Jaisalmer - The Golden City of Rajasthan

Getting caught up on some older posts....lets see, what did I miss? Oh yeah, India August 2010.

Will and I traveled by train to the heart of the Thar desert in the far West of India to Jaisalmer, the Golden City of Rajasthan.

Jaisalmer ( Jeye-sall-meer) is a 16 hour overnight train ride from Delhi. Our first experience with the trains was exactly as you would expect....complete chaos. You're not really sure where your train will come in and when it did, hundreds of people started climbing on it, in it, over it...before it even stopped. It was already full to capacity by Western standards...plenty of room by Indian standards. The class of cars is marked on the outside, but they are in no particular order...and there were 40 of them. After the train stopped, Will and I started walking down the "platform" looking for our car, as hundreds of people ran by us in every which direction. We eventually started walking faster as we realized we couldn't find our car....then running.

Then the train started moving.

I yelled to Will that we had to get on and he said he didn't see our car....I said "its leaving!"

Like stunt men, we actually had to run along side and jump onto a moving train...with our backpacks on.

We pushed our way through the crowd of people by the door and into the hallway, and luckily ran right into a train man who offered to help us find our "seats"....which, turns out, we were literally standing right next to.

We had jumped onto our car as it passed by! Hows that for luck?

As we had traveled from Nepal earlier that day, we were tired and able to sleep for most of the night. In the morning we reached Jaisalmer.

Jaisalmer, dominated by its amazing fort (built in 1156), is an incredible, incredible place. One of the last states to sign a treaty with the British, the people here are fiercely independent.

It feels very different than Delhi, thats for sure.

Having left Guillaume in Nepal, Will and I were on our own for a few days. We settled into our hotel and immediately set out exploring. We found a great, air conditioned restaurant (above) right across from the fort and had our first taste of Rajasthani food...delish.

Then, back to exploring!

The architecture is....well...amazing. Some of the most famous medieval Havelis are in Jaisalmer.

The city has pretty much all the same sand color buildings, which give the city its reputation of being the Golden City. At sunrise/sunset its a beautiful sight.

The fort is very impressive with its 99 bastions and its imposing position on a hill looking over the city.

We stayed at a small off the beaten path family run hotel which was very pleasant and had a great view of the fort. It had all the little desert building architectural delights like pass throughs in the ceilings and floors for air movement.

We were there in Late August...it was very hot...brutal in the sun, but manageable in the shade.

The old bazaars were full of the standard Indian trinkets, plus regional stuff you don't see other places. Less wool shawls, more silver jewelry. Lots of camel leather bags, hats etc.

No cow leather of course....but lots of cows roaming the streets.

We spent an entire day walking around the old city with intermittent stops for cold beverages. The heat really takes it out of you.

Although tourists do come to Jaisalmer, it wasn't nearly as crowded as Delhi, especially in August. Many tourists come here to avoid the Monsoon this time of year and this year the floods had driven many people south from Ladakh.

We hooked up with a bunch of people to catch a ride about 30 miles into the desert.

We visited a few temples, palaces and the like.

Some pretty surreal sites....did I mention it was hot like an oven?

The group we were with all went on an overnight camel safari, so Will and I rented a couple of camels of our own and headed out to the West to catch the sunset in the desert.

After two hours on the camels we had left civilization behind and were IN the desert.

Pretty freakin cool.

Our guides walked as we rode. Felt kinda bad, but I gave them each a Pepsi....so it was cool.

Camels are interesting, dirty, beautiful, disgusting animals. Very impressive that they don't need water and can carry a lot of weight. Ships of the desert indeed.

We got back at nightfall and crashed hard....exhausted.

The next day we did some more exploring and met up with two Italians who had been in the truck with us out to the camel place.

We spent the afternoon, relaxing out of the sun with new friends Fabiana and Alain.

After we said arrivederci to our new pals, we walked around some more and stopped at one more place for one last rest and a cold drink.

The locals drink a yogurt drink called a Lassi. You can get it in all flavors...mango, lime, vanilla.

mmmmm sour yogurt drink with fruit...no thanks

After 3 1/2 days in Jaisalmer, Will and I were ready to hit the rails again to meet up with Guillaume in Jodhpur.

Guess who we ran into on the train? Our new Italian friends!

The train through the desert has no filters on the air system, so the train fills up with sand and dust. Luckily Will had brought some hospital type masks from China...and luckily I had brought the cards!

6 hours of American and Italian card games!

A great stop on the big trip...next up, the Blue City of Jodhpur!

The most beautiful building in the world

Possibly the best part about traveling is getting to those places and seeing those things that just make you stop and stare. Wonder and amazement are not part of every day life...but they should be.

Sometimes if you travel enough or too much, you can get jaded and forget to enjoy all the sights, sounds and smells. You have to remember why you travel and to stop and smell the roses, enjoy every last detail.

Sometimes you expect to be disappointed because of the hype or by the presence of throngs of tourists.

...and then there are the times, that what you came to see is so absolutely amazing nothing could take away from the experience. I travel....a lot. I have been many places and seen many things.

Nothing prepared me for the Taj Mahal. This is why I travel.

