The western region of Rajasthan is very dry and is referred to as Marwar, meaning land of death. I'm in the Thar Desert, which is the most densely populated desert in the world. The area was previously forest land populated with many animals, but it is becoming progressively drier. 300 million year old dinosaur fossils have been found in this area.
I had an enjoyable breakfast with the Australians, who told me about their trip to Afghanistan, Pakistan and Tehran in the 1970s. They described it as "extraordinary."
After breakfast I toured Junagarh Fort.
Raja Rai Singh constructed the fort in the 1590s. It was another impressive fort and is unique in that it has never been conquered, despite its location on flat terrain.
This was the king's bedroom. Note the small size of the bed. Like everything here, there is a story behind it. A king was attacked and killed in his bed, which was very large and heavy. The attacker used the king's own turban to tie him to the bed before he killed him. Because the bed was so large, the king could not stand up when he was tied to the bed. They constructed a small bed for the next king, so if attacked while tied to the bed, the king could still stand up and defend himself.
The Queen's quarters.
Above is a picture of a room built to imitate the feeling of sitting in a rain storm. The red swirls are lightening bolts and the darker area at the bottom is the rain teeming up from the ground.
The whole room, including the ceiling, was covered with this pattern.
Men would entertain the king and demonstrate their spirituality by entering into a trance-like state and then walking on sharp objects.
These are the saw-like objects the entertainers would walk across.
They also walked across boards of nails.
The fort also houses an impressive collection of weapons. Perusing their weapons and armor collection, it is easy to see why they were never conquered.
Guns with ivory inlaid handles.
Although they had guns, they believed that killing their enemies face to face brought more honor. They typically used daggers during hand to hand combat.
I suppose if a dagger didn't get the job done, an axe did.
Shields covered with rhinoceros skin provided the best protection.
Helmets.
A more protective helmet covered with rhinoceros skin.
An impressive sandstone room covered with intricate carvings housed the king's throne. Sorry, the pictures are a little dark.
The king's throne.
Brightly colored armor worn by the king made him easy to identify during battles. It was more honorable to wear brightly colored armor.
A specially design spoon used by the king. It was designed to prevent food from getting on his mustache when he ate.
Gardens in the courtyard.
They also had a display of palanquin used to transport the king.
Palanquins are considered one of the three great insignia of royalty.
A carriage drawn by 6 horses was used for special occasions, such as coronations or weddings.
We had a quick lunch, then set out for Jaisalmer.
I asked for "spicy." I got nervous when I saw the hot peppers floating in the dal, but it was delicious.
The terrain from Bikaner to Jaisalmer was mostly dry brush.
We passed a few fields growing poppy plants. The plants will be used to make morphine or sold for their seeds. I'm told only the government can legally grow poppy plants.
We also passed a number of windmills maintained by the government. The government began installing them about 8 years ago.
View from the side window while driving. During our journey, we passed two dead cows laying on the side of the road. Running into a cow is an expensive and unlucky event for the driver.
Just another typical side street.
We arrived in Jaisalmer around 6 p.m. and stopped at the home of a silver smith who lives just outside the city's fort. He gets most of his silver from people in the small villages who sell their old silver jewelry to him because they need money. He also gets a lot from Pakistan. He melts most of the old jewelry and reworks it.
After the jewelry is melted and the silver is formed into a solid block, he uses this machine to make strands of silver. The strands are then formed into different pieces of jewelry.
He had quiet the collection. Above is the pile of rings he dumped out for me to inspect.
Lalit has been trying to convince me that Indian aromatic message is the best in the world and I can't leave India without trying it. I finally acquiesced and agreed to try it. "Dr." Anaya is supposed to give the best massage in town. We pulled up to the home of Dr. Anaya around 7:30.
She lives just around the corner from my hotel in an average city home. She sold me on a kerala ayurvedic massage with sirodhara, her specialty.
It was a unique experience. They told me to walk past her kitchen and into the small room in the back of her house. Two women entered the room and told me to take off my clothes and lay face up on the massage table. I thought about running for the hills, but I decided to stay and comply. One woman put newspaper under my head and placed protective cotton over my eyes, then dripped warm oil from a special pot over my face and head. She then massaged the oil into my face and hair and occasionally would drip more oil from the pot onto my head. While she was doing this, the other woman used more oil to give me a FULL body massage. By the time the massage was over, I looked like a turkey that had been aggressively basted for an hour. I was a slippery mess and still had to eat dinner before I went to my hotel room. Thankfully, I had a bandana in my bag to cover my head. She told me to keep the oil on overnight and shower in the morning. The oil was a mix of coconut oil and a "medicinal oil." I felt pretty good after the message, so I am hoping they didn't use parts of the poppy plants I saw growing along the roadside as part of the "medicinal oil."
For dinner, I had a dish similar to chicken tikka. I suppose I'll keep the oil on my hair overnight, I just hope the oil doesn't attract the bugs crawling in my room.
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Location:Bikaner, India
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