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Asia » India » Rajasthan » Jaisalmer
December 4th 2008
Published: December 19th 2008
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Jaisalmer

Excited about a day off from diving, we headed into Jaisalmer town. This place was so different to anywhere else we had been to. Located in the desert you can really notice the difference in the weather. It is known as the golden city because everything is built with gold colour bricks and it is beautiful as you drive in.

First stop was the burial site of all the Kings from Jaisalmer, known as Badabagh, where we met a young village boy who taught us all about it. He then came with us as our guide to some of the tourist attractions including a fort, temple and the houses of ancient businessmen.

The main reason we came to Jaisalmer though, was for our camel trek into the desert. Everyone we have spoken to about this city says it is one big sandcastle which is spot on! We have lots of pics so have a look and you will know what we mean. We have seen the sunset in Bournemouth, Manchester and Ruislip but this was something else!

Boarding and take off on the camel was not easy and the ride was far from comfortable, but it was worth it when we reached what we like to think of as ‘the heart of the desert’! Watching the sunset over Rajasthan was stunning and it was at this point we realized how lucky we were as we though about what we were doing just a week before! Sorry to say this but we calculated that you were probably sat at your desks deciding what you were going to have for lunch and thinking about the 6 hours you still have left at work ;-)

We were so shattered that we fell asleep after dinner, under the stars with the hill tribe people singing and dancing around the camp fire.

Jodhpur

Not a lot to say here, we went to the fort at the top of the town to take in the views of the blue city and spent the afternoon amusing ourselves in the market. It is so strange, it is impossible to get bored of people watching here and so easy to create banter for yourselves just by striking conversations with randoms.

Pushkar

On the way to Pushkar, we had a half hour conversation with our driver about the ‘priests’ who give you gifts as blessings for your and your family in exchange for money. He warned us that they would approach us and told us not to accept any gifts as they could become aggressive. Ten seconds out the car and we were both standing there with flowers in hands being harassed for money! We looked to our driver to rescue us but he was just standing there pi**ing himself laughing!!

We both really liked Pushkar as it was so laid back and a little more touristy. We also met our first Westerner which was nice. We got ourselves involved in another street wedding parade which seems to be a bit of a regular occurrence for us! We then spent the afternoon amusing ourselves in the town.



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