What we did: streets of Jaisalmer Fort, Jaisalmer Palace, shopping
Budget: 3500R/ $70; Spent: 4640R/$93
We got up this morning and were excited to head up the hill to our new hotel. We packed our belongings, which seem heavier these days, and off we went. We grabbed breakfast on the roof of our hotel which over looks the city of Jaisalmer. The location of our hotel is amazing. It's inside the walls of the fort of Jaisalmer. The fort itself was built on a hill and has two different walls surrounding it, one at the base, and one around the fort. Jaisalmer is known as the gold city, likely because it looks like a giant sand castle from a distance. We both agree it's one of the most amazing places we've been all trip. Truly amazing. Our new hotel is the cherry on top. We got a great deal for our stay here, and the coolest thing about it is that it used to be part of the palace originally but it was later given to the family who runs it now for their past service to the monarchy. The view from our hotel rooftop of the palace is stunning. It's our second day having breakfast up there but our awe hasn't dwindled.
After breakfast we were really hoping we could catch up on our blogs and book some of our trip. Wifi was not cooperating with us, and then the electricity went out so we changed plans and headed to the city palace.
It cost us 600R/$12 to get in but was very much worth it. India stirs our imagination unlike anywhere else we've been. It gives me the feeling that I had hoped I would have our entire trip. I feel constantly inspired in India, like I don't want to waste a single minute here. I want to see it all. It's very special. We took a ton of pictures from inside the palace and the audio guides we were given were excellent. Unlike the ones in China, we could hear and understand the narrator, plus we could also replay the information! What a concept. The palace was in excellent condition. And many rooms were still furnished with original pieces. The info provided by the audio guide was fascinating. It talked about how throughout history the people of Jaisalmer never accepted defeat and instead performed a ritual called Jauhar. When defeat was imminent all the men would fight to the death and some sort of bell would sound and the women and children would get dressed up in their best clothing and kill themselves. It's essentially a mass suicide. It was done to avoid capture and dishonour. This happened "two and half" times. It is said that the half Jauhar was considered accomplished only in part because the people did not have enough time to properly perform the rituals. The women and children were not given enough time to prepare and therefore simply killed themselves. Another particularly interesting fact we learned was how this wooden horse was used to teach children in the royal family how to ride a horse in good form, notice the wheels at the base:
Our favourite parts were the king's chamber, and the ladies quarter which overlooks much of the city.
After this, we decided to grab a drink and some momos from a place our book recommended called Free Tibet. Funny we almost went into another place called Little Tibet. Everywhere here in India there are knock-offs of restaurants and hotels. We found the real place and enjoyed some veg momos. Momos are like Indian style Chinese dumplings. They're quite good.
From there we went in search of hats and blankets for the Camel Safari we'll be going on in 2 days. We found Jeff a hat and bartered it down to $6 which was still probably very overpriced. The mark up inside the fort is apalling. The vendor originally wanted 800R ($16)! We continued on outside the fort walls where we were hoping prices would be more reasonable, and they were. For instance, a hat I looked at for myself inside the walls was 500R to start off and I found the exact same one outside the fort that started at 150R. The hats weren't very nice though, even for $3, so we didn't buy one for me.
I noticed some nice kurtas (long shirts) for Jeff hanging in a nearby store and decided to go in. This decision led to one of the weirdest experiences we've had on our trip so far. It started out normally enough, with the owner sitting us down and showing us his stuff. While we were thinking about some of his kurtas, the owner began showing Jeff some of his pants, which were made of a very thin cotton. He told us they were 600R each. Before we had made any decisions we asked him whether he had any blankets. He brought us several blankets that were supposedly 100% wool. His original asking price per blanket was 1500R, which was way more than what we were looking to spend on blankets. We told him that the kurtas didn't fit Jeff well and that his prices were too high. He asked us how much we'd pay, and we told him we'd pay 600R for two blankets and 200R for the pants. It was at this point he began giving us a guilt trip about needing to make money to feed his family and that we were being greedy because we had so much money. We felt very uncomfortable and decided to just leave the store. He basically began to beg us to buy something, and when we insisted that we were leaving, he offered the pants for 250R. Jeff agreed to this, although I think I would have said no to any price, considering how poorly he treated us.
We left the shop feeling pretty unhappy with the whole interaction. I think we both just hoped we'd never see him again. Unfortunately, this wasn't to be. We wandered around the shops for about half an hour before heading back toward the fort and coincidentally passing by the man's shop once more. He saw us walking by and ran out of his shop to talk to us. He offered us the blankets for about 1000R, we can't exactly remember, but I was insistent on our original offer of 600R, not even really wanting to do any more business with this guy. He looked extremely flustered and finally said 800R was his best price and then stormed back into his store saying that we have five minutes to decide and that the offer will not be on the table tomorrow.
