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| That's smack dab in the middle of a desert, go figure! |
I first visited Rajasthan in 2010, I was there to trek through the Thar desert. It was a spectacular trek and I thought that was as offbeat as one could get in this overdone tourist destination. However, during the trek, a local camel herdsman let me in on a little secret, that the dry barren desert landscape transforms into a green haven every year just for few days during the monsoons! Being the monsoon chaser that I am, I never forgot those words, which is why I jumped at the chance when Suryagarh, a luxury boutique hotel in Jaisalmer, invited me to experience Monsoon Magic with them in the desert. I've got drenched to the core in the rains before, dealt with landslides, almost shivered to death on a mountain top and donated liters of blood to leeches in pursuit of chasing monsoons but this desert experience stands out as one of the best monsoons till date. After all, who would expect a barren desert to have anything to do with the rains or greenery? Before you go through the images below, I highly recommend you see pictures from my previous visit - here and here to see how different the same landscape looks in a different season.
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| While driving from Jodhpur to Jaisalmer, I noticed the dramatic change in scenery. Rajasthan in monsoons is something else! Almost nearing Jaisalmer, I met the desert monsoon, on the window pane I saw the rain drops sparkle like diamonds. |
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| It was easy to see how everyone, including animals, enjoyed the rains in the desert. The monsoon showers form small ponds everywhere. These buffaloes were chilling out in one such small pond by the roadside, such a rarity this must be in the parched land. During my previous visit to Jaisalmer and surroundings, I never even saw a water body by the road side. |
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| While off-roading through the desert wilderness, many times the scenery felt like that of the high altitude deserts of Ladakh! Last time I was here, I only saw clear blue skies, not a single cloud to scar the sky but this time the clouds were having their way and how! |
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| The clouds took a dark blue tinge closer to the horizon and it always seemed like it was raining somewhere far in the distance. The monsoon clouds teased us with slight drizzle every now and then. This was the same deserted paliwal ghost town that I visited earlier, however this time it did seem eerie but equally beautiful. |
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| I couldn't believe my eyes at the green pastures everywhere, standing out like a sore thumb in the midst of the barren desert. It was thin layer of grass forming over areas where water could accumulate. Come December, all the greenery will vanish leaving no signs of this ephemeral beauty. |
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| Seemingly never ending desert road, sparse greenery and storm clouds building up in the sky. Views like this are precious, very few lucky ones get to see the monsoons in a desert. In the coming days, with more rains, it could get even green apparently, now that would be a sight to behold! |
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| A small water body over a rock bed that seemed to be filled with the water from the morning rains. We saw small ponds like this almost everywhere but we were told the water never seeps underground due to quick evaporation under arid conditions. |
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| During the monsoons, it is not just the rains that define the season as we learn, it is also the spectacular clouds that define the monsoons. We had an excellent display of rain clouds spread all across the desert sky. |
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| It was a surreal sight to see the animals grazing in the green pastures. As we moved away from Jaisalmer towards the Desert National Park, we came across more and more pastures with cattle happily grazing. |
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| Desert nights are known for spotless skies and for being excellent locations for star gazing and spotting shooting stars. In the monsoons however, the night skies are illuminated by continuous lightning flashes and clouds take over the starry sky. |
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| The road was lined with dense greenery and the women were working in the fields wearing their usual colorful attire. Having seen the women of Rajasthan almost always pitted against the stark desert landscape, it was a striking visual, to see the vivid colors of Rajasthan set against the fresh greenery. |
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| It rains in the far distance, the monsoon clouds meanwhile are just happy painting dramatic patterns in the sky. |
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| An oasis in the middle of nowhere! |
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| And that's where I stayed, at the luxury boutique hotel Suryagarh. A pleasant evening shower drenched the courtyard creating beautiful reflections while the monsoon clouds loomed above. For the 2 days that I was there, I felt like royalty, pampered beyond belief. Suryagarh is a tastefully done, wonderful place but more on that later. For now, I can't thank them enough for bringing me to Rajasthan in the Rains! |
Tell me, have I tempted you to experience desert monsoons?
