Jaisalmer

On Tuesday, the 21st, we drove from Bikaner to Jaisalmer, some 330 kms. which took 6 hours. As you can tell, it takes a long time to get anywhere. With bad roads, train crossings, traffic jams in small towns and pit stops takes longer than one would expect. We arrived at our hotel late afternoon and took the rest of the day to simply relax. Our hotel, Thar Vilas, was located some 15 Kim's from the town and is quite new. Robin and I lucked out and got a corner room with a seating area. When Suzanne saw the room, she exclaimed "bloody hell"! Jaisalmer has a population of 80,000 and is only 120 Kms. from the Pakastani border. 80% Hindu, 15% Muslim, 1% Jain ( a branch of Hinduism) and the rest various other religions. They have not had any rain here for the last three years and it is very dry and temperatures can reach 50 to 60 degree C in the summer. Water is delivered by tanks drawn by camels or tractors. The water source is the Indira Ghandi canal which brings water 1,500 kms. from Kashmir. This area was also along the Silk Road route. Jaisalmer is also known as the Golden City, as most of the buildings are built with yellow sandstone. An underground nuclear test was done in the area in 1998. As you approach the City you see Sonar Fort which is located on the highest rock hill on the plain and has a one km. wall surrounding it. About 3,000 people live within the gates of the palace, and a lot of the houses have been transformed into hotels, restaurants and shops catering to tourists. This has placed pressure on the water system and now due to high volumes of grey water simply flowing down the streets, some of the walls are collapsing. Their is a project under way with Unesco to rebuild the retaining walls. Some wall paintings here as well in the Havelis ( rich merchant homes). We also visited a Jain Temple (12th to 15th century) within the Fort walls. Quite small but intricate carvings. The City is known for its' silver antiques, camel leather and camel bone goods. We had a young guide take us through the Palace and the surrounding area for views of the City below. He wanted to know if we wanted to take a Tuk tuk up to the palace, but we said we wanted to walk to get some exercise. Colin mentioned that he walks 5 km. per day, so the guide wanted to know why Colin had such a big belly if he walked that far on a daily basis! He also took us to some shops, but we did not appreciate the fact that this is usually a set up to get you to buy something, which we were not interested in. Once the guide realized we were not going to buy anything, he totally lost interest in us! We then took a side trip to Gadisar Lake where the locals take picnics. Beautiful buildings at the Lake and the Palace are circa 1134 A.D. One evening we drove into the Thar Desert. Quite amazing to see. Lots of tourists in tent camps and locals giving camel rides, which we declined. Simply enjoyed the views of the desert. A few observations of the surrounding area.. - Numerous "English Beer and Wine Shops" which we found amusing. Wine is expensive here as is not in great demand. Most of the wine is produced here in India and is of a decent quality. Even saw one of these shops in a Muslim town! - Camel dung is dried in the shape of large round pancakes and is used for fuel - When driving along the roads, they drive on the left hand side of the road. As Suzanne says...only in a manner of speaking! - The Indian people do not like to give a negative answer to anything. They have this way of shaking their heads and not sure if this means yes or no! Quite amusing. - Seems like the major tourist group here are the French. One evening in one of our hotels, they had entertainment (actually pretty bad,) and the children sang Frere Jaques! - Goat and sheep herders everywhere along the roads Enjoying India with its clamor, colours, frustrations, traffic, animals, smells and people everywhere.