JAISALMER DIY
I spend the New Year’s Eve on the usual cold and decrepit bus, which leaves me in Jaisalmer sooo early !
The manager of the Green Hotel, looking for customers, picks me up and takes me there, He gives me an empty room where I rest a couple of hours, obviously hoping that I decide to stay there for the whole time.
After I wake up, and when the owner is proposing me some desert tours, a Canadian guy arrives. He comes from Jodhpur as well. Just like me, he did not find any second class berths, but, unlike me, instead of bus the tried the third-class sleepers. He confesses the journey was not comfortable, too cold, since windows did not have glasses, The owner of the Green Hotel gives me his business card, and does not insist too much even when I communicate my intention to leave. Indeed, when he realizes that I’m trying to get to the fort, he also explains the way to follow.
What I want to do, in fact, is to go up there and look for a bed for the next night.
When the sun is rising, I start walking. After crossing the access door, a short climb, which later will be occupied by hordes of beggars and vendors, leads me to the citadel.
After wandering for a few minutes, I head to the east, mostly because I am attracted by the warmth of the first rays of the sun, and the light. Fortuitously I pass in front of the Surja Guesthouse, where they have many free rooms. I take the most expensive one, 1000 rupees. Up to now I really travelled on the cheap, now I can afford to splurge. The room is large with a canopy bed, the checkered floor, dark wood furniture, window-adorned balcony with fluffy pillows, and a wonderful view.
I do not waste time to sleep, just a nap, the city seems so beautiful that I look forward to discovering it.
I start my morning tour of part of the city inside the fortress, in the golden light of early morning
At this time only very few visitors. Most of the walls is sand-colored, then some of the usual blue haveli. The southern part of the fort is occupied by some Jain temples.
I stop to have breakfast at Krishna’s Boulangerie, a delightful open-air bars, cakes and pastries are amazing.
Out of the citadel, I find the usual bedlam, narrow streets, honking cars, shops and varied humanity intent in various trades
With big surprise, I see camels used as tow trucks, instead of horses
I share my time among elegant timeless haveli, and souvenir shops
There is a world to buy; Jaisalmer is famous for its colorful fabrics, with mirror applications. On the walls, magnificent leather tapestries, embroidered with threads in bright colors, are exposed
I’m really amazed by such abundance.
The havelis are besieged by crowds of visitors, the same human density of the royal palace of Udaipur, it is difficult to go around, you have to wait to go up or down the steep steps. Their ocher color stands out sharply against the bright blue sky.
Jaisalmer is as enchanting as Udaipur, but it’s a little less elegant, with a gypsy spirit. If, in Udaipur, the whole charm is concentrated around the lake, here is dilated, it opens out into the wilderness, the city steals the colours of the Thar desert, giving back a wild and intriguing beauty
I meet Chloé on January 2, and I involv her in a shopping trip. The previous day I had looked around, just to get an idea on prices.
We stop at a store along the walls of the citadel, on the road which arrives to the Surjia GH from the Jain temples. Our attention is drawn by beautiful bedspread, notoriusly easy items to be carried arond. Salespeople seem to understand that we want to spend, and show us so much stuff that we feel confused. After some hesitation, I decide for a cotton model, mainly saffron coloured, with ornaments, embroidery, mirrors in tones of burgundy, green and blue. I pay 40 Euro, they wrap my precious purchase in brown paper, protected by layers and layers of black garbage plastic bags. It will be quite uncomfortable to take it around, and, being made of cotton, is quite heavy. Chloé buys a silk one. She pays it 6000 rupees. Her package is smaller than mine, and weighs much less. At this point, they show us various kinds of women’s clothing made from wealthy classes.women used sarees. They are made of soft silk, with beautiful colours and embroidery. They expose a blouse with a particular colour, blue peacock-type, with small geometric doodles in purple. The gradient changes according to the light reflection. I like the blue, in all gradations. Chloé makes the mistake of saying out loud that the color blends in with my eyes. Unfortunately the shop assistant hears that, and at this point does not want to discount even a rupee. He asks 400. I insist to get the discount, he invents a lot of excuses. I think they are not too many, for a such spectacular blouse, but then I start to feel guilty, “Ugh, I’m a spendthrift, my wardrobe are full, I have a lot of things already, when will I put this one when I am home “.. well, women know what I mean .. 🙂 Well, reluctantly, I give up. The clerk let me go. For pride, I do not change my mind. Many years have passed, and I still think and I regret I did not buy it. Every time I see someone in the markets selling Indian fabrics I sling there hoping to find something that looks like that, every time I walk away sad and empty-handed. I have never seen again such a color, if not in the feathers of living peacocks.
Around noon, at Chloé’s guesthouse, we book, for the afternoon, an excursion to the Thar desert, with a stop at some temples, cost of 500 rupees each.
The agency is Trotters, near Fort First Gate, Gopa Chowk
http://www.trotterscamelsafarijailsamer.com
Because of the high flow of tourists, many people complain on the web that the excursions in the desert, for which Jaisalmer is famous, lose much of their charm because of the extreme concentration of visitors. Obviously the best experiences from this point of view are those related to a camel safaris lasting several days, and including a few nights spent in tents, which allow to enjoy absolute peace. Unfortunately most of the tourists do not have time enough and have to settle for a few hours, finding themselves in most of cases in the usual places surrounded by dozens of other jeeps and an upsetting mayhem.
I don’t know if Chloé and I were lucky, in any case our guide seemed to understand our request to enjoy a sunset in complete silence and solitude
Absolutely I do not know the name of the location where he broght us. The fact is that, out of the jeep, and after only a few minutes walk we find really “the desert”, with Pakistan a few kilometers away. Our driver tells us that this area is very sensitive, as it is on the route of drug trafficking. The police, patrolling in search of smugglers, uses camels, and not off-road vehicles.
Previously, in the early hours of the afternoon, we were visiting the Jain temples at Lodhruva.
After the last dinner at Little Tibet restaurant, next to my pension, Chloé and I say goodbye. We will have no way to cross our wanderings, I’m pretty much on the way to return, she is directed to Varanasi.
With my bulky bedspreads tied at my backpack, with a rickshaw I reach the bus station for the last rickety night bus race to Bikaner. With great luck, in fact, while I was still in Udaipur I managed to find a 3A berth for the next day on the 17.20 Bikaner-Delhi express train, at the price of 786 rupees.