We pulled into the Jaisalmer station just after sunrise when the air was still cool. Men in army uniforms bustled about the station. “Boarder patrol” we were told.
Jaisalmer is a city on the edge of the Thar Desert, the last city until you cross the Pakistani border.
We were lucky this time that our guesthouse had offered to pick us up from the station, later feeling very thankful when we realized we would never have found it ourselves. We were at a quaint little place inside the fort itself. Unlike the other forts we had visited in Rajasthan, people actually live and work in this one. There was a ton of construction going on as workers ripped open the narrow alleys to lay new pipes. This made our walk was a bit precarious as we jumped over ditches and wobbled over skinny beams, heavy bags slung across our bags, trying not to loose our balance. Our room had an incredible view of the city below. Like many other big cities in Rajasthan, Jaisalmer is associated with a color: gold. All the buildings were a light sand color and with the sun just rising above them, they really did look gold.
We slept a few hours before getting up to start the day. Our first mission was to find a camel safari to do in the afternoon. With no wifi and no one at the guesthouse to point us in a good direction, we were a little lost. We ended up calling the Abu Safari, a company that Manish, from our hostel in Jaipur, had recommended. They met us just outside the fort and took us to their hotel to give us cold drinks and to show us all the different camel safari options. Despite having already booked the hotel in the fort, Abu convinced us to do the overnight safari and sleep in the desert under the stars. Over a cold coke he told us how his family had ‘abandoned’ him in the desert as a young child and how he worked his way up to being a camel man and then to an owner of his own company, camels, and hotel. It was a pretty impressive story.
He was then kind enough to have one of his drivers take us to the Baga Bagh Cenotaphs outside the city. Surrounded only by sprawling sand, bush weeds, and windmills, the golden sand colored domes were incredible, blending in with the scenery while also standing out. We wandered through the pillars and under the archways, snapping pictures along the way. Our driver then took us to the Gadisisar Lake, which once was a water reservoir for all of Rajasthan. Now it was nothing particularly attractive, but some families and groups of friends were braving the heat and paddle boating around the lake. The temple structures surrounding the water were beautiful. Groups of people sat under the domes enjoying the view from the cooler shade.
Back at Abu’s hotel we were served lunch in our room where it was air-conditioned. Abby and I split a nutella pancake (really just chocolate syrup on a crepe) and what ended up being fruit in sour watery curd. After relaxing we went back to our hotel in the fort to pick up our things. On the way back down, two women selling anklets and jewelry stopped us giving us small pieces of jewelry as gifts and putting Rajasthani headpieces on us until we looked like Indian princesses. Afterwards we felt obligated to buy their overpriced anklets but Lauren and I escaped, at least this time, though we felt a little guilty about it.
Once we dropped off our stuff at Abu’s hotel, we headed out into the desert in a jeep. We stopped first at a world heritage village where we were able to explore ruins from the 9th century and then later to a fort-like structure on a hill overlooking miles of desert and more crumbling remnants of houses and buildings. Finally we pulled up to a tree where two men and a young boy sat with four camels. Mango would be our camel guide and we’d meet up with the boy again at the camp in the desert.
We hopped into the saddles as the men strapped water and gear to the camels. The camel first stands up on its back legs and then up to its front, making standing up a crazy seesaw adventure. Riding camels was a lot like riding a horse but with a wider saddle and with more sway in its walk. The men led our camels as we rode along. We were in the saddles for about two hours before reaching beautiful sand dunes just as the sun was beginning to set. We raced up the dunes, leaving sand sliding in our tracks. The sand was hot and smooth beneath our feet and I couldn’t help but picking up handfuls to let the fine grains run through my fingers. On the count of three we all jumped off a large dune stumbling all the way to the bottom.
Abu and Titu (a gypsy man) joined us at the camp and told us funny stories as we sat in the sand and let the warm breeze turn cool with the night air. Abu told us how desert people only sleep once every 3-4 (or more) nights or so and for not having slept for so long, he was full of more energy than a five year old on a sugar high. I laughed with Abu and Titu as they told us about living in the desert and singing us ridiculous songs. My sides hurt from laughing so much so I sprawled out on the sand; avoiding the enormous beetles and watching the stars emerge. Dinner was a delicious local dish with rice, chapatti, potatoes, and desert vegetables. Later in the evening we watched the sky as more and more stars emerged around us, engulfing us in their beautiful light. It was gorgeous to lay out in the middle of the desert, just 30 km from the Pakistan border, with just the sand below us and the stars above, taking in the scenery as we drifted off to sleep.
