Day 39 - 44: Jaisalmer
Interesting things I did and saw in Jaisalmer:
- Jaisalmer Fort
- Fort Palace
- Two night camel Safari
Story-Time and Reflection:
Jaisalmer is a desert city in western India, not so far from the the Pakistan boarder. And when I say "desert city," I mean it's literally a little oasis of civilization in the middle of the desert. All one has to do is soak in the view from any of the forts roof-top cafes and restaurants to confirm this description. You can see where the city ends and where the nothingness of the desert begins in all directions, seated atop the fort. It's quite peaceful. Just staring off into the flat distance, where the desert begins to blend into the horizon and then the sky, without any clear distinction of where any of them end or begin.
The city is towered over by the fort, which is frequently described as giant mirage like sandcastle rising out of the desert. By far being the tallest construction in the the city, I can only imagine spying it from afar, after traveling through the desert for days on end without any sign of human life.....it must truly seems like a mirage.
Beyond this hypothetical, Jaisalmer is definitely somewhat of a dreamy place. It's not just that it's, quite obviously, in the middle of the desert, that might make you think you are in a waking-life dream, but it's the fort life too......and the entirely legal and government approved "special" concoctions that they serve up at the infamous Lassi Shop here, might also have something to do with it's "enchantment."
I have seen many forts since I have been in India, perhaps too many. But the fort in Jaisalmer is unique, in that it is a living fort. People live in it, and work in it, it doesn't close, you don't have to buy a ticket, it's a attraction, yes, but it's also a home to hundreds, maybe thousands. As you wander through it's narrow pathways, past the shops, hotels, guest houses, cafes, and restaurants, you find yourself in residential areas, with people doing laundry and other chores out front of their homes. There, perhaps, isn't much to say about it, other than it's simply magic. The views of winding pathways and architectural views from within, the view of the city below and the stretching desert beyond as you peer over the edges. While there might not be a lot to do here, I could have spent weeks here, doing nothing other than reading, chatting with locals and travelers, and, in general, just relaxing.
Venturing out into the desert, and the surroundings are no less enchanting. A major attraction in Jaisalmer are the the camel safaris out into the desert. You can sign up for day trips, over-night trips, two-night trips, or really for as long as you'd like. I originally opted for a 3 night trip then later decided two days of bouncing up and down on a beast of an animal was plenty. After riding a camel for just a day, I can definitely understand why cowboys are always stereotypically depicted walking in that awkward, wide-stance manner......to just say chafing would be an understatement.
Besides the less then pleasant parts, roaming through the desert has it's own magic. Just miles and miles of shrubs and sand. Looking across it is like looking across an ocean of gold. It's quiet. It's peaceful. It's serene. The sun beats down on you like an explicit-word, but if you can beat that, the rewards are rich.
When in the desert, you want to do most of your trekking in the morning and early afternoon, till maybe around 2pm. Most might imagine that the hottest part of the day is 12-noon, when the sun is at it's highest point in the sky, but this is wrong. Something I noticed when I used lifeguard during my summers in high school and college, the hottest hours of the day is around 3 pm, let's call it 2 to 4 pm. Why? While the sun is highest at noon, it takes sometime for things down here on earth to heat up, so typically the heat really gets to you in the afternoon. Thus, luck break in the desert, in whatever shade you can find, is typically closer to 1:30 or so. These lunch breaks are not short either. Once the food is cooked, and once out eat up, it's nap time, for everyone, humans and camels. Things get going again in the later afternoon, early evening, and at this point, you really only have a few hours before the sun starts to set, granted this is winter time, so the days are shorter.
Dinner time in the desert is filled with veg dal (food), chapati (food), and singing around the campfire. Granted, singing along to lyrics that were an entirely foreign language didn't work out so well, it was still a wonderful experience being out in the desert, listening to songs about romeo/juliet style forsaken love and desert life being chanted, accompanied by some serious expert drumming on a not quite empty 15 gallon water jug.
Once the fire began to die down, it was bed time. I know we have all heard about this on National Geographic, and in other documentaries, but it gets seriously cold at night in the desert. Thankfully, we had some bed-rolls, which are basically just two thick blankets. One to sleep on, to protect you from the cold of the sand, and another to sleep under, to protect you from the cold in general. Waking up to the rising sun, it's still pretty brisk out, and actually one of the coldest points of the 24-hour day, which is a pretty dramatic difference when you compare it to how brutally hot it gets during the day.
Perhaps the most enchanting part of being out in the desert, is sleeping under the stars. I have never seen so many in my entire life, and you can even very clearly mark out the milky-way. You don't even need to know what exactly to look for in order to notice the streaming cluster of starts that waves through the sky, to know that this is the milky-way. It's remarkably obvious. If you know any constellations, it's also fun to track them through the sky throughout the night. I personally, can always find Orion's Belt, and Orion, if and when the constellation is visible, which it was during my time in Jaisalmer. So as I went to bed I noted where it was in the sky, and whenever I woke up throughout the night, I could track the direction in which it was crossing the night. Something I had never done before.
In general, Jaisalmer, was wonderful. A little slower than many other places I have been in India, and while some other travelers complained about the badgering by shop owners and rickshaw drivers, I actually felt like they badgered me much less than most of the other big tourist destinations I have visited. Maybe me and Jaisalmer just clicked, in a way that it doesn't for everyone. After all, I met a lot of people who loved Varanasi, and while I enjoyed a lot about Varanasi, by the time I left, I felt felt so badgered I was beginning to imagine myself knocking people out when they solicited me to eat at their restaurant, to buy their stupid tourist shit that you find EVERYWHERE in India, to use their rickshaw, to buy their drugs. I don't blame people for trying to find new clients, but when you follow me down the street, asking me why I'm not hungry......or why I don't want to buy your drugs, or where I am going when I already said, "for a walk"........REALLY?! The worst part is I know they behave this way because they live in a tourist economy, so it's partially our fault that they harass foreigners like this. But at end, I can only sympathize so much before I'm just annoyed as all hell. One thing I have learned is that Indians do seem to understand the seriousness of dropping the F-Bomb.
