Jaisalmer to Jodhpur 31/5

Today we arrived in Jodhpur, a couple of hundred kilometres from Jaisalmer. A shorter drive on some better roads, so that’s been welcome. We are getting to know Pal better, he’s an excellent driver amongst some very unusual road conditions and unpredictable fellow road users. Yesterday in Jaisalmer I went out to have a look at the fort. It’s a very impressive structure made from honey coloured sandstone. Some parts have been affected by a recent earthquake, but there seems to be a fair amount of restoration work happening. I had a guide, Manu, an extremely knowledgeable, fourth generation resident of the fort. The entire city used to be housed within the fort’s walls and has expanded over time as the threat of invasion has decreased. We wandered uphill through three main gates, one of which served as a spot to cool down on the walk up the hill. The combination of the constant breeze and the heavy surrounding brickwork combined to make a cool section which was most welcome. In the fort I was taken to one of the many bastions (99 in total around the fort), for a great view out over the rest of the city. Jaisalmer isn’t a huge place, around 60,000 people, so you could pretty much see to the developed edges, quite impressive. There are numerous tradespeople trying to sell all manner of products within the fort’s walls. There was also a large amount of people there just doing their day to day thing. The fort’s other residents seemed to be a lot of cows, they really had the run of the place and in some narrow stretches you had to be quite careful trying to get past them or not slip in their manure. There were numerous paintings outside people’s houses of Ganesh (an Indian deity with the head of an elephant) and Manu explained that they were painted along with the date of an impending wedding for good luck by the family. I also visited two historic Jain temples, I think the photos will best explain them once they are up. Leaving the fort’s walls, Manu took me into the old town, the oldest settlement outside the fort. We travelled along very narrow and crowded streets in the back of a tuk-tuk driven by a real character, insisting on singing, cursing or sweet talking people as he went along at a decent pace - with lots of horn beeping. He took us to view the Havelis, a series of ornate carved buildings, again I think the photos will explain better. After that I was taken to a shop to view a multitude of wall hangings, bedspreads and pashmina scarves as part of the ‘tour’ experience. It’s in these situations where the pressure to buy something is quite real and insistent, despite all the assurances to the contrary. Anyway, to cut a long story short we didn’t end up buying anything and afterwards Pal advised us where we could get stuff cheaper anyway, he just couldn’t mention it in front of the guide. We’ve changed our tour at this point, we were meant to head out on a camel safari, something we were both not entirely happy with, so we’ve elected not to go and we’ve changed our itinerary to include a wildlife park down the track - we are looking forward to it. In the evening I headed out with Pal while Kirsten stayed at the hotel. As we couldn’t find a restaurant that would let us drink byo beer (and a lot of places are shut due to off season), Pal took me to a hostel where all the drivers stay. A pretty humble affair where they either sleep in a dorm or outside if the weather permits. I met the guy who owns it and he arranges food and lodging for the drivers. We spent the evening out in the carpark having a few beers, and something to eat (lots of onion - which I reeked of later). Then the beers started being mixed with gin and I was taken back to the hotel in a merrier state and I woke up in a less merrier state for our drive to Jodhpur. Pal reckons he doesn’t remember much after he got back to the driver’s hostel. Thankfully feeling much better after something to eat on the road.