The trip from Pune to Jaisalmer is fun and good experience on reaching the destination. Jaisalmer is known as the "Golden City", it's distinguished by its yellow sandstone architecture.We were traveling with an infant ( 4 months old) baby girl. it turned out to be a beautiful experience for us.I am sharing my experience & learning from road travel with infant baby in India.
In the starting we were afraid to travel with Ayana because she is very little
but we consulted with doctor. She told there is no medical boundations for a
baby to travel, you can travel with baby on your own risk. We decided to
accept the challenge to travel with baby.
Approximate Distance – 1200 kilometers
Estimated Driving Time – 20 hours
Traveller's Name :
- Anuj Singla
- Tushar Kush
- Gurleen Kaur
- Ayana kush - 4 months old only.
Traveling Date - 29 Dec 2017 to 3 Jan 2018
Important notes while traveling:
- Medicines for food digestion, food poisoning, loose motion , fever, cold.
- Always have 5-6 liters of water in car .
- Fire extinguisher.
- Keep offline google map because some area does not have network so you can use offline map.
- Avoid night drive .
- Try to keep full car fuel tank.
- Basic tool kit of the car.
For baby:
- Car seat and baby mattress with net.
- Mosquito repellents
- Basic medicines
- Lots of clothes as per weather.
- If baby on the top feed take 3-4 water bottles and formula milk.
Distance : 550 KM
We started our journey from temple with the blessing of lord hanuman. We were traveling with an 4 months old baby girl. We packed our bags with medicines and clothes and Tushar's mother prepared ladoo and sweet Puri for our journey. After every two hours, we stopped our car to prepare Top feed (formula milk) for baby. The road is very smooth but the toll is very high. We had our lunch in Kansar hotel. Food was not good so we didn't recommend to stay there.
In the evening, we took tea break at Apollo hotel. Tea was very nice. There were lots of trucks on the highway at NH-48 from Dhana to Surat. After every 1 hour we changed baby's position, so that she will feel comfortable. We reached on hotel four point by Sheraton at 11:30 PM and had dinner.We all were tired and had a deep sleep. Vadodara is very nice city having roads and building infrastructure is like Pune as per our understanding. Vadodara seems to be one of the safe cities as girls were driving vehicles at midnight.
Day 2 (30/12/2017) : V
adodara to Barmer
Distance : 500 KM
We woke up early in the morning because we have to leave early so that we can reach to our next
destination on time.We ready fast and had our breakfast at our hotel itself so that we can leave early from Vadodara.
Baby was feeling more fresh than us and more eager to again hit the road. Now a days babies are smart enough to give indication about there stools and diapers leaks.
Vadodara - Ahmadabad expressway is best road from the Pune to Jaisalmer journey.
Ahmadabad to Mehsana is state highway SH-41 and four lane highway and busy with local traffic.
We had our lunch at 2 PM in marigold hotel.Now, we decided to reach hotel on time without any stop because we were aware there is no good hotel to stop between Palanpur to Barmer.
After travelling few hours, our car started giving noise. The road was very isolated. We were bit scared as baby was with us. However we were lucky to find Maruti service just after 5 KM ( Maruti rocks) . We can drive all over India with full peace of mind. We stopped at Tanu Motors. It is around 40 km before sanchor. Service boy was very cooperative and he identified the problem with in
5 mins.
We managed to touch the hotel Kailash International ( barmer) at 08:30 PM. We had dinner. Food was good and hotel staff was cooperative . We recommend to stay in this hotel.
Day 3 : Barmer to Jaisalmer
Distance: 155 Km
We woke up early around 06:30 AM. We had breakfast and left the hotel at
08:30 AM. Always prepare milk before sitting in car (in case baby is on top feed).
Road is very good from Barmer to Jaisalmer. It was common to see cows, camels,
dogs, goats crossing the road. We need to drive carefully. We have not paid for any
toll because toll booths were under construction.
There is no desert between Barmer to Jaisalmer , only barren land on both sides. Windmills were visible on both sides of road. We reached Jaisalmer at 11:00 AM. It is also known as golden city. All the buildings are made of sand stone which is golden in color.
We have booked our room in Desert boys hotel which was inside Jaisalmer fort.
Owner was very polite and friendly in nature. He told us so many stories about
history of Jaisalmer which are difficult to find on internet. There were 8 Wells in
Jaisalmer and water of each well's taste was different. They have a rooftop
restaurant which provides homely food. We had lunch there. We settled in
room and changed the baby diaper and went to see Patwaon-Ki-Haveli.
It was 10 min walking distance from our hotel. There were 5 havelis made
of similar architecture. Only one is opened for tourism. Two are under
government and in rest two Jain families are still residing.
Haveli has a good architecture and walls are full of famous jewellery
designs of that time. It has rain harvesting system inside. We enjoyed
the roof top view of city which was looking beautiful during sunset.
Guide has provide information about Rajasthani culture followed by
people living there. Patvas were quite rich enough to import things from
other countries for their living. They used to Finance the king as well.
Then we enjoyed hot kesar milk. It was very tasty.
The milk stall was near by fort main gate. We went back to room after
roaming in local market. Then we had dinner at desert boys hotel and
enjoyed folk dance. Most of the tourists left the hotel for desert Safari
which is the main attraction of Jaisalmer on new year Eve. We decided
to stay at hotel as baby might catch cold in tents. We bought clothes
having Rajasthani touch.
Day 4: 01 jan 2018
Visit Tanot mata Mandir and Longewala check post
We had breakfast at hotel and left for tanot mata mandir at 11:00 AM. Baby was
behaving active and excited as she knows she is traveling to border today.
Distance from Jaisalmer to tanot mata mandir is 155 km. It was covered in
2.5 hours. Road was quite good having windMills on both sides with less
traffic. There were many small villages on roadside. We clicked photos at
dune bashing site on the way.
Tanot mata mandir is famous for helping indian soldiers in the war of
1965-1971. All the bombs were auto diffused which was thrown on this
mandir. It is run and managed by BSF ( border security force of India).
There was super long queue for worship but the queue was fast moving.
We worshiped of god and took prasad.
After 1 hour we left for the longewala border Post. It's nearby pakistan
border. Distance from tanot mata mandir to longewala is 35 KM. In the
route we have found only 5-6 cars and army tanks. We have used offline
map as there was no network. we were full of patriotism.This place will make
you realise how extraordinarily our indian soldiers. We feel proud of our army.
We have seen tanks, bunkers, and small museum.We came back to Jaisalmer
around 07:30 PM . We enjoyed roaming in narrow streets in fort. People were
selling clothes , traditional monuments, jewellery in fort. Then we had dinner in
“desert boys “ restaurant. We went for sleep.
Day 5 : 02 jan 2018
Jaisalmer to Ahmadabad : 550 km
We woke up early and took bath to visit Jain temple. It was very beautiful building
with art on walls.We visited Raja-Ka-Mahal and bari haveli which was 450 years
old haveli. Now its time to comeback to Pune At 1 PM, we started our journey
from Jaisalmer to Pune. We met some of the foreigners traveling from
Jaisalmer to Cochin on Auto self driven. We reached hotel Aloft in
Ahmedabad at 11:30 PM. Hotel premises, rooms and food , everything
was awesome. We recommend people to stay here.
Day 6: 03 jan 2017
Ahmadabad to Pune - 550 KM
We had yummy breakfast at Dot yum restaurant in Hotel Aloft and left for the
Pune . At last day we traveled and stopped our car for lunch and tea.
Finally, we reached Pune at midnight 1 AM. Our baby felt very fresh and
she was happy and healthy. We completed our journey safely.
