Jaisalmer

This was the first Christmas that we were away from family, so we decided to take a trip to India and ride camels through the desert in celebration.  We spent 11 days in India and visited 5 cities - Jaisalmer, Jodhpur, Jaipur, Agra, and Delhi.  In order to visit all of those cities, we spent a whopping 41 hours on multiple trains and buses.  And out of the 4 train rides and 1 bus ride, only 1 scary hiccup occurred - and I will tell you about that later!

As far as Jaisalmer, we took a 17 hour overnight train ride from Delhi.  The trains have different classes to choose from: AC First Class, AC Second Class, AC Third Class, and Sleeper.  Needless to say AC First Class is the most expensive, and Sleeper is the least expensive.  We were in AC First Class for this train ride, and I was a bit taken aback by what was considered 'first class'.  Looking back on it now, it wasn't that bad - just a bit dingy and dirty.  But it wasn't the Hogwarts Express either.  The bathrooms, however, were a completely different story.  They were DISGUSTING.  After a few more train rides, we realized that the toilet is just a hole in the train, and everything simply goes onto the railway tracks.  Yuck.

About an hour into our train ride, I noticed him looking at something on the cabin floor.  I automatically assumed he saw a cockroach or some other bug, but he swore that there was no bug.  12 or so hours later, I see a mouse climbing on our cabin mates' suitcases and I point and exclaim, 'mouse!!!'.  I realized then that he wasn't lying earlier...just that it was a rodent, not a bug.

Below is a picture of our "first class" cabin.  We shared it with a very nice Indian couple who shared their breakfast with us since we didn't bring food with us.  We wrongly assumed there would be food available on the train.

The sink in our cabin.  Don't drink from there!

After 17 long hours, we finally arrived in Jaisalmer.  Our hotel was located inside the Jaisalmer Fort - below is a view from our modest balcony window.  The fort was absolutely breathtaking.  It was built in 1156 AD by the Rajput ruler, Rawal Jaisal, on the edge of the Thar Desert.  This fort, built of sandstone, is the last 'living fort' in India where most of the population actually resides inside the fort.

While walking around in the fort, I noticed dried chili peppers hanging from many of the doorways.  A local informed me that it is hung for good luck.

A view of the city outside the fort walls.

The Hindu God, Ganesh was found everywhere in India - here is a painting on one of the fort's walls.

One of the many things I found fascinating about India was the abundance of cows in the streets.  They were everywhere: crossing the road, walking down the sidewalk, eating garbage off the ground, and even lying in the middle of the street.  

A residence inside the fort.

Some things being sold on the streets

Most of the shops inside the fort were catered to tourists.  I don't know how many times we were asked to look inside different shops.  Some popular phrases shop owners yelled included, "Christmas discount!", "New Years discount!", "Spend your money here!", "99.9% discount!"

Most of the doors in Jaisalmer were light blue.  Against the sandstone landscape, they really stood out and were so beautiful.

A boy casually climbs an ancient Jain temple to get to his friend's rooftop

Sunset from a Jaisalmer Fort rooftop