We all decided to make the most of this Sunday off and planned another mini adventure to see more of this enchanting state of India which none of us had experienced before this Internship with Rangsutra. We decided to go to Jaisalmer the romantic sand dune filled destination of Rajasthan. Jaisalmer is around five hours away from Bikaner by driven transportation so it was a lot closer than our last trip to Udaiper. So we decided to hire a driver for the day rather than leaving Saturday evening. Unfortunately Kaveri had been feeling ill so couldn't make it with us :( she was greatly missed! The driver picked us up at 5 in the morning and we arrived in Jaisalmer at around ten after a lot of napping and orange munching. The views of the dessert we saw showed us again scenery of vast dessert, spikey greenery, straw roofed houses and the wildlife consisted of wandering cows (guys) the odd camel (unts) and some small antelope (haven't quite figured out this translation yet in Hindi).It still feels alien to imagine the heat and solitude experienced by some of the people that actually live in the midst of this environment outwith any village life, herding etc. To live in such proximity with the challenges of a dry landscape. As the sun came up and reached its high point we could really feel the heat, This time of year Jaisalmer can generally be 50 degrees so it was pretty toasty even just getting there!
With a sun splashed face and open eyes to a new experience we had our first stop!
Jaisalmer Fort which is one of the biggest forts in the world also known as the Golden Temple. at one point in history the entire population of Jaisalmer lived inside this fort. The detail and imagery of the Jain temples and laxminath temple inside was mind blowing. Gods, stories and Indian motifs covered the walls all carved into the stone. with the scorching heat outside inside these temples it was a cool serene getaway . you were transported into a world where people had used the finest natural resources to build these temples and used manpower and perserverance to create something with such detail and beauty that it would honor their gods and stand in time .Every face every flower was a detailed 3D image on the stone. the market within the temple was lovely, where we all bought interesting trousers and then we found a few rooftop cafes! one which we had breakfast on where we could see the view of the Thar desert at one side and the temples of Jaisalmer Fort and the other side. We sat there and had our breakfast in the morning sun whilst chatting to a a woman from Seattle we met who was travelling around after finishing a teaching placement in the south. Later on whilst we sat in another rooftop cafe where I (Sorcha) had the best mango juice i think i have ever tasted (sugar free :D) and Christina wrote postcards drawing her now famous to us elephants (Hati pictures) on them all. Katherine had her own musical adventure, she yelled up to us " Guys don't judge me but a mans selling a ukulele and i am going for it". When we next saw her she got herself a ' guitalele' from a travelling man called wolfgang who had apparently bought so many musical instruments in India had lost space for this one. So she found something to play her music which she had been missing. We then walked down the fort to our next destination.
Jaisalmer Havellis are some of the most famous in Rajasthan, Historically private mansions of rich Merchants. Carved in sandstone and filled with characteristic wall paintings inside. There was intrinsic detail surrounding the outside of these havellis. The one we visited was originally used for traders to deal in Opium so was filled with lots of cupbards with unobvious openings and little hideaways. The building indoors was also filled with bats! when you looked up at the ceilings of some of the darker rooms it was like seeing a blanket of them across the ceiling. They had taken over this empty historic building as their own. Again we were astonished by the absolute detail given to these buildings and the amazing view of the city on the top. It was clear in Jaisalmer anyone who wanted to be seen as someone surrounded themselves by hard craftsmanship and art which created their homes.
Sand Dunes, These sand dunes are immense the biggest in Rajasthan the location has become a big tourist destination. On arrival the car became swamped with camel-wallahs shouting prices at us and trying to win our custom. Pushy selling has become a big thing to obtain the passing tourists who are probably more likely to go for an arranged tour. We all got on a separate camel for a ride we were only charged 50 rupees which we thought was a great price until we then rode about half a Kilometer into the sand dunes and then stopped ! Once we were told the new price 'options' we choose an hour slightly less for 200 rupees. Being stuck on a camel isn't the best position to be in when trying to barter!
The ride on the camel was great, when they trot you have to hold on pretty tight , its amazing to be so high up on such an amazing animal seeing the surreal landscape of the sand dunes. We learnt our camels names one of which being called Micheal Jackson of the dessert..still not really sure why he wasn't so musical apart from a few grunts. Their feet are amazing! they are such strong fascinating animals they can take on any condition and guide people through the harshest landscapes.We stopped and walked up the sand dunes all you could feel was the heat on your feet and the slight breeze with mountains of sand ahead of you and the patterns on the sand dunes which are created by the wind. We walked around and ran down the sand dunes. In landscapes this Immense they always leave you with a feeling of calm and awe of the intensity nature. We hopped back on our camels and rode back.
Cloudy Sunset :)
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