Jaisalmer, India
Day 3 - flight to Jaisalmer 27.12.19
It was an early morning wake up call at 6am so we could pack, have breakfast and check out before our drive to Delhi airport. We were told to leave very early to avoid the morning traffic rush as you never know whether you will be stuck in traffic for 30 minutes or 2 hours so it was better to spend more time at the airport. After a strange combo of items for breakfast including cereal, toast and chickpea curry paired with some green tea or orange juice we hit the road. Sure enough it was smooth sailing and we arrived basically an hour too early. Half the gang went for coffee and Lew and I went and found the most amazing book store! All English and a huge amount of personal development and business books. We brought a few for the journey including one about stocks and another about leadership. We later sent the others back to choose a few as well. Between us all we have quite a few goodies to get through. The flight with Spice Air who’s slogan was “Let’s get high together” took about 1.5 hours and took us to a much warmer and less pollution destination that is not as popular amongst tourists. Il just be thankful to get some sunshine and ditch the merinos!
Arriving into Jaisalmer it was actually an army base and we crossed over through the compound into the airport which is just a repurposed army hanger. Getting out of the plane the beautiful sunshine hit us as we squinted our way to the baggage pick up before walking straight outside to meet our new driver. The bags were tossed into the backseat of the car and we begged for the air con to be turn on high as we made our way into the city. A hilltop fort was what we first saw above the township and is what we have a tour around tomorrow. The driver struggled to get through the township to the WH Mandir Palace due to the small gates and terrible parking of motorbikes and rickshaws. Our accommodation for the next two nights is absolutely gorgeous and reminded us a bit like the Kasbars in Morocco. Young boys were instructed to carry our bags for us to the room which always makes us feel uncomfortable as 1) we have no small change to tip then 2) we were quite capable of doing it ourselves. But it’s the culture and I have to remind myself that this is their livelihood and their way or making money. If they don’t do this then what other options of employment is there? We were absolutely starving when we were guided around the hotel and told it’s history. Which I must admit none of us really cared about at this point in time as we had to eat and get ready within an hour before our camel ride.
Lunch
The hotel menu covered aaaaalll bases, and I’m meaning anything but pizza + burgers really. I ordered a veggie curry and a roti which they said can be dairy free, Averill had soup, Lewis had dahl (again!) and Alice, Eddie and Paul had cheese or chicken toasties. The food took absolutely forever and the boys in the restaurant took ages spending time straightening forks and putting our plates down. Iv never seen Paul so hangry before especially when it took them 5 minutes to unplate the food and we had 10 minutes before we needed to leave. My curry was hands down one of my favs so far though and I wolfed it down in 5 minutes so I had time to brush my teeth - of course..
Camel riding
It was an hour out to the desert and I spent my time listening to a podcast about food wastage. Something Lewis and I have become so much better at since we work out what recipes we are using every week before shopping. The driving was like nothing Iv ever seen in my life. People would lose their licenses for it in NZ. I’m talking about driving on the wrong side of the road, passing with oncoming traffic coming, swerving all over the place. You name it. Our driver thankfully was a lot less crazy. Camels appeared on the side of the road shortly after the dune safari men. It was very obvious this was a bit of a tourist operation as we were loaded up onto the camels. My one was 12 years old and called rock star, Eddie’s was 8 and called Bob Marley. We trotted along chatting away- this is my 4th camel rodeo so one could say that the amazement has worn off by this point! But I enjoyed talking to my guide who had been doing this since he was 10 yrs old. He’s married with two children - 3 and 1.5 years old. He can’t read or write but he can speak 5 languages. His wife is a housewife and this is his only form of income. He had a 14 year old boy with him also who is still at school but making some money during his school holidays. Once we arrived at the end point we had some photos taken and then was asked if we wanted to stay until sunset which was 1.5 hours away. The joint decision was no we still wanted some water, more money, fruit and SIM cards. Plus it would be nice to go out and explore the town before the sun goes down. It was a little awkward when we finished as I realised I had no money to give this man as a tip and shock his hand and said the men have the money. We all stood around awkwardly not knowing if we needed to tip or not as we had no guide with us. Our driver had to come over and explain that the overall ride was paid but we still need to tip. Very awkward that’s for sure! Lew and I desperately need to get some money out. But sitting in the van reflecting on this we need to stop being so annoyed by the constant tipping. I need to remember that this is their job, their only source of income, their only skill and in the scheme of how much I make per year, month or even day what I’m expected to share with these people for their services is absolutely minimum. But it’s just not in our culture so it’s hard to get your head around it!
