Jaisalmer

First city in Rajastan

03.07.2009 - 05.07.2009 47 °C
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Delhi - Jaisalmer, 20 hour train and a considerable increase in heat. Its fortress is one of the most endangered human monuments in the world, and it's beautiful. Building is forbidden inside it due to the poor sewage system that brings water to all the Indian families. There are no pipelines, all the water and dirt flow along the street sides and all animals drink from it. People in Jaisalmer are more chilled than in Delhi, so walking around the city is enjoyable.

After visiting the fortress we went for dinner to TRIO, one of the top restaurants in town. It has a top roof with great views to the fortress, and the food is very cheap (we spent around 400 rupies, which is not even 5 euros for both of us!). All of a sudden, an unexpected thunder storm came along and the whole city was flooded, so we had to walk to the hotel dipping our feet in the stream of rain and dirt, all in one...Indians kept telling us "it's ok my friend! walk walk!" but we couldn't stop thinking what was inside that water...anyway, after a deep disinfection, everything was fine.

The next day we went on a camel safari for 1 day and 1 night, so we got picked up at 07.30 am. After a short jeep drive, we met our camels and rode to a small village, where we had some chai (tea) and met many children that were amazed with our photo camera. The camel walk lasted for 2 hours until we stopped under a tree for lunch, where we waited for the day to cool off a bit. The temperature reached more than 45 degrees, so we were not up for a lot of "camelling" at 2 pm. The camel ride went on for another 2 hours until we camped, in the middle of nowhere, on some random dunes. The sunset was nice and we had a spicy indian dinner, cooked by one of the guides. Sleeping there was a challenge; there were no dangerous animals, but we got an invasion of beatles that wouldn't stop flying around all night long. We were up at 5, ready to see the sunrise, have breakfast, and get back to the hotel to have a shower and a soft drink - our water was boiling. The experience was great, but the heat was too much for us, so we would recommend doing this anytime except july, august, because you die! We managed to drink 50 litres of water in one day, just the two of us, so you can imagine how painful it was.