A desert much larger than its dunes
The first time we drove out to Sudasari before dawn, the driver switched off the engine on a rise and said nothing. Grass ran to the horizon in every direction, pale gold in the first light. Then a chinkara stood up out of it, looked at us and walked away. That silence is what a good jeep safari is for.
Not just sand: the Thar is gravel plains, rocky ridges, grassland, scrub, salt flats and farmland, with dunes in between. Each has its own plants, birds and people.
- Lived in: the Thar is one of the most densely populated deserts in the world. Villages, herds and wells appear where you least expect them.
- The open jeep: sitting high with the roof off, you see across the scrub, stop the moment someone spots an animal and reach places a car cannot.
- The driver: usually from a village nearby, he knows the tracks, the families and the wildlife. He is your guide as much as your chauffeur.
- The other kind of jeep: around the busy dunes, some jeeps race up and down the sand for thrills. That damages dunes and frightens wildlife, and we never book it.
- Why it matters: a slow drive with local drivers and naturalists brings income to the villages that live beside fragile places, and helps keep them protected.
Where we drive
The Desert National Park, at dawn
What it is: gazetted in 1980, about 3,162 square kilometres of grassland, dunes and rocky plain south-west of Jaisalmer, spread across Jaisalmer and Barmer districts. See the Desert National Park.
- Where we go: the fenced Sudasari enclosure, about 55 kilometres from Jaisalmer, which gives the best chance of the great Indian bustard.
- How: with a licensed local naturalist and the permits, which we arrange. Bustards are never guaranteed. The grassland itself is the experience.
Kuldhara and Khaba, the empty villages
Kuldhara: about 18 kilometres south-west of Jaisalmer, a village of the Paliwal Brahmins settled by the early thirteenth century and abandoned gradually in the nineteenth. See Kuldhara.
- Khaba: a ruined Paliwal village spilling down a slope below a small fort, with a little museum and peacocks gathering at dusk.
- The real story: drought, debt and possibly an earthquake, which a 2017 study suggested. Our guides tell it without the ghost tales.
The Akal Wood Fossil Park
Where: about seventeen kilometres from Jaisalmer on the Barmer road.
- What: about 21 hectares of rocky ground holding the stone trunks of trees that grew here some 180 million years ago, in the Lower Jurassic.
- Look for: the grain and growth rings still visible in the stone. It pairs well with a morning in the national park.
Sam and Khuri, the right way
Sam: we drive out in the dark and walk up a dune for sunrise, when the camps are asleep. See Sam Sand Dunes.
- Khuri: the jeep takes you past the village to a quiet ridge for sunset, away from any camp. See Khuri.
- Off the dune: the jeep stays on the track. You walk the last stretch.
The Bishnoi villages around Jodhpur
Who: a community that has protected trees and animals as an article of faith since Guru Jambheshwar founded it in 1485.
- What you see: blackbuck, chinkara and nilgai grazing beside neat round-walled homes, and harriers over the fields in winter.
- How we visit: in small groups, with families who welcome guests. See our page on the Bishnoi villages.
Manvar, Khimsar and Osian
Manvar: an open jeep across sand tracks to a high dune for sunset, stopping for birds and village life. See Manvar.
Barmer and the Kiradu temples
Where: the Kiradu temples lie about 35 kilometres from Barmer, in rocky country near the border.
- What: the remains of at least five temples of the eleventh and twelfth centuries, the Someshvara the finest, its walls still covered in carving.
- On the way: embroidery and appliqué villages of the Barmer desert.
Bikaner, Gajner and Jorbeer
Gajner: the old royal hunting lodge beside a lake, about 30 kilometres west of Bikaner, with antelope and waterbirds.
- Jorbeer: an improbable carcass dump outside the city, one of the best places in India for vultures in winter. Bring a strong stomach.
- Deshnoke: the Karni Mata temple on the road south.
A day in the desert by jeep
Before dawn, the grassland
- Leave in the dark: with blankets, hot tea and a packed breakfast.
- First light at Sudasari: scan the plains with your naturalist for bustards, chinkara and foxes, and watch the sandgrouse fly in to drink.
Mid-morning, the fossils
- Breakfast in the open: on a rug beside the jeep, with the grassland around you.
- On the way back: the Akal fossil park, before the stone gets hot.
Midday, rest
- Back to your hotel: lunch, a swim and a sleep. The animals rest too.
- Or in town: the Jain temples inside Jaisalmer Fort in the cool of their stone halls.
Late afternoon, the ruins
- Kuldhara: an hour among the empty streets with a guide who knows the real history.
- Khaba: climb the fort as the peacocks gather and the light turns gold over the roofless village.
Sunset and after
- A quiet dune: near Khuri, with something cold to drink and nobody else in sight.
