Our one hour flight from Jaipur to Jaisalmer is delayed a couple of times and then abruptly canceled--luckily all before we leave the hotel. Supriya comes to the rescue and organizes a car ride there. It's purportedly a 10 hour ride... and since there is no guarantee of a flight the following day, we're off with our driver Thomas(?) within the hour. He's in a mad rush to get out of the mangled traffic in the city, so we make good time to the scrubby countryside. Dusty fields are punctuated with occasional shade trees, sheep and goat herders are brief blurs of color as we speed by. It's rather monotonous countryside, but it exudes calm after the frenzied atmosphere of Jaipur. Cows idly wander the middle of the road, camels pull open carts, cotton balls dot the dusty cotton crops. Heat shimmers over the baking fields at midday.
We stop at a crossroads in the middle of nowhere, eyed by the local men who are lounging on platforms at the front of the shop. It's hour upon hour of the same, occasionally broken by the daily life scenes of local villages--the markets spilling onto the street, motorbikes beeping, livestock rustling through roadside rubbish, one town indistinguishable from another to our untrained eyes. We have a few biscuits to tide us over, and a couple of bottles of water, and it's a good thing, as there isn't really anything that could be considered a stop until about an hour from Jaisalmer. The blazing red sun sinks below the horizon, and we're surprised to suddenly be on a rather good road. Despite the better road, night travel is definitely not for the faint of heart, what with livestock, people and vehicles haphazardly and regularly crossing or blocking our path.
As Jaisalmer's illuminated fort looms above the increasing urbanization, Thomas tells us that he won't be able to deliver us to the hotel because cars aren't permitted with the old city walls. We'll have to take a tuk tuk up for the final short stretch, so we part ways and arrive at our lovely hotel with its breathtaking roof terrace view of the heavily fortified old city.
In the morning we explore surrounding alleys on our way to visit the City Palace. It's mostly unfurnished and spotty restoration is underway. Dizzying amounts of stairs and courtyards afford some nice views, and we feel like in so many of the palaces we've visited--like we'd be lost for a long time before we figured out our way around. The final part of the visit takes us through the women's quarters, via a tiny shop, and suddenly we're back on the street.
Wandering through the old town, we realize it's actually much smaller than we thought, but we still walk in circles before finding our bearings again. Hordes of tourists now clamber around the square in front of the palace, and shopkeepers are in full on sales mode. We linger for a while with a young man who offers us puzzle boxes to try opening, padlocks with three or more keys to unlock:--the idea being that each key was given to a different son, so none could cheat the others, and that they had to work together to get things done. There are locks with more than seven keys, and they're a real mystery, at first. Sufficiently entertained and newly informed with local trivia, we move on.
We check out some of the stately old havelis (traditional homes or mansions, often with striking architectural features) in the town outside the fort, and crisscross the alleyways, avoiding cows and motorcycles as best we can. The next morning we are up early and head to the Jain temples before the crowds arrive. The intricate carvings and corridors full of stone tirthankaras--which look like meditating gods--stare at us with wide eyes but no real expression. We then return for breakfast, leaving again later in the morning to visit the remaining temples which are closed to non-Jains during the majority of the morning. The amount of detail in the carvings is staggering, and unfortunately for us, difficult to understand without any available context. Breathtaking, though.
A short walk to the nearby man-made lake, where we encounter a beautifully adorned camel amusingly close to the "May I help you sign", comes highly recommended by Baje from the hotel. We also walk to a viewpoint for the endlessly touted sunset, but have vetoed the much acclaimed camel tour of the desert. Our ten hours on the road showed us as much as we needed to see of that! On our last day we get ready for the night train to Jodhpur, where we'll spend our next few days.
Some pictures of Jaisalmer:
City Palace and around town: https://photos.app.goo.gl/9eaot7f9WkQUmWaA6
Jain Temples: https://photos.app.goo.gl/qZy4Ki2WnyNjs8Bp9
We stop at a crossroads in the middle of nowhere, eyed by the local men who are lounging on platforms at the front of the shop. It's hour upon hour of the same, occasionally broken by the daily life scenes of local villages--the markets spilling onto the street, motorbikes beeping, livestock rustling through roadside rubbish, one town indistinguishable from another to our untrained eyes. We have a few biscuits to tide us over, and a couple of bottles of water, and it's a good thing, as there isn't really anything that could be considered a stop until about an hour from Jaisalmer. The blazing red sun sinks below the horizon, and we're surprised to suddenly be on a rather good road. Despite the better road, night travel is definitely not for the faint of heart, what with livestock, people and vehicles haphazardly and regularly crossing or blocking our path.
As Jaisalmer's illuminated fort looms above the increasing urbanization, Thomas tells us that he won't be able to deliver us to the hotel because cars aren't permitted with the old city walls. We'll have to take a tuk tuk up for the final short stretch, so we part ways and arrive at our lovely hotel with its breathtaking roof terrace view of the heavily fortified old city.
In the morning we explore surrounding alleys on our way to visit the City Palace. It's mostly unfurnished and spotty restoration is underway. Dizzying amounts of stairs and courtyards afford some nice views, and we feel like in so many of the palaces we've visited--like we'd be lost for a long time before we figured out our way around. The final part of the visit takes us through the women's quarters, via a tiny shop, and suddenly we're back on the street.
Wandering through the old town, we realize it's actually much smaller than we thought, but we still walk in circles before finding our bearings again. Hordes of tourists now clamber around the square in front of the palace, and shopkeepers are in full on sales mode. We linger for a while with a young man who offers us puzzle boxes to try opening, padlocks with three or more keys to unlock:--the idea being that each key was given to a different son, so none could cheat the others, and that they had to work together to get things done. There are locks with more than seven keys, and they're a real mystery, at first. Sufficiently entertained and newly informed with local trivia, we move on.
We check out some of the stately old havelis (traditional homes or mansions, often with striking architectural features) in the town outside the fort, and crisscross the alleyways, avoiding cows and motorcycles as best we can. The next morning we are up early and head to the Jain temples before the crowds arrive. The intricate carvings and corridors full of stone tirthankaras--which look like meditating gods--stare at us with wide eyes but no real expression. We then return for breakfast, leaving again later in the morning to visit the remaining temples which are closed to non-Jains during the majority of the morning. The amount of detail in the carvings is staggering, and unfortunately for us, difficult to understand without any available context. Breathtaking, though.
A short walk to the nearby man-made lake, where we encounter a beautifully adorned camel amusingly close to the "May I help you sign", comes highly recommended by Baje from the hotel. We also walk to a viewpoint for the endlessly touted sunset, but have vetoed the much acclaimed camel tour of the desert. Our ten hours on the road showed us as much as we needed to see of that! On our last day we get ready for the night train to Jodhpur, where we'll spend our next few days.
Some pictures of Jaisalmer:
City Palace and around town: https://photos.app.goo.gl/9eaot7f9WkQUmWaA6
Jain Temples: https://photos.app.goo.gl/qZy4Ki2WnyNjs8Bp9
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