Jaisalmer is a city on the edge of the Thar Desert, the last city until you cross the Pakistani border.
We were lucky this time that our guesthouse had offered to pick us up from the station, later feeling very thankful when we realized we would never have found it ourselves. We were at a quaint little place inside the fort itself. Unlike the other forts we had visited in Rajasthan, people actually live and work in this one. There was a ton of construction going on as workers ripped open the narrow alleys to lay new pipes. This made our walk was a bit precarious as we jumped over ditches and wobbled over skinny beams, heavy bags slung across our bags, trying not to loose our balance. Our room had an incredible view of the city below. Like many other big cities in Rajasthan, Jaisalmer is associated with a color: gold. All the buildings were a light sand color and with the sun just rising above them, they really did look gold.
We slept a few hours before getting up to start the day. Our first mission was to find a camel safari to do in the afternoon. With no wifi and no one at the guesthouse to point us in a good direction, we were a little lost. We ended up calling the Abu Safari, a company that Manish, from our hostel in Jaipur, had recommended. They met us just outside the fort and took us to their hotel to give us cold drinks and to show us all the different camel safari options. Despite having already booked the hotel in the fort, Abu convinced us to do the overnight safari and sleep in the desert under the stars. Over a cold coke he told us how his family had ‘abandoned’ him in the desert as a young child and how he worked his way up to being a camel man and then to an owner of his own company, camels, and hotel. It was a pretty impressive story.
He was then kind enough to have one of his drivers take us to the Baga Bagh Cenotaphs outside the city. Surrounded only by sprawling sand, bush weeds, and windmills, the golden sand colored domes were incredible, blending in with the scenery while also standing out. We wandered through the pillars and under the archways, snapping pictures along the way. Our driver then took us to the Gadisisar Lake, which once was a water reservoir for all of Rajasthan. Now it was nothing particularly attractive, but some families and groups of friends were braving the heat and paddle boating around the lake. The temple structures surrounding the water were beautiful. Groups of people sat under the domes enjoying the view from the cooler shade.
Back at Abu’s hotel we were served lunch in our room where it was air-conditioned. Abby and I split a nutella pancake (really just chocolate syrup on a crepe) and what ended up being fruit in sour watery curd. After relaxing we went back to our hotel in the fort to pick up our things. On the way back down, two women selling anklets and jewelry stopped us giving us small pieces of jewelry as gifts and putting Rajasthani headpieces on us until we looked like Indian princesses. Afterwards we felt obligated to buy their overpriced anklets but Lauren and I escaped, at least this time, though we felt a little guilty about it.
Once we dropped off our stuff at Abu’s hotel, we headed out into the desert in a jeep. We stopped first at a world heritage village where we were able to explore ruins from the 9th century and then later to a fort-like structure on a hill overlooking miles of desert and more crumbling remnants of houses and buildings. Finally we pulled up to a tree where two men and a young boy sat with four camels. Mango would be our camel guide and we’d meet up with the boy again at the camp in the desert.
We hopped into the saddles as the men strapped water and gear to the camels. The camel first stands up on its back legs and then up to its front, making standing up a crazy seesaw adventure. Riding camels was a lot like riding a horse but with a wider saddle and with more sway in its walk. The men led our camels as we rode along. We were in the saddles for about two hours before reaching beautiful sand dunes just as the sun was beginning to set. We raced up the dunes, leaving sand sliding in our tracks. The sand was hot and smooth beneath our feet and I couldn’t help but picking up handfuls to let the fine grains run through my fingers. On the count of three we all jumped off a large dune stumbling all the way to the bottom.
Abu and Titu (a gypsy man) joined us at the camp and told us funny stories as we sat in the sand and let the warm breeze turn cool with the night air. Abu told us how desert people only sleep once every 3-4 (or more) nights or so and for not having slept for so long, he was full of more energy than a five year old on a sugar high. I laughed with Abu and Titu as they told us about living in the desert and singing us ridiculous songs. My sides hurt from laughing so much so I sprawled out on the sand; avoiding the enormous beetles and watching the stars emerge. Dinner was a delicious local dish with rice, chapatti, potatoes, and desert vegetables. Later in the evening we watched the sky as more and more stars emerged around us, engulfing us in their beautiful light. It was gorgeous to lay out in the middle of the desert, just 30 km from the Pakistan border, with just the sand below us and the stars above, taking in the scenery as we drifted off to sleep.