Jaisalmer: 3 December – 12
December
I decided to treat myself, and
not endure the 2-day train trip that I would have had to have taken to get from the south
of India, up north to Rajasthan. It was
very pleasant to say the least to arrive in the small, non-descript airport of
Jaisalmer in about 2 hours, with a car waiting to pick me up.
The car waiting for me was from
my latest volunteering endevour. This time in a
hostel, to teach English to its staff. As
my new friend, Saleem, drove recklessly down the empty, sandy streets from the airport, the small
town of Jaisalmer came into view. For
such a famous city, it was far smaller than I had imagined, and really had the
look and feel of a town on the outskirts of the vast Thar desert.
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| Jaisalmer, from a distance, giving off a real city on the outskirts of the desert. |
Arriving at the hostel, I was
introduced to the owner, Abu, who can only be best described as one hell of a
character. It is difficult to tell if he is naturally eccentric, he is putting on an act, or is just a little bit nuts.
Perhaps, it is is a little of all three, but
it does combine to form an entertaining specimen.
As an example, my first night was
an impromptu trip in the jeep (the same one that had picked me up from the
airport) with two other guests, because Abu suddenly wanted to show us the sunset and
his house. We saw the sunset over some
windmills, across from a cemetery, went past a market (the only building you could see in the area) to buy some snacks; and
spent the evening around a bonfire outside his home, in the middle of the
dessert, eating fire-roasted potatoes and crisps for dinner. Oh, and playing I spy with my little eye 😊.
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| Sunset across from some windmills (apparently used to power the electric fence on the border). Across from the Bada Bagh cemetary, Jaisalmer |
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| Spontaneous bonfire out in the desert. My first night in Jaisalmer |
The guests are fond of Abu’s
jokes and strange turns of phrases. He
calls all foreigners “white chipathi” people (even the darker ones), and
answers simple questions by going on long, winding rants of unconnected
sentences and random phrases.
“I am interested in the the dessert tour. How is the dessert safari
Abu?”
“The dessert is full of
sand. Sand is brown. Brown is like a camel. Camels do not drink too much water. Water is life. Life is love.
Love is happiness. Happiness is
the sky. The sky has birds. Birds sing.
Singing is good. Food is
good. You like food? You like me?
I like you. Everything is mama
mia”
You think I am joking, but
really.
So, as an entertainer to guests,
he is great. No wonder his hostel is
highly rated and new guests ask for him by name, just to experience the mystery
and see if the stories of the man are true (and most are). However, as a boss, these traits quickly
become less endearing.
His organisational skills are as
fumbled and muddied as his speeches and this makes running the hostel quite a
nightmare. It further does not help that two of his brothers are (kind of) managers, and all three simultaneously give different directions, and then later all do absolutely nothing all at the same time.
I can tell you that I did not
teach English at all while I was there. I
was asked to help out checking in guests, because the staff could not speak
English (so I think some of the staffs’ English, during the time I was there, may have gotten worse 😊);
help with guest relations and queries and also with organising rooms and making
sure everyone knew who was booked in, what beds were occupied etc.
However, with each of the brothers handling different bookings, in their own way, and with no centralised booking system (we had one, but no one used it), this was really all done on the fly.
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| Not teaching English. Guest relations officer (receptionist). Volunteering in Jaisalmer |
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| Barely coping. Sometimes life is not mama mia |
Apart from the chaos at work, the
city and my time in Jaisalmer was great.
We had an amazing rooftop, so sunrises and sunsets over the desert was
something so see. I had another
volunteer who was doing photography and helping bring guests into the hostel
(as an Israeli, he was on all the social media groups of the others, and all it
takes for them to come in droves, is a recommendation from one of their own that a place is
good). We became good friends, and bad work
is not so bad, when you have someone to bitch about it with.
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| Sunrises from my hostel, Jaisalmer |
The Golden fort, a large walled
city – that people still live in today, and is alive with business – is the
centre of the city. And a tour around
it, and the area, the temples and markets gives a good understanding of what
life was like back then, and how it runs today.
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| The Golden Fort at night, Jaisalmer |
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| Jaisalmer from the Golden Fort |
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| Getting some badly needed repairs at a local tailor, Jaisalmer market |
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| Golden fort Palace |
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| Old havelis (mansions) in Jaisalmer |
It was so good being back up
north again, because the curries are no doubt so much better up north than in
the south. Although in Rajasthan, they
tend to make them a little spicier.
The highlight of a trip to
Jaisalmer though is a trip to the Thar desert.
I went as my volunteering came to a close (and the charm of Abu, and the
chaos at the hostel, was wearing my patience thin). I was in the jeep with about 10 Israelis, a
German, Spaniard (I think),
and a Taiwanese guy.
We arrived in the
desert to camels waiting to take us to camp.
I have ridden a camel before. It was
a long time ago, but all I can remember was that it was no fun, not
comfortable, and hurt. Everyone was
getting on the camels, and it was about an hour’s ride to where we were going,
so I had little choice (well I had a choice, and I chose poorly). As I got on, my memories were confirmed, and I spent the rest of the hour holding on, regretting my decision, and trying to
think about how bruised my ass would be after.
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| Outwardly I look composed, inside I was unhappy at succumbing to peer pressure, and my ass way paying the price. Thar desert safari, Jaisalmer |
We arrived in the desert and were
surrounded by dunes. Unfortunately,
clouds covered the sky, so we did not have a good view of sunset, but it was
still an amazing experience being the only group of people or buildings (one building - and more a hut) you
could see. After some yoga on the
sand dunes, we settled down for the evening.
The desert people cooked us dinner and offered us a cold beer.
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| Pretty much all there was in the desert |
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| And our "camp" |
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| Our desert minders. The camel keepers. The cooks. Our hosts (and our shelter in the background) |
The plan was to sleep under the
stars, but as only I could pick the only night it rained in the damn desert, we
all huddled into a hovel that was next to us (and likely built for the one night
in the year it rains).
The morning we packed up and
rushed through a few sights, because the Spaniard (I think he may have been Italian) had a 1pm bus to catch. We were never going to make it, but it was
nice that Saleem tried, although Israelis going in and out of tourist sights
obviously takes place at their own pace.
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| Looking out from an abandoned fort |
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| Desert oasis |
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| Saleem - the legend |
We got home after 2pm, Italian guy (now that I think of it, he may have been French) missed his bus, I
caught mine (which I booked about 10 minutes before it left), and I headed off to
my next town, reluctantly parting with Jaisalmer’s beauty, and already somewhat
missing Abu’s strangeness.
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| We became friends though |
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| Spend a night in the desert. I highly recommend. Just choose the weather better |
