Jaisalmer

Desert town Jaisalmer is definitely worth seeing, despite the heat of the hot season. Surrounded by flat desert, its fort rises from the Earth like a magnificent sand castle. Inside the fort is an amazing little town. Havelis, Jain Temples and palaces are all constructed out of the same honey-golden sandstone. Even the streets are made with this warm-colored stone. If one dreams of the romanticsm of India, Jaisalmer is it! Before tourism came to Jaisalmer, you can imagine once upon a time there were men with brightly colored turbans and women with sparkling sarees roming through its streets. Still to this day, you can still see the magnificent carvings of the old houses and temples.

From Jaisalmer, we embarked on a camel safari through the desert. We were both a little nervous about riding a camel for 2 1/2 days...if you have never ridden on a camel before, they are a bumpy ride! We had heard stories of travelers not being able to walk for a few days afterwards. But luckily, we had some pretty cool camels. Joe's camel, Mr. India, was the biggest of the bunch, but very sweet...and Sejal's camel, Simon, was very gentle. Plus there was nothing like the silence and the atmosphere of the desert. All we could hear is the tinkle of camel bells and easily fell into the rhythmic swaying of the camel ride. This was a much-needed reward after hearing blaring horns and loud rickshaws for four months. We would spend the first few hours of the day riding on the camel, stopping at nearby villages. Then as the temperatures became unbearable, we would take shelter under the shade of a tree (yes, luckily there were a few trees in this desert!) for a few hours until the heat subsided. In the late afternoon, we would be off for a few more hours until we reached sand dunes--our camping spot for the night. The evening/nighttime was our favorite part. There is nothing like watching the desert colors change with the sunset--from orange to red to lavendar. And once the sun set, it was only us and the stars. Sitting around a campfire, we would meditate at the serenity around us as the camel men sang village folksongs. At nighttime, we layed on a blanket atop the sanddunes and stared at the myraid of stars in the vast sky until we fell asleep. It was really a beautiful 2 days...our only regret was our safari was too short!

We returned to Jaisalmer and spent a couple more days there. Unfortunately, Joe's stomach was sick so we had to spend time to recuperate. Our next stop (and last stop) on our trip through Rajastan was Bikaner.