Jaisalmer Warnings and Dangers

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.

Always see the sun with a safe solar filter specially manufactured for the purpose and do not use any film or dark coated plastic as a substitute like CD Rom disks or Floppy disks which are unsafe and can damage your eyes permanently!!! Even if the safe filters have any pinholes then reject such filters immediately and destroy and discard them beyond probable use!!! Do not risk your eyes for the sake of even a Venus transit or a view of the sun!!!

During the day the sun can be downright dangerous!!! When we stopped for our breaks we would start out the break in the shade but as you can see the group had fallen asleep and the sun moved and so did the shade so everyone was being baked in the sun. Sunblock would be a great idea and a widebrimed hat will add some protection.

Getting onto a camel is not like getting onto a horse!! LOL I know one girl that fell off the camel as it stood up and she fell right on her head! The camels legs have reverse knees or something like that. You will get on the camel while the camel is sitting down. Then is front-end will rise up only to be quickly followed by his back-end rising quite fast and this is the dangerous part as it will through you forward. You must hold on to something or be balanced and paying attention. If you make it up without falling off your good to go!! When the camel sits down the whole thing happens in reverse!! So be prepared...hahaha You will see what I'm talking about if you ride a camel for the first time.

Well, you can adjust to the hot temperatures during summertime quite well. But there is nothing you can do about sandstorms. And yes, they really look like in the movies. I always thought it is exaggerated in films, but hell no! We couldnt see our hands in front of our eyes when we got surprised by a storm. We finally made it back into our room, just to see that the sand gets pushed trough every tiny slot in the windows or doors. We put carpets under the doors but they got blown away by the wind, so we had to stand on them to avoid more sand coming in. Our luck was that both sandstorms we witnessed didnt take longer than an hour. But we were told that you can have bad luck with storms going on for hours and hours.......
Still it was a fascinating experience.

We read Lonely Planet and realized that there are two museums about Culture/Folklore in Jaisalmer. We went to Desert Culture Centre & Museum first and met the owner of this place.

It was a bit crappy but well worth 10 Rp entrance fee. The owner then suggested to check out his second museum too. We did it and paid again 10 Rp just to find out that he is showing the same stuff. Don't go to the second one, unless you want to have a great view to the fort from a small hill within the museum.

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Riding on a camel isn't the best thing in the world. We set off on our trek and only after about an hour, I asked to get off as my legs were aching with my inner thighs taking the brunt of the pain. We didn't have stirrups on our camels and so my legs just dangled and weren't supported (ask if yours have them as they are much better for you). The rocking motion of the camel isn't the best and you feel it on your bottom! I even tried riding side saddle but although this was better for my legs, the swaying motion still reeks havoc. I decided to walk behind for most of the trek which defeated the object. Bring a comfy cushion!

Might not seem like much of a warning but just to keep in mind. Although all towns that have the original old markets (the original ''inner town'' I suppose) have narrow lanes that all vehicles, people, and animals negotiate through, Jaisalmer's is different. It's old market section's lanes are not so narrow and not as crowded as other cities are, so people on scooters or motorcycles can drive like erratic little bees on the local bhang. No really.

Since you will mostly walk in this town, it's good to be weary of those guys on wheels. Getting a big nudge from them, even if you are stationary, is far more likely than most other concerns one might have.

Check carefully when booking a camel safari.I ve never heard any bad story,still I met a german girl that was told that loads of germans will be with her,and if it wasn t for me and my wife,that booked at last minute and we are not germans,she would have been alone 2 days with 3 camels and 2 indians.Still India is a safe country and the guide we had was an amazing person and a great cook as well,but I don t think you ll be confortable doing it alone.

Really is common sense. Don't eat dairy products from street vendors. Friends travelling with me (English and Indian) in India both ended up with food poisoning and a lot of time spent in bathrooms. Hey it is a quick way to loose that excess weight!