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Published: February 13th 2009
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the fort from Fifu
This was the view of the majestic fort from the Fifu Guest House Moon over Jaisalmer
I am writing this from one of the four terraces of the Fifu Guest House in Jaisalmer. It is located about a kilometre west of the centre of Jaisalmer, the 11th century hilltop fort. The view is magnificent, the guest house is lovely and Fifu and Jitu (who run the guest house and take care of the guests) are two of the nicest people I have met in India. All the many, many glowing reports you will find on Tripadvisor are true and more true. This is a very special place to stay -- perhaps the best in India!
I have long wanted to come to Jaisalmer, without really knowing why. And now, my third day here, my heart is very full and I don’t want to leave. Jaisalmer has worked her magic on me. The ancient cityscape, the surrounding desert, the long history, the farthest-edge-of-India location - all of it is very evocative. It is a peaceful place, but alive with culture.
I enjoyed walking the narrow lanes of the fort (though the constant sales pitches of the sellers of clothing, jewelry, postcards, desert safari tours, etc. is a hassle). They are nice about
it though. Jaisalmer is a more gentle place than most tourist destination in north India. Jitu gave me a motorcycle tour of the town, below the fort, a haven of narrow lanes lined with ornately carved haveli’s, some dating back 500 years or more. They are amazing.
I had tea at the Killa Bhavan, a gorgeous haveli hotel in the fort, and bargained for a blue wall hanging at a shop in town. But the highlight of my stay here was the desert safari last night, organized by Fifu Guest House. About 14 guests, and our host Jitu, traveled to see the cenotpahs and a lovely Jain temple on our way out to the sand dunes, about 25 kilometres from Jaisalmer (and only 20 kilomteres from the border of Pakistan: jet fighter planes regularly fly overhead, patroling the border). We rode camels into the sand dunes, where a camp was set up. We watched the sunset, while Jitu cooked us a delicious meal of rice, dal, vegetables, chutney and rotis. He produced a feast on a small fire in two or three pots. We sat on string cots and ate around a bonfire, as the dome of the sky
a detail ...
... from one of the many Jaisalamer havelis turned indigo above us.
I had never been on a camel, never been in a desert. I walked out alone on the dunes to watch the sky turn pink and then mauve. The air, the sand, the sky all became luminously mauve and it was profoundly beautiful. In the deepening dark, I walked back to see my group seated around the welcoming fire, and wondered how Bedouins felt. Since childhood, I dreamed of desert caravans, slowing swaying camels and men swathed in robes, riding towards distant markets on the spice route. Jaisallmer was at one time an important and strategic spot on the spice route.
India, again, met my dreams. Again I am feeling I am connecting with an intrinsic part of myself. India never ceases to amaze me. I keep discovering new and magical people and places and experiences, and connecting with deeply felt places inside myself.
When I look up from my keyboard, I can see the impossibly romantic yellow sandstone fort ranged along a ridge of the same colour. The only sounds I hear are pigeons cooing, cows mooing, goats bleating, the occasional motorcycle riding past and the workmen next door.
The first
Jitu and friends
One of the two main reasons Fifu Guest House is the best place to stay in India night I was here, I was finishing dinner on the fourth floor outdoor terrace - to my mind, the most perfect spot in Jaisalmer - and with the fort lit up in the distance, the moon rose over the desert. It blossomed into a huge orange orb and changed colour as it rose, turning a golden yellow, not unlike the sandstone used to build this golden city. Jaisalmer is a remote outpost, difficult to get to; it’s golden age as an important stop on the spice route is far in the distant past; it is surrounded by seared red earth and scrub, a forbidding tundra … yet it presents scenes of incredible beauty, and seems to retain the patina of its former glory. It is also a profoundly peaceful place, a small, historic town rising out of a barren desert. Jaisalmer is etched now, forever, in my imagination and in my heart.
I have almost completely forgotten the grueling 21 hour train ride to get here from Delhi. Here is what I wrote on the train, after I woke up:
“My first experiment with my little mini-laptop! The early sun is illuminating the pinkish earth, hills and buildings
outside of Jodhpur. Everything is about the same colour, and lightly dusted with sparse and pale foliage.
The train from Delhi to Jaisalmer, at the furthest reaches of Rajasthan (right up against the Pakistan border), is 19 hours. I left Delhi at about 6 pm and I am now writing this at 8 am. It’s not a good train. There is no first class coach, so I am in 2AC, bunked in with three Spanish women who shared their delicious dinner with me last night - a cold potato omelette. I have seen numerous cockroaches and killed two that were scurrying along the wall beside my bed. The bathroom stinks, the train tea is sweet and milky and there’s too many people crowded in a small space. Hey, it’s India!
The first week I was in Delhi I was basically acclimatizing, running errands and socializing with the family. It’s so much fun to have a toddler around. Jaidev (we just call him Jai) is very very sweet. He is a very happy child who loves to play with bats and balls. I predict he will be a cricketer.
I am seeing some blue houses outside my train
window now. Cows are wandering in the village public space, one large black one, and a smaller light grey one.
During my first week in Delhi I did, however, go on an organized walk in the area of Nizamuddin, and old Muslim area of Delhi. The walk was organized by Project Hope, a community-based non-profit that provides education and medical services to the people of the basti (the local neighbourhood, which is quite poor).
First, my new friend Jenny and I toured Project Hope itself and then we were taken on a tour of the basti, with stops at the shrines of several sufi saints. As we were walking down a narrown lane at dusk, we turned a corner and a lone woman was walking towards us, her black burqua flowing around her. I felt I was suddenly transported back in time to a medieval age, and I shivered. So did Jenny.
The highlight was a visit to the shrine of Nizamuddin, a great Sufi saint. Women are not allowed int he shrine itself, but we sat on the ground outside, surrounded by many people, mostly men, and listened to sufi music performed by musicians and singer
another fabulous Jaisalmer haveli
Jaisalmer is a small town, but chock full of incredible havelis ssitting only a few feet from us. It was an intense experience, but a little uncomfortable for me, due to the crowds of men aroound us. There was very little feminine presence.
I had long wanted to go hear the qwallis (sufi music) at Nizamuddin, so I am glad I went. The music is really stirring. The sing their love of god, the beloved, and it's very inspiring. But India always lets me know where I truly belong, and this was not the right place for me. Wewere very tired after our long tour, and we left after about half an hour."
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andy
non-member comment
This might be the first blog entry where i was really freakin' jealous for not being there with you...riding a camel in the deset! Just like Lawence of Arabia....only perhaps less dandyish..