Jaisalmer-Jaipur, Rajasthan, India: 14June07

The pink city is not pink

We returned to Jaisalmer town central in the afternoon and the hot weather and the camel ride had made us really tired.
The train to Jaipur was in the afternoon. When th train passed by or crossing the desert, we have to cose the window or else the sand would fly into the cabin. So the whole compartment was like a sauna. We were perspiring like hell.
At night, i couldn't really sleep as it was so hot that i couldn't stop sweating! We shared the 8 persons cabin with two families. There were 3 children crying and crying. We couldn't lie down to sleep as well and we got middle and lower berth and it was too early to sleep (but we just got really tired) so everyone was sitting at our berth. In the end, we changed berth with the family and finally we could lie down. By this time, we have started to feel the muscle pains from the camel ride.



Jaipur is Rajasthan's pink city, the capital. However it doesn't look pink to me at all. Indeed, this is the most polluted and most crowded place i have ever been in Rajasthan. (i purposedly took this photo in black and white. Anyway, the city is not pink! It look red, so color doesn't matter!)



'Street scene'. People cooking milk to make sweet by the street, just outside of the sweet shop. Indian like ridiculously sweet Indian candy, a kind of sweet made from milk and a lot of sugar! Some taste ok but most taste weirb to me (and most of the non-Indian).

Jaisalmer, Rajasthan, India: 13June07

First Time Desert, the Golden City

This should be a romantic and sentimental journey. My first time to stand at the sand dune, camping out at night, huddling around a tiny fire beneath the shed of stars and listening to the camel drivers' songs.
The dessert is very winding and the sands flying every where in the wind. The people here look older than their actual age, due to the harsh living environment.
Riding a camel is not as romantic or as easy as i thought. The inner thigh and butt got really pain from the ride. i am glad that Mathieu was with me, or else, i won't think i would come to this camel safari and stay at desert with 2 camel drivers. :)
Jaiselmer is Golden City, most structures here are built from the yellow sandstone. However due to over development and without serious conservation efforts, this Golden city is now one of the world's most endangered monuments. Unlike the well preserved Jophur Fort, Jasalmer Fort look like a mess with contructions all around both inside and outside of the Fort.
Like any other Indian city, animals are every where in the town but besides from cow, they are camels and donkeys here. Indian is really incredible. They can live in peace with animals, sharing their living quarter with the animals. Back home, living with animals is unhygiene. In Malaysia, the government cull dogs while in Singapore, the government cull cats and birds. i wonder, are development and 'civilisation' making us lost something valueable in our human nature?



Behind is the wind turbines that kind of thing to generate electricity.



The sunset at the desert. It is impossible to sleep at the sand dune as the wind was so strong that we got sand all over our body, We slept on this platform in the desert and when we woke up in the morning, we was covered with a layer of sand.



The sun rise at the desert.



One of the camel drivers. He was preparing our food: dal (lentils) fried, rice and chapati.



On the camel.



Hey hey... The sand dune.



One of the havelis, buidling built by wealthy merchant. The sand stone building has incerdibly fine scupltures.



The fort. About 25% of the old city's population rsides within the fort walls.



The town itself is like a mirage in the middle of a barren desertscape.



The local main market area.

Jodhpur-Jaisalmer, Rajasthan, India: 12June07

The Majestic Fort

We went to the well maintained and well explained Majestic Fort or Meherangarh. I always prefer to explore a place at my own pace by walk. The audio tour allowed us to wander around the fort at our leisure and taking a fix of information when we feel like to.

The disaster (there is at least one for everyday) of the day was we spent 2 hours at the train station reservation office (after walked under the scorching sun for 30 minutes with our full backpack), trying to sort out our train tickets. The queue wasn't long, but the people always cut queue and bought another 4 or 5 more tickets for others who aren't in the queue. Most Indian don't have the habit to queue up.

When we finally done with the logistic, we was cramped into the hot and the usual ridiculously crowded "express" bus to Jaisalmer. Indian can easily drives you crazy with their way of doing things. Most of the time, traveling with a partner really make the whole situation to be different. One is more acceptable to the situation and more capable to treat things like jokes.

In time, i feel a bit sorry for Math. He has to handle the bargaining with rickshaw driver himself. i always tend to be a parasite when i have someone i can depend on. I don't bargain that much for almost everything as having a partner to travel with has already kept my cost down. However Math has a tighter budget than me. He probably can do it in a cheaper way without me, such as living in an Indian dorm and eat at the real dirt cheap Indian eatery. i won't mind to pay some extra to the Indian, well, i can treat it as help boosting the country's economy. I won't mind to pay the price different of what Math wanted to pay and what we were quoted too. But i know, this suggestion would never work as it probably will hurt a man's pride. So i have never suggested this to him before (i hope he never read my blog to learn about this too). :)



This numerous tragic tiny hand prints are near to the Lohapol, the Iron Gate. They are the sati marks of Maharaja Man Singh's widows, who threw themselves upon his funeral pyre.
It is always not easy to be an Indian woman in India, even for now.



The view from the 124m-high hill of Mahenrangarh.



One of the splendid rooms in the fort.



Near to the main entrance of Mahenrangarh, a child was dancing while the musician was playing the traditional musical instrument.