Staci and I were up early yesterday morning, trying to adjust to the time change. We went up on the roof at 6:40am, optimistic for a good sunrise. That didn't happen, but it was nice to take a look out at the city and see the fort high on the hill. After a hot shower, we went upstairs for breakfast, ready to begin the day. We strolled through town and staked out good seats for viewing the festival's opening parade. They had everything from a band on camels to dancing women to men dressed as ladies...sounds like home, without the camels. From there, we decided to skip the Mr. Desert, Best Mustache and a few other contests which were the early program for the day. Instead, we made a break for the fort.
The Jaisalmer fort is one of the only forts still inhabited by people. Cows, dogs and people live together in a huge stone fortress with extremely narrow streets and no real markings. We stumbled upon a man named Raju, who was so happy to share the story of his family's home and took us on a tour of the entire house, telling us the history of each room. He was incredibly informative. Further, at the end of the tour, he didn't ask us for a tip or try to sell us anything! Staci bought a lotus flower candlestick holder that was really cool from him at a good price, so all were happy.
We walked back from the fort, changed and were ready to go on our camel safari at 2:30pm. We drove about a half hour outside Jaisalmer to the Thar Desert where we met our camels and their guides, Ali and Salim. We trekked through the desert on the camels for about an hour and a half, through the dunes and the desert people's community. It is always so interesting (and upsetting) when traveling to foreign countries to see how some people have to live and under such poor conditions.
After our ride was over and we snapped a bunch of pics, we sat in the dunes waiting for the sun to set. The night before's sunset was an amazingly huge red ball of fire, so we were hoping we would see something nice in the desert...not so much. Oh well, it was a great experience riding a camel through the desert and I'm glad to have done it. Doesn't mean I have to do it again, but once was good.
We went back to the hotel and had dinner of aloo gobhi, palak paneer, jeera rice and buttered naan. As usual, it was great and we left with full bellies and full pockets since the cost was so reasonable. We had another night's stay on our rock-hard beds and prepared for day 2 of the festival.
Today, we went to the other stadium for the festival. There were tons of events, so we were very excited. The first event was the camel decorating contest. Staci was asked to be the female guest judge and some other foreigner was the male guest judge. The judging consisted of the camel's decoration, the rider's outfit and the camel's build. She looked very official going by each one with her clipboard in hand! They also had camel polo, an Indian game called kabbadi (which seemed like flag football, rubgy, wrestling and a few other sports combined but with no ball), a water pot-carrying contest for the Indian ladies vs. the foreign women, and a race to see which rider could get dressed, tie their turban, saddle and suit up on the camel fastest, which was truly entertaining.
The best events of the day were the tug-of-wars in which the Indians battled the foreigners. The men started things off and won the first match, lost the second and won the tie-breaker. Then, it was the women's turn. The owner of our hotel, Chenyson, signed Staci and I up for this event, and we did not disappoint. Staci anchored the team from the very back and I was our lead-off in the front. To be completely honest, I thought it was going to be a cakewalk; however, these Indian women were stronger than they looked. The first match was tough, but we pulled it out. Then during the second one, all the Indian women sat down in the sand except for their anchor. It was like pulling on dead weight and I felt like their strategy was working, but we wore them down and once we got a good couple of pulls in a row, they were done. We had wondered previously if the men were told to throw their second match to make it an even fight, but you guys know how uber competitive I am and I just wouldn't be having that. A close second behind that reason was that I was completely whipped and there was no way I wanted to go to round 3. Tons of respect for those ladies because my arms were shaking after the competition. The good news is that we got a free polo shirt for participating in the contest, a $100 rupies (~$2) for winning and Staci and I were interviewed by several TV stations and newspapers All in all, a totally fun time!
From there, we went back toward the fort and ate lunch at a great restaurant called Saffron in an old haveli in town. Food was good and the conversation was better. We took our new friend, Ralph from outside Toronto, with us. We met him at breakfast at our guesthouse and started talking. He's a 71 year-old traveling by himself (wife stayed home...imagine that, Ali!). He beat cancer 11 years prior and decided to start traveling. Super great guy with lots of good stories of awesome places he's been. After lunch, we headed back to the stadium for more festival activities.
The next main event was the camel tattoo. All the camels come in to the stadium in full regalia. Then, their owners put them through drills, showing off their synchronization and skills. It was a sight to behold and it was amazing how well trained these camels were. Afterward, Staci and I trekked back into the fort and she bought two more lotus flower candlestick holders. Now, we've stopped at the internet cafe to catch up on our blogs and will head back to Desert Moon to get ready for our trip back to Jodhpur on the 6:40am bus. Time here in Jaisalmer was short, action-packed and worth the effort to get here. Tomorrow evening the real fun begins when I go to work in Delhi/Noida starting at 8pm. I'm already wondering when/where I'll sleep next...
