March 10, 2009 - Jaisalmer, Rajasthan

Jaisalmer – March 10, 2009

Packing my bags and settling the bills at the reception, I quickly jutted out of the hotel and crossed over to Jaipur railway station. It had transformed itself in the night from a simple building to a bright purple coloured monsterous ugly building which some architect would have taken a fancy to at the time of building the station. I caught the 23:45 train to Jaisalmer without difficulty and quickly settled into the top berth of the bogie. Since I had booked all my tickets in advance over the internet, I had made sure that I my berth was always on top. My legs which stuck out onto the passage way would hit anyone and people wouldn’t try to squeeze in and try to sit as they do on the lower berths.

I woke up to the early morning cries of the chai vendors and was treated to a water hot liquid which I gulped down without thinking twice. General chit chat with my fellow passengers who soon started getting off as their stations neared. As the train moved deeper into the desert, fine sand started seeping in through the nooks of the windows and soon I found myself and everything covered with a very fine layer of sand dust.
Everyone has gone from my compartment, the hour hand slowly moved to 10:00 and I was lying down stretched out on the lower berth when a gentle tap on my shoulder found me looking up at a teenager who got chatting. He suggested I go to this hotel called Heena which was supposed to be good and that his cousin ran. Taking his advice I decided to do the same and he offered t ocall his cousin and get him to pick me up at the railway station itself. I met up with this so called cousin who had his scorpio waiting outside and quickly filled it up with some more tourists who had come to Jaisalmer. Three japanese and a dutch later, we were roaring and honking our way into the narrow market streets to come to this normal 2 story house which had been converted into Hotel Heena. I got a room with hot water for Rs.150 and since I had only that day at Jaisalmer, I picked up my camera and headed out to the intricately designed haveli’s which I had read and heard about so much.

As I walked through the gullies, I passed such beautiful and delicate designs carved on normal houses. Each had a story and was better than the next one. The gullies were littered with cows and cowdung and I surprised a bunch of kids who thought I was a ‘phoriner’ when I spoke to them in Hindi (of course the reaction I got was an awe and a whisper of ‘Aww hindi bhi aati hai’ meaning ‘Aww he knows Hindi also!’). People still live in the haveli’s and they function as normal houses. You pay an entrance fee between Rs 20 and Rs. 100 depending on the havelis (namely Salem Singh ki Haveli, Patwon ki Haveli and Nathmal ki Haveli) you enter and are met with these intricately carved floral and mesh designs! They are all so beautiful and exquisite that you cant stop but wonder at the expertise of the builders who created them. The 3 famous havelis are walking distance of each other so you don’t have to take a rickshaw (when I went the weather was pleasant and I have a high tolerance to heat). I returned to my room where the owner told me about this package of sightseeing, a camel ride and a traditional dance performance follwed by Rajasthani food which he said would come up to Rs. 3000! We finally bargained it down to Rs. 1500 and I was feeling good about the whole thing that I gave up entering and exploring the fort which I just went close to for some snaps. The brief 5 minute venture disappointed me nevertheless because I saw rows of shops and huts built right inside the fort, with banners and advertisements hammered into the walls of the fort itself. I cant help but feel a sense of sadness at the state of the Jaisalmer fort when I think of it. While getting back to the hotel, I popped into some local shops to buy some trinkets for home and family.

We hoped into the Scorpio (4 wheel drive SUV for those who might be wondering) and headed off on the so called 40km drive into the desert. We passed by some cenotaphs of kings and stopped for a brief period to visit a Jain Temple (which I must say was very intricate and beautiful – the whole temple was built of sandstone). We played a small game of carrom with some locals who were playing outside the temple and headed to ‘Sam sand dunes’ for the camel ride. My fellow companions who were sitting beside me were a young couple who were seeing a desert for the first time and excited about the camel ride.

After about an hour on the road, we suddenly came upon dozens and dozens of camels lined up with the owners calling out to stop for a camel safari. We on for about a kilometre and stopped at a shack where the owner quickly arranged for a pair of camels and a spritely boy who told me his name was Azad but introduced himself as Shah Rukh Khan to foreign tourists. The camel I was on was called Micheal Don (combination of Micheal Jackson and Don (famous Hindi movie with Amithab Bachan in the original and SRK in the remake)) while the other one on which the couple sat was called Micheal Jackson itself. We went on a half hour ride and if you havent sat on a camel before, please believe me when I say it is an uncomfortable experience for those who are not into experiencing the new. Of course, being quite the contrary, I asked Azad whether we could go for a run (paid him Rs 50 for it later) and we had a whale of a time, bouncing and almost falling while Micheal Don raced through the sand dunes kicking up sand as he rushed through. I am still not sure how I hung on, all I remember is being thrown front and back and the hot desert wind against my face with the sound of Micheal Don breathing heavily through the whole exercise! While walking through the desert sands, the locals come with their children dressed and made up and perform a small traditional dance which after they haggle when you give them a small note. I was walking along the dunes when I stop in my tracks and after a moment of disbelief, I crack up laughing and slip and side towards what I see at a little distance. There in the middle of a desert lies a ceramic commode – how the hell did that get there!!!

I think the locals believe everyone wants to be in the desert to see the sunrise or the sunset so we had no option but to sit there on the dunes and wait for the couples to enjoy their ‘romantic’ sunset but it really didn’t give any impression of that sort – just another gimmick to heighten the romance of the desert sands I guess. After sun down, it started getting a little cold and we headed of to some sort of resort where we were to spend our evening and have dinner.

The entertainment for the night was folk songs and folk dances in bright traditional dresses. The whole thing was too made up to enjoy and I could see that the performers themselves were bored stiff with the routine. The only ones who enjoyed the music was I think the small kids who took to dancing about and running around the common amphi theatre type area. The dinner was a complete disappointment and what made it worse was the mad rush to get to it. There was a whole set of tourists who had arrived earlier in one big bus and they suddenly took it on themselves to make sure that everyone in their group was fed before anyone else was allowed closed to the buffet. The food was vegetarian and half cooked and I just nibbled some of it before stashing away the plate. I kind of got the feeling that this was one big con not worth even Rs 1000. Later on when I enquired and read up on Heena hotel, I got to know that there were quite a few other travellers who had been conned the same way for a lot more money. The owners of Heena invite you in with cheap stay options and sell you a camel ride for Rs. 3000!

It was late and I was tired and sleepy, we got back to the room and I showered quickly and literally ran out of the hotel since my train was scheduled to leave in 20 minutes. The hotel owner sent one of his friends on a two wheeler to drop me off and I think that was some saving grace because I got my train to Jodhpur just in time!