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We woke up at 6:30 a.m., took nice showers, and could hear the birds from our room. The wildlife here was fantastic. We hadn't heard such a natural cacophony since we were in a tented camp in Tanzania. The electricity flickered on and off several times as we got ready for the day, but it always came back on.
At 7:45, we headed outside. The early morning sunlight was beautiful on the old temple in our courtyard. Parakeets were chirping and flying from tree to tree. They bathed in vessels full of water and rose petals. We went over first thing to check on the collared scops owl. He was still there in the knot of the tree, but was only marginally easier to see in the sunlight. He really is camouflaged well. We walked over to the patio overlooking the lake. We could see adult and baby wild boars on the opposite shore. Turtles swam up next to the wall. Mukul appeared and pointed out a vibrantly colored bird called the Indian roller. He also pointed out some damoiselle cranes in the water. Then we all went over to the owl tree. A parakeet was harassing the owl and we actually saw the owl turn its head and blink. Movement made it much easier to recognize. Mukul felt vindicated. We wish we had more time here to fully appreciate the sprawling grounds of this majestic place. The hotel felt empty; it was obviously built to accommodate more guests than were here at present. Tet it was fully staffed. There were emplyees everywhere just waiting to fulfill your every request. It felt like we had the place to ourselves. Last ight during the folk dance performance, we had witnessed an employee washing windows and polishing every surface of one of the common areas, making them spotless. There definitely seemed to be more employees than were suatainable at this level of occupancy. We went in to the dining room for the breakfast buffet. We loaded our plates with papaya, pineapple, potato roastie, bhaji, and fresh poori. The staff were fantastic and brought fresh sweet lime juice and fresh piping hot poori to the table. We checked out at the front desk and Mukul showed me a tawny eagle soaring over the water. We were on the road by 9:45. It was 300 km to Jaisalmer, where we would be spending the night. We passed a truck lying on its side and bunches of green bananas spilled out across the road. We stopped at a gas station, filled up, and then continued on our way. Soon a motorbike cut us off and tried to force us to stop. It was the gas station attendant. He claimed that Rajendra gave him a possibly counterfeit bill. Rajendra wasn't even sure if he had given him that bill, and told the guy the proper way to have handled it would have been to have said something at the time. But in order to avoid further trouble, Rajendra exchanged the bill for him. It was a bit off-putting, but Rajendra and Mukul handled it very professionally. We passed women and children sharing a meal on the side of the road. Their vibrantly colored veils contrasted the beige sand of the surrounding landscape. We took a slight detour to try to see some damoiselle cranes. Rajendra stopped the car and we got out and walked up a little hill. Two boys with a bicycle walked past, speaking French. We got to the top of the hill from which we should have been able to see water, but it was all dried up. Mukul was concerened because the cranes migrate through here and need the water. Hopefully it won't harm their migratory pattern. We were glad that we had seen some of the cranes at the Gajner Palace this morning, so we at least knew that there were some around. We walked back to the car and were once again on our way. Mukul photographed two young women walking down the street carrying bowls on their heads near the village of Phalathi. One woman was wearing a red and pink tunic and skirt. The other was dressed from head to toe in yellow, and had a yellow veil covering her face. Her clothing had gold sequin accents. Mukul explained that within their cultures, daughters-in-law must be veiled when living with her husband's family. The highway was nicely paved and we drove for miles through the sandy desert. If you were to drive off the road, you would be driving in sand. We passed some large windmills, as well as fields of castor plants, millet, and pearl millet. We stopped at a Midway rest area, which contains a restaurant, gift shop, and public rest room. We sat at a table and enjoyed orange soda over a nice chat with Mukul. Mukul used my camera to take a great picture of an elderly man with a henna-dyed beard, charcoal around his eyes, and a lavender turban as we exited. Soon after we were back on the road, we passed a lone black buck i the scrub brush by the side of the road. You always needed to keep an eye out for wildlife, even in some of the harshest landscape. As we drove, Rajendra pointed out a bunch of shoes on the side of the road. We were told that they were shed by pilgrims on their way to the Ram Deora Shrine barefoot. Rajendra had never been to the temple, and