Travel Expedition: Jaisalmer

On Wednesday, we traveled to Jaisalmer, which was the “leisure” part of our trip. We arrived at our campsite in late afternoon, had a little while to relax, and then it was time for camel rides! While it was a “touristy” thing to do, you can pass up the chance to ride a camel through the Thar Desert at sunset! Each camel had two people on it, and we rode into the desert for about an hour. Right at sunset, we “pulled over’ and were able to listen to some traditional music for awhile. When we returned back to our site, there was an absolutely delicious meal waiting for us, and we ate outside under the stars. I wish you all could have seen the sky; it was so beautiful and completely unreal! The only way to describe it is to say that the sky looked exactly like it should, like the nighttime skies in posters and murals.

The next morning, we left for the actual city of Jaislamer, and it was the most relaxing day of the trip. We had the whole day free, so I and a few of the other girls got lunch at a local restaurant, and headed toward the fort. I know it must seem like I’ve visited a ton of forts, and I kind of have, but this one was special because about 30% of the population live in it-it's not just a historic monument for tourists. We wondered around the fort for hours, and took some pictures at the top (I’ve included one here), then walked back down to the city, stopping at little sweet shops and fabric stores along the way. After a brief nap in the hotel, we headed back out to a wonderful rooftop restaurant and spent quite a while there just talking and eating. All in all, the city was a needed “mental break” from all of the things we’d seen so far, and I really enjoyed the leisurely pace of this leg of the trip.