Jaisalmer, the Golden City

Nov. 17, 2008

While in Pushkar, I met two funny Westerners, a smallish English bloke named Jamie, and a largish Canadian named Ben. I ended up joining them to travel to other parts of Rajasthan.

We headed first to Jaisalmer, the Golden City, located in the heart of the Thar Desert in the far west of the state near the border with Pakistan. The town stands on a ridge of yellowish sandstone, crowned by a fort, which contains the palace and several ornate Jain temples. The town is also known for its havelis, or private residences which follow the Islamic style of architecture and feature rooms of intricately carved stone.

The boys and I stayed together in one haveli within the fort. We split the cost of 90 rupees for the simple room. That's a total of about $2, or $0.65 each per night. The catch was, we agreed to book an overnight camel safari through the hotel. That's where many of these Jaisalmeri hotels make their money. Still it was well worth it for the experience. More on that in the next post.