- Dinner: back at your hotel, or by a fire on the sand with a Manganiyar singer. See our stargazing in the Thar page for what comes after.
What you may see
The godawan: the great Indian bustard, Rajasthan's state bird and one of the heaviest flying birds on earth, now critically endangered. Read our article on the great Indian bustard.
Houbara: smaller cousins of the godawan arrive from Central Asia in winter and are recorded around Sudasari and Sam.
- Star bird
- Great Indian bustard, or godawan
- Bustards left
- Fewer than 150, most near the park
- Gazelle
- Chinkara, at dawn
- Antelope
- Blackbuck, in the Bishnoi country
- Winter raptors
- Steppe and tawny eagles, vultures
- Chinkara: the desert gazelle can go a long time without drinking, taking water from the plants it eats.
- Blackbuck: the males with spiralling horns, black and white, graze openly in Bishnoi fields.
- Desert fox and jackal: often at dusk, near their dens or trotting along the tracks.
- Spiny-tailed lizards: sunning outside their burrows on winter mornings, and a favourite prey of eagles.
- Sandgrouse: flocks fly long distances each morning to drink, and males soak their belly feathers to carry water to their chicks.
- Raptors: in winter, steppe and tawny eagles, eastern imperial eagles, laggar falcons and vultures. Our birding page has more.
The plants that hold the desert together
Khejri: pods for sangri, leaves for fodder, shade for the village meeting. The Bishnois died to protect it at Khejarli in 1730.
Rohida: Rajasthan's state flower, which bursts into orange and yellow blossom in late winter.
- Khejri
- The tree of life, never cut green
- Rohida
- State flower, orange blossom in late winter
- Ker
- Caper bush, berries for ker sangri
- Phog
- Roots that bind the dunes
- Sewan
- The bustard's grass
- Ker: a leafless caper bush whose small tart berries go into ker sangri.
- Phog and aak: phog binds the dunes, aak, with its purple flowers and milky sap, grows everywhere and is ignored by goats.
- Grass after rain: a single good monsoon turns the plains green, and the grass that follows keeps the herds alive through the dry months.
The people of the tracks
Rajput families: the old landholders and warriors, whose small forts and rawlas, country houses, still stand at the heart of many villages.
The Bishnois: men in white, women in deep reds and oranges, and homes swept spotless. Never smoke near a Bishnoi home or bring meat.
- Raika herders: red turbans, camels and an encyclopaedic knowledge of animals. Read about the Rabari herders.
- Musician families: the Manganiyars and Langas of the Jaisalmer and Barmer villages, who have sung for patron families for generations.
- The houses: low walls of stone or mud around a sandy courtyard, round huts with conical thatch, walls plastered with clay and dung by hand.
- Dress as language: the colour and tie of a man's turban can tell a local where he is from and what the occasion is. See turbans of Rajasthan.
- Visiting: only with families who welcome guests, for tea, at a time that suits them, and with payment for their time.
How we drive
Existing tracks only: we stay on the tracks the herders and villagers use, and never cut across fresh ground.
No dune-bashing: we don't book thrill rides on the dunes, and our drivers won't do them if asked.
- Never chase: we never drive at animals, flush birds or push closer for a photograph. If an animal moves away, so do we.
- Slow and quiet: low speeds, engines off at every stop, voices down.
- Licensed people: experienced drivers with properly maintained vehicles, and licensed naturalists inside the national park.
- Rules and permits: we check current permits and rules locally, because they change, and we follow them.
- Take everything back: every bottle and wrapper returns with us. Wind carries plastic into the park, and animals eat it.
- Local hands: drivers and naturalists from the surrounding villages, paid properly. Read travelling responsibly.
The jeep and what's in it
The vehicle: an open four-wheel drive, usually a sturdy Indian jeep, with a driver who maintains it himself.
Seats: we limit the number of guests so everyone has a window view, and add cushions for long tracks.
- Blankets and layers: winter dawns in an open jeep are bitterly cold.
- Breakfast box: parathas, boiled eggs, fruit and a flask of hot sweet tea, eaten on a rug by the track.
- Binoculars and a field guide: one pair for everyone, and a telescope in the national park.
- Water and shade: plenty of filtered water, and a scarf for the sun and dust.
- Back-up: your own chauffeur and car are never far away for the drive home on tarmac.
A desert that is changing fast
New income: clean energy has brought jobs, roads and money to Jaisalmer and Barmer.
The cost to birds: bustards are heavy and see poorly ahead, and many have died flying into power lines.
- The court steps in: in 2021 India's Supreme Court ordered that lines in the bird's core habitat be placed underground or fitted with diverters.
- Breeding for the future: conservation breeding centres near Sam and at Ramdevra are raising bustard chicks from wild-collected eggs.
- Your part: a visit with local naturalists adds weight to the argument that the grassland is worth more alive.
