Hotel Moomal Jaisalmer

... 3 girls from the group, we went to this Tibetan restaurant for very average food but amazing views over the town, the fort walls lit up by candles and hari Krishna music in the distance. <br> <br>The next morning I wandered around getting camel safari tops and having chai with my favorite shop lady, and then we were off in the jeep to meet the camels. We spent about 2 hours on the camels and after about half an hour the novelty wore off and I couldn&#8217 ...

... worth seeing. Almost. The best part was that Jay was parked 20 feet away, waiting for us. He could have driver us to the dunes, but since we are incapable of communicating and his mindset is the opposite of ours, we had to ride the ******* camel. Completely uninterested in the social abortion before us, Dad and I find dung beetles and race them. We start the race and start shouting at them like it's the Kentucky Derby but eventually ...

... agree to meet the guide tomorrow morning for a visit to the fort. Now, since returning to the hotel for dinner was not a good option, Rampal found a vegetarian restaurant nearby and we had an excellent meal on a rooftop patio. The air was a pleasant temperature; the local beer was cold and the food hot and spicy. All in all, it was a good combination. We returned to the Gateway Hotel, packed our things and rested until morning. Hasta manana.

... about an hour and the older boys English was pretty good so we just talked about the usual, where are you from, are you married, how big is your family, etc. When we made it out to the dunes area we met back up with Asu and they took the camel and went home to whatever village they are from. Asu and I just sat in the sand for an hour or so watching the sun set. He had brought me a Kingfisher beer so I drank that and we told stories. He told me that the ...

... and Ms. Desert, a moustache competition, and night performances of Rajasthani folk dances. The second day was highlighted by the camel polo match, viewing the sunset on the city and towering fort, and more night performances. The third day was the end of the festival and took place 50 km outside of Jaislamer in the Sam sand dunes. The prototype scenery, with sweeping sand dunes, provided the background for the camel races ...

... the local village, with singing and dancing it was extremely entertaining and an upside down crescent moon heralded the start of a new month in the Hindi calendar which is lunar in basis. We sat and tried to pull the constellations from the heavy net of stars which hung low in the sky. I now know the Big Bear, Little Bear the Plough and Orion. By 12.30am we were all bushed after having talked politics or shall I say Indian politics and the ...

... Shetty is actually famous in India, she is doing PR at the moment for her new movie...guess she was not just famous after the infamous Celebrity Big Brother drama). We visited a smaller Jain temple, in Ladhruva. This used to be the ancient capital before Jaisalmer and all is left is this temple. A 400 year old cobra is said to live here. <br><br><br>We finally arrive in Khuri, in the desert. It is time for Sean to haggle with the camel men, not to ...

... him the "sanga buddah" as he seemed to be about to eat a sandwich he was holding. The palace is our next stop on the sightseeing trail though it seems the busloads have now left for the day. It has an audio tour which is not as impressive as the one in Jodhpur but still informative. This palace is also still owned by its current Rajput Maharaja and holds lots of interesting artifacts of their long reign over the area which is now Rajasthan ...

... it had a good position on the camel-train route between India and Central Asia. The merchants and townspeople built magnificent mansions and grand palaces here that were carved from wood and sandstone. The fort is an oldy, built in 1156 by a Rajput ruler. There are 5000 residents that still live inside the fort but tourism seems to be very intrusive to their lives with hordes of tourists, some in packs roaming around and there is quite alot on hassle going ...

... to disperse the cow ****...). The buskers get into position down by the fort gate: 2 drummers/singers, about 12 years old, and their 4 cousins aged 5-8, tiny faces topped with enormous turbans to accompany their nifty dance moves. Beside them the village women arrive and spread out their ankle bells to entice the imminent tourists. The city is calm but for the buzz from the locals' bustle and it's ...