This morning I walked around Jaisalmer, a living fort founded in 1156. Three thousand people still live within the fort's walls. The area is overcrowded with hotels and homes and lacks proper drainage. The fort is crumbling and will do so if they don't improve the drainage system.
I toured the Fort Palace within the city's walls and the Jain temples. Above is a view of the fort.
The palace was impressive, but I think I have written enough about the palaces in Rajasthan. I will say one tidbit. There was, on three occasions, mass suicides in Jaisalmer. If the city was under siege and they knew they would be overtaken, they would kill themselves rather than surrender. The women would put on their nicest clothes and most expensive jewelry. They would have a celebration, then the women would walk into a bonfire. The next morning, the men would wear their most impressive armor and battle dress, then run out of the fort to kill as many enemies as they could before they were killed.
View of Jaisalmer from atop the fort.
Jaisalmer is about 60 miles from Pakistan. The windmills, seen in the distance, are used to power the lights along the border fence.
Jain temples. Only about 1 percent of people in India follow Jain, but they have some of the most impressive and ornate temples in India. They revere all forms of life and believe even plants and insects have souls. Jains believe in reincarnation and reaching moksha, similar to nirvana. They believe you can reach this stage by respecting all life forms, performing meditation, fasting, visiting holy sites, and living a life of asceticism.
Dragons line the doorways to the temple.
Every inch of the temple has intricate carvings. This is one of the ceilings inside a temple. There are 6 Jain temples inside the fort.
The streets inside the city are very narrow. Above is the typical width of the streets. Motorbikes can barely navigate through the narrow passages.
Around lunchtime we drove an hour outside the city to Desert National Park.
I had a quick lunch in the desert--more daal and roti with some mixed vegetables.
From there, I rode a camel through the desert to watch the sunset from the dunes.
This is Lalu, my camel for the afternoon. He is a 7-year-old male. Lalu means loud, but my camel driver, Mahend, told me he isn't loud but he does get cranky around females.
Mahend is from a small agricultural village. He said most people don't have a lot of money, but they have enough to eat. He referred to himself as a "wild man." He was able to describe the effects of opium pretty well. He can not read or write, but he speaks English very well.
A camel urinating. I couldn't resist putting this picture in the blog.
The average lifespan of a camel is about 30 years. It costs about $1,000 to buy a good camel. They are mostly used for transporting goods or people around town or through the desert. They can carry about 200 kg. When the border between Pakistan and India was open, the camels were used to smuggle opium from India to Pakistan. They were also used to smuggle gold and silver from Pakistan to India.
They are flexible giants.
I met up with Martina from the Czech Republic. She has been traveling around the world for almost a year. Sapa, Vietnam was her favorite place to travel. She works in graphic design and made a great desert buddy. It sounds like she mastered the art of riding a motorbike around Vietnam. She bought one in Ho Chi Minh City, drove it through the hillside of Vietnam, up to Hanoi, then through Cambodia. She sold it when she got to the Thailand border because they have strict laws about bringing motorbikes into the country. She is heading home in December to earn some more travel money.
Martina showed me video of her trip to a border town between Pakistan and India. At sunset, troops on both sides of the border march in ornate uniforms (the hats have strange looking feathers on them) while citizens in bleachers chant and cheer along the troops. It was not how I expected the border to look. It was more entertainment than a show of military force.
We passed a lot of sheep on our walk through the desert. They were very noisy. A sheep costs about $100.
We took frequent breaks. In the cooler months, Lalu can go about seven days without drinking. In the summer, about three days but she prefers to drink everyday. She eats mostly beans and leaves. Yup, she is gassy, but who can blame her with a diet like that.
Lalu has some pretty big teeth (and a fair amount of plaque). Generally, camels are friendly but we still had to be careful around them because they can bite.
Mahend told us camels have good memories. He said camels are known to kill owners who mistreat them. If the owner hits them for no reason, they will wait until they are alone with the owner in a flat area, then roll on the owner and bite him until he dies. After hearing that story, we preferred to stay on the hilly dunes.
We found a nice spot on the dunes to watch the sunset.
Villagers came to dance and play the flute (the wooden instrument has another name, but I can't remember it). It was a beautiful sounding instrument.
It was another magical sunset.
Martina and I decided that these were the best warm beers we ever had.
Lalu preferred relaxing, but we did race another camel. Racing a camel is different than a horse--you try to stay still and not bounce too much. I don't think I mastered the art, but we seemed to race well together.
I said bye to Lalu and Mahend and Martina and I headed to a desert camp for some dinner, dancing and music.
I was lured onto the dance floor for some Indian dance.
I preferred watching the flame swallower.
We thought he was drinking beer until he did this. It turned out to be gasoline.
Yogurt curry, desert beans, dal, rice and roti. It wasn't bad for a desert meal.
Martina, two girls from Denmark and I decided to sleep in the desert under the stars. After dinner, we hopped in a camel drawn wagon, and rode back into the dunes. We slept on small cots with blankets on top of us. The sky was incredible--the milky way galaxy was clearly visible. I also saw four shooting stars.
We saw large beetles and animal footprints in the sand, so we hoped to wake up in one piece. The sand was so fine it felt like flour.
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Location:Desert National Park, India
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