Jaisalmer- the Golden City

We boarded the bus, promised by our agent that there were not many towns in between Jodphur and Jaisalmer, therefore, it was a direct bus. Ha ha! What a joke! Immediately after leaving the station, our driver pulls over for anyone and everyone who wants to hop on for a few rupees. Soon we have bodies on the roof, crammed in the aisles, and old ladies trying to squeeze onto Dean's lap. Not to mention that it is midday with no air conditioning and loud Hindi music blasts overhead. As we neared our destination, camel safari touts boarded the bus and zeroed in on us, the only tourists present, to talk to us about their great hotel or camel safari that we should book through them. From now on, we'll try to use the train as much as possible.



However, the bus ride was worth it for this cute little city. The fort is magical, still inhabited by a few dozen families and alive with activity. But because it is sculpted out of sandstone, it is sadly decaying quite quickly due to a poor sewage system that eats away at the base and little government intervention. We had a little budget room complete with a cushioned window seat that overlooked the city.







Our days here included a paddle boat ride in a swan boat on a nearby lake, visits to

some neat havelis (pictured below)- built by the rich merchants of the city 500 years ago, and a sufficiently short camel ride out to watch the sunset in the Thar Desert town of Sam.







The camel ride was fun enough, but without stirrups it was uncomfortable and I couldn't imagine doing an 3 day trip, as most tourists do in this town. Our little camel sunset trip was pleasnat enough, but it is a big tourist attraction and many people beg you to buy their sodas, pay for their music song, give them money for a dance, take their photo for money, have another camel ride, or just give them the money! We did meet a nice family though that shared their berry fruits with us after their young kids had ran up to us to introduce themselves and practice the handshake.





Our camel "driver" who walks along side the camel and scolds it when it tries to eat, takes this picture.





After viewing a haveli, these French tourists hit the shop where the salesmen spead out dozens of bedspreads and wall hangings, quoting some ridiculously inflated prices. We had fun watching the madness.