We had some time in our room to relax post camel ride and I got some washing done. Dinner we decided was going to be at a placer called “1st Gate” which was rated highly in the Lonely Planet Guide. It did however mean we had to navigate the crowded streets if Jaisalmer for 11 minutes to get there but everyone was up for an adventure. We downloaded Mapsme which is an app I highly recommend if you need to navigate but dont have access to the internet or 3G. We headed out the gates into the hustle and bustle and for the first time really felt we were in India. We dodged cows, stray dogs, motorbikes, rubbish, locals and animal shit as we made our way towards food. I loved looking into each and every shop that were often so pokey but supplied vital items to the locals. Some shops were clean and well lit and others were literally a hole in the wall. I could watch them for hours but I have to admit they looked as though they didn’t do very much at all. As we came across the restaurant we were instantly impressed. Very clean and a menu that didn’t just have curry but also a mixture of Italian with a wood fire oven and all! But something of a more impressive note was the amazing view of the fort we had. It was all lit up and quite spectacular and we were able to have a view out over it. There was way to much on the menu that caught my eye but I decided on a pasta and a juice to mix it up a little - we did have three weeks of local Indian food and curry after all. We had some popadoms brought to us and we all dug in like mad people. It was freezing but thankful we were brought some blankets to snuggle up in and Lew did a great job of looking like a hobo as he hadn’t brought many warm clothes. We thought India would be much warmer than this. The food was absolutely delicious and we left feeling very satisfied. Lew and I successfully navigated our way back through the city without any maps coming across multiple collections of cows that had settled down outside a shop front for the night. We had a slight issue passing by them which made the walk home even more entertaining! We weren’t haggled at all by shop keepers which was surprisingly but very pleasant and we settled in for our first night in Mandir Palace.
Day four - Jaisalmer 28.12.19
I cant believe we have only been in India for 4 days! We woke up to a freezing cold morning in the beautiful city of Jaisalmer thankful we had a little fan heater to huddle in front of. Lew and I definitely didn’t pack enough warm items for this trip and singlets and skirts continue to be pushed aside in our bags and we reach for layers of merino instead. Breakfast is always an excitement as we never know what we are in for. We had everything from fried potatoes to curry to yoghurt this morning to choose from and the waiters were overly attentive. Never knowing when out next meal is we often stuff our faces and pocket some fruit for later.
Walking tour of Jaisalmer
Our guide for the day was a local man called Wichell who’s family had lived here since the 14th century within the fort. He studied economics at school but is now a freelance tour guide and also has his own radio show that many people in town and in the desert tune into. He has two children - a boy who is 17 and has left the town to study further and also a 10 year old daughter. The first stop of the day was a beautiful man made lake that used to be a huge part of this small town. But first he told us a bit about the town itself. There is 85,000 people living here in Jaisalmer and 65% are Hindu and 35% Muslim. It is easy to tell the difference between the two based on how they are dressed - Muslim women often have dark dresses with gold thread and Hindu women often have bright colourful saris for example. To me its was a little harder to tell the difference. Jaisalmer is not a popular tourist town as it 120km from the Pakistan border and is the last city before it. However the border is closed here and guarded and the only way to get across is by travelling North. Jaisalmer is called the Gold City because of the yellow sandstone its build with. It was a very rich city because it was located along the Silk Road as a lot of Camel caravans passed through the Thar desert and onto Jaisalmer. The temperatures soar up to 48-49 degree in the summertime hence why if your coming as a tourist the best time is during the winter. In the 19th Century the busyness Mumbai ports redirected a lot of the trading away from Jaisalmer which meant the popularity of this small city dropped. Not to mention there have been two nuclear tests in the Thar dessert in 1974 and 1998 where they actually built underground shafts nicknamed “The White House” and the “Taj Mahal” around the township of Pokhran.
