The journey to Jaisalmer was a long one, and we traveled from the semi-arid drought conditions of central India, into the heart of the Thar Desert. Despite the arid conditions of central India, the transition into the desert was not only noticeable, it also seemed quite drastic and abrupt. As we traveled, the farms struggled more and more against the parched earth, until finally one farm of short struggling greenery gave way to the next farm that was nothing more than plowed sand praying for rain. The plowed sand was quickly followed by sand dunes, and we were officially in the Thar Desert. The villages also transitioned from densely packed, colorful, block buildings, to small groups of round huts with whitewashed clay or stone walls and conical thatch roofs.
When we arrived in Jaisalmer there was a noticeable increase in the commitment of government funds for tourism, compared to most of the destinations in the south. The train station looked like it had just been refurbished with a stone wall facade, to make it a better welcoming platform to the fort and other impressive sandstone buildings in the city. The streets were lined with new light fixtures that looked like sandstone lanterns with lattice work that was similar to the city's fort palace and Havelis (mansions) in town. I had heard stories of the aggressive vendors and dirty streets of north India, but I was pleasantly surprised at how little hassle I received in Jaisalmer, and the streets seemed no worse than any other town I had visited. Actually, the vendors seemed to graduated to a new level here. Rather than chat you up and pull heartstrings in hopes that they are attached to your wallet, they were up front, but comical, with calls like, 'come see my shop, I won't rip you off much' or 'make me happy and your wallet lighter'
The fort is a living fort and about 25% of the towns population and commerce is still located within the forts walls, unlike most of the forts we visited, which were only filled with tourists and empty palaces. Our hotel was one of the businesses within the fort walls, and my room was inside one of the 99 Bastions around the fort. It had windows looking north and south along the fort wall and one to the west over the city and the parade grounds used for cricket, soccer, and part of the annual desert festival that has competitions like best turban tying and best moustached man.
The sandstone lattice work on the palace within the fort, and on many of the Havelis in town, was incredible and must have took a city of craftsmen to complete. In the pictures you can see an example of the lattice work, which is a photo of the front of the Patwon-ki Haveli, which was owned by a merchant banker and took 50 years to complete. The outside was incredible but the inside was depressingly run down and nearly gutted. All that remains in most of the complex is peeling paintings and wood work on the ceilings, which have been taken over by bats. Only a small section has been preserved as a museum to give you an idea of its past grandeur.
Another theme of our visit was wedding announcements, which were painted on walls throughout the city. All of them looked the same with a picture of Ganesh (the elephant headed god) and his mouse on a lotus flower and information about the couple and wedding. I was going to take a picture of an announcement with one of the many street cows standing in front of it, and two boys jumped in to be a part of the photo as well, making for a classic shot.
Our last night in Jaisalmer was actually spent outside the city on a Camel Safari. We departed the city just as a dust storm blew into town and we met our camels and camel drivers in the middle of nowhere as the dust was beginning to settle. We lazily wondered across the desert, with the authenticity of our safari only spoiled by the occasional cell phone call to one of our camel drivers or a car whizzing by on the road our trek paralleled. We sauntered into our camp as the sunset, and by evening, we had calm, cool, star filled skies and sand dunes as a back drop for our dinner and gypsy dancer entertainment. We joined in on the dancing briefly, but the girls within the group were quickly found at a distance again after a few of them got groped by the gypsy girls!? The group had been warned of problems past tourists had with men groping women, but none of us expected it from a female dancer. It was shocking, but brief and the evening was still a highlight in the journey.
In the morning, my roommate awoke and found he had torn the seam of his shorts from front to back and had no recollection as to how or when he did it, which was an entertaining start to our day. We had a quick breakfast and then rode back toward civilization on our camels. It was an enjoyable ride back with a few gazelle, peacock and other wildlife sightings however we found we were all a little saddle sore from the day before, so we were ready to trade in the camels for jeeps to finish the journey back to Jaisalmer.
Back in Jaisalmer, I made a quick trip to a hill in town, with one of the ladies from our group, to take pictures of the fort's north face. We met several little kids along the way that were excited to see Westerners this deep in the village and excitedly showed us the way pointing out the homes of all their friends and relatives along the way. They got us up the hill and we were trying to take a good picture, but one home was in the way. The gracious owner was watching the whole scene unfold and kindly invited us up to his roof top terrace for a great view of the fort. He then gave us a tour of his humble home, which consisted of a single room with two small closets, a balcony that could fit two people and a small fenced yard. It was small but well cared for and in an amazing location for the view. We took pictures with him and some of his family, in addition to about 30 pictures of the kids who brought us, which were posing outside for 'one more picture' after another. As we left, we showed the kids a few of the pictures and they crowded around the small camera screen with gasps of amazement and amusement. The kids then wanted us to join them for a game of cricket, and I tried to explain that we didn't have the time and I really didn't know how to play. Neither argument seemed to hold much water with them, so it was a challenge to part ways. The whole experience made for a great capstone to the visit, and in the end we made it back with enough time to shower before catching our five hour bus to Johdpur.
No comments:
Post a Comment