Sand, Color and Folklore - Jaisalmer & Jodhpur Diary - I

I had experienced the snow in Dalhousie, the sea in Mumbai/Goa and the hilly mountainous terrain in Dharamshala/ McLeod gang. I wanted to experience the desert, next. Somehow, I had imagined that as soon as I enter Rajasthan, I would be greeted by carpets of sand. That myth was broken while on a bike road-trip to Jaipur. But, Jaisalmer was different. There was a guaranteed promise of experiencing the desert. Why is a desert such a big deal, one may ask. Well, you’ll know the answer when you experience one. 

Since the planning was left to the last minute, I was all prepared to go alone again. But Abhishek, my colleague at work, chimed in at the time I was booking the tickets and luckily we got the last two tickets on tatkal :). We finally booked ourselves on the Delhi Jaisalmer express scheduled to depart Old Delhi at 5.45 pm and aiming to reach at 12.30 pm the next day. It actually reached at 2.45 pm (making it a 21 hour train journey). Towards the end of the journey, there is a single train track heading to Jaisalmer, so if there is train coming from the opposite direction, our train had to back till a point a station arrived where a twin track facility was provided. Considering the number of times we had to go back and forth, it is a miracle that we managed to reach Jaisalmer.   

Also, a warning to those aiming to board the train at Gurgaon - don’t even think about it. Initially we had decided to board the train at Gurgaon, but changed our mind at the last minute and boarded at Old Delhi. The stations leading from Old Delhi up to Gurgaon yielded so many daily commute passengers that soon we were in need of oxygen. Legitimate passengers, who had bought tickets and tried boarding the train at Gurgaon, could only make it till the bogey entrance. I shudder to think that I could have been one of them. Luckily, the passengers alighted as were heading out of Haryana and we literally breathed a sigh of relief. The journey was largely uneventful. Only stations worth mentioning along the way were ‘Pokaran’ (acquired fame during Nuke testing) and ‘Bawal’ (we laughed our hearts out when we saw that signboard announcing Bawal :). No offence here, it’s just funny :). 

I had read horror stories of how we would be surrounded by touts when we get down from the train at the Jaisalmer station. Luckily, we weren’t. Maybe we reached at a time, the touts were having an afternoon nap. Anyways, we hired a tata sumo, to take us to the entrance of the Jaisalmer fort. The fort of Jaisalmer is one of its kind, as it is a ‘living’ fort, meaning there are people staying inside the fort - some 6000 odd people. Plus there are hotels, motels and what not. We chose to alight at the fort entrance, because, we wanted to have a look both inside the fort and outside and settle on a decent accommodation. There is a lot of literature (most based on recommendations from the lonely planet travel-guide) as to why visitors shouldn’t stay inside the fort. I found that whole argument erroneous, as there are already 6000 people staying inside the Jaisalmer fort on a permanent basis. Ya, their postal address is actually - Jaisalmer Fort. I don’t think King Jaisal will be too pleased with so many people sharing the same address:). 

(Inset picture: Jaisalmer City - Known as the Golden City - known for its uniquely hued stones - which glisten a Golden Shine - especially in the monsoon season)

A tout smartly entered the sumo while we were inside and offered to take us to Hotel Deluxe. While on our way, he mentioned that they also offer the ‘Desert Safari’ which would start in about an hour’s time. That thing - the desert safari - starting within an hour, made us think that we didn’t have much time on hand. We had to decide on a hotel quickly. Ultimately, we decided to go with the tout to his Hotel Deluxe. There was nothing ‘Deluxe’ about the rooms. Since we had to leave for the ‘Desert Safari’ straightaway and were planning to spend the night camping in the desert, we decided not to rent a room.  Instead, we requested the tout if he could allow us to use the rooms just for half an hour so that we could freshen up and make our way to the desert. The desert safari cost us a 1000 bucks each - inclusive of 40 km cab ride to Sam (pronounced ‘Summ’) sand dunes, then a 2 km camel ride into the Thar desert, snacks and dinner at a facility in the desert plus an overnight stay in the swiss tents, then the 40 km cab ride back to the city, next morning. Considering these are on-season rates, we found the amount was reasonable (especially since we ended up not paying the room rent altogether). We decided to take the offer. Once in the room, we quickly showered and charged our cell phones and we were on our way to the desert. 

