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Published: October 6th 2008
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August 27, 2008 We arrived unscathed in Jaipur, but we didn’t leave in much the same state. We were envying our 30 hours on the train compared to Jaipur! We went to the old city- nicknamed the Pink City. It turned out to be more orange/brown than anything! I re-named Jaipur, India’s Dust Pan.
We were haggled from the moment we left the hotel! Non-stop asking the whole day “you want a rickshaw ma’am?” “You like bangles?” “Come, you look my shop. No buying, just looking.”
I think it was a combo of heat and dust that turned us cranky. We tried to cool off in a very fancy all vegetarian restaurant, LMB. There was an army of waiters that served me a great veggie burger!
Our next attempt at coolness was hopping into a bicycle rickshaw, and let our driver sweat it out! We paid him 20Rs (.50$) to drive us around for 1 hour, but pretty sure he faded out after 30 minutes! Poor guy!
All else was failing, and McD’s always seems to cheer us up! Sundaes for the both of us, and some internet. We got back to our hotel just
in time, because there was the hugest lightening storm I’ve ever seen. The entire sky was blue, for the whole storm! The road in front of our hotel flooded with a foot and half of water! It was clear just in time for our train ride to the desert at 11:45.
August 28, 2008 We met some nice Spanish people while we were waiting on the platform for our train, who were also going to Jaisalmer. Talked with them because our train was a couple hours late.
When we arrived in Jaisalmer and stepped off the train there was about 40 people surrounding us and the other foreigners saying, “ Come with me to my hotel” “Don’t trust him!” “Don’t trust the people you meet on the train!” “Trust me!” There was even a foreign guy who got right in our face and told us to come with him since he had stayed in the city for a few days and he knew his way around, he seemed really desperate and totally untrustworthy. It was so strange that he was trying to make people go to some hotel?
We were fine because we had a reservation,
and the man from the hotel picked us up. The Spanish couple hopped into our truck and came with us to Golden City Hotel. The four of us were starving so we ate at the rooftop restaurant that had a great view of the fort, and the hotel swimming pool! (YAY)
Ended up spending three hours having lunch and talking with Paola and Ibai, who are both living and working in Bangalore. Went for a walk through the fort, which is incredible from the outside and inside. It is a complete city inside the fort, although Lonely Planet doesn’t recommend hotels inside. They do this from an environmental standpoint that the fort has been eroding because of increased water use over the years.
We had dinner and listened to some Rajasthani Music on a rooftop restaurant (clearly those are our favs).
August 29, 2008 Had a very relaxing morning and tried to plan the rest of our time in India, only one more week left! Sat by the pool and chatted with some Aussies, Mags and Ainsley while we waited to go on our Camel Safari.
The first stop was the Maharaja Cenotaphs that
were really beautiful ruins, right next to a windmill power generator plant! Next was the worst Hindu Temple I’ve ever seen! I was surprised to see how terrible it really was! Ha, when we asked our driver how old it was, he just said- Very Old.
The Jain Temple took the cake though! Amazing details in the sandstone carvings. If it was that time of the month, women were not allowed into the temple! From there we visited a small village. As soon as we pulled up about 30 kids came running to see us and have us take their photos. We went into the house to see the paintings and a spinning wheel for “sheep hair”. I said, “wool?” He said, “no- sheep hair.”
The four of us met our guides and camels on the side of the road. Got them all loaded up with our gear and food and we were off. A little scary for the first time when the camel stands up, their legs bend so strangely!
We named our camels right away! Ibai’s was Scarface (self-explanatory), Dale’s was Come Look My Shop, Paola’s was Very Old (from the temple before) and mine
was Chai (after the “chai zombies” on the train- our name for the men selling tea).
We were on the camels for about 1.5 hours and went by Gypsy Villages and collected some water. Had one boy say ONE RUPEES, ONE RUPEES like a broken record and followed us for some time. Dale does a good impression!
Once we arrived at the edge of the desert, we grabbed some Kingfishers and ran up to the sand dunes to take photos of the “Magic Sunset” (that was included in the price of our safari). Definitely spent an hour and half running around jumping taking photos with the tripod! We were having so much fun!
Our guides cooked us a nice dinner of veggie curry, rice, chicken and chapatti. Hung out at our camp for a while and talked with our guides. The two of them were 22 and 23, both married to 18 year old girls and spend 20 or more days of the month in the desert.
We slept under the stars on blankets. There were SO many stars and could see a few shooting ones! We tucked our pants into our socks, shirts into pants,
scarves around our neck and face and a turban on our head. There were tones of dung beetles that roll poop balls through the desert, and if our bed was in their way- they were going through it!
August, 30, 2008 Woke up with sand pretty much in every part of my body and ate breakfast on our bed. Got the camels loaded up and rode for 45 minutes to the road where the jeep picked us up. We went to the Empty City (700 years old) to walk around.
The story goes that one of the Maharajahs wanted a daughter from the village, but the village wouldn’t give her up. So instead of starting a war, 84 separate villages left the region, leaving Empty Cities! Definitely very cool.
The afternoon was spent next to the pool and walking around the fort. Had dinner with the Spanish and Aussies and chatted for a few hours. We really like Jaisalmer!
August 31, 2008 Spent the morning messing around with photos and the pool! Then we took a 3$ bus 300km to Jodhpur. It took 5 ½ hours. Saw thousands of Pilgrims walking. Now let me
explain what these people are doing before I fill you in on what I did on the bus.
Pilgrims are people who are making their way to a holy point in India. There are many, but the main ones are the furthest North, East, West and South points of India. They are going for different reasons but usually to change something that has been wrong in their life by doing this pilgrimage.
Many of them are very poor and decide to walk the entire way. If they walk shoeless then it will really show the gods that they should help them in their life. So along the side of the road- there were thousands of sandals, I mean thousands! Also villagers help the Pilgrims by setting up sleeping areas for them, food tents, music and water. It is all free.
So on the bus, I started to make groups for the Pilgrims. We have the Shoeless Pilgrim, the Cycling Pilgrim, the “I’m jammed into a rickshaw with 12 other people” Pilgrim, the Lone Pilgrim, the Cot Sleeping Pilgrim, the Dirt Sleeping Pilgrim, the Partying Pilgrim, the Flag Bearer Pilgrim, the Bagless Pilgrim, and the Bag on the
Head Pilgrim. I could go on…
Arrived in Jodhpur- The Blue City and stayed at Yogi’s Guest House. My favourite Hotel so far! Everything was blue.
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