The Golden City

Another bus trip. But this one was particularly hellish. Again, it was meant to be 5 hours and yes, it took about 8 hours. And unfortunately I needed to pee so bad. We stopped once.

I was relieved until I was told that the toilet was a "natural one" - i.e find a bush and squat. It would have been alright if I had had some company or someone to be the look out. But I was alone on this ride and when I got to the "natural toilet" - an area designated for peeing - there were no more than two scraggly scrubs. Furthermore, the "natural toilet" was adjacent to a pad of, let's just call it shit, where pigs were merrily noshing. It was rather disgusting, and I was not really comfortable with flashing my white ass to the group of male onlookers. No siree.

So I held it in.

This would have been OK had the road not been a typical bumpy one, and had the bus timings been accurate. I passed out from the pain, and was occasionally awoken by mean odours coming from the villagers who had piled onto the bus. They pile on with about 10 bags each - I am not joking. A question that I will leave India with - "Why do most Indians seem to have so much baggage? What are they carrying?"

Anyway. I got there in the end and I was OK. I checked into the cleanest hotel in India - the Swastika, just outside the fort of Jaisalmer. It was so nice to have somewhere to unpack!

Jaisalmer is famous for it's medieval mud fortress and walled township. It is magnificent and it gives you the sense that you have stepped back in time. The fort is the main attraction of this town. Entering the gate is really an experience. The walls are large and overpowering. To get to the main entrance one zigzags through a series of corridors. This was to prevent large elephants gaining steam to break down any doors. And then you are inside. Wow. Parts of the fort give you the feeling that nothing has changed, that life continues just the way it would have all those thousands of years ago. There are cows walking around through the narrow passages - of course you are constantly avoiding their holy cow poop, there are people gathered on the lanes chatting, washing, cleaning children. In the center of the maze of corridors are some beautiful Jain temples. Intricately carved out of marble, these are a main place of worship within the fort walls. You can spend hours just wondering around getting lost in this magical place.

After my little bit of exploration of the fort I decided to take a walk through the new town. This too has a wonderful atmosphere to it. It bustles away as most Indian towns do with people cooking on the street, and selling their wares.

I was really pleased that I came to Jaisalmer. Another place I definitely want to go back to.