Jaisalmer

Day 38: Got up early and finished packing and caught a rickshaw to the bus for Jaisalmer. The bus appeared to leave from a derelict building site, but there were a couple of tourists and by the time the bus was due to leave it was packed, only taking on even more passengers, I am sure there is a scam running. The journey was bumpy and uneventful until just prior to Jaisalmer, where a group of men boarded the bus and demanded a tourist tax, which if it wasn't paid we would be left in the desert!! We eventually paid the tax after being threatened and took the "authorites" details and a photo so we can report their methods to the police. At the bus station we were beseiged by rickshaws etc trying to get our business. Eventually getting a lift with a tour operator who gave us his card on the hope we would book our camel safari through him and dropped us at the hotel. We had a drink and a sandwich and then headed to Jaisalmer Fort and more importantly for Scott - steamed momo's and vegetable thukhpa from the two tibetan restaurants in the town centre. We went back to the hotel to see the sunset from the rooftop restaurant and checking details on the internet of how to get to Varanasi - I have a desire to see the Ganges before we leave. Tomorrow we will check out some camel safari details. All in all, a long trying day, so hope tomorrow gives us a better view of Jaisalmer.

Day 39: Had breakfast at the hotel and then changed rooms to something cheaper, although still upstairs but not so spacious. We then booked a 2 night/3 day camel safari and had the hotel drop us at the "Collectors office" to complain about the methods of the men collecting the tourist tax. This turned into a fascinating morning spent watching the wheels of Indian bureaucracy turn in very slow circles. We were shown into a room where they listened to our complaint but said we had to put it in writing, which we did. We then had to go into another room where we had to wait for the District Magistrate. We were about to give up when we were shown into the District Magistrate's office. He read our letter etc, discussed it with people, called people etc and we then had to wait for his boss. Finally got taken to him, he apologised and said investigations would be held and gave us a copy of a letter saying they had received our letter. After spending the whole morning there, we went to the bank and then got a rickshaw to the train station and booked tickets out to Varanasi on the 16 Jan. We got a rickshaw back up to the Fort for a wander and had a drink and a snack at 8 July before heading to the Chowk for 2 scarves and 2 jumpers as the desert gets extremely cold at night. We headed back to the hotel to send an email to the Australian Embassy as we are worried about our complaints. it was then beer o'clock so we could relax.

Day 40: We finished packing so we could leave one backpack behind when we head out for our camel safari. We departed for the first leg of the safari with Carolena, Dave, Chris and Greg. We went to the Royal Cenotaphs which were very run down and considering they weren't very old was very disappointing. Off to see another Jain Temple which was also quite new and had the usual array of weird eyed idols. We did a quick trip back to the hotel for fresh fruit and vegetables and headed off to the desert. We arrived at out drop off point and got out of the jeep when camels appeared, dropping off their load of passengers. We reloaded and packed our gear, got on our camels and started off trekking. We road our camels for about 1 1/2 hours before stopping for chai and lunch. The food was all freshly prepared on an open fire. We were fed enough for a small army before being hoisted back on our camels for a walk to the dunes. We went to a well and the camels had a drink (except mine). We entered the dunes and they were undulating with some small scrub. We reached our stop for the night and headed up the highest dune to watch the sunset. We were provided with the obligatory chai plus pakoras and chips to ensure we didn't starve! The sunset was spectacular and after we headed down towards camp where the camel-wallahs were hard at work preparing our dinner (and their opium). We all started to settle in around the camp fire and were soon fed rice, dhal, potato curry and chappati's until we could eat no more. After dinner we listened to the cameleers singing their traditional songs before being encouraged to sing songs from our countries - Scott and I did the Playschool and Vegemite songs. Although the Polish and Canadians were amazing. After that we retired to our camp beds and had a tonne of blankets put on us to ensure we weren't cold. The night stars were so clear and bright we even saw some falling stars. Finally started to settle down to sleep when we were rudely disturbed by a puppy sniffing around. Thought we had got rid of it and settled down again to wake up and find mum and the other pup decided to join us for a snooze, we tried to move them on, but whenever we moved, they ended up getting even more of the bed, so we gave up, with us all settling down for the rest of the night.