he and Mukul decided to take us there. We parked the car and walked into a corrugated-roofed corridor with shopping stalls on either side. The shops sold all kinds of colorful items, including bangle bracelets, plastic toys, necklaces, flowers, decorated horse figures, and sugar balls. Pilgrims buy these items and leave them as offerings at the shrine. We browsed around and Mukul bought some beaded necklaces for us to give to the girls in Guatemala "with love". He's always so thoughtful! Mukul was taking photos of women in vibrant outfits when a man with a toddler called him over to take their picture. Mukul took the photo, and then showed it to them. The baby girl laughed. Mukul then took a photo of a mother and a wide eyed baby. The baby's eyes were lined in dark charcoal, as defense against the evil eye. The mom wasn't thrilled about getting her photo taken, but her friend was very excited and subsequently posed with her baby. She then extended her baby’s hand to shake hands with us. A teenaged girl was sitting cross-legged on the ground surrounded by piles of shoes. We took ours off and left them in her care as we entered the shrine. The shrine itself was bedecked with marigolds, decorated horse figurines, and all types of offerings. A girl asked Craig his name and where we were from. Men, women, and children all seemed very interested in us, and stared at us. Craig noticed some of the girls chattering about my curly hair. It was obvious that this place did not receive a lot of foreign visitors. They were just as interested in us as we were in them. It was so authentic, alive, vibrant, and colorful - a kaleidoscope of colors. People going about their business without pretense. Real interactions. Amazing! This spontaneous stop, which hadn't even been on the itinerary, became one of the highlights of the trip for us because of our interactions with the people. As we pulled away in the car, pilgrims looked at us through open bus windows. Next we went to Pokhran. They make terra cotta here and were selling fireworks for Diwali. Pokhran gained notoriety as the site of Indian nuclear testing in May of 1998. We went to Pokhran Fort, which was built in the 14th century. The present Thakur Nagendra Singh Pokaran and his wife Thakurani Yashwant Kumari Pokaran have restored certain parts of the fort and turned them into a hotel and restaurant. Other parts of the fort were not so well restored and had kind of a crumbling beauty to them. The fort was mostly built of red sandstone, but there were some white marble accents as well. We inspected the wall murals of maharajas riding elephants, royal consorts, and Ganesh. The fort is situated on an ancient trade route extending to Persia. They had a small museum with exhibits of cannonballs, litters, camel saddles, locks & keys, weapons, and even a primitive air conditioning system from British colonial days. Old-time cannons poked out of the walls. We went into their restaurant and Mukul was disappointed that they didn't have lassi on the menu. So we ordered tea with our daily snack of fritters. We were brought cups of hot water and Taj Mahal brand teabags. Mukul was not impressed. Tea bags are clearly a no-no in this land where such quality tea is grown. After our lunch, we got back on the road to Jaisalmer. We passed a chinkara (deer) and took a photo of it. We also passed military housing for border patrols. We saw huge wind farms operated by Suzlon. Mukul said that wind power is a popular investment for Bollywood actors, because it is tax free as an alternative energy source. As we arrived in Jaisalmer, we stopped at the Bada Bagh Cenotaphs, chattris which were memorials of deceased maharajas of Jaisalmer. The first cenotaph was commissioned by the son of Jai Singh II after his father's death in the early 16th century. More were added, constructed in memory of other maharajas as time went on. The late afternoon light was fantastic and highlighted some of the carvings in the golden sandstone. The chattries were on a background of a bright blue sky. We saw many of what looked to us like gravestones bearing images of women. These were tributes to the consorts of the maharajas, who committed sati, jumping onto their husbands' funeral pyres. Next Rajendra drove us to Sunset Point. where there is a grouping of cenotaphs of Brahmans. Groups of tourists were starting to gather here in anticipation of the sunset. There was a great view of Jaisalmer Fort in the distance. We were amazed at its large scale. It was truly a fortified, self-contained medieval city. Craig said that the city walls looked like teeth protruding from gums, the way that the walls just sort of rose up from the sand. We sat on a stone wall and looked from the glowing Jaisalmer Fort to the cenotaphs as the golden late afternoon sun showcased them. Mukul stacked a couple of stones to help me climb up onto the wall since I was wearing a long skirt. Though there were many tourists around, most of them congregated at the cenotaphs, so our immediate area wasn't