Jaisalmer Favorites

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Favorite thing: i stayed in jaisalmer and enjoyed the city as well as the camel safari deep in to the thar desert , actually i was not intrested in safari but when i came to know by the other tourist what they ecperienced after the trip what thay described it was away farom my mind and thinking , i was in trouble wheather shoul i go or not my inner soul called me and fordced me to go and what i realised there in the field is wonderful i saw the nature from very near and the life of animals and the desert persons , the memorabel camel man jagdish who is regular camel driver for the hotel desert haveli guest house who managed for me this best royal camel safari trip , my inner awakend by this trip what is the soul of sand i could realised, i can request every one who comes to jaisalmer atleast he should visit desert camel safari one daay or more up on time but it is enjoying and creative trip

Fondest memory: the golden stone fine caurving work which is most lovely

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Favorite thing: This mighty fort is in trouble. The infastucture is struggling to cope. Being home to not only a quarter of the population of Jaisalmer, it also is first choice for tourists looking for accomodation. The drainage system cannot handle the demand, and part of the walls have already collapsed. There are many hotels outside the walls of the fort, and it is a good idea to stay there rather than inside the fort itself.
Staying outside the walls of the fort poses no problem to visitors- Everything in Jaisalmer that is worth seeing within the Fort is close to nearby hotels and guest=houses outside the fort.
Staying in a hotel outside the fort gave us a magnificent view of it at sunrise and sunset.

Fondest memory: Staying OUTSIDE the walls of the fort, and being able to see it at sunset- gleaming like a jewel

Favorite thing: Throughout India you'll come across some funny signs with great phrases or spelling mistakes on them. This one amused me as why should children only have beer and not adults or is it a case that the beer is made out of the local children?!! "English wine" is a phrase for whisky & gin - spirits in other words.

Favorite thing: HH Maharajadhiraj Maharawal BRIJRAJ SINGH is the ruling Maharajah of the princely state of Jaisalmer since 1982.

He was born 13th November 1968, succeeded to the throne on 13th March 1982 and married 28th January 1993, HH Maharani Sahib Raseshwari Devi, daughter of a Rana of Nepal, Shri Sahadev Shumsher Jung Bahadur.

for more info on the Mahajarahs of Jaisalmer, go to http://uqconnect.net/~zzhsoszy/ips/j/jaisalmer.html

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Favorite thing: Tragically by the late 20th century, Jaisalmer was on the verge of collapse. Within the fort's monumental walls, alongside the intricately carved temples, palaces and havelis of the former rich and powerful merchants live more than 2,000 people, descendents of Maharawal Rawal Jaisal's entourage.

Paradoxically increased consumption (and therefore waste), due to growing tourism and population, put unbearable pressure on the city’s aged infrastructurewith with water being piped in at a daily rate of some 120 litres per head - at least 12 times the amount originally used meant that the old drainage system, – open gulleys at the sides of streets intended for a time when waste water was minimal was no longer adequate– water become the enemy
What resulted was similar to what happens when you tip a bucket of water over a sandcastle? Jaisalmer, built of dry sandstone on foundations of clay, sand and rock, began to crumble.

Water, seeping through the decaying drains and penetrating the hillside, saturated the foundations of the fortress city, resulting in subsidence and cracks in buildings. Palaces and havelis came tumbling down! In places the retaining wall at the base of the hillside burst apart, while some of the bastions became unstable. After the devastating monsoon of 1993, some 250 historic buildings fully or partially collapsed, including the oldest existing Rajput palace, the Rani-ka Mahal, or Maharani’s Palace. Further damage resulted from the after effects of the Gujarati earthquake in 2001, when several more buildings suffered substantial damage.

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Favorite thing: With the fall of the Mughal Empire in the mid 1700s, commerce shifted to the sea ports, and the age of camel caravans drew to a close. The opening of the Suez Canal and the creation of Pakistan in 1947 further accelerated its demise. Isolated, a five-day journey on camel from the nearest city, Jaisalmer, having grown wealthy on the proceeds of the trade routes, slipped into obscurity, frozen in its medieval history.

Today, walking through the narrow cobbled streets, evidence of the city's rich trading past is everywhere. The ancient fort, the second oldest in Rajasthan, and perhaps the oldest still-inhabited citadel in the world, soars 90 meters above a maze of streets, squares, palaces, and clusters of dwellings, all in the local golden yellow sandstone. Atop the Trikuta (triple-peaked) hill, where, as legend has it, a Brahmin hermit related to Jaisal the prophesy that Krishna and Arjunaruler would one day build a fort, life goes on, almost as it has for centuries.

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Favorite thing: Jaisalmer is one of the India's most precious jewels. Fortified in golden stone, it rises like a mirage from the barren Thar desert of Rajasthan, its 99 bastions silhouetted against the sky, this remote settlement was renowned for the valour of its rulers, the ferocity of its warriors - during British rule it was the last to sign a treaty with the British - and for the aesthetic sense represented by the architecture of the palaces and havelis of its successful merchants.

Founded in 1156 A.D. by the Rajput ruler Rawal Jaisal a Bhatti Rajput, and located on the western edge of the barren Thar Desert, Jaisalmer was India's gateway to the silk and spice routes and a flourishing trading outpost for 700 years. Camel caravans heading towards Arabia, Persia, and Central Asia, laden with silks and spices, would have seen Jaisalmer, shimmering in the desert haze much as it appears today.

Jaisalmer grew in strength (with territories annexed from the bordering districts of Bikaner and Jodhpur) and riches (by levying taxes on caravans passing through Jaisalmer to Delhi). Its location on the main trade route linking India to Egypt, Arabia, Persia, Africa and the West assured its prosperity, reflected in the magnificent havelis the townspeople built. Wood and sandstone mansions with intricate carvings can be seen elsewhere in Rajasthan, but nowhere are they quite as breathtaking.

Favorite thing: One of the greatest times spent on our camel safari, was the first hour in the morning riding the camels and the last hour in the late afternoon riding. It was a great time of reflection and peace. We had 10 days of this and did a lot of thinking about our travels and about life in general.