our camp's program started too, and was enjoyable (minus a guy spitting fire and women dancing on glass). It ended with a very good dinner on desert standards and DJ Night!