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Published: November 5th 2014
Current Mood: Sore!
Leaving Udaipur was sad to say the least. Since Mumbai this was the best place we had been so the idea of moving on was a real tempt of fate. However the time had come to say goodbye to Raju and his family so on our last evening we paid up our bills took a cheeky shower in Raju’s bathroom and set out for a ready booked night bus (none AC).
On arriving at the booking agents where we would check in, we were advised that our non AC cheap bus would be delayed up to three hours due to an accident that had caused a road block. There was no way that I was about to sit around for three hours as wouldn’t any tourist I imagine so I quickly enquired about catching an earlier AC bus at 300 rupees per person more. “ahh sir this is a very good choice you can get this bus now if you go quickly I can make it wait for you and your friends” (what he meant to say was “ Ahh sir this is a very good choice as it was always your only choice. There is
no such thing as a non AC bus going to Jaisalmer but we pull this scam every night to get more money from your pocket. If I offer you the cheap one of course you come to me and then I get you for 100 rupees more than the guy down the road”) Cheers pal…. This must be India man! The bus ride, however bumpy it got, was a good one and 12 hours later we crawled out of our double beds and were greeted by our Camel Safari manager Sewai who operates as ‘The Real Desert Man’ and is number one on Tripadvisor at the time of writing.
Sewai was exactly what I expected of an Indian Business Man. Really tall, bit of a gut, and a cracker of a handle bar Mo, but most importantly very informative and super friendly. From the Day we spoke with him he kept in touch over the phone and by email, collected us from the station even though we were not to stay with him, took us to his office, gave us Chai and then dropped us to our rooms inside Jaisalmer Fort where we were booked in with Sagar guesthouse.
Things once again were looking up.
Arriving inside of the fort walls was amazing. You enter from the eastern side and come through three or four main gates before landing in the main square. The square is set alongside the fort palace which is a grand structure that seems to tower high up above the fort walls. From the square there are many routes that you can follow but all come back to the main arena. The further into the forts lanes you get the quieter it becomes. The rickshaw drivers disperse and the touts and shops appear all selling beautiful toilet paper, “CHILD BEER”, sun glasses clothes and books. In fact there isn’t much that you can’t get here. From the 1400’s or 1500’s this area was part of the camel train where all sorts of goods would be sold inside the walls. To this day the things on sale may differ but there is still a roaring trade that goes on from tours, restaurants and guesthouses alike.
Pulling up outside of Segar we found that after two hours of waiting for our booked rooms to come free the staff were a little too relaxed. The guys
inside our rooms, that were supposed to check out hadn’t and wouldn’t so after a crazy discussion with the owner where he nearly started to cry we thought it best to just leave and find somewhere a little more relaxed. (I must say that even though the owner got a little heated, over the next few days we ran into each other quite often and he always shook my hand and offered me tea. No hard feelings but Checkout times must amount to something).
So Joe and Annie, after searching for all of five minutes found us a room next door at Desert Haveli and for 700 rupees per night we got to sit way above the fort walls looking out over the city and vast desert that we would get to experience in a few days time. For now though lets enjoy this 12 box of beers the owner has put into the fridge for us. Big ones too.
For the next few days inside the Fort walls we just moseyed around, grazing at two to three restaurants a day including 8
th July which is run by a very funny Australian resident, Jaisalmer born elder fella and
his wife Rama. Go in and you will be amazed at how passionate she is about getting you to try different food. My guts didn’t know what to do with it all. They weren’t bad but the food was a test of my manliness. “SHIT SPICEY MAN” Rama would say! And then walk away laughing at my face. She is located in the main square. After grazing we always went back to our roof after enjoying a few cool hours in the beautiful rooms. The only drawback about Jaisalmer is the amount of mosquitoes there. Make sure you are loaded up with repellent and coils for outside of your room. If you forget the coils and leave windows open it turns into Midnight War.
After being held back an extra day by the threat of a sand storm created by ex-cyclone Nilofar we eventually got to go out into the desert. This was exciting times. Waking nice and early for our collection in the main square we hopped onto a jeep and was taken to drop off our extra luggage at one of Sewai’s hotels for safe keeping. From here the trip would begin.
