DAY 8 Our last day in Jaisalmer. As check out was 09.30 we went to the boulangeri (?) for breakfast. Pancakes and banana for me, scrambled egg for DK coffees and all for the bargain price of 125 Rps! After breakfast we walked around some of the streets near our hotel and it felt very Greek... Which is very strange? We bought a couple of gifts an...

I only woke up once during the night because i got hot and had no room to move -- i was sleeping with my little bag that had all my money goodies in it tied to the small pocket next to me, this mean no rolling over! I got up around 8am and went for a walk up and down the carriages, read and amused myself then i started talking to the family in t...

If mountains are fascinating, desert lands are nothing less than amazing, so after Ladakh last year I packed my bags and camera and booked a second class ticket by Jaisalmer Express. The last time I visited Jaisalmer, this train which was not there when the only connection was an overnight snail train from Jodhpur on a meter gauge. I personally ...

Jaisalmer is a very nice little city. The fort is very impressive but all the tiny streets around have a great architecture with carved sandstone, magnificiant doors and decoration. I met a couple of French - Christophe and Julie - this morning and I will go with them on camel safari + night in a tent. I planed to do it the day after but this wa...

Jaisalmer, Days 120-125, As soon as he said his name was Aladdin, and that he was a camel driver, I should have run. Unfortunately I was stuck on a 6 hour bus journey and at this point I didn't know he was a complete charlatan. I should have suspected though when he said he had teamed up with various other ex-camel driver buddies and relations t...

coucou a tous je rentre tout juste d un safari de deux jours a chameau!!! l autre jour ce n etait pas le vrai desert, on a vu la canpagne indienne les villages indiens mais pas les vraies dunes de sable telles qu on se les imagine. cette fois ci on montait toutes les deux a chaneau. nous sommes parties hier matin tres tot,de jaiselmer, pres de l...

6thNov 2005 - 18th Nov 2005 Desert, Bikes and Beverly Hillbillies Our introduction to the Thar desert was initally challenging with each rider having there own camel boy who had very little English. As the time went by we were able to communicate more and more. The people of the desert are so open and friendly once you open up to them yourself. ...

Laying in the dunes under the rising full moon in the western desert of India, drum beats in the distance, I wondered. To the west, Venus and Mercury set into the pink horizon. Gypsies played music and danced. Camels carried turbaned and mustachioed men. Music with raag rhythms of tabla and bayan played. Sand grouse flew with arced wings. Flock...

The crumbling Golden City... Jaisalmer didn't end up being the tourist circus that our guide books describe (Lonely Planet has actually been a bit off the mark about a few things in India - perhaps it's because we're not travelling in the high season...?). The locals were saying it was a very quiet start to the season. We made the decision to st...

... in which the sweaty traveller begins to feel the heat, and visits the red, blue and white desert cities... THE BIRDS Getting up at dark, I walked along Bikaner's dusty streets to find a bus heading towards Jaisalmer, the famous desert town five hours drive south. Inspired by the wildlife I'd seen on the camel trek, I followed the suggestion ...