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Published: July 25th 2014
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Day 6 train to Jaisalmer - The Golden a City
Jaisalmer gets it's name, The Golden City, due to the buildings being made from yellow sandstone. I did intend an early night due to the early start in morning, but by the time I had got the bags sorted for the morning , it wasn't as early as I thought! I set my alarm for 5.20am, thinking that would give me plenty of time. The problem I had was that I was so worried that I didn't wake up, therefore I kept waking up about every hour to check the time! It's so pointless...lol. I actually annoyed myself!!
We were all out in good time for the checking out and taxis to the train station. We are catching the 7.00am train from Bikaner to Jaisalmer. India being India, it arrived in the station at 7.20! The trains are really scruffy, but no worse than in other countries. We were really lucky today, as it was quite empty. This journey could have been so much worse! The weather is quite overcast too, so it wasn't too hot inside.
We were on the train for about 7hrs.... I think! Everyone amused themselves in
different small groups, then swapping and changing around to change the game, or the company. It was really difficult to stay seated on one chair, in the same position, so everyone benefitted from the shifting. I sat mostly with Kyla, we watched the Mandela film on my iPad with one earphone in one ear and an earplug in the other. It worked well!
We were greeted by 5 tuk tuks at the station to take us to our next hotel, Mahadev Palace.
G Adventures has been so much better than Real Gap so far, and our CEO, Ankur is brilliant in every way! The quality of the hotels has been great, the service in restaurants and in the hotels have also been very good. I do realise that all of our safety and comfort is due to the constant support from Ankur. He always thinks of every angle, explains things regularly, and just generally takes care of all out individual needs.
We have a couple of hours to shower and settle before going out as a group for orientation.
The hotel is just beautiful.....again. It has amazing features, green gardens (which you don't see a lot of around here!) and
a pool. But to be honest, I wouldn't attempt the pool!
We set off for a 25 minute walk to Gadisar Lake. Gadisar Lake was excavated in 1367 by Rawal Gadsi Singh, it is a scenic rainwater lake surrounded by the small temples and shrines of Amar Sagar. Earlier, this lake was used to be the main water source of Jaisalmer. Due to an increased water demand for agriculture, but so far, this lake has never dried up (even though its in the middle of a desert) as it is fed by the Indira Gandhi Canal. The lake is home to numerous catfish. Many people worship here. Ankur gave us another talk about the casts and class systems in the Hindu faith. It all makes for an interesting discussion and thought provoking information.
The tuk tuks came to pick us up to whisk us off for our evening meal. The motel we went to was absolutely stunning! Completely authentic, The a saffron Restaurant, in Hotel Nachana Haveli. We had a large table on the spacious roof terrace of , the veg and non-veg food here was excellent and it’s a particularly atmospheric place. We had a small group of three
local musicians/singers playing to us as we ate. I even managed to buy a couple of pairs of yoga pants on the way out whilst waiting for our return tuk tuks! A perfect end to a perfect evening!
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Angela
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Envious!
Really enjoying your blog Lesley. Never had any desire to visit India but think I could be changing my mind. Gosh you are having a wonderful experience and seeing so much. Think I may have to give the Rat Temple a miss though!! Pleased you are clearly safe and well. I look forward everyday to your blog coming through....still following. Take care.