For an hour or
so we would visit a little abandoned village and a nice little water hole that they insist are lakes but once out of the jeep the real adventure begins. We arrived to see five camels, all but one sitting quietly, waiting for us to be introduced. First we would meet the camel guys, Leelu and Moona and they then got to work on setting up our supplies and saddling it all up on top of the camel’s backs. Casey was introduced to Raju, a peaceful chap who seemed to behave for the entire trip, Annie was introduced to Balu, (also behaved) Joe was introduced to Allu (like the spud) and myself was then left standing alone with Papaya who was the only camel left, and funnily enough also standing, doing his own sweet thing whenever he could get away with it. He even stood up differently to the other camels. He wouldn’t go straight up in the three step technique of back legs first half way, then front legs up and then straighten out. I was left straddling this beast not knowing on any of the occasions how he was going to stand up this time. Trouble, to say the
least. If they ever got the camels to sit so we could get off I had to literally throw my bag off and sort of scramble to the floor before Papaya decided he was going to bolt. After learning all of his quirks however he and I got on like a house on fire.
So off we plod, all enjoying the show from papaya, and me hanging on in this camel train formation of Joe at the front, followed by Casey, then Annie with me taking up the rear. All of the camels were tied together so they would keep moving but this was fine. It is completely different to horse riding as these beasts happily follow each other along unless their name is Papaya. He was a crack up. If he was long leashed he consistently walked alongside the group, dragging me through every tree that the other camels avoided. When he was short leashed he couldn’t move forward to far but would complain and snot everywhere. Apparently it is because he likes to be upfront and see what is going on but he is too quick so this training is to try and slow him down. "Papaya
is a very fast Camel but good Camel... Papaya papaya" hahaha
Either way we were having a great laugh up the back. Most of the time I was trying to impersonate Papaya and at times he looked like he was responding. After a few hours we stopped for lunch where we would literally sit under a nice tree watching the lads cook up a storm, wondering about the dunes nearby and sleeping. Lunches usually lasted 4 hours to avoid the heat of the day so you had time to just enjoy the scenery with absolutely no other tourists anywhere to be seen nor heard.
After Lunch we would jump up for a few more hours riding in the cooling sun towards our camp for the night, often via local villages where we would get to meet local kids and let the camels rest and drink. The camels on this safari were very well looked after. The guys were always stroking them and talking to them. I tried to stroke Papaya but he wasn’t so sure so from then on I left him to it. The camp sites on both nights were fantastic the lunch spots were great and
the Guys Leelu and Moona are second to none. If you can arrange a trip and wait for these boys you will be very happy.
The cost is around 3000 rupees for three days of deep desert action where all food and bedding is provided and set up for you (although I would jump the gun and help with my swag where I could). In the mornings we would be woken with chai and breakfast whilst the guys went out sometimes walking 2km in search of the camels that are allowed to wonder off to eat and play. The whole organisation is great and even on saying goodbye to the tour, Sewai came and met us for food afterwards and also gave us a room to get showered up in, for free until our night time train to Delhi. Before the trek we paid our deposits which is clever of Sewai, as once inside the guys from other companies will try to bad mouth other agents and undercut each other drastically. The only winner from these low prices are the guys you pay the money to, the camel guys are the ones that suffer, putting in all of the
hard work for a cut wage if the sale is low.
The Real Desert Man is the company to go with in my opinion as biased as it may be. The scenery is private, the animals are looked after and the team are fantastic. Make sure to tip the camel guys as they are worth more than their weight in diamonds, and enjoy everything they expose you to if you can make the time to travel to Jaisalmer.
Right now I am sitting on a train and have been since leaving the desert on route to Delhi. I have an hour left and have been lying here for 19 hours. My plan for the evening is to find a room, slurp a beer, take a shower and go get me some Delhi Belly.
Stay tuned, love to you all, oh and one last word of advice about Jaisalmer. If you meet the bike rental guy who calls himself Al Pacino. Don’t buy a thing off him. “This is India Man”!
Love ya…. Brummy x
Jaisalmer Fort en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Jaisalmer_
Fort Jaisalmer Fort is one of the largest fortifications in the world. It is situated in the city
of
Jaisalmer, in the
Indian state of
Rajasthan. It is a
World Heritage Site. It was built in 1156 AD by the
Rajput ruler
Rawal Jaisal (whose son was
Shalivahan II.
Manj &
Bhati Rajputs are the descendants of him.), from whom it derives it name. The fort stands proudly amidst the golden stretches of the great
Thar Desert, on Trikuta Hill, and has been the scene of many battles. Its massive yellow sandstone walls are a tawny lion colour during the day, fading to honey-gold as the sun sets, thereby camouflaging the fort in the yellow desert. For this reason, it is also known as the Sonar Quila or Golden Fort. The fort is located in the very heart the city, and is one of the most notable monuments in the locality.
The Real Desert Man Amazing!!! realdesertmansafarijaisalmer.com
realdesertmansafari.blogspot.com/
www.tripadvisor.com.au › ... ›
Jaisalmer ›
Things to do in Jaisalmer
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denidax
Deni, Dax and Ella
that looks nice and cozy