Thursday - Feb. 22, 2007

This is our hotel in Jaisalmer - the Heritage Inn. We had hardly seen much of it when we arrived bleary-eyed the night before, so it was most pleasant to see the grounds in the daylight. I was up early, and while sitting in the darkness of our room, in the distance, I heard a trumpeter playing REVEILLE - to awaken the soldiers stationed at a nearby military base. I checked the time on my mobile phone and it was precisely O-SIX HUNDRED HOURS! Exactly one hour later, from a different direction, I heard another rendition of Reveille played by another trumpeter - I guess those are the late risers! We got up and headed over to the dining building in the center of the courtyard, and had a substantial breakfast. While walking back to our room, to gather cameras and extra batteries, the relatively quiet din was shattered by a fighter jet cruising overhead (and not that far overhead, I might add) and then breaking the sound barrier. The Indian Air Force was conducting its daily exercises, and several such flights occurred in the next few hours. I guess I should have felt relieved that there was a substantial border patrol force stationed in Jaisalmer. I also had a tinge of concern, but that passed quickly.

The group gathered in the lobby of the hotel, where we were introduced to Akram Ali, who would serve as our guide for that day and the next. Darlene was feeling a bit under the weather, and so decided to remain at the hotel and attempt to quiet her "Delhi belly" symptoms. We were confident that Darlene was in good hands, particularly in the hands of Mr. Singh, the proprietor of the Paradise Shopping complex on the hotel grounds! Our driver and conductor met us under the port-cochere. We boarded our coach and were off to the first sights - those at a man made lake in Jaisalmer. Gadsisar Lake, was constructed in 1367, and had served as the water supply for the area for centuries. The gate where Akram took us to first view the lake, is supposed to have been part of a house built by a courtesan ( prostitute) and when the Mogul heard of this, he ordered the gate and the house to be torn down. The courtesan heard about this, and quickly had part of it dedicated as a temple, thereby rendering the Mogul's demands impotent, as a temple could never be destroyed, at least not by civil order. The view from the gate is quite spectacular, and one looks out upon the lake with various "floating castles" for the members of the royal family to enjoy the lake. From the height of the courtesan gate, we looked below to see a few small boats - similar to the gondolas of Venice.

From the top of the gate, we then descended and walked around to the other side, to see a small monument to a member of the royal family from ages previous, which was shielded by a type of gazebo. We looked down into the water below and saw the surface roiling - evidently there are some pretty good sized catfish in the lake, and we would soon be feeding bread to them. The water went from rippling to a full boil in seconds! The catfish were not the most attractive looking fish, and certainly did not give anyone an appetite for lunch which would come in a few hours. From this vantage point, we then walked back down the path, and returned to our bus. We left this area and drove into the city, where we would be visiting the fortress which comprised the old part of the city. Akram explained to us that parts of the fort are actually sinking, due not to the heavy rains, but rather because there are so many people living within the fort - and some of the castles within the fortress have been converted into small hotels - in his words, "the fortress is being destroyed because too many people are flushing toilets and the water has to go somewhere and it is causing the undermining of the walls of the fortress." We could see various points in the walls which were being undermined, as well as sections of the walls which have been restored - still using no mortar, but rather constructed dry-stone style. Where parts of India boast red sandstone, Jaisalmer almost glows in the sunlight, with yellow sandstone. Akram's grandfather, father and one of his brothers all have been in the profession of building, using this sandstone, and he proudly showed us a section of wall that has been restored by his grandfather.



One can see, looking closely, how the moisture is seeping through the walls of the fortress, down at the bottom. Akram, although his livelihood depends upon tourism - the major revenue generator in the area - he is hopeful that no more hotels be allowed within the walled city, and furthermore that the ones which are already there are terminated, so the city remains for another thousand years. We entered the fortress, and Akram explained there are three gates into the inner part of the city - and each gate takes a different turn. Such a maze would be confusing to elephants, and added extra protection against attack, because the elephants would encounter difficulties making first a right turn and then a left and then a right turn again. The Ganesh gate had been repaired, and done so at night. It was obvious to see the three crucial errors made in this reconstruction - not the least of which was the fact that the doors did not meet at the bottom, nor did they close all the way to the ground. As we wandered up through the Ganesh gate, we came across what is termed the FIRST CYBER CAFE IN THE WORLD - over four hundred years old! Well the structure may be over four hundred years old, but...

