Once we got to the train station, we had already arranged a pick up to the hotel. Unfortunately, the hotel had already given all their good rooms to the customers that were going on the desert safari. We hadn’t made any arrangements to do the desert safari, but we were planning to do it. We just wanted to do our own research once we got to Jaisalmer. So we didn’t take any rooms at the hotel that we had arranged a pickup with.
While we were walking around looking for a hotel, we came across the Dutch couple that had asked us for a nearest ATM location in Jodhpur. We stopped and asked them what place they were staying at and if they liked the place. They said they were staying at Deepak Guesthouse and they liked it very much. I still went around and looked at many places to stay at and finally decided to stay at Deepak Guesthouse. The room was much better than most places I saw and their rate was very reasonable as well (Rs.500/night).
The hotel was inside the fort and this fort happens to be the only living fort in the world. So we had to experience staying inside the fort. We had a nice balcony in our room with beautiful view overlooking the Jaisalmer city. The hotel also had a lovely rooftop restaurant. They made kickass masala chai & awesome grilled cheese garlic sandwich. Gin & I would spend hours everyday sipping some good chai and enjoying the view.
Jaisalmer was much more than I had expected it to be. In just a day, it had become my favorite city we’d visited so far in India. There wasn’t much to do Jaisalmer, but it was very relaxing and just being in the fort was awesome. Going through the narrow streets of the fort where you can either ride a bicycle, a motorcycle or just walk made it a lot of fun. We preferred walking. There was also a big market outside the fort where you can do tons of shopping. You could buy real camel leather shoes, bags, sandals, etc. We did a fair bit of shopping while we were there.
The restaurants here were also really good. They were a bit pricier than other places we’ve been to, but the food was worth paying the extra money. After we came back from dinner one night, we saw the Dutch couple again and started chatting with them. Their names were Jeroen & Dyonne. They had been traveling for 8 months when we met them. They told us about their travel experience and we told them about our travel experience. They were really a nice couple. It was already getting late so we decided to meet for breakfast the next morning. After breakfast we all went to see the Jain temples, which were spectacular.
The following morning we told them to try the masala chai at the rooftop restaurant. I also told Jeroen to try the grilled cheese garlic sandwich. They certainly enjoyed the masala chai a lot & Jeroen loved his sandwich. While were hanging out in the restaurant, enjoying the beautiful view, we started noticing a bunch of fighter planes taking off from the near by Indian Air force base. It was a bit alarming since we were only 200 kilometers from the Pakistan border. I knew the tensions between the two countries were high because of the Mumbai terrorist attack and that there was a real possibility of a war breaking out between the two countries. After the 13th fighter plane took off, I decided to call my dad and see if there was anything in the news about a war starting between the two countries. Luckily, my father’s response was negative and we continued sipping tea and enjoying the company of Jeroen & Dyonne.
Since neither Jeroen nor Dyonne had tried different Indian cuisines in India, we decided to take them to a nice restaurant. I did all the ordering as usual. I couldn’t believe that Dyonee had been ordering Paneer Butter Masala everyday for meals because she was too scared to try something different. She did have a very weak stomach. Jeroen on the other hand was an adventurous eater. He tried everything we ordered and didn’t mind trying different things. At the end we all enjoyed the food very much. Since they were leaving Jaisalmer the following day, we decided to have lunch together. This time we ordered Indian Chinese. Jeroen loved the food and so did Dyonne, but it was a bit too spicy for her. After the meal, they had to get ready to leave and we took some snaps and exchanged contact information. They both invited us to go to the Netherlands and visit them someday. We’re both looking forward to seeing them in Holland or somewhere else in the world.
We were hanging out often with Dyonne and Jeroen while we were in Jaisalmer and their departure made us sad. Fortunately, we had something exciting to look forward to: we were to head out for the desert safari the following afternoon. Gin & I were really looking forward to the deseret safari.
One thing is for sure; good company makes a place stand out no matter where in the world you are. We were glad to have such an excellent company of Dyonne & Jeroen.
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