The Jaisalmer fort is one of the only forts still inhabited by people. Cows, dogs and people live together in a huge stone fortress with extremely narrow streets and no real markings. We stumbled upon a man named Raju, who was so happy to share the story of his family's home and took us on a tour of the entire house, telling us the history of each room. He was incredibly informative. Further, at the end of the tour, he didn't ask us for a tip or try to sell us anything! Staci bought a lotus flower candlestick holder that was really cool from him at a good price, so all were happy.
We walked back from the fort, changed and were ready to go on our camel safari at 2:30pm. We drove about a half hour outside Jaisalmer to the Thar Desert where we met our camels and their guides, Ali and Salim. We trekked through the desert on the camels for about an hour and a half, through the dunes and the desert people's community. It is always so interesting (and upsetting) when traveling to foreign countries to see how some people have to live and under such poor conditions.
After our ride was over and we snapped a bunch of pics, we sat in the dunes waiting for the sun to set. The night before's sunset was an amazingly huge red ball of fire, so we were hoping we would see something nice in the desert...not so much. Oh well, it was a great experience riding a camel through the desert and I'm glad to have done it. Doesn't mean I have to do it again, but once was good.
We went back to the hotel and had dinner of aloo gobhi, palak paneer, jeera rice and buttered naan. As usual, it was great and we left with full bellies and full pockets since the cost was so reasonable. We had another night's stay on our rock-hard beds and prepared for day 2 of the festival.
Today, we went to the other stadium for the festival. There were tons of events, so we were very excited. The first event was the camel decorating contest. Staci was asked to be the female guest judge and some other foreigner was the male guest judge. The judging consisted of the camel's decoration, the rider's outfit and the camel's build. She looked very official going by each one with her clipboard in hand! They also had camel polo, an Indian game called kabbadi (which seemed like flag football, rubgy, wrestling and a few other sports combined but with no ball), a water pot-carrying contest for the Indian ladies vs. the foreign women, and a race to see which rider could get dressed, tie their turban, saddle and suit up on the camel fastest, which was truly entertaining.
The best events of the day were the tug-of-wars in which the Indians battled the foreigners. The men started things off and won the first match, lost the second and won the tie-breaker. Then, it was the women's turn. The owner of our hotel, Chenyson, signed Staci and I up for this event, and we did not disappoint. Staci anchored the team from the very back and I was our lead-off in the front. To be completely honest, I thought it was going to be a cakewalk; however, these Indian women were stronger than they looked. The first match was tough, but we pulled it out. Then during the second one, all the Indian women sat down in the sand except for their anchor. It was like pulling on dead weight and I felt like their strategy was working, but we wore them down and once we got a good couple of pulls in a row, they were done. We had wondered previously if the men were told to throw their second match to make it an even fight, but you guys know how uber competitive I am and I just wouldn't be having that. A close second behind that reason was that I was completely whipped and there was no way I wanted to go to round 3. Tons of respect for those ladies because my arms were shaking after the competition. The good news is that we got a free polo shirt for participating in the contest, a $100 rupies (~$2) for winning and Staci and I were interviewed by several TV stations and newspapers All in all, a totally fun time!
From there, we went back toward the fort and ate lunch at a great restaurant called Saffron in an old haveli in town. Food was good and the conversation was better. We took our new friend, Ralph from outside Toronto, with us. We met him at breakfast at our guesthouse and started talking. He's a 71 year-old traveling by himself (wife stayed home...imagine that, Ali!). He beat cancer 11 years prior and decided to start traveling. Super great guy with lots of good stories of awesome places he's been. After lunch, we headed back to the stadium for more festival activities.
The next main event was the camel tattoo. All the camels come in to the stadium in full regalia. Then, their owners put them through drills, showing off their synchronization and skills. It was a sight to behold and it was amazing how well trained these camels were. Afterward, Staci and I trekked back into the fort and she bought two more lotus flower candlestick holders. Now, we've stopped at the internet cafe to catch up on our blogs and will head back to Desert Moon to get ready for our trip back to Jodhpur on the 6:40am bus. Time here in Jaisalmer was short, action-packed and worth the effort to get here. Tomorrow evening the real fun begins when I go to work in Delhi/Noida starting at 8pm. I'm already wondering when/where I'll sleep next...
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