We proceeded through the third gate and then walked through different sections of the walled city. We visited a Jain temple - one of the most beautiful around - where we could actually take photographs of the statuary, which we could not do at the Jain temple near Ranakpur. There are obviously a great many shops and other points of interest within the city walls, and we would often stray a bit to follow a path to a different doorway or an colorful shop entrance, or to observe the produce sellers within the market area.
Since our lunch was included in our accommodations, we returned to our hotel - after climbing to the roof of one of the castle-hotels, to look over the view of the city below - with Akram pointing out the Havelis we would be visiting that afternoon. He suggested that we meet again at 3:00, but we agreed upon 2:00, as we wanted to see as much of the city as possible, and have an opportunity to do a bit of shopping. When we returned to the hotel, Jo checked on Darlene, and she seemed to have recovered enough to enjoy a massage during the morning, and to find time for some shopping at the Paradise Shopping complex with Mr. Singh.







Following lunch, and a short respite at poolside, we returned to the lobby, met Akram and our driver and conductor, and left for the city again. There was one person in particular I wanted to meet - Sarwar Khan. His family has been in this region for generations, and a friend of a friend told me about him. He has a dance troupe, and a cultural museum within Jaisalmer, near one of the Havelis, and she had asked me to take some things to him, all the way from Maine. About eighteen months ago, Sarwar had been sponsored to come to the United States, where he and his troupe, played music and danced at the Smithsonian Museum, as well as several other venues, including the Portland (Maine) Museum of Art. They even visited the world-famous L.L. Bean store in Freeport! I asked Akram if he knew of this gentleman, telling him that his Cultural Center was located not too far from Patwon-ki-Haveli. I told him a bit more, and he asked, "Is Sarwar the man with the blule eyes?" "How did you know?" I replied. Evidently, Sarwar is fairly well known. Akram said he knew OF him, but had never met him. I had Sarwar's mobile phone number, so we connected and agreed to meet later in the day - perhaps in the evening. In the meanwhile, we visited several havelis - these are residences, many still inhabited by the same families as those who built them - owned by once-wealthy traders and merchants, with very elaborate facades. At the present time, quite a few of the havelis are occupied as residences in the rear or upper levels, while providing shopping experiences for the tourists on the front and lower levels. Again, we visited a number of these shops, and then Akram took us to Patwon-ki-Haveli. There is a courtyard opposite the entrance, which was created by order of former Prime Minister Indira Ghandi. She had visited Jaisalmer, and noted that it was difficult for anyone to drink in the beauty of the facade, and so the government purchased the building directly across the street, razed it, creating a park-like area, and paid for the construction of a new home for the residents of the building that had been torn down.



We did some jewelry shopping at DD's Shop - he was most genial and had some wonderful antique pieces in silver and gold. Time passed easily and before we knew it, we had reached 7:00 p.m. and then some. I telephoned Sarwar and we agreed to meet up with him at his museum. He has a collection of fossils from the area, as well as paintings he has created representing many different faiths, including Muslim, Hindu, Bhuddism, Christianity, Judiasm, etc. Throughout the building are collections of photographs, as well as decorations created by the women who are receiving training there. These decorations can be used for wall hanging, as well as for place mats or coasters and are made from folding of candy wrappers. The children go out into the streets, collect the wrappers and bring them back to the center where the women wash them and flatten them, and then fold them into wonderfully colorful rounds, and even a ladies purse with handles. We were all most impressed to learn what Sarwar is trying to create at this location, and in helping to preserve his culture and heritage. The biggest treat, however, was when Sarwar invited us to go upstairs and to sit on the floor and listen to the wonderful music performed by Sarwar and his troupe of musicians. The experience was extraordinary and one each of us felt very honored to have. I promised to bring the gifts sent with me by Sarwar's friend and then we parted company, returned to our coach and returned to the hotel for a very late dinner. Darlene was waiting for us to arrive back at the hotel, and we enjoyed sharing our experiences from the day - topped off by an incredible evening. For more information about this wonderful center, visit: http://www.folkartsrajasthan.org/ You will be pleased and amazed to learn of this wonderful venture and how you can become a part of it.