Jaisalmer

A night bus journey would take me to Jaisalmer for my next stop. The bus journey has to be broken at Jodhpur. I was accompanied by some 10 foreign tourists who were also going to Jaisalmer. Sadly we had an incident where we were treated harshly by the bus conductor. I felt we were treated badly as we were forced to sit in the back seats when we held the tickets for the front seats and he had dubious intention of stacking 2 people in a sleeper birth where only one could fit in. The bus conductor had his way eventually but we protested the sleeper birth clause and won that part. Its sad that people like him don’t realize the mutual benefits of nurturing tourists. At the bus stand, the scene was all too different with police standing guard for tourists from the touts who were rampant in that area. After getting freshened up at a guest house for a meager Rs25, I left my luggage there and left for a visit to City museum.

Jaisalmer is a wonderful town with the heart of the city being the Jaisalmer fort. Before the desert safari I wandered around the streets and a few Jain temples.

The fort area is suffocating with that rampant influx of tourists mostly from foreign countries. You may feel that the fort is falling apart in places.

The desert safari which started at 2pm was a relieving break from the city crowd. I was joined by a British couple for the safari. The initial jeep safari took us to some villages far away from the city untouched by modern civilization. Our guide took us to his village. It looks so strange how these people manage to meet their ends meet with so less infrastructure, medical care or sanitation. One interesting thing that I found with the kids over there was their ardent interest to get photographed.

They get shot so often that I haven’t seen such a photogenic group of children in my life. The next “adventure” was the camel safari in the desert sand dunes. It was by far the best experience of the day. As the camel nudges through the loose desert sand, you would feel like sailing – no wonder a camel is called the ship of the desert.

After a wonderful sunset, we were treated to a campfire, a sumptuous dinner and some desert songs by our guide and the caretakers of the camel. The sky was clear and I found my way to the highest dune in the visibility and spread my blanket over it for spending the night. Night went on well and as sun dropped its first rays the next morning; I got ready with my cam. After capturing a few shots of the rising sun, we were given the breakfast followed by a camel safari till where the road was. Our guide drove us back to the city. I had still some time to catch my evening train. I treated myself to a sumptuous Rajasthani Thali at Chandan Shri restaurant and made my way to another historic place – Patwon ki haveli.

Patwon was a part of cultural group in the Rajasthan. It was again reminiscent of the cultural and historic importance asserted to the kingdoms in Rajasthan.

A visit to Gadisagar lake on route to the railway station was also cherishing but I didn’t foray into the lake for a boating as it had become too hot then. The night went peaceful in the train. I was taking the exit from Rajasthan but for a stop at Neemrana fort in Alwar district on Jaipur Delhi highway. The second half of the journey wasn’t planned at all and hence had a lot in store for me to remember.