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Nicole's
Travelogues and Budget Travel Tips..
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JAISALMER, INDIA
I met my travel mates at the train station at 5pm for our 19 hour journey from New Delhi to Jaisalmer. We stocked on samosas (10 rupees for two) across the street from the station. We went through security and went to platform 18 for our train. We booked sleeper AC class and were not dissappointed. At 1:15pm, we arrived in Jaisalmer. We took a taxi into the Jaisalmer Fort to the Deepak guesthouse. Unfortunately, the guesthouse was in the fort with real plumbing, which is actually hurting the preservation of the fort - so we changed our guesthouse to one that was outside. It was hot - as well it should be since we are next to the Thar Desert!!! One night I woke up at 3:45am drenched in sweat because the fans went off during a power cut. That's what I get for going to the desert in July!
Jaisalmer in July? Well, yes I knew it would be hot going in summer time and Jaisalmer did not disappoint - it was around 104F/40C everyday. Jaisalmer, also known as "The Golden City", is a town in the Indian state of Rajasthan on the border of India and Pakistan. The town stands on a ridge of yellowish sandstone, crowned by a fort, which contains the palace and several Jain temples. It lies in the heart of the Thar Desert and has a population of about 78,000. Founded by Rawal Jaisal in 1156 A.D., the remote location of Jaisalmer kept it almost untouched by outside influences, even during the days of the Raj. Jaisalmer was the last to sign the Instrument of Agreement with the British.
Jaisalmer Fort
The fort stands about 80 meters over the city on Trikuta Hill. It has narrow alleyways, cobbled stone lanes, latticed havelis, and Jain temples. Oh and lots of cows! Several entrances called Pols , including the Ganesh Pol, Suraj Pol, Bhoota Pol and the Hava Pol guard the Megh Durbar and the Jawahar Mahal which were occupied by the royal family. Outside the fort is the main market place called Manek Chowk. From Manek Chowk, you can walk into the lanes where the famous carved havelis are to be found.
As it was July, It was soooo hot that I would wander for an hour or two, then go back to my hotel for a shower, and then go back out again. I drank about 10 litres of water a day and not going to the bathroom much. But it wasn't unbearable. The fort is gorgeous! There are mazes of alleyways - reminding me of Stone Town in Zanzibar. One afternoon, while we were exiting the fort, we heard what we thought were monsoon rains but we noticed that we didnt get wet. Instead, it was a dust storm and we were soon being blasted in the face with sand. We ran into an internet cafe to wait 5 mintes for the worst of it to pass. It was great fun, though I was coughing and snorting out sand for the next hour! Gadi Sagar Lake I hired tuk tuk at the fort to take me to the lake and he parked and started walking with me, showing me things. We went into a temple and I immitated what he did as we walked up to the priest. The priest gave him some small white pebble things and then he popped them in his mouth. I was like "oh crap!" now I have to do it and I didn't know what it was. So I popped them in my mouth and it was sugary. Still don't know what it was but I didn't get sick and didn't hallucinate (I think it was just sugar pebbles). Anyway, the tuktuk driver was cool showing me around and talking for about 2 hours, then he took me back to the fort.
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Desert Culture Center & Museum has interesting exhibits on Rajasthani culture. There's a nightly one-hour puppet show at 6:30pm. Being so close to the Pakistan border, Jaisalmer is home to the Border Security Force. Jaisalmer relies heavily on tourist dollars and are negatively affected when border issues 'heat up.'
About 25% of Jaisalmer's population live in the fort. Jaisalmer Fort is the on the World Monuments Watch list of 100 endangered sites worldwide. What happens when you pour a bucket of water on a sand castle? Well, that's what is happening to the Jaisalmer Fort. About 120 liters of water per head per day pumps through the city's aged plumbing system (12 times the original capacity). This pressure is causing it to self-destruct. It's suggested that you do not stay in guest houses inside the fort and use as little water as possible. For more information, contact Jaisalmer in Jeopardy. In 1997, the Jaisalmer Conservation Initiative (JCI) was formed to encourage sustainable tourism restoration, urban planning and raising local awareness towards the problems facing the fort.
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It had 3 sleeper bunk bed berths on each side (total of 6 per alcove) but the train wasn't booked so we had a cubby to ourselves. We ordered the veg meal for 89 rupees after took off about 6pm. Actually the 19 hours went by quite quickly! We slept from about 9pm to 6am and played cards, listened to ipods, and chatted. There was a family next to us so we played with the 2 kids a bit. A guy walked through every hour selling water and snacks. The landscape changed from red rock to beige sand as we got closer. The desert land towards Jaisalmer reminded me of parts of East Africa - with its red soil and thorny scrub. 
But it was so gorgeous that I am so glad I decided to brave the weather! 
Most of Jaisalmer's attractions, including the main market., surround the fort to the north. 
Excavated in 1367 by Rawal Gadsi Singh, Gadi Sagar is a scenic rainwater lake surrounded by small temples and shrines. 
