Jaisalmer and the Desert Festival
Trip Start
Aug 25, 2003
1
25
55
Trip End
Jul 18, 2004
Jaisalmer,
India
Thursday, February 5, 2004
It seems that in northern India tourists either come in overwhealming numbers or they don't come at all. This is no doubt due to large tour groups which, coming from the states, I can understand. India is far away and time is usually a constraint when travelling, hence tour groups. If you haven't guessed it yet, Jaisalmer is one of those places tourists come in throngs. Actually tourism was heavier than normal due to a the Desert Festival, which apparently was created for the sole purpose of increasing tourism. We had no idea about this festival, we were only coming to see the city on the way to Bikaner where we planned on doing a camel trek.
Both inside and outside the Jaisalmer fort were somre really impressive havalis (mansions) with intricately carved exteriors. After seeing many of these from the outside we eventually ventured in one for a small entrance fee and found ourselves trying to take pictures of the outside.
A Mr. Moustache Contestant
This is not to say that inside was not nice, but it did not even compare to the outside (just a tip for anyyone going to Jaisalmer).The other big discovery we made in Jaisalmer came through some people we befriended on the long trip from Ahmedabad to Jaisalmer. Havier and Justine, another couple travelling through India and beyond, invited us to dinner at their guesthouse. The food served there was decent, but what was better was what our friends prepared. They had fresh bread, tomatoes, and olive oil! This may not seem that great to anyone reading this but it had been quite a while since we had western food and olive oil seems to be unheard of in "the east." It turns out that olive oil actually isn't that hard to find, we just had to go to the local pharmicist (chemist). As it happens, some indians use olive oil in their hair, we think to help with itchy scalp (not sure on that). What's funny is I think my dad does the same thing.
Since we were there anyway, we decided to stay an extra day to see the begining of the desert festival. Specifically the "Mr. Moustache" competition. Did we see moustaches the length of an arm, yes! But we saw a whole lot more. There was a procession of camels, musicians on camels and foot, and dancers. This processions went all through town and ended where the other festivities would be heald: a large, dusty stadium, where most of the seating was on the groiund. Among the other competitions were turban tying contests, one for locals and another for tourists. The first local finished in something like 17 seconds and with a turban that looked perfect from an outsiders perspective. Tourists were given three minutes, and even that wasn't enough for some. There was a Mr. Desert competition which, as far as we could tell, had to do with facial hair, clothes, overall appearance, and grandstanding while waving a sword about. This was the largest competition, drawing competitors from all over Rajasthan, but mostly from Jaisalmer and Bikaner. Those were my favorite events, and yes, I did try to enter the turban tying competition, but they already had enough contestants by the time I hit the stage. I'm not too bothered about it as I think that competition was meant more for local amusement anyway.
That was pretty much our experiance for Jaisalmer. We did have about 10 Mr. Desert contestants from Bikaner ride with us on the bus. Since the winner was put up in a hotel in Jaisalmer we knew they were losers. Losers with swords on an overnight bus.