Day 41: Woke up to more chai and then a fresh breakfast of millet porridge, boiled eggs, toast, fruit and biscuits - not that we were hungry after the night before. We broke camp, with the others heading home and Scott and I heading in the opposite direction for a day in the desert. We headed off through desert dunes and some very desolate grazing land, seeing eagles, deer, foxes plus goats, sheep and cattle before stopping for lunch - yep and more chai. We were joined by some children from the local village. We headed to the village and home of Raymot (our camel driver) where we had more chai and took photo's of his family. Their home was sparkling clean and looked very tatoine-like and full of children. Afterwards we walked our camels (was trying to walk off some of the food and my backside was really sore) to another sand dune desert where we caught up with some other safari people for another night of food - chai - sunset and stars. Still didn't get much sleep but were very warm and toasty and although there were a couple of other dogs around, we weren't joined by them. We were surprised that the desert was not as cold as we thought - didn't need to buy the extra jumpers after all. Oh well let's hope it is a cold winter so we get some use out of them.

Day 42: After a dog-less night, we woke to the obligatory chai in bed. We watched the sun finish rising above the sand dunes before breakfast of porridge, toast, jam and fruit. We broke camp and separated from our overnight companions (Brian, his wife and two grandkids (Emma and Nick) and the two Swedish backpackers). We left the sand dunes and crossed through some grazing lands, but unlike the day before we did not see any more animals, which led us to the conclusion that Raymot is quite well off (and so is his village). We passed a different small village, beyond which was the road where we disencameled. Shortly afterwards another group of six tourists arrived on their camels at the end of their overnight safari. The jeep arrived with more stores and two more tourists for an outbound journey; the eight of the now-expert camel drivers squeezed into the jeep for the drive back into the noise, smells and pollution of modern life in Jaisalmer. After getting another room at Shahi Palace that cost more than we had booked for, we had a welcoming hot shower and a cup of coffee, sans sugar! We went for a stroll through the local chowk to try and buy some toiletries and find a barber for a Bundi-esque shave for Scott. The streets were quiet and many stores were closed. Still beared (Scott) we headed back to the Shahi Palace for some cold drinks and an internet surf to try and arrange future travels.

Day 43: After a sand-less and dog-less night, we awoke chai-in-bed less! We got up and checked out of the Shahi Palace, but we would be staying for the day. We wandered upstairs to our last breakfast and re-met Brian, Carolyn and the grandkids. After a long breakky, we wandered into the fort with a view to visiting the Jain Temples inside. When we got there, we found the three main temples were beseiged by bus-loads of old European tourists. Entry to the temples seemed too complicated and we decided to give the temples a miss - seen one Jain temple, seen them all! We walked the short distance to the Fort Museum and after viewing the sign outside that summarised the few "highlights" of the museum decided to give the museum a miss too. We found a 'tourist bureau' and enquired about some future travels and air fares. The man there was helpful and gave us a couple of things to consider, so we considered them on our way to another 'tourist bureau' to compare the prices! the second guy was (insert word here) and didn't give us a good feeling: he was also expensive, so we left his office and went back to the first guy. Booking airflights is a long process drawn out when the photocopy machine is in another office and requires the man to leave us to mind his office while he gets on his motorbike to find the photocopy machine. Eventually we get our air tickets booked, so we catch a tuk tuk to the train station to sort out the trains. With a major religious festival happening not far from Varanasi train seats are at a premium; we eventually got a berth but not on the train of our choice. From the train station we went back into town to continue the quest from the day before for a barber. We found one; not as good as Bundi; but who can complain at a shave and face massage for just over a dollar? After another short stroll through the chowk, we headed back to the Shahi Palace for internet, beer and dinner; passing the time until the red-eye train. The Shahi Palace drove us to the train station. The train, unusually wasn't full to the rafters, although it was extremely cold and dusty.

Day 44: The train from Jaisalmer arrive at Jodhpur 1/2 hour late. We were very organised and were the first ones off our carriage. We found the first class waiting room, so sat in there, whiling away the hours talking to some Canadians. the area had a nice toilet, so we stayed there until we headed to the refreshment room for cheese sandwiches and very milky coffee. They also made us up some sandwiches for the trip. We finally found the conductor, but there were no 2 or 3 a/c seats available, so we spent the next 24 hours in very drafty sleeper class. The train to Varanasi departed on time and despite our concerns about the train train being full, just about every sleeper carriage was virtually empty. There were 5 people in our carriage that sleeps 72. During the day, the chai sellers had a pretty slow day. We bought some trackside snacks, samosas, poori and namkins but kept the majority of our food intake to the chips, bananas and cheese sandwiches we brought onto the train ourselves. At some point during the early evening, the train must have stopped (Agra Fort?), because we were roused to find a whole pile of Koreans had boarded our carriage and were settling down for the evening. The rest of the night, at least until midnight, was cold, drafty but uneventful.