Jaisalmer Fort and the Camel trek

Today was an excellent day of discovery.  We saw and learned many things about the history of Jaisalmer and the region and got to experience my first camel trek.  Both were great.  Here's the Reader's Digest version:

We met up with our guide for the Fort whose told us his nickname was Salut, as it was easier to remember than his real name.  He explained that Jaisalmer was an important city as it was on the silk route.  It fell onto harder times when the British came to rule as the trade became water based through port towns.  Now Jaisalmer is a small town of about 100,000 people.

He took us to Gadhisar Lake which was apparently man made a few centuries ago presumably from wells and from the summer monsoons.  It is now fed by water from the Indira Gandhi Canal, a huge waterway built in 1960 to bring water to the desert area of Rajasthan to improve the area's economy.  We were told that the monsoon rains raise the level of the water we saw by another 12 feet which is a huge amount considering the size of the lake.  The lake takes you by surprise because the entire region from Bikenar to here is very arid.  

To enter the lake you pass under the Tilon ki Poi Gateway, an impressive two storey building.  The story goes that it was built by a cortesean who was very rich.  There was some controversy about the cortesean gifting such a fine building to the ruler so there was some discussion about tearing it down.  She ended up putting a mosque on the top (it's that central square portion) and because it became a sacred space, the building couldn't be torn down.

The lake was stocked with catfish.  We saw some people throwing in bread which resulted in a fish feeding frenzy.  

From the lake we proceeded to the Fort.  This is the view of the Fort from the lake.  It's a huge place that was started in 1156 and is built upon a mound of sand.  The Fort rises 250 feet from the desert floor.  It has about 5000 inhabitants (according to Salut, 3000 people if you believe the Lonely Planet guidebook) living within its walls.  All seem to be focused on the tourist trade, selling trinkets, clothing, food, and other services.  The fort is one of two main things that tourists come to see in Jaisalmer.  

Parts of the Fort was damaged in two earthquakes in 2006 and 2011, but the vast majority of the structure is still intact.  At some point piped water was brought to the Fort and combined with the growth in number of inhabitants which as escalated from maybe 300 in olden days and an ancient plumbing system that couldn't keep up with the amount of waste water, a rapid deterioration in the sand base resulted.  Parts of the exterior walls (and they're huge) collapsed and other parts were threatening to do the same.  The government stepped in and fixed many parts of the outer wall.  They had said that the residents should leave the interior in order to completely fix the problem, but the residents have balked at this.  

The picture shows the first level of the exterior walls.  The smooth part has been repaired, the rear portion is the original.  

The interior is a mini city with temples, havelis (homes), stores, hotels and restaurants.  The architecture is stunning.  He's a couple of quick examples of the workmanship.  The facades are all carved from the yellow sandstone quarried nearby.  

So many more sights:  narrow cobblestones streets, the market, temples--all too much to comment here.  Sorry.  

We had a late lunch and for the first time ordered just the right amount of food instead of the army sized meals we were ordering.  We then drove about 40 kms to the camel safari location at Sam Sand Dunes.  Camels are the second thing that tourists do in Jaisalmer.  Once on our camels we rode into the dunes and stopped for a little while to view the sunset.  The ride was great fun although the seats weren't that comfortable.  

 

The dunes are unfortunately filling up with trash as all of India uses their country as a public trash can.  Wrappers, plastic bottles, glass beer bottles, plastic bags, etc. can be seen everywhere in India and the dunes are unfortunately no exception.  I have only noticed one place that has a trash container and that was in Jaisalmer Fort.  

Then back on our camels to the camp area to see some traditional music and dance.  I didn't think the music was well done but maybe it was the sound system.  The dancing was OK; our driver, Amrik said he knew of another dance performance in a future city that he might be able to arrange.  Dinner was included, so we ate that quickly and went home to wash away all that sand.