Yesterday we trekked up the hill to visit the "sand fort" of Jaiselmer. This fort is different from the ones we have visited so far as it is built on a sandstone hill the overlooks the town as the others that we have seen tend to be buried in the urban sprawl of centuries. It is also one of two forts in India in which people continue to live. There are 5,000 inhabitants living in the narrow alleys of the "sand fort".
I think that I have already explained that I collected Indian stamps back in the 1970s, even doing a display of early stamps issued by Indian states, and was keenly interested in see samples of these stamps in India. I had already been disappointed in visits to museums in post offices in Delhi and Jaipur as their displays started in 1947 and had nothing prior to that date. But, here there was to be a display of the very stamps in which I was interested! Unfortunately, it was closed!
So, we saw the usual displays of spectacular examples of excessive spending by the old princes of India.
I did get a nice picture of my favourite artist!
In the afternoon we drove out in the desert about 50km South of Jaiselmer to a small village for a camel safari. Despite our trepidation, this ended up an enjoyable experience. The safari in our case was really a three hour walk up into the dunes, with an hour sitting and watching the sun set into the perpetual haze that clings to the Indian horizon. It will take a few days for these old legs to recover. The tricky part to camel riding (now that I am an expert?) is the dismount. The camel has to get from standing to lying down, and does this by folding its front legs first. This gives a sudden extreme forward tilt to the riding surface which requires the rider to lean further back than seems possible. Fortunately, the rear of the animal collapses quickly before you are pitched over the animal's head.
My favourite camel!
The social activities and dinner of Rajastani desert food made the entire experience fun. Now I can scratch camel ride off the old bucket list.
Jim
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