Rat Train to Jaisalmer


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Asia » India » Rajasthan » Jaisalmer
January 8th 2012
Published: January 11th 2012
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Our tour guide Dinesh instructed us that we would need to leave for the train station some three hours prior to its departure. The traffic in Delhi is always heavy and unpredictable as to how long the journey will actually take; so better safe than sorry. Arriving at the train station in old town Delhi we were faced with quite a different atmosphere than the stations in China. We’ve seen our fair share of run down sketchy train stations but this one seemed to be unlike any other we’ve encountered.



For one there were monkeys running a muck and were likely at any point to try to forcefully take your food. Second, there were no indoor waiting areas so we sat near the train tracks that had a strong stench of nothing good. There were of course the pan handlers and beggars amongst the paying ticket holders. We waited for about an hour and a half before our train pulled in. Before it even came to a stop people were grabbing a hold of it and riding it from the outside down the platform. One man was boosted through an open window by his buddy so that they may claim a spot on the train. This was as a result of the many low cost tickets that are sold on these trains that have general seating. If you don’t jockey for position and claim a seat early you it could be possible to have no seat at all. Thankfully for us we had assigned sleeper bunks.



The train had eight sleeper bunks opposed to the six on the other overnight trains we’ve taken. Obviously the area was smaller and the aisle ways that typically had no bunks had two that were perpendicular to the other bunks on the train. This made it a very cozy ride. No more than twenty minutes from our departure Elyse freaked out because she saw a rat, or mouse. Unfortunately the trains in India are only cleaned once every couple of weeks or so. It was rather uncomfortable and we really didn’t want to keep our feet on the floor as the mice would scurry by every so often. We called it a night around 9:30 and unfolded our middle bunks. The Australian, Caroline, was on the top bunk and the newlyweds Lauren and Keisha were in the perpendicular aisle bunks. We closed our curtain and slept surprisingly well, thanks to having great ear plugs.



Throughout the night the bunks occupied by the locals changed about three times. Each time we awoke to ensure our bags were still there then quickly fell back asleep. Around 8:30 in the morning we decided it was time to wake up and have our breakfast. Turns out the train rats opted to eat our doughnuts which where left sealed in the box atop of a little table situated between the two lower bunks. Elyse discovered a hole chewed through the side of the bag and box and nibbles out of one of the doughnuts. We were pretty bummed about not having breakfast. Fortunately Elyse packed some raisins and a pop tart along with us before we even left China.



It was only a few more hours before we arrived in Jaisalmer. It was much colder here than in Delhi but the sky was blue. Jaisalmer has an old fortress section of town atop a small hill which was built in the 1100’s that makes this city popular amongst tourist. It is built from sandstone as is all of the town outside of the fortress walls. It is also known as the golden city because of the unifying colors seen on all the buildings.



This place is unlike any other place that Elyse and I have ever seen. It was gratifying to be able to see something so unique and made us look forward to exploring the city. Sitting on the rooftop terrace of our hotel allowed us to see the entire city below the fort and was amongst our favorite activities while we were in Jaisalmer.



“Give me once chance to rip you off” and “Let me help you spend your money” were some of the lines the local vendors would call out at you as you passed by their stall. We looked at a few stores to buy some hand embroidered tapestries and opted to not buy anything at all. We did end up adding a new mask to our collection by purchasing a rosewood carved face of Geneeh, a god in the Hindu religion. It’s pretty touristy here and the prices reflect that but I got the mask for half of the initial asking price. I’m sure I paid too much but I felt comfortable with the price. We also purchased some patchwork tapestries after a long time of bargaining and shopping around.



Highlights from Jaisalmer: having dinner at our tour leader’s home as Jaisalmer is his hometown, henna tattoos, the views and Camel Safari(will get its own blog)

We LOVED Jaisalmer and hope India just keeps getting better.

*No trashcan has been seen yet in this country so you can only imagine the trash with the 2nd largest populated country in the world.


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Dinner at Dinesh's homeDinner at Dinesh's home
Dinner at Dinesh's home

pure vegetarian...mostly what we have been eating in India


13th January 2012

so cool
Love all the animal pics. Such a unique place!

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