Jaisalmer- a Golden City (1)

Jaisalmer in the morning
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-My friend, how long you stay in India?

-Five weeks.

My friend, so you came just for breakfast?

-My friend, so you came just for breakfast? Five weeks in India we say is like coming just for breakfast. You need to stay six months or a year.

My hotel room
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Conversation with a rickshaw driver in Jaisalmer.

I just arrived on the night train to Jaisalmer. I spent the night chatting and playing cards with fellow travelers. I traveled in the lowest train class, so I was the only foreigner in my carriage. I became an instant curiosity, but in a good, friendly way. This is exactly how I wanted to travel. And then, when I thought things couldn’t get better, I saw Jaisalmer - a breathtaking, massive medieval city fort built in the 12^th century on a hill overlooking the desert and surrounding hamlets. I cannot describe it any better than the Lonely Planet:

Republic Day celebrations
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[…] a Golden City, an Age of Chivalry mirage in the middle of a barren desertscape. No place better evokes ancient desert splendor and exotic trade routes. Ninety-nine huge bastions encircle the narrow streets of the fort, still inhabited, with elaborate houses, splendid temples, magnificent gateways and a beautiful palace, all carved out of the same gleaming sandstone.

It is an unbelievable travel-in-time experience. My hotel is right in the fort and is an architectural treasure in itself. It is an old haveli - a structure so unique that it defies description. It is an ancient, merchant house, built like a five story tower intricately carved out of sandstone with narrow winding stone staircases, small windows, and five beautifully carved, authentic 16^th-century rooms. I have a room on the top floor and a view for tens of miles from my windows or from the roof-top which is pretty much for my exclusive use. Pakistan’s border is only 100 miles away from here. Breakfast was served on the roof top - hot Indian chai and a masala omelet. This is as close to perfection as I could imagine. And yet, in that moment of almost pure bliss, as I was watching the desert sun rising, I couldn’t help but think…I miss Ani. I wish she was here with me.

Jaisalmer kids
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Later in the day, to fight my blues I decided to photograph the Republic Day parade, a national holiday celebrated all over the country with various festivities. Jaisalmer had its own celebration as well, so I grabbed my camera, and for the first time in a long while, recaptured my love of photography. I am not talking about the digital pictures here. These are only snapshots for your pleasure. The real stuff is on my slide film. Indians are so incredibly friendly and photogenic that photographing them is a pure pleasure.

Probably the only Polish-Indian cricket team in history
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During the parade of the armed forces, I asked the commanding officer if I could take his photo. Not only did he agree, but he motioned for me to cross the line where the public was not allowed and photograph the soldiers from close-by. Everybody else had to stand at least 50 meters away. Later on, some local boys approached me, intrigued by my camera and the friendship with the commanding officer, and insisted I visit their house. I did, and was treated like a king. Then, they invited me to play cricket with them, so I spent the early afternoon laughing at myself for not being able to throw a ball properly. My batting wasn’t half bad though.