Jaisalmer

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So for the last 5 days or so we've been chillin' out not in a blue city, but a golden one. Apart from that minor color difference, from the surface the cities seem the same. Both are dominated by an impending fort, both have similar cubical architecture, and both have hotels with fun relaxed rooftops from which to take in the aforementioned sights. While i loved Jodphur for its color, i like Jaisalmer for its monotone simplicity. Everything seems to have come from the sand of the desert, and the fort itself looks as though it is an enlarged version of a talented child's medieval beach creation.
The town here is smaller, and Max and i both agreed that we liked that a lot. There's a quieter air here, a more authentic desert feel, even though it's still on the main tourist track. What sets this town apart from say, Jerusalem, or Jodphur, is that there are actually people living not only inside the old city walls, but also INSIDE the fort as well. Walking through its narrow alleys you can see small doorways and old houses that are actucally occupied. It makes it feel as if its a living monument.
There is an odd abundance of italian restaurants here, and we've indulged in them a couple of times. The first night here we sat on a rooftop terrace looking onto the fort, while some people from inside the fort were playing traditional rajasthani music. The night breeze was cool and steady and it was a wonderful ambiance.
Weather wise, i'd say this place suits me quite well. The mornings are temperate and dare i say downright pleasant, and the evenings are the same. It can get cool at night and extremely hot at the height of the day, but usually we duck into a textile shop or hide out in the comfort of our hotel's rooftop.
There is the usual abundance of cows and a suprising number of puppies that are soooooooooo cute! There's a camel every now and again and of course, people.
I've done a fair amount of shopping here. I had heard this was the place to purchase textiles and so i saved myself. I love the style of the fabric here. They take heavily beaded and embroidered pieces of old traditional clothing and piece them together patchwork style into wall hangings and quilts. I'm a sucker for patchwork and for crazy explosions of color so i have purchased many since i've been here. The bitch of it is that i actually have to carry these things (which are not exactly light). Thankfully we only have one more train and a ride to the airport because i'm now carting around 5 bags of varying heaviness. Ah, the joy of commerce!
We met a Brahman who was incredibly genuine and a really nice guy. He basically showed us around town for free and invited us to his friend's restaurant where we were given heaping samples of his mother's authentic Jaisalmeri cooking. It consisted of a lentil soupy dal and incredibly dense pieces of bread that you throw into the dal and eat like a hearty stew. It was super delicious but i felt like i had eaten a brick after i finished.
Jaisalmer has been relaxing and i'm sad because it's the last stop on our indian adventure before we go back to Delhi for a couple of days. The desert has been good to us. Tonight we board a train that is 21 hours long back to Delhi. We splurged on the 2 berth AC sleeper class so hopefully it won't be too bad. 4 days left!!!!!

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Photos

Post cards
the women were really shy, and it was hard for me to get photos of them, so i cheated

cow lickin' the puppy
...too cute