When you read about the desert, especially about the barrenness of the land and the scarcity of water in school science textbooks, it doesn’t hit you. But the starkness of it dawns slowly on you - when you experience one. The vegetation is thin, the animals are rare and human activity is almost non-existent for vast stretches of land. And what is staggering is the monotony of it all. You keep staring out of your car window and almost nothing changes. 

We made a pit-stop at what looked like the beginning of the "Thar Desert". Here, we were greeted by Micheal and Pappu. Michael and Pappu are names of the camel. Yes, camels have names too. Calm down. And no I was not surprised. Anyways, they made us sit on top of Michael. Sitting on a camel is an art in itself. Well not sitting, but staying on top, actually. The camel raises its hindlegs first and then the forelegs and that can have an affect of you being propelled forward. So you need to be careful, and stay lurched in a forward direction while it stands up. And God help you when they start racing with fellow camels or even coming down a slope with great speed. I will just say - I am not buying a camel ever. Not a good decision. (Inset pictures: Camel ride, Desert Mirage, Entertainment in the desert)

Anyways, the camel ride was good. Michael took us almost 2 kms inside the Thar Desert. We waited and watched the ‘Desert Sunset’. In between, we were approached by touts who offered to show us the place where Bollywood movies such as Refugee, Border and some other non-descript movies, were shot. Our answer was polite but firm - thanks, but no thanks:).  The Desert Sunset, was ok, it was redder and seemed to disappear quicker, or maybe that is just my imagination. Anyways, post the Desert Sunset, we were taken to a place called Thar Resorts - Desert Camp. Here we were welcomed and directed to our swiss tents. The tents were amazing. We were then asked to join a central area where a circular pandal was erected with a fireplace right in the center. We, along with fellow tourists gathered around the circular pandal. The fireplace was lit up and we were offered bhujjiyas and chai. The local musicians and dancers then put up a memorable performance and we lapped it up with our round of snacks. We were then escorted to dinner where we were offered local delicacies like Ker Sanghri and Daal Bhatti Choorma. The food, music and the dance all made for one very “Rajasthani” night and I enjoyed it thoroughly. More than the Desert Sunset, I enjoyed the Desert night sky - amazingly lit up by a million stars - truly magical. I will let the pictures doing the talking here. (Inset: Swiss tents, Inside the swiss tent, Circular pandal).

I must say, the first day in Jaisalmer - with the desert experience, the camel ride, the camping and the entertainment was truly worth going all the way.

Sand, Color and Folklore - Jaisalmer & Jodhpur Diary - II

The next day, we were scheduled to visit the Jaisalmer fort, the Gadisar Lake and the three hawelis.  As I said earlier, the Jaisalmer fort is different in the sense that it is a living fort and people actually live inside the fort.  The fort is built on Trikuta hills by King Jaisal and hence the name, Jaisal + Mer (comes form “meru” meaning hill). Besides the houses and shops, the fort has seven Jain temples inside - which is surprising because, there are hardly any Jain people residing inside the fort. Apparently, there is a story behind this which goes as follows:

"The original capital of the Bhatti Rajputs was the city of ‘Lodurva’, before King Jaisal built the Jaisalmer fort in 1156. The town of Lodurva is much older than Jaisalmer and was sacked several times, most notably by Mahmud of Ghazni in the 11th century when he was en route to Somnath, and then by Mohammad Ghori in the next century. The latter invasion persuaded Jaisal to abandon Lodurva, and he shifted his capital to Jaisalmer. On one such invasions, the Jain people residing in Lodurva seeked help from King Jaisal, who provided a secret underground passageway for them to enter the fort. Once inside, the fort, the Jains were allowed to practice their religion and were allowed to build the temples inside." So dont be surprised if you find so many people around ordering strict Jain food in Jaisalmaer :). All of the Seven Jain temples are ornately carved and a must visit. The other interesting thing to note was that the fort has 99 turrets. The lack of water meant that there could be no cement to hold those stones together - which is why the stones are arranged in a fashion to mesh with each other. We lunched at a place called “Little Italy” inside the fort and then went shopping. One could buy a lot of leather goodies, such as shoes, jhuttis, and laptop bags and stuff like that here. We wanted to check out this eating joint called ‘Trio’, so headed there next. But, once inside, we saw, almost every customer complaining about the time they have been waiting for food to arrive. So we gave it a skip :).  The hotel had arranged a cab for us, so post lunch we went to Gadisar lake, which is apparently a man-made lake.  (inset pictures - Jaisalmer Fort and Gadisar Lake)

