In Jaisalmer

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I had an OK journey from Bikaner to Jaisalmer. The train was on time and despite the heavy snoring of some of my fellow passengers - recorded on my camera - I managed to sleep for a few hours. I arrived at 5.30 am and was picked up by my couchsurfer and taken to a former guest house now turned into a CS gathering place. I slept a few more hours then at around 11 in the morning a girl from Malta arrived at the place. I had already been in touch with her via the CS site and was very happy to finally meet her as I had a feeling we would get on very well, and so it is. We went for food and for a walk around town.

Jaisalmer is very touristy but also very pretty and even so much so with the Diwali festivities going on (practically the Indian equivalent of our Christmas). I am also changing my attitude a bit towards touristy places. I used to hate them because they are fake and overpriced but I have to admit that it feels great to have other western-looking people around and not be the centre of attention anymore.

In the afternoon we went to our couchsurfer's village, a few kms away from Jaisalmer. The village is entirely inhabited by his extended family, all extremely welcoming and friendly, especially the kids, who took us around, asked for pictures, and were fighting to hold our hands. I also tried some home-made food and had a henna tattoo done. At around 6 my Maltes friend, Zen, was not feeling too good and we return to the city, which was actually a bit of a relief as the kids, as lovely as they are, were becoming a bit too much to handle.
We had a shower, chilled in the terrace of the guest house and later went for dinner, attended by a drunk waiter who was talking nonsense in broken English. Overall an extremely intersting day.

Today we're just planning our next destination and hanging around town. There is a lake not far from here. We might go there to chill for a few hours.

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