After our little jaunt to Jodhpur , here we are in Jaisalmer in the far west of India. Jaisalmer is a city known above all for its immense fort which stands in the middle of the desert as well as for its safaris which allow you to discover the Thar desert.
An eventful arrival at Jaisalmer station
Jaisalmer station is where I really almost went crazy, our group of 4 got jumped on by a few dozen tuktuks who all wanted to take us to a “cheap guesthouse” and other common nonsense. The human tide did not hesitate to touch us, which is not usual in India (normally we stay close to the tourist so as not to lose him but not touch him).
I FEEL I’M GOING TO DO A BAD
After having taken a few minutes to free everyone (there are no other words, we really had to yell at them and push them), we choose to leave with the only guy who had accosted us in a friendly way in the station. Basically he said to me “you will see outside… if you want I propose safaris away from the classic paths in the depths of Rajasthan, you don’t have to go with me but I won’t be too far either. ”. Finally his sales plan was still solid: “let the tourist want to kill the tuktuks and get him back in semi-depression”.
The guesthouse is free when you take a safari
When we arrive at the guesthouse we insist on paying for the guesthouse, indeed it is common not to pay the hotel if we go on a Safari with the hotel. They make so much money on safaris that accommodation costs next to nothing in comparison
In the end and after seeing some offers we leave with the guesthouse, its safari is really away from the classic paths and that’s what we want above all. He explains to us that suddenly we have to use more cars to reach the starting point and return, but that is the only way to avoid the crowds (we keep a certain logic).
The discovery of a very different fort for Rajasthan
So we have the afternoon left to discover the Jaisalmer fort, a classic of Rajasthan. Believe it or not, but I’m so dumb that I didn’t even take a full picture of the fort. Obviously I was really hot to take pictures of the panels but then the fort was zero
Jaisalmer Fort is open to everyone
First notable change from the forts we visited in Rajasthan , the fort is open to everyone. Obviously the interior is more messy Indian than magical Indian (not bad this sentence, it’s signed Verlaine). The interior of the fort sees a succession of stalls of all kinds and restaurants with “Great View”.
Well, I’m not going to be choosy with the Jaisalmer fort, it’s very pretty, but it’s a different style than the palaces of Maharajas. At least it gives me a photo that I love, but I can’t quite explain why. Neither perfect nor very beautiful, it touched my heart (this is not a sentence from the Bachelor on M6). The picture is below: