Today we had a long day on the road to the western most town that foreigners are allowed, Jaisalmer. We would be almost 1000 kms from Delhi and around 100 kms or so from the border of Pakistan for 2 days. On the way we made a quick stop at a truck stop to see how truckies in India live. Quite spartan it seems as they are often on the road for up to ten days at a time.
Jaisalmer is a military town like Townsville but with a population of 70,000 and with a magnificent yellow sandstone fort sitting on top of the hill overlooking the town and the surrounding plains. Jaisalmer is called the “Yellow City” because of all construction here is from the yellow sandstone that is predominant in this area. As we approached the city we passed a big “Indian War Museum” with much military hardware out front such as a jet fighter, tanks, field guns and APC’s. Another striking feature of this area is the many wind turbine generators dotting the surroundings interspersed with the occasional solar farm.
We got to Gordandh Palace in time for a swim in their very nice but tepid pool. It wasn’t long before several ‘natives’ joined in and they were as fascinated by us as we were of them. Because of the long day there were no activities planned for today so after tea we turned into bed and then the nightmare started. Firstly my laptop (this one) played up and deleted all my ‘volitans’ emails. Kaspersky quickly followed and then my temper went too. I tried in vain to recover the files and eventually I gave up and went to bed. About 0200 I awoke covered in sweat because the a/c in our room was failing and our room was like a sweat box. Best the hotel could offer was beds in a nearby room because I wasn’t packing up at that hour to fully change rooms. With 2 hours left before getting up Shane & I were dead. Yep, you read right. the alarm was set for sometime around 0430. There were things to see and do the next day and going early is the only way to minimize the heat. Over the past few days we had suffered through temperatures well over 42 degrees. Though it is a dry heat it was searing just the same. Little did we know that this day was to hit 52 degrees!
The day was full (I wished I was). First we ventured to the town lake. Typically the water and its surrounds were filthy but at the same time it is a scenic location. Our guide described the lake and its attached mythology as the curious locals watched us intently. Hawkers were standing by ready to pounce on us to ply their wares.
From the lake we took a short ride to the fort. This fort was more like I was expecting. It has several gates and walls and has an inner city and an outer village.
Our guide ‘lost’ us in a maze of alleyways and streets before taking us to yet another ‘unique’ trader where we could buy some trinkets.
In and out of the alleys we eventually got to our restaurant for lunch, the Trio Restaurant. This place won’t get our Trip Advisor stamp of approval. We were first to order luncch and my meal came reasonably quickly but Shane’s never appeared. When everyone else had eaten she was still waiting. Turns out the waiter “is new and missed her order” (as always it seems). Fortunately my meal was not only very tasty but the serving was generous enough that she had what I couldn’t finish which turned out to be more than she’s normally have. These buggers then tried to charge us for the ‘claytons’ meal she never received and they wanted a tip.
So after my PC dying, the a/c in our room fading and lunch stuffed up I was debating on participating in the next activity, sunset camel rides on the dunes. I am so happy that my fellow travellers convinced me to do it. Standing atop the sand dunes next to my camel with a beer in hand watching the sunset with new friends was a fantastic way to end the day.
So not from Lawrence of Arabia but from Shane & Garry of India I say ‘ooroo till next post.
Cheers
Garry