Dec 7, 2010

Manvar Desert Camp and Resort

After Khuri, and some sightseeing in the city of Jaisalmer, our next destination was Manvar camp and resort, near Dechu, located off Jodhpur-Jaisalmer highway - 175 km from Jaisalmer and 110 from Jodhpur. This road is just amazing and we missed driving ourselves on these beautiful roads. Manvar is a luxurious resort, with lot of greenery inside, amidst the shades of brown in the desert. Thanks to Archana Srinivas’ blog - Rang Décor, this was where I learnt about this beautiful place. The tented camps about 7km interior from the resort and is a real treat. This place was greener with much more vegetation. We were on a jeep to the tents during sunset and it was amazing to watch the sunset amidst browns and greens. Peacocks are a common sight here.
A fox, which was supposed to be rare, did stop by our jeep, and poised for a shot.
Spent the night at the camp, enjoyed the lovely evening with campfire and music and dance with some drinks and snacks.
We trekked to a nearby hillock next morning for some birding and sunrise. Here's a view of the camps from the hillock...
Then after a sumptuous breakfast, went on a jeep safari. I was amazed at the number of birds here, and the ease with which they can be spotted, thanks to the scanty vegetation. We did spot some Indian Gazelle(Chinkara), came across some smaller sand dunes, sand slides and some village houses.
A Sand slide
Chinkara
A neelgai.... these were in plenty...And the evening was for ourselves, at a small temple on a hillock near the resort, and again watching the sun go down the horizon. I think I can never get bored of watching sunsets.....

Some glimpses of Manvar....
The pathway into the resort

Some antiques

Tents on sand

Camp restaurant
Pool at the resort
The temple on the neighbouring hillock

Check out the bird pictures here.

It was a wonderful stay at Manvar.