Jaisalmer
Trip Start
Jul 25, 2006
1
98
165
Trip End
Ongoing
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Jaisalmer,
India
Monday, January 14, 2008
Then you look up.
And all of a sudden you are seven years old again.
The fortress of Jaisalmer towers 300 metres above, on the only hill in the middle of the surrounding desert landscape. While the town has long since spilled out from the original fort walls, this is no monument to the past. People still live, work, and fight for the almighty tourist dollar within its walls. The yellow-gold of the fortress walls gleam against the backdrop of the stolid coloured ground and blue sky. You find yourself with a goofy smile, and an incredible urge to start running around the ramparts, waving a found stick as a makeshift sword. It is one of the most beautiful walled towns you will ever find. It is that appeal, that beauty, that is inextricably linked to the fragility and danger Jaisalmer now finds itself it.
As Jaisalmerīs appeal to tourism grew, so did the numbers of Rajasthani people who moved there to try and make a living on the influx of foreign money.
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The population now sprawls outside of the fortress, but it is those who live in the fortress that is seeing their home literally fall down around them. Studies have shown that the fortress now pipes in an average of 120 litres per head. This is about 12 times the amount the original drainage system was intended to handle. Waste water simply flows through channels in the street and down into open drains. The beautiful distinctive hue of Jaisalmer is due to the limestone it is built from. Itīs foundation is loose rock, sand and clay. The effect, to borrow an analogy, is the equivalent of pouring water over particular intricate, enormous sandcastle. Jaisalmer is disintegrating.The original fortress had 99 bastions, round towers that thrust out from the walls to give defenders an advantage in itīs defence. A number of these bastions have collapsed due to structural weakening, and the occasional catalyst of an earthquake. Over 250 of the historic buildings inside the fortress walls are partially or totally collapsed. In an area of vast poverty, inefficient and occasionally corrupt government, and limited skill in repairing and maintaining the ancient walls and homes, Jaisalmer is in trouble.
In itīs most recent edition of the Lonely Planet for India, the publishers have refused to list hotels and guesthouses inside the walls, asking instead that travellers stay in establishments outside the walls, aiding in the preservation of the fortress town. Everywhere you see piles of rock, and occasionally, active restoration sites where building restoration is being attempted.
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Small steps help, but it will take a dedicated effort from the government, but most importantly, the citizens of the fort to save their home.It is still a place of wonder to wander through itīs twisting narrow lanes. The romance of the setting cannot be denied. It is, however, somewhat strained as you run the gamut along the main street leading to the fort. Shops selling everything from Pashmina shawls to puppets, blankets to "authentic" antiques, and leather goods to random doodads line the street. Everyone is convinced that you want to buy what they have to offer, and no is not an option. As you approach the fortress and begin to walk through itīs enormous gates, you are besieged by women from the desert wanting to sell you silver bangles, children with mucus tentatively dangling from their noses asking for one rupees, or chocolate. Sometimes something entirely new way of impressing you and seeking your money appear. Witness the little girl walking the makeshift tightrope with five brass urns perfectly balanced on her head, while mom and dad search for any cameras that might appear, ready to pounce demanding money for any photos you might take. Every male between the ages of 15 to 50 are expert guides, waiting for you, ready to lavish you with their expertise. And no matter how you deny it, you WILL go on a camel safari, and every man you meet just happens to have the best, cheapest, most authentic camel safari in all of Rajasthan. Take a breath; cling to the romance, just a few more steps...
Despite all of this, or maybe highlighted because of the surface tawdriness of it, the fortress only feels that much more amazing once you are in. Once wandering, the hassle seems to melt away. It is still there, no question, but not with the same intensity. Let your gaze drift upwards at the temples, the havelis, mutter a polite "No, thank you", and open your mindīs ear to the distant sounds of triumphant processions wafting from the past. This Jaisalmer, the one of the mind and the wistful soul, is as strong and intact as it ever was.
Sources for a few of the facts:
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg14419564.300-collapse-of-the-golden-city.html
http://www.jaisalmer-in-jeopardy.org/aboutjaisalmer.html
Lonely Planet Guide to India, 2007.
If you are interested in any of the myriad beautiful Rajasthan textiles, I would love to recommend "Bobbi". She is a well educated young woman who has a shop that sells goods made by a rural womanīs cooperative she helped found. Once in the fortress, walk towards the back and somewhat right. I know this sounds vague, but believe me, if you walk down her little street she will find you. Sheīs a fireball, and talks a mile a minute, but offers fair prices, and is doing good in a home where she is often discriminated against for being educated, or past her early twenties and not being married.
