Our very first visit to India... At the airport of New Delhi we were met by a chauffeur and he drove us through Rajasthan. After visits to Jaipur, Pushkar, Udaipur and Jodhpur, we headed for Jaisalmer in the far western Thar Desert of Rajasthan. It was the second stop where we would stay two nights instead of one.

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The entrance into Nachana Haveli's outer courtyard from the street.
Note the intricate carvings and decorations.

And again I found that cashing rupees at the nearby ATM cash machine with my Visa card remained impossible. Sofar the only place my Visa card had worked was upon arrival at Delhi's Int'l Airport. Fortunately my 'Maestro' card delivered the required cash without any problem. Only at the next stop, Jaipur, would my Visa card become useful again in this respect.

A colourful tableau at a marketplace.

Jaisalmer is also known for their fine leather messenger bags, made from wild camels native to the area. This camel is as yet useful for other purposes, pulling tourists through town and perhaps the sandy desert.

The morning after our arrival we had a guide to our disposal, for a guided city walk. "BM" first brought us over to a little artificial lake, created for water storage but also for the Maharadja to enjoