Jaisalmer

slippy

Is 1 1/2 day good enough for Jaisalmer or does a full 2 days really make a difference? thanks.

delhiwala

What do you want to do at Jaisalmer ?

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camelgirl

How long is your total India trip, how long do you have for Rajasthan and where else are you going there? And what are your interests?

You could spend as little or as long as you want in a place like Jaisalmer. Camel safari--1/2 day up to one week.

So, as you see, we need a bit more info. to be helpful.

As a general rule, I would always say an extra day is better, if you have the time.

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tdl2920

if your tight on time 1 day is enough in Jaisalmer. the fort is a living city and is consequently quite run down. i was underwhelmed with Jaisalmer considering how far out you have to travel to get there.

slippy

I'm a little bit tight on time since I will be going from Agar> Jaipur> Jaisalmer>Jophpur>Udaipar>Kera la all in 2 1/2 wks. In Jaisalmer, I plan on going to the camel safari overnight trip and the next day just hang out and catch the train to jodhpur at 4pm. Just wondering if I should extend my time to the next day?

thanks for your help!

camelgirl

Forget about Jaisalmer You have to go to Jodhpur first anyway and the Mehrengarh Fort there is excellent, so just go directly from Jodhpur to Udaipur. Jaisalmer is pretty far to just go for one night. It's 4 to 6 hours (300 km) driving time each way. About the same by train, I think.

If you do go, you have time to see the Fort before you catch your train back to Jodhpur.

You will have very little time in each place with 2 1/2 weeks, spending so much time traveling from place to place. But, the traveling can be an experience all it's own!

soultraveller

Irrespective I wuld suggest that u may not get a chance to c all these places again. And I wuld say that Jaisalmer is one of the most colourful places in Rajasthan and 1.5 days are just what is required to see adequately what Jaisalmer has to offer.

If u dont mind the travel, go for it. I personally fell in love with the place, its bylanes, everything that it has, to satiate your senses.

machadinha

Obviously, the more time the better I'd say. 1.5 Days just to go out there I'd consider a shame indeed.

However,

No, this isn't quite correct (we've been here before, remember ); there is a daily well-timed night train (the 4059 DLI JSM EXPRESS, known as the 4060 JSM DLI EXPRESS the other way around) to and fro from Delhi to Jaisalmer, it stops in Jaipur, and leaves from there for J'mer at 23:57, arriving at 11:30. See http://erail.in?T=JP::JSM:; note this is the train that starts from Delhi.

So arriving in Jaisalmer from Jaipur close to noon on day one; arrange and set off on safari somewhere that afternoon; then return early morning of day two (or previous night) to Jaisalmer, hang around town some, and get going again for Jodhpur (by, in this case, the same train indeed) at 16:45 indeed (and arriving at 21:50, always discounting any delays. There are two more trains between these two at other hours btw) would in fact be possible.

Not my preferred way; but it is possible

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Nick-H

Soultraveller: this is not a phone or a chatroom; we ask the people post in full words to maximise understanding and minimise annoyance for our worldwide members, of all ages and many mother tongues. Please do not use SMS abbreviations. Other serious internet forums request this and some insist on it.

camelgirl

So how many hours each way is it from Delhi to Jodhpur?

Jodhpur to Jaisalmer?

Every time I check it on line, it says it's 300 km. from Jodhpur to Jaisalmer and takes 4 to 5 hours by car and about the same by train.

For some reason, I cannot see how it is faster and your post just confused me more. I know we've been through this before!

soultraveler. I have no idea what you wrote. Want to try again in regular english? I did get that you like Jaisalmer. I do also. I still think it's a pretty far for one night, when that one night is a camel safari.

machadinha

I think it's partly in the timings I gave above already, and if you follow that Erail link.

Delhi-Jaisalmer 18 hours by train, and always discounting any delays. (And this stretch just noted here to describe the entire line and its possibilities, it doesn't feature into the above question.)
Jaipur-Jaisalmer 11.5 hrs.
Jodhpur-Jaisalmer 6-6.5 hrs.
(Jaipur-Jodhpur 5-8 hrs, and Delhi-Jodhpur 11-12.5 hrs, but again neither feature into the above question. They don't need to stop there unless they want to. They can, and seem to be planning to, go Jaipur-Jaisalmer direct, and then J'mer-Jodhpur direct.)

Since the one and only through train and connecting all of these is a night train (and hence pretty convenient, and with you sleeping halfway through it not seemingly as long) from Delhi to Jaisalmer, and the other way around as well, and stopping in Jaipur and Jodhpur among other places along the way, it is possible to arrive from any of them in Jaisalmer near noon; set off on a safari later that day (any hotel where you settle into will be more than happy to get you going on one asap. The more hurried, the more questionable the service provided may be, of course); and leave somewhere the next afternoon or night again (or the early morning after that).

Again, not my preferred way, and it could and likely will be rather more taxing than it might look like on paper, but it is possible.

I understand perfectly well (I think, and I have traveled around that area so I think I know what you mean) how it must seem far more cumbersome in your memory, Camelgirl; if you don't catch that night train somewhere down the line, you'll likely be stuck to far slower/less convenient/more convoluted connections, indeed. And then arguably in India counting on everything to work and including your swift and tight connections may soon lead to frustration, not to mention just planning to smoothly zip around all the time. It often just doesn't work like that; at all. Not even within a given city, or just running some stupid small errands. And so and anyway,

Yes, I do basically agree. But they wouldn't have to go to Jodhpur first, then hop over to Jaisalmer, then back to Jodhpur again. So in that sense (and not knowing their other timings), their sequence of Agra-Jaipur-Jaisalmer-Jodhpur-Udaipur would in fact seem to make sense to me.

(Phew, on rereading that, I sound pretty adamant about it all. No; just hoping to help you on knowing possible connections there )

camelgirl

So unless I'm just totally blockheaded, it is the amount of time I said. It is about 6 hours from Jodhpur to Jaisalmer.

I don't see what I said that was wrong. You just said the same thing. I don't really care if it's day or night, I was only talking about how long it would take.

Aishah

Jaisalmer is around 4-5 hours by car, depending if you stop half way. The overnight train leaves just after 11 p.m. from Jodhpur, and arrives around 5.30 a.m. in Jaisalmer - the train takes longer. By bus it is from 5-6 hours depending how many intermediary stops and pick ups it does.

As to OP's questions, yes this is possible. I notice you are arriving from Jaipur - by train I take it? This means you will be in Jaisalmer around midday. At that point I suggest you tee up your camel safari pronto with one of the agencies in Gopa Chowk, or Ganesh Travels in the Fort - you will be going out around 3 - 4 p.m. Make sure you come back about 9a.m. or so, and you will have enough time to see the Fort, Patwan-ki-Haveli, have lunch near Salim Singh Haveli ( a few rooftop restaurants around there) head straight down to the lake, take a look, and you are halfway to the railway station. Pick up a rickshaw from the main road to the station.
Are you travelling light? If you have a heavy pack, you could leave it with the safari people, go back to their office, pick up your pack and take an autorickshaw to station.
All doable.

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camelgirl

Thanks so much for clearing that up! I see it's definitely doable but I also know it's too short a time for a slow traveler like me

Slippy, Carry on!!! Enjoy your camel safari. Make sure there's enough pillows under you. My 1/2 day camel safari was so comfortable I almost fell asleep. There must have been 4 thick quilts between me and the camel. I enjoyed it so much, it's how I became camelgirl (really).

Aishah

Too short for me too, but amazing what you can do when you are young and active! That whole trip is certainly possible in two and a half weeks.