jaisalmer, the gold city

from jodhpur, my friend joyce and i took the train to jaisalmer, a city in rajasthan's northwest corner and a missile's-throw-away from pakistan. from the window of our three-tier no-AC carriage, there was little to see except miles of desert with patches of shrubbery. but the 6-hour trip was definitely worth it.
- on the platform at jodhpur station at 6 am, fellow travellers.
jaisalmer is called the gold city, and it's immediately clear why. the city is full of beautiful sandstone havelis, or mansions, that once belonged to wealthy merchants. it's nice just wandering around the narrow alleys, marveling at the ornate carvings of these buildings, occasionally stopping at handicraft and jewelry shops. we also spent a lot of time sitting on the rooftop cafe of our hotel, the killa bhawan lodge. the location was perfect: right across the street from the most beautiful of havelis, the patwon-ki haveli, with a perfect view of jaisalmer's fort. compared to jodhpur's mehrangargh, jaisalmer's fort is less imposing, more personable. in fact, hundreds of people still live inside the fort and there is a lot of foot and auto-rickshaw traffic between the town and fort. the fort itself is worth a full day's exploration --there are several gorgeous Jain temples, and the palace is well preserved.


it's hard to say which is more breathtaking, the view of the fort at sunset, or the view from the fort of the golden city below.








from top left, clockwise: patwon-ki haveli, a lake near jaisalmer, sandstone reliefs at a jain temple, delicious rajasthani thali at killa bhawan cafe, riding a camel in the thar desert, roadside samosa i didn't try, a haveli balcony, view from our room