When to go
November to March: pleasant weather, grasslands still good after the rains and the winter visitors, eagles, vultures, houbara and cranes, all present.
December and January: mornings are cold, so dress in layers. The clearest skies of the year.
- Best months
- November to February
- Good
- October and March, with shorter middays
- Avoid
- April to June, extreme heat
- Monsoon
- July to September, green but uncertain
- Desert Festival
- Jaisalmer, usually February
- February and March: excellent for birders and photographers, with warmer mornings and good light.
- April to June: the heat is extreme. We don't recommend drives except for specialist naturalists at first light.
- The bustard's season: breeding is linked to the rains, and some of the best displays have been seen in the monsoon and after. Tell us if that is your dream, and we plan with local experts.
Before you go
Identity documents: carry them. The roads west of Jaisalmer lead towards the international border, and checkpoints may ask to see them.
Dust: a scarf or a buff for your face, sunglasses, and a bag for your camera.
- Layers: a down jacket and gloves for dawn, a cotton shirt for noon.
- Footwear: closed shoes for the ruins and the scrub, which has thorns.
- Sun: a hat and sunscreen, even in winter.
- Patience: wildlife sightings are never guaranteed. Set your expectations, and let the landscape be the reward.
- Planning help: our guide to road distances and drive times shows how the desert legs fit together.
Photographing the desert from a jeep
Two lenses: a wide one for ruins, dunes and sky, and a long one, 400mm if you have it, for bustards, chinkara and eagles.
A beanbag: rest the long lens on the jeep's frame instead of a tripod. Ask the driver to switch off the engine to stop the shake.
- Low light in the ruins: Kuldhara's streets are best in the first and last hours, when the walls throw long shadows across the lanes.
- Dust: change lenses inside the car, never in the open jeep, and keep a blower brush in your pocket.
- People: ask first, always, and show your subject the picture afterwards. It usually earns a smile and a second, better photograph.
- No drones: border areas, protected land and village privacy all argue against them. Leave the drone at home.
What most visitors miss
The village well at dusk: camels, goats and cattle come to drink, and the whole village gathers.
An oran: a patch of sacred common land where no tree may be cut. These are some of the best-preserved scrub in the Thar, and often the birdiest.
- Memorial stones: the carved devalis at Kuldhara and the hero stones by village ponds, with horsemen and short inscriptions.
- The tanka: the covered underground cistern in every compound, and the story of how a village survives a drought.
- Khaba's peacocks: dozens of India's national bird around a ruined fort in the driest country imaginable.
- The night drive home: headlights off for a minute on an empty track, and the whole sky overhead.
How long to allow
Short stay: one dawn in the grassland and one afternoon at Kuldhara and Khaba.
- Grassland drive
- Three to four hours, at dawn
- Ruins and sunset
- About four hours
- Jaisalmer
- Two nights in town, one in the desert
- From Jodhpur
- About five hours by road
- Desert National Park
- Two dawns for keen birders
- Unhurried: two dawns, a fossil morning, a village visit and a night on the dunes.
- Photographers: plan three nights, so you can return to the light you liked best. See our photography tips.
Who will love it
Families: children love the open jeep, the ruins and the animals. Keep drives to two or three hours, with snacks.
Birders and naturalists: the Desert National Park in winter is one of the finest places in India for birds of prey.
- Photographers: dawn grassland, ruined streets in low light and blackbuck in the Bishnoi fields.
- Guests with limited mobility: a jeep reaches places a camel or a walk cannot. Tell us, and we plan short drives with easy stops.
- Perhaps not for: anyone who dislikes dust, bumps or early starts, or wants a guaranteed bustard. If you would rather ride, see our camel safari page.
Where to stay
Jaisalmer
Suryagarh: about thirteen kilometres from town on the Sam road, a calm base for early departures, with a pool and spa for the hot afternoons.
- The Serai: SUJAN's camp in private desert off the Jodhpur road.
- Compare: luxury hotels in Jaisalmer and luxury desert camps.
Marwar
Manvar: Manvar Desert Camp, with jeep drives into the Shergarh dunes.
- Khimsar: Khimsar Fort, a fort of 1523 with blackbuck in the fields.
- Rohet: Rohet Garh, where the family pioneered village safaris in 1988.
Bikaner
- Palace hotels: Laxmi Niwas Palace and Narendra Bhawan, for drives to Gajner and Jorbeer.
Journeys with a desert drive
Under the Thar Sky: seven nights in the desert, with Jaisalmer, the dunes and the grasslands.
- The desert triangle: Jodhpur, Jaisalmer and Bikaner by road.
- Birding Rajasthan: Keoladeo, Sambhar, Tal Chhapar and the desert, for keen birders.
- How we quote: we don't publish prices. After one conversation we send a day-by-day plan. Plan your journey when you're ready.