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Jaisalmer
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2nd-4th November 2004.
Jaisalmer was a mere 19 hours on the train from Delhi, but it does have the dubious benefit of being the end of the train line and close to the border with Pakistan. This is desert country so check out our Camel Trek.
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Arrival was a comical affair. Some local touts had got abit vicious, so the local fuzz makes them stand away from the station and wait for the helpless tourists to approach them.
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Jaisalmer looks like it's sprung out of the ground in the dessert, its a beautiful giant suncastle, with a golden honey colour. Our room was inside the fort, and is the top left-hand window of this photo. Not quite as romantic as it sounds as it faces a market that starts at 5am. None-the-less not a bad spot to be killing time in for a few days.
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Gadi Sagar, the local lake was nearly dry and the ghastly paddle boats reminded us it was best not to stay too long.
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Local children steal a ride camel style.
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While we steal a photo of this bloke who then asked us for money in perfect English. He was politely reminded to look up the words thief and arsehole in his phrasebook before we scurried off pursued by the usual entourage of beggars.
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The Palace of Jaisalmer was a pretty tranquil place away from the noise of the street. It is here that the Raj used to sit and look over the "Golden City" and face the tough decision of who to bludgeon to death today and which concubine / wife to shag this evening after trying to the smoke the opium dry.
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The Raj... any questions?
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Musicians on the street, and surprisingly good ones. One group in five are good and the rest sound like they need to tune their instruments and learn to play.
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Jaisalmer is famous for its sandstone, and some of the carving is amazing. This is Patwa-Ki-Haveli. It was built by 5 Jain brothers over fifty years, it is huge, and the attention to detail in the carving is superb.
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More carvings, this time from the Palace itself. What was cool about the palace: the tiny windows that were in the complex for spying on the activities of the poor people.
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You can't walk anywhere in this town without someone trying to sell you...
... Puppets...
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.. Textiles...
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... and... Bhang.
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... but it's OK as no one charges commission.
The guy who owned this shop was doing very well on charging 'no commision' as he had a belly to match this model.
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The view from our hotel was pretty cool and a few chai masalsa teas were enjoyed from the sanctuary of our roof-top restaurant.
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