Greetings from Jaisalmer — The Golden CityPhwoar. What a place! This is the small and remote city of Jaisalmer, a sandstone settlement in the middle of the Thar Desert and once a medieval trading hub on the Silk Road. You can understand why both modern and bygone travellers fell in love with this place. It is the fantastical desert city that springs to mind when they think of ancient, exotic Arabia or Central Asia. Let's discuss some points of interest in this seemingly magical part of the world, shall we? The astonishing Jaisalmer Fort... This is the giant 800-year-old citadel that sits at the heart of the city. It has been dubbed one of the world’s oldest “living forts” and has a resident population of around 4,000 people. I even managed to stay at a guesthouse inside the fort for the price of an Aussie coffee a night. It was worth it for the terrible plumbing and non-existent insulation. My room was effectively a medieval stone cell and I loved it. A bit of male pampering... To get here, I took an exhausting overnight train ride from Jodhpur. To recover properly, there was only one logical course of action: bargain bin male pampering, Bhārat style. There’s actually a bit of a cottage industry on YouTube of people filming themselves getting old school, hole-in-the-wall Indian barbershop treatments like this. So why not get a snippet of the action? At one point the barber put on what I can only describe as a video game 'power fist' and/or 'vibro-weapon' and started to seismically attack my scalp. The best and/or worst and/or strangest part was when he did a little earthquake rub right down my ear canal. Ah, the things I do for worldly experiences. The (in)famous Bhang Shop of Jaisalmer... Ah, yes. The notorious government authorised Bhang Shop at the foot of Jaisalmer Fort that was visited by none other than Anthony Bourdain when he filmed part of his Rajasthan episode in Jaisalmer. I had to, uh, briefly walk past it to take a quick photo, right? The two brothers who run this joint (sorry) have completely perfected their lines for the amusement of tourists. In no way whatsoever is this an authentic local establishment. When I said I was from Australia, Surya and his brother ‘Dr. Bhang’ (yep) told me how much they admired Nimbin. When they learnt I might be doing a desert safari, they suggested a pack of their special cookies to turn my camel ride into a “magic carpet ride”. And in a deep and serious voice, Surya informed me that “the desert is pain and pleasure. Bhang is a painkiller so the desert becomes only pleasure.” Sounds legit to me, mate. The cultural and religious reasons behind cannabis consumption in India is fascinating. Academically fascinating. But let me emphasise the Glomar response: I can neither confirm nor deny anything. A camel safari in the Thar Desert... During my time here, I did a camel safari in the Great Indian Desert topped off by a magnificent sunset view. If my glutes could’ve handled it, I would’ve ridden my dromedary bad boy right across the Pakistani border. Alas, not my principle steed of choice. And also, these photos are deceptive! The Thar Desert has some small dunes for sure, but it is nothing like the endless rolling sands of the Sahara. Much of the landscape is quite rocky, with plenty of vegetation and clusters of human infrastructure. I know that I look very happy in some of these photos (and I mostly was). But behind the smiles for the camera, I never suspended my critical thinking. Jaisalmer is filled with dodgy bargain bin camel tours and I did my research to make sure I went with a good company. Even so, I was constantly alert to anything feeling off. Were the camels healthy? Hard to say given the lack of familiarity most westerners have with these animals. Was it okay that the person leading my camel was about the age of ten? This potentially gets into thorny questions of local community norms and the opportunity costs for labour vs. schooling in developing economies. I am, very often, what the writer Malcolm Gladwell calls “the holy fool”. High threat detection, easily suspicious. If it takes the average person five minutes to drop their guard in a new situation, I’d happily take fifteen. Not the best way to end a segment about a beautiful desert safari (and truly, I did enjoy myself) but I thought these points were worth sharing. I’m not a total hack fraud. Not yet.
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AuthorMing is an economist, traveller, and creative writer from Melbourne, Australia. He’s a nebulous collection of particles on the lookout for a good corner to sit with a book and a cup of coffee. Archives
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