The Golden City of Jaisalmer

Call it coincidence or whatever word that may suit you! Landing up in Jaipur by flight when trains were available and cheaper seemed to be a stupid thought. It could not have been worse and once I booked my flight tickets I was wondering what had come over me! Then it happened. I was swamped with a meeting which would have never let me catch the train. Added to it, when I reached Jaipur I realised that all the trains from Delhi towards Rajasthan has been canceled due to the Jat Andolan! What? How did I miss that? Indeed Lucky!

So at midnight my friend and I were scheduled to take the train to Jaisalmer from Jaipur. The train arrives at 1130 pm and I had booked the first class tickets hoping that I would not have to search for the coach in the middle of the night. The biggest shock of our lives was yet to come. The first class compartment was hardly clean. Gone were the days when it was pleasure traveling by the Indian Railways. Things were so clean and orderly. So the cleaning team was hastily summoned and they were asked to quickly clean the compartment. These guys did a half hearted job and were finally given the compartment hardly five minutes before the departure. What a hassle! It turned out to be exactly 180 deg opposite to what I planned to achieve through booking a first class AC ticket.

Having waited for half hour, sleep was evading us till 2 am. Finally we settled in and slept dreaming about the golden sands of the desert.

Godi Sagar Lake

We reached Jaisalmer the following morning. Taking the cab (accompanied by a gruntled driver) we reached the Godi (/ Gadi) Sagar lake. It was scorching hot and we reached the banks. It was quite picturesque and considering the fact it was a man made lake to collect rain water, the lake was indeed impressive.

What really amazes me of the people of the north is the attitude. While we clicking the pictures of two little boys, the mother sneaked up from behind took our water bottle. What! That was ours and we were dying of thirst! When I tried to reason with her, she told us we could also drink the water and that she did not have any issue with it! Lol! I wanted to despy thank her for her kindness ..a kindness that flowed from the fact she had become an proud owner of a water bottle (in a desert) and thereby commanded a better position than those around her. What a transformation!

Sonar Quila

(Ref: Wikipedia)

Popularised by Satyajit Ray, the Jaisalmer Fort was built of golden sandstone by Rawal Jaisal. Sipping in a cup of masala chai and looking at the architectural splendour of king's and queen's chambers was a heavenly experience. As you walk to the canon points (which had a range of 5 km!..commendable as the fort was constructed in 1156 AD) the view of the golden city is breathtaking. Interestingly, the fort still houses 25% of the city's population. I wonder how one would feel living inside a fort and being seen by tourists as they pass by. This place is known for golden sandstone and by striking a good conversation with people around one could discover a myriad of untold stories.

The Royal Camps at Sam

(Ref: Tripadvisor)

During the desert safari in Dubai I always wondered how people would fare in a desert. Thanks to Jaisalmer I had a near living experience by staying in a tent close to the sand dunes. What an experience! When I first heard of it I could imagine listening to the Rajasthani folk music under the moon was what I had in mind. Well somehow we have a knack of making things not so beautiful sometimes. People from all camps were grouped together and the cultural program started. The music was not upto the mark. Considering the fact that these artists usually can reach amazing pitches, this was a let down. However we were compensated by a nice walk around the camp in the desert under the twilight. That was the very night when the moon decided to be really close to the earth and our first night in the desert was indeed rewarding. With the spring breeze touching your face and with the moon at its brightest, if there was something called heaven, it was indeed this...

Camel Safari
After the short camel safari at Dubai I was looking forward to an actual camel ride in the desert. On the day of the Holi we awoke full of expectations for the camel ride. We notice a camel waiting for us at a distance accompanied by its 10 year old master. Upon approaching it we realised it seemed to be more of a calf. We asked the master if it could handle the weight. He said of course.Really? We boarded the camel and travelled upto the dunes. What a sight! waves and waves of sand with little footsteps of other animals that inhabited the place. We got down and we could feel the soft sand slipping away as if it were a shy kid trying to find a place to hide.

Upon our return we were confronted by something really strange.. the camel half way through had decided that it had enough of us. It just fell on the ground kicking the ground like a little kid. And where were we? U guessed it right, we were lying on the sand with the camel by our side! We did not have a clue to what we were doing there along with the camel. We felt sorry for the camel and started walking towards our camp shaking our head in disbelief. As I turned back I could see the camel running away happily, holding its head held high,along with its little master on its back!

After a sumptous breakfast, we left for Jodhpur- leaving behind the golden city for the blue one!