Gadisar Lake
This was our first stop the day and is a man made reservoir which was once the only source of water in Jaisalmer. It was constructed by Raja Rawal Jaisal who was the first ruler of Jaisalmer in 1367 AD and it is surrounded by temples and small shrines. It was very picturesque especially at this time of the morning and the water was flat and not overly polluted - however there was mention that if one did swim in the lake they would go home and shower as well which clearly means its not quite as clean as it could be. Interesting enough this sparked a conversation of water with our guide who mentioned that the city has only one hour of water between 8-9am everyday for their household. They have tanks on their roof for the rest of the day but the water they use in comparison to what we would use is minimal. The desert has an entirely new problem however because the water is 70% salt water as many many years ago the deserts were of course seas. Wichelle had quite a strong opinion about women’s rights which I found incredibly fascinating. A lot of what he speaks about on his radio channel is about improving conditions for women. He spoke about how he goes out to the desert and traditionally women do everything - look after the children, cook, clean, tend to the animals, collect water etc etc and the men sit around and play cards. The desert life is hard for a women but fantastic for men. Young girls by law are supposed to be 18 before they are married and men 21. But in the desert they can be married off as young as 14. He spoke to the men about helping the women collect the water and they would be unhappy to contribute stating its his wife’s job. However when he talks about the daughters of these men and asks whether they would want their daughter doing all this work with no help. Indirectly it changes the way they think. He was also very pro education for women and there is no excuse even in the desert as the government pays for everything from pens to food for the child to attend. I could go on about this for hours but one thing in particular I appreciated was when he said one well educated boy can change a family, one well educated women can change a community. Because she teaches other women and girls in the community.
Inside the Fort of Jaisalmer
The fort is one of the most impressive things about this city. Perched up above the chaos below it with 350 houses and 3000 people living there it was built in 1152 AD with no cement or water unlike the new renovated sections of the fort. Untunately 28 of those houses are hotels which is an issue with tourists using a lot more water than usual which causes water damage to the sandstone . From the outside it was easy to see just how damp the bottom stones of the fort were. Lucky this is a unesco heritage site so there is plans in progress to move the hotels out. Only Hindu people live in the fort and the houses have been passed down from generation to generation with the oldest son inheriting both the house and the burden of looking after the parents. The entrance to the fort is made up of four gates and as we pushed our way through each one along side motorbikes honking and locals + tourists coming either way. Wiselle pointed out that as you enter one gate you cannot see the next until you are around a tight corner. This was such a clever design we havnt seen in Europe. He stated that there isnt much gap between the corner and where the gate would have been to prevent elephants being used to ram the gates. It did hold up for 9 months as the Mongols tried to attack it. It was pretty chaotic in the main square with people everywhere - one thing we are struggling with is the constant tooting and motorbikes pushing their way through with the 2 stroke fumes filling our noses. Lew threatened to push them off their bikes but I had to remind him that we are here for a couple of hours whereas this is these peoples everyday life. Standing in the main square Wiselle pointed out the Kings Palace, the Queens Palace (where its all enclosed and she can see out but no one can see in) and also the palace for the prince and princess. I cant even begin to explain the exterior of these buildings. Yellow sandstone that has been intricately carved into people, many balcony and pillars. If they make one error in these big sections they have to start again! Inside the walls of the fort it was surprisingly clean despite the stray dogs and village peoples cows walking around. They have a local street cleaner and Wishelle said they make three extra chapatis - one for the street cleaner to ensure that your front porch is clean, one for the stray dogs as keeping them well fed making them less agressive and also one for the cows as that is considered good luck.
Jain Temples
In the Fort there are 7 temples and as tourists we are able to visit two of them. The Hindu people believe in prophets if which there is 24 in total. We removed our shoes and climbed up the stone entrance to the first temple which is for the #8 prophet. You can tell which prophet as every one of them has a different symbol - this prophet has the symbol of a hand moon. The temple was built in 1508 AD and is full of sandstone carvings. It had an upstairs and downstairs that had these creepy buddha like prophets around it along with carvings of women. The second temple was for prophet #1 and was very different in design and built in 1536 AD. The 1st prophet has a symbol of a bull and this temple was a bit smaller but we were able to walk around a massive carving that went from floor to ceiling.
How the locals live
We meandered the streets for the rest of the tour admiring some of the local Haveli. Every single house has a balcony but they are also all different. These buildings are between 600-700 years old and have flat roofs as local people sleep outside during the summer before they got airconditioning - however there is no heating. Wichelle spoke about the poor and that the government provides a lot for those people who are considered below the poverty line (BPL). These people get free education, free medicine, free access to healthcare, free water, free ambulances from the desert into hospitals, and also a free school bus to get these desert children into school. His son wants to be a teacher and it sounds as though being a teacher is a very well paid job and is respected within the community. Based on all these services it does seem like there is good community support for people who need it. Although he also did mentioned earlier in the tour why he doesn’t work in economics and that when trying to get a good job you either have to have jack or cash - meaning you either need to know someone to get the job, or to pay to get the job over other people. We also past by the vegetable market where local women were sitting on the street with fresh colourful veggies laid out infront of them. Mountains of fresh turmeric and garlic, onions and potato which are absolutely staples in Indian cuisine that we have come to love. Wiselle pointed out that the women were wearing large amounts of white armbands which mean that they wish their husbands a long life. Because by law women are allowed to marry but by tradition they are not. They looked painful and annoying but they arnt ever taken off.