At this point we were so shocked by his odd behaviour that it was an easy decision to just keep walking back to our hotel and forget we'd ever met the guy. About halfway to our hotel, unbelievably, the store owner ran up to us and basically started scolding us for not buying his blankets. Finally, after 30 seconds or more of being lectured, Jeff turned to him and simply tried to rationalize with him. He started off by saying the blankets were just too expensive and that we only needed the blankets for a one-time use. He explained that it had nothing to do with the shop-owner, that we had liked his store, we had liked his products, and that we had even enjoyed our experience with him, but that we simply did not want to pay that much for blankets. He further explained that just because we were foreigners, didn't mean that we had an unlimited amount of money to spend. Of course, much of this went in one ear and out the other. After Jeff was done talking, he came back with a price of 750R. We were so frustrated to be in this position, we finally offered 700R and we shook on it.
As we walked back to his shop, the guy looked distraught. He walked well ahead of us and threw his hands in the air and put them on his head. We could not understand, if he was so unhappy with the deal, why he accepted our offer. We arrived back at his shop and chose the blankets we wanted. To be honest, they were nice blankets and we were pretty happy with the price we had finally received. However, when we went to pay, he insisted, and even swore to God, that we had shook on 750R. Again, we couldn't believe what was happening, but firmly insisted that we agreed on 700R. He finally relented and took the 700R. I guess when Jeff was paying, he had put down his hat and the pants he had bought earlier, and we ended up leaving the store without them. Jeff realized he had forgot them just as we left and turned to go back in, when the man handed him just his hat. Jeff just shook his head and walked past the owner, who quickly went to grab the bag for Jeff that he mysteriously somehow had now noticed. What an awful experience. We were so happy it was finally over.
And it was over, although we joked that he probably cursed us. We didn't end up buying anything else today. We were pretty tired so we decided to head back to our hotel just have dinner there. We asked the owner's son what he recommended on the menu. He suggested a popular local dish made of some sort of desert plant. Let's just say we won't be asking for anymore recommendations from him. We were hungry so we tried forcing it down our throats, but once we were done eating we realized how unappetizing the dish was. Can't remember the name but hopefully we never order it by mistake again!
After dinner we headed to our room and killed several mosquitos before getting to bed.
Budget: 3500R/ $70; Spent: 4640R/$93
We got up this morning and were excited to head up the hill to our new hotel. We packed our belongings, which seem heavier these days, and off we went. We grabbed breakfast on the roof of our hotel which over looks the city of Jaisalmer. The location of our hotel is amazing. It's inside the walls of the fort of Jaisalmer. The fort itself was built on a hill and has two different walls surrounding it, one at the base, and one around the fort. Jaisalmer is known as the gold city, likely because it looks like a giant sand castle from a distance. We both agree it's one of the most amazing places we've been all trip. Truly amazing. Our new hotel is the cherry on top. We got a great deal for our stay here, and the coolest thing about it is that it used to be part of the palace originally but it was later given to the family who runs it now for their past service to the monarchy. The view from our hotel rooftop of the palace is stunning. It's our second day having breakfast up there but our awe hasn't dwindled.
After breakfast we were really hoping we could catch up on our blogs and book some of our trip. Wifi was not cooperating with us, and then the electricity went out so we changed plans and headed to the city palace.
It cost us 600R/$12 to get in but was very much worth it. India stirs our imagination unlike anywhere else we've been. It gives me the feeling that I had hoped I would have our entire trip. I feel constantly inspired in India, like I don't want to waste a single minute here. I want to see it all. It's very special. We took a ton of pictures from inside the palace and the audio guides we were given were excellent. Unlike the ones in China, we could hear and understand the narrator, plus we could also replay the information! What a concept. The palace was in excellent condition. And many rooms were still furnished with original pieces. The info provided by the audio guide was fascinating. It talked about how throughout history the people of Jaisalmer never accepted defeat and instead performed a ritual called Jauhar. When defeat was imminent all the men would fight to the death and some sort of bell would sound and the women and children would get dressed up in their best clothing and kill themselves. It's essentially a mass suicide. It was done to avoid capture and dishonour. This happened "two and half" times. It is said that the half Jauhar was considered accomplished only in part because the people did not have enough time to properly perform the rituals. The women and children were not given enough time to prepare and therefore simply killed themselves. Another particularly interesting fact we learned was how this wooden horse was used to teach children in the royal family how to ride a horse in good form, notice the wheels at the base:
Our favourite parts were the king's chamber, and the ladies quarter which overlooks much of the city.
