Jeep safari
The jeep leg, and what dune bashing really is
- 25 km, open jeep
- Three deserts
- Included, not an add-on
Every desert trip out of Jaisalmer has a jeep in it somewhere, and the word covers two quite different things: the drive that gets you across the sand to where you are sleeping, and the ten minutes of deliberate slewing about on a dune face that everybody calls dune bashing. You are usually sold both as one word. Here is what each is.
Where it goes
Twenty-five kilometres, three deserts, one open jeep.
On the overnight trips the jeep leg runs about 25 km from the road head out across the Thar, the Damia and the Laxmna deserts. It is an open vehicle, you sit high, and the surface changes from packed track to scrub to soft sand in the space of a few minutes.
It is not a transfer with a view. The route exists because the ground between those three deserts is the interesting part — you cross dry riverbed, pass herds and the odd village well, and the sand changes colour twice. The last stretch up onto the dunes is done on camels because a jeep cannot climb it.
The Sunset and All Day trips add Kuldhara on the way, the village abandoned overnight two centuries ago, which is a walk through ruins rather than anything the jeep does.
The honest version
Ten good minutes, and it is not Dubai.
Dune bashing in Jaisalmer is a driver taking a jeep at a dune face, riding along it at an angle, and dropping down the other side, several times over, while everyone in the back shouts. It is genuinely good fun and it lasts about ten minutes.
What it is not is the Gulf version. The dunes here are lower, the vehicles are older, and there is no roll cage and no harness. If you have seen a video shot in Dubai and are expecting that, adjust downward. If you have a bad back, a recent injury, or you are pregnant, sit this bit out — the driver will stop and it costs nothing.
It is also entirely optional on our trips and always has been. Tell the driver you would rather just be driven and that is the end of it.
Motion sickness is the one people underestimate. If you get it in a car, take something an hour before, and eat before rather than after.
Night safari
The open jeep after dark is the better ride.
On the One Night, Two Days trip the jeep goes out again after the folk programme — fifteen kilometres to the Siala desert in the dark, with headlights and nothing else. Most people expect it to be the filler between the music and bed and it is usually the part they talk about afterwards.
It is cold. From November to February it drops close to freezing after midnight and you are in an open vehicle doing thirty. Take the jacket you decided you would not need.
Price
Inside the trip, or from ₹1,000 on its own.
On every overnight package we run, the jeep is inside the price. It is not a supplement, it is not billed at the camp, and there is no version of our trips that arrives at the desert and then asks you for a jeep fare.
If you arrange one yourself at Sam, the published street rate starts at ₹1,000 for a jeep safari and is negotiated on the spot. That is per jeep rather than per head, so it divides well across four people and badly across one.
- Included on all eight of our trips
- Standalone at Sam: from ₹1,000, negotiated, per vehicle
- Optional — skip the bashing and keep the drive
- Open vehicle: no seatbelts, no roll cage, dress for wind
Where the jeep goes furthest
The three with the longest drives.
Good to know
The things people ask.
How much is a jeep safari in Jaisalmer?
It is included in the price of every trip we run. Bought on its own at Sam the published street rate starts at ₹1,000 per jeep, negotiated on the spot, which works out well if there are four of you and poorly if there is one.
How long is the jeep safari?
About 25 km of driving on the overnight trips, which is roughly an hour and a half with stops, plus the dune-bashing section if you want it. The One Night, Two Days trip adds a further 15 km after dark.
Is dune bashing safe?
It is a normal jeep on a low dune with an experienced driver, and it lasts ten minutes. There are no seatbelts and no roll cage. We would not put a pregnant passenger, a bad back or a recent injury through it, and skipping it changes nothing else about the trip.
Can we do a jeep safari without staying the night?
Yes. The Sunset Cultural trip leaves at 2 PM and has you back in Jaisalmer by half ten, and the All Day trip starts at 11:30 AM with Kuldhara added. Both have the full jeep leg.
Is the jeep open or closed?
Open. That is the whole point of it and it is also why you should bring a jacket for the night runs and something for your eyes if you wear contact lenses.
Do you do a night jeep safari?
Yes, on the One Night, Two Days package: 15 km out to the Siala desert after the cultural programme, in the dark. It is not sold separately.
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