Jaisalmer

Jaisalmer is called the Golden City because the old city is constructed of the same golden honey sandstone. The fort is the main attraction of the city and it looks like a massive sandcastle in the middle of the desert. The inside of the fort is made up of narrow streets with shops, Jain temples, a maharaja's palace, and a museum. Jaisalmer Fort is a living fort, meaning that there are many people who live in it. On the first day when we were looking out over the city a man on the next rooftop invited us up onto his roof where there was an even better view of the city.

The streets that lead to the entrance of the fort are lined with shops that capitalize on the tourists coming through. You can buy leather good, handwoven table runners and wall hangings, pashminas, bedding, and various other ragasthani crafts. The shop owners are good sales people but hard bargainers – you have to be very persistent if you want to pay a fair price.

Among the shops on the streets leading to the fort we found one man's photography shop where he sold old prints of pictures taken in India. His family had been in the photography business for three generations on the same street in Jaisalmer. He showed us the old fashioned camera that his grandfather used to take pictures and said that all of the prints that he had for sale were pictures taken from this camera. For each picture there was a short story that the man could tell you about it. I chose a picture of two women dancers taken in 1911. These women were covered in jewelry- 10 bangles on each arm, about the same amount of anklets on each leg, and huge flower nose rings.

On the afternoon of the second day in Jaisalmer we took an hour bus ride out of the city and into the dessert where we spent the night. We were dropped off on the side of the road and were taken by camel to our tents. We were two to a camel and each camel was led by a little boy who helped us get on and off and kept checking that we were alright with their limited English vocabulary. We stopped part way to the tents to get off the camels and watch the sunrise on the sand dunes and the boys who guided our camels gave us the opportunity to ``race`` with them. I thought that I would give it a try and although a little scary it was really fun. My impression of camels from what I have seen of them here in India is that they are lazy animals that will do what you want them to, although not at a fast pace. I climbed on the front of the camel and the 10 year old boy who guided our camel went on the back, holding the reins like a horse. The little boy got the camel going so fast that I was literally bouncing in the air off the seat. When I started bouncing off to one side the little boy in the back had to hold my shoulders down so that I didn’t fall (although I think that if I was going down, he would not be strong enough to catch me).

During our camel ride to the tents and for the rest of the night the wind was very strong and was picking up sand with it. With a strong gust of wind, any body part that was not covered would be blasted by sand and it could actually be a bit painful (It was a little less graceful and glamourous than the girls in the latest Sex and the City movie). It reminded me of the feeling that you get when going skiing in the winter. We tried our best to cover our faces with scarves and sunglasses. I had the most trouble with getting sand in my eyes. I finally started to realize the practicality of a full burka in the dessert (here I was thinking that the women were oppressed and uncomfortable).

In the evening we were entertained by a ragisthani cultural music and dance show. It was shown on a circular raised stage outside and we were seated on cushions and pillows. After the performance we were had a ragisthani feast in the dinning hall and slept in our tents.