Nathmal Haveli
This late 19th century residence is quite something when you come across it on the street It was commissioned to serve as the residence of the Prime minister and two brothers were the architects. The brothers were of course trying to outdo each other in terms of grandeur so its easy to see the differences from each side of the numerous balcony, archways and statues. The outside was definitely more impressive than the inside.
KB Cooperative Art outlet
Onwards to visit a women’s cooperative in the heart of Jaisalmer. In the middle of the floor as we walked in a group of women were sitting on the floor doing needlework out of old saris and wedding dresses that have been damaged or ruined to turn them into other items. We were told that this Cooperative was formed to provide a source of income for women in the surrounding small outlying villages and that 80% of the profit goes back to these women. The textiles were embellished with nomadic, tribal and religious totems which had once been the clothing of women from all around. We were of course treated to a show of all sorts of duvets and blankets as well as scarves and dresses. More and more and more continued to be brought out and laid on the floor in front of us or waved through our hands so we could feel how soft this yaks wool truly was. They also explained the differences between what religion the women were and how the coloured, patterns or use of mirrors reflected this. We then had to go through every single item and say “bye bye” to the ones we weren’t interest in. Awkwardly this was every single item that had been shown to us so far! Averill took the bull by the horns and continued to say no as the rest of us squirmed in our seat being told always we arnt forced to buy anything but the pressure is a lot more than if we walked into a shop at home. I think one thing shop owners dont understand here is that we like to browse and by flashing colour and bling at us constantly turns us off rather than gains more interest. Alice & Averill did end up choosing a beautiful scarf each but nothing caught my attention this time around.
More Havellis (Haveli Patwa)
These giant yellow sandstone mansions known as Patwa Haveli was a gift of a wealthy local man to his 5 sons. They were built between 1800-1860 with 56 balconies between the houses and we were able to wander inside one. The outside of these buildings are very intricate but lacking in colour in comparison to a lot of the other countries we have visited such as Morocco or Egypt. Inside there were beautiful wall artwork but overall the place was in a state of disrepair. But perhaps if we ever visit again the beauty of them may be restored once again.
In conclusion of our walking tour we passed by a famous shop heaving with locals and Wichelle picked us up some Samoas. I was very excited as I fully loved the one we picked up in Delhi. These are my favourite whenever we ordered Indian takeaways at home. They were exceptionally tasty and a little more spicy than before. We wandered a few local streets where a cow was being fed by his owner and granddaughter. It was peaceful and we could see more of what real local life is like. Wiselle walked us back to our hotel and pointed out where we could get water, a haircut for Ed, sim cards and fresh fruit. None of our guides seem to want to do these activities with us even though they were extremely important for us.
We went back to the hotel to ditch our merinos. Lew washed his jeans and merino hoodie before we went out in search of our items. We picked up some apples and mandarins before parting ways. Alice, Lew and I went off in search for some SIM cards. I had been told by multiple friends that Jio was the way to go. The first stall said no because it’s locals only. The second one didn’t carry Jio and then the third one umm’ed and ahhh’ed with us until agreeing to give us these Jio SIM cards. It took 40 minutes and a lot of interchanging phones and selfies as clearly it could be locals only. We were strictly told to break the sim after one month had past. We paid 2000 rupees ($39 NZD/£18.80 GBP) for both sims and a plan where we had 1.5G per day. Perfect! Lew thought this was a heap but sharing that between 6 of us I think we will breeze through it.
Dinner
Now this was a bit interesting. We had an amazing meal the night before and the standards were set high. There was a resturant just outside of the gates to a place that our guide said the food was good. It had a wonderful view over Mandir Palace as the sun went down but for some reason we weren’t feeling it. We were trying to decide if we stayed or went and the waiter spitting on the floor behind us sent Paul who was on the fence up out of his seat and back outside. Decision made. We tried another one that was all veggie and up multiple flights of stairs but the ambiance wasn’t there. The mans face was crestfallen as the party of 6 ventured back down the steep stairs. We headed back to the safety of the previous nights location which was of course absolutely beautiful and immaculate. None of us regretted our decision as the popadom starters came out. We were given blankets and Alice & I ordered the “detox” juice. Yes yes how very Western of us. But the food was amazing and tomorrow we are driving for 5 hours which wont be pleasant if anyone is sick!
