Jaisalmer

We get onto the train to do a 14 hour trip from Bikaner to Jaisalmer and are amazed that there is hardly anyone else in our carriage at all!! We should have got a good few hours sleep but because we were heading out into the desert even more loads of sand was finding its way into the carriage and straight onto us and its very true about deserts at night too, they are every cold!!

Getting off the train were hounded by rickshaw drivers but we had organised a pick up from our hostel before. So we got into our room which was inside the old fort of Jaisalmer and then started to read the lonely planet AKA our Bible!. But we were really sad because had we read the book before we wouldn't have stayed within the fort itself because the Fort is actually a much endangered area and at risk of collapse. Due to the increase in numbers of tourists staying in the fort the water system with its ancient pipe network is really struggling under the pressure. Some of the turrets have already collapsed under the strain! But it was only for 1 night, the other 2 nights we would be spending under the stars in the desert!

That day we spend sight seeing, loads of cobbled winding streets with loads of little stalls selling everything you can think of. We got sucked into a clothes shop and nearly ended up buying some really gorgeous silk dresses but I couldn't justify spending 3 nights accommodation on 2 dresses! But they were beautiful though!!

The fort itself is huge with a massive wall all the way around with impressive turrets all the way along. Inside the Old Wall its like a different town, no cars can fit up the steep and bendy alleys which is nice, but the rickshaws still manage to squeeze through though!

We had amazing views from one the roof top restaurants that night of the front of the Fort. It was all lit up and looked huge. We were sat on little cushions with a low table eating our dinner by candle light on the roof top, it was pretty romantic!

The camel safari the next day was fab. Darren's camel was Kalloo and mine was Kalia, mine was so skittish though, he was so sensitive at a slightest touch I could hardly alter my position at all when I was on him! Going from sitting to standing whilst in the saddle was hilarious! You get flung forward as the back legs start to stand, then shoved back when his front legs stand up, like a slow mini roller coaster! But it felt like we were missing the seat belts!!!

The weather was horrid on the first day and we got caught up in a massive sand storm! Sand got everywhere possible!! We went to a few little villages which were very basic as you can imagine. Children were there straight away when we parked the camels, asking for rupees and school pens! We needed to be at the camp well before sunset so that they would have time to make the dinner over a desert fire. It was amazing to watch our 2 guides make everything from scratch with the limited equipment available. And we got to know the signs of when dinner was nearly ready....they made chipattis which are like thin round naan breads and to get them thin they had to slap them from hand to hand quite a few times which we could here from where ever we were exploring around the camp area. So the sun set at about 545pm we were just about eating by then. Then over the fire we would have a sing song. The couple that came with us (Levi and Kristina from the States) brought their guitar and drum!!

At about 10 we would go to bed, but it was freezing! We had every item of clothing that we had with us on!! but the problem was the wind. We didnt get much sleep that night because we were on animal watch!! I think we woke up about 8 times at least with noises coming from wild dogs and cows sniffing around the camp, mind you I think they got more of a fright when we jumped up out of the darkness, flicked the torch on and starting yelling at them!! We also made a mental note not to camp near the only camel which was tied up, this one in particular had a bell round his neck and it was ringing ALL night!

The next day the weather was so much better, not a cloud in the sky. However, boy did we know that we had been on the camel the previous day!! Bottoms were so very sore!! After the first break we were walking like John Wayne we were so sore!! So then the fleece went on the saddle to pad me out a bit! But our guide did say that on the 3rd day it would be a lot better, and Lord we hoped so!! There were loads of comments made throughout the day about being in exactly the right place for bandits to come and attack us, and the vultures circling us added to the scene!

We camped that night in the big sand dunes and the pics have come out really well, the sky was so blue before sunset and that was impressive as well!! Darren did the leaping off the ridge and tumbling down the sand dune, some of the photos are quite good. That night the stars were amazing, but that also meant that it was also very cold with no cloud cover!!! Again every item of clothing went on despite the bedding!!

Our last day was indeed the most comfortable!! Enjoyed the scenery and relaxed a little bit more. But before long we were back at the Jeep ready to take us back to Jaisalmer to catch our 14 hour bus to Udiapur.

So with literally minutes to spare we board the bus, settle into our sleeper carriage and away we go. We did stop for something to eat which was so funny. Darren nipped off the bus to get a snack, he came back with these samosa type things but with a stalk coming out of them. Didn't think anything of it but wondered why the devil it was so hold until I realised that the stalk belonged to a whole green chillie!!! We were on fire, the 2 of us plus a guy called Dave who we met on the bus who also tried it!!!! We bet that the men who sold us them were wetting themselves laughing at our culinary expense!!

Anyway onto Udiapur.....