Waiting in line for over an hour to get onto the grounds, constantly harassed by shop keepers and touts, the brutal heat......it didn't matter. The minute I could see the Taj Mahal through the gates of the main gateway, it was worth every minute waiting in line and every minute of the trip to India.

As we emerged from the gate, I understood what people have said for hundreds of years...the Taj Mahal is the most beautiful building in the world. It just is.

Jaw dropping....inspiring....I was at a loss for words. We wandered around the grounds and the building...went inside...wandered around more. What a beautiful place...absolutely breath taking.

We got loads of pictures. Literally hundreds.

We sat around and admired this beautiful, beautiful place.

Above, Will enjoying the view.

We stayed at a really crappy hotel that was under construction and was absolutely horrible in every category...except for one.

The view from the roof.

It was a great ending to a great trip.

The next day we took a taxi to a real hotel, not like the ones we had been staying in, and hung out by their pool all day, relaxing, drinking some cold beers and contemplating all the mysteries of India. What a fantastic freakin trip.

Guillaume, Will & Chris - India, August/September 2010

The Pink City of Jaipur.

On the 11th day of our India trip, Will, Guillaume and I arrived in Jaipur, the capital of the Indian state of Rajasthan.

It was a short stay, only one day, but we got to see the biggest city in Rajasthan.

The Pink City is impressive, chaotic, dirty and beautiful.

We would've liked to stay longer, but we were anxious to get to Agra and the Taj Mahal.

The Blue City

After a 6 hour dust choked train ride, we arrived in Jodhpur, and met up with our traveling buddy Guillaume who we had stayed a few extra days in Nepal to get some hiking in.

We found him at the hotel (a converted 16th century haveli) where he was chatting up some french girls who turns out were the ones Will and I had shared a jeep ride to the camels with just days earlier in Jaisalmer! Weird!

We said aurevoir to the girls (who thought I was Will's dad) and headed out to check out the giant fort overlooking the city. Built in the 1460's, the fort is 400 feet above the city and surrounded by a giant wall.

Its very impressive on the outside, but the inside is even more amazing. There are many palace buildings, temples and gardens all inside the fort boundaries.

The view is fantastic as well. I cant imagine anyone attacking a fort in such a great position.

There is a lot to see up there...it was a great day and well worth the walk up.

 

The next day we explored the old bazaars of the city and did the standard walk about...there is always something to see. In the afternoon we met up with some Brits and hung out on the rooftop of our haveli.

As sunset approached, kids started appearing on the rooftops all over the city...to fly kites! The afternoon breeze rolled in, you could hear the kids, and the changing light started to work its magic on the Blue City of Jodhpur.

The next day we were up early to get the train to Jaipur..and the adventure continued

next stop, the pink city of Jaipur...capital of Rajasthan

First stop in India - Delhi

by C

When I got back from India, people of course asked "What was India like?"

My response would be a long pause with a puzzled look and then something like "Well...its dirty, chaotic, awesome, disgusting, beautiful, frustrating, amazing, surprising, unpredictable.... and the filthiest most beautiful place I have ever been."

When I landed at Delhi's very modern airport at 6am, I followed the signs/crowds to Customs & Immigration where there were maybe 30 desks with officers checking peoples passports, visas etc.

There are forms to fill out prior to queuing for passport control....but there were no forms at the tables where the forms are supposed to be. Maybe 40 tables with spaces for hundreds of forms....no forms.

I turn around, there are easily 50 customs and immigration personnel on duty, some sitting some standing and apparently none of them able to restock the forms. So I watch as maybe 200 tourists from my flight get in line, wait and get turned away because they didn't have the forms. I also watch as people ask for the forms, and are directed to the empty tables...even after they explain that there are no forms.

I walked over to an official looking type and asked him if he could provide me with a form because there are none available and he seemed genuinely stumped by the whole situation.

It took 20 minutes before someone brought some forms out to the 200 pissed off people waiting. How many forms did they bring out?

5

Welcome to India....everything here is completely screwed up, and barely works...but somehow it still does.

So I get my bag and go outside where there is a driver waiting holding a sign that says "Arolnd"

I say "I'm Arolnd" and off we go by car on a 40 minute ride through the most congested  mass of people and cars I have seen since my trip to China. Complete madness and chaos, followed by shortcut driving through the back "streets" of Old Delhi towards where many cheap "hotels" are concentrated, famous among budget backpackers, we arrive in Paharganj.

Paharganj main drag...Main Baazar is...well...its absolutely filthy, hence the reason the concentration of super-budget "accomdations".

Its a great first taste of India. Up in your grill madness. Cows walking the streets crapping as they go, motorcycles zipping through crowds, mud, sewage, 100 degree heat, a nauseating stench, and people trying to sell you everything under the sun.

Welcome to India!

I don't want to sound like I am completely bashing India, because I'm not. I just want to make sure I paint an accurate picture. My travel companions Will, Guillaume and I came to India to get off the beaten path and do a trip more on the edge.

We got exactly that...and then a whole lot more.

Elephants....on the street!

Stay tuned for more pics and stories of India....coming soon.