From there we went in search of hats and blankets for the Camel Safari we'll be going on in 2 days. We found Jeff a hat and bartered it down to $6 which was still probably very overpriced. The mark up inside the fort is apalling. The vendor originally wanted 800R ($16)! We continued on outside the fort walls where we were hoping prices would be more reasonable, and they were. For instance, a hat I looked at for myself inside the walls was 500R to start off and I found the exact same one outside the fort that started at 150R. The hats weren't very nice though, even for $3, so we didn't buy one for me.
I noticed some nice kurtas (long shirts) for Jeff hanging in a nearby store and decided to go in. This decision led to one of the weirdest experiences we've had on our trip so far. It started out normally enough, with the owner sitting us down and showing us his stuff. While we were thinking about some of his kurtas, the owner began showing Jeff some of his pants, which were made of a very thin cotton. He told us they were 600R each. Before we had made any decisions we asked him whether he had any blankets. He brought us several blankets that were supposedly 100% wool. His original asking price per blanket was 1500R, which was way more than what we were looking to spend on blankets. We told him that the kurtas didn't fit Jeff well and that his prices were too high. He asked us how much we'd pay, and we told him we'd pay 600R for two blankets and 200R for the pants. It was at this point he began giving us a guilt trip about needing to make money to feed his family and that we were being greedy because we had so much money. We felt very uncomfortable and decided to just leave the store. He basically began to beg us to buy something, and when we insisted that we were leaving, he offered the pants for 250R. Jeff agreed to this, although I think I would have said no to any price, considering how poorly he treated us.
We left the shop feeling pretty unhappy with the whole interaction. I think we both just hoped we'd never see him again. Unfortunately, this wasn't to be. We wandered around the shops for about half an hour before heading back toward the fort and coincidentally passing by the man's shop once more. He saw us walking by and ran out of his shop to talk to us. He offered us the blankets for about 1000R, we can't exactly remember, but I was insistent on our original offer of 600R, not even really wanting to do any more business with this guy. He looked extremely flustered and finally said 800R was his best price and then stormed back into his store saying that we have five minutes to decide and that the offer will not be on the table tomorrow.
At this point we were so shocked by his odd behaviour that it was an easy decision to just keep walking back to our hotel and forget we'd ever met the guy. About halfway to our hotel, unbelievably, the store owner ran up to us and basically started scolding us for not buying his blankets. Finally, after 30 seconds or more of being lectured, Jeff turned to him and simply tried to rationalize with him. He started off by saying the blankets were just too expensive and that we only needed the blankets for a one-time use. He explained that it had nothing to do with the shop-owner, that we had liked his store, we had liked his products, and that we had even enjoyed our experience with him, but that we simply did not want to pay that much for blankets. He further explained that just because we were foreigners, didn't mean that we had an unlimited amount of money to spend. Of course, much of this went in one ear and out the other. After Jeff was done talking, he came back with a price of 750R. We were so frustrated to be in this position, we finally offered 700R and we shook on it.
As we walked back to his shop, the guy looked distraught. He walked well ahead of us and threw his hands in the air and put them on his head. We could not understand, if he was so unhappy with the deal, why he accepted our offer. We arrived back at his shop and chose the blankets we wanted. To be honest, they were nice blankets and we were pretty happy with the price we had finally received. However, when we went to pay, he insisted, and even swore to God, that we had shook on 750R. Again, we couldn't believe what was happening, but firmly insisted that we agreed on 700R. He finally relented and took the 700R. I guess when Jeff was paying, he had put down his hat and the pants he had bought earlier, and we ended up leaving the store without them. Jeff realized he had forgot them just as we left and turned to go back in, when the man handed him just his hat. Jeff just shook his head and walked past the owner, who quickly went to grab the bag for Jeff that he mysteriously somehow had now noticed. What an awful experience. We were so happy it was finally over.
And it was over, although we joked that he probably cursed us. We didn't end up buying anything else today. We were pretty tired so we decided to head back to our hotel just have dinner there. We asked the owner's son what he recommended on the menu. He suggested a popular local dish made of some sort of desert plant. Let's just say we won't be asking for anymore recommendations from him. We were hungry so we tried forcing it down our throats, but once we were done eating we realized how unappetizing the dish was. Can't remember the name but hopefully we never order it by mistake again!
After dinner we headed to our room and killed several mosquitos before getting to bed.
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