Boating facility is available here, but we didn’t opt for one. Next up were the ‘Havelis’. Of the three havelis - only one Patwon ki Haveli is worth the visit. The other two are complete shams. In Nathumalji ki Haveli, they stop you as soon as you enter it. Apparently, the owner has rented out that accommodation :). Salim Singh’s Haveli is another such sham - hardly, worth the visit. We were short on time to catch the bus to Jodhpur, so the hotel owner lied to us and claimed that there is only one haveli and other two names are just nicknames of the same one. We didn’t buy his argument and looked up the havelis ourselves. It is sad that two of them turned out this way. On a brighter side - at least we found the hotel owner was lying and that there are three havelis indeed. Bravo Sherlock.

We alighted the bus to Jodhpur around 4 pm in the evening and reached Jodhpur at  around 10 in the night (285 Kms in roughly 6  hours). Luckily we had done our research, so we asked the rickshaw driver to take us to the clock tower, which is apparently the central place in the city. The rickshaw driver helped us find an accommodation and we dined and proceeded for a much needed  rest.

Next morning, we had breakfast on the terrace. It was easy from here to see why the city was labeled as the “blue city”. Most houses had copper sprayed on the limestone to keep out insects and pests which gave a distinct bluish tinge to the houses. Post breakfast, we proceeded to see the Meherangarh fort. This is easily the best fort I have seen in India and unbelievably well maintained too. They provide you with the option of an Audio tour, which is highly recommended. The audio tour is primarily a set of headphones and a walkie-talkie set with buttons numbered on them. There are numbered signboards posted throughout the fort. On reaching a signboard, one has to press the appropriate digits on the walkie-talkie set to hear about what happened at that spot. Really kool. I loved the whole experience. The fort was clean and all the memorabilia was very well displayed. Plus the stories were fascinating to hear. All in all, the fort was totally worth the visit.  (Inset pictures: Jodhpur - Blue City and Meherangarh Fort)

Next up was Jaswant Thada (Thada meaning place of worship or temple). Jaswant Thada is built in the purest of marbles and is basically a temple with an adjoining cemetery. We clicked a few pictures here and proceeded to see the “Umaid Bhavan Palace”. The palace is really grand and equally amazing is the display of vintage cars next to the manicured lawns. Here is a wiki excerpt on the same - ‘The present owner of the Umaid Bhavan Palace is Gaj Singh. He has divided the Palace into three functional parts - a luxury Taj Palace Hotel (in existence since 1972), the residence of the erstwhile royal family, and an area open to public where a small museum displays pictures, arms, swords, and other artifacts of Jodhpur's royal heritage’. We were ushered into four rooms one after the other where all the artifacts were displayed.  It was good to read the Gaj Singh and his ancestors dined with Princes Charles, went to salmon fishing in Scotland, boar hunting in Africa and what not. Hmm. This place smells money. (Inset pictures: Jaswant Thada and Umaid Bhavan Palace)

Our rickshaw driver informed us that we must try the Mawa kachori, so we headed to a sweets shop where we feasted on the kachoris, ghevar and pedas. Post the attack on the sweets shop, we headed to Jaipur for a bus back to Gurgaon.

Overall, I loved the Jaisalmer/ Jodhpur experience. On visiting these places, I realized that people here make up for what nature couldn’t provide. The color in these barren lands comes from people and it is noticeable in everything the people do here from the brightly colored clothes, the fluorescent teekas, the incandescent jewelry to the colorful turbans. No wonder, most cities of Rajasthan, such as Jaipur (the pink city), Jodhpur (the blue city) and Jaisalmer (the golden city) have a color associated with it!!!