very crowded. A French couple spoke to Mukul in French as Craig and I got lost in the exotic scenery. The orange sun disappeared before reaching the horizon, and the light that it cast onto the man-made monuments was impressive. As twilight fell, we, along with the rest of the crowd, walked along the path back to the parking lot. We passed people selling souvenirs, including one man who had beautiful peacock feather fans. A guide pointed out some milkweed plants to his tourists who had never seen it before. It caused us to think that we haven't come across much milkweed lately at home. Rajendra then drove us to the Gorbandh Palace Hotel. The hotel was named after the camel harness which women embellish and decorate for their husbands. The lobby was overlooked by balconies with jali screens. Large crystal chandeliers hung from the ceiling. A large group of tourists arrived when we did, and we wondered if there would be a wait to check in. But they had enough staff to accommodate everyone, and we were served right away. We were greeted with marigold leis and a drink made out of a sweet grass. We checked in and were led past several courtyards and an outdoor pool to room 102. The long "hallways" were open to the outside air, and we had to be careful not to let mosquitoes into the room. The room was quite nice, with a king sized bed, flat screen TV, a small desk, 2 chairs and a small table. Above the bed hung a drawing of the walls and turrets of Jaisalmer Fort. The modern bathroom had a vessel sink and a nice shower. There was a mysterious difficult-to-turn knob on the bathroom wall which seemed to turn on all of the water for the entire bathroom. We took quick showers, and before Craig could even finish dressing, a man came to the room for turndown service. We met Mukul in the dining room at 7:30 for dinner. The dining room was quite large and had nice architectural elements such as scalloped sandstone archways and hard wood floors. A past student of Mukul's (he teaches three day workshops for guide trainees) came over to greet him. He said very flattering things, which caused Mukul to be embarrassed. We had paneer ka sula as an appetizer. I got paneer makhani as my meal (I am absolutely crazy about paneer, a type of curd cheese, and ate it at every opportunity). Craig ordered the "non-veg" gorbandh kebab platter (like last night's entree, this was again a platter of mutton, chicken, and fish). Mukul got potatoes stuffed with mints and spices and cheese. We had a taste of it and it was quite delicious. We all shared an order of cheese naan. The boys split a couple of beers and I had a sweet lime soda. Mukul was letting his hair down a bit at dinner and even cracked wise a few times. We had fun. Muzak of "Wonderful Tonight" and "To Sir With Love" played while we were eating. After dinner, Mukul retired to his room. Craig and I went outside to watch Rajasthani Folk Art do a music, dance, and marionette program. Guests were seated in chairs on the outdoor marble patio watching a puppeteer move a marionette which looked like a Rajasthani man in tradfitional dress. He made his marionette dance while he punctuated the music with shrill whistles. He was able to get a lot of movement and performance out of a very simple puppet made of wood and decorated with fabric and paint. THis particular marionette had a detachable head, which he detached and levitated while the body continued to dance. A member of the troupe was sitting off to the side, with lines of male and female marionettes lying on the grass, ready to be purchased by tourists. The puppeteer changed to a female puppet in sparkly pink sequins. A band played drums, harmonium, and khartal (wooden percussion clappers). Women in elaborate dress danced while balancing stacks of pots on their heads. As one woman did this, she stepped on perpendicular sword blades in her bare feet. We remembered back to Junagarh Fort when we had seen the board of upright spikes that people stand on. This was a similar feat which was happening right in front of us. Then she stomped up and down in her bare feet onto aluminum cans. Another woman danced while balancing a flaming urn on her head. They recruited audience members to dance, and although a few were good sports, the vast majority refused. I enjoy dancing and I also like to play along and participate in other cultures, so I danced. The performance ended at 10 o’clock. The hotel manager introduced himself to us and asked if we were enjoying our stay in India. He was very friendy and hospitable, and we chatted with him for a moment. After that, we headed back to the room. I had a lot to write in the journal, so I stayed up an extra 45 minutes writing before drifting off to sleep. View Larger Map |
            Rajasthani folk dancer and musicians at Gorbandh Palace (20 second clip) Rajasthani folk dancer and musicians at Gorbandh Palace (20 second clip) Rajasthani folk dancer and musicians at Gorbandh Palace (20 second clip) 
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