Documentary Scholarship Trip

Today we saw Jaisalmere up close. First we went to an artificial lake filled with hungry catfish. These fish were as big as my arm and swarmed on top of each other to get at the bread we fed them. Hypnotically grotesque. Don’t thing the pics do it justice. Into the fort, through the many gates, past peoples houses and numerous souvenir stands. Jaisalmere fort also contains some amazingly intricately carved Jain temples. The Jainism is an ancient religion whose followers revere all life as equal which means they are strict vegans with most jains avoiding eating Potatoes, garlic and onions in addition to all meats and animal products. From the temples we wandered through the winding streets to see Jaisalmere’s famous havellis. Havellis were the homes of rich merchants, These amazingly carved mansions are now preserved for all to enjoy and Indira Ghandi, who is largely responsible for putting Jaislamere on the tourist map, even knocked one down (not personally of course) so that the havelli on the other side of the narrow street could be fully appreciated. One of the havelli’s has been conveniently transformed into a fabric shop where we spent some time drinking thumbs up cola and of course shopping. Dinner tonight was at a roof top restaurant with a beautiful view of Jaisalmere fort and cold kingfisher beers…a wonderful way to end the sightseeing part of the trip before we head to Jamba village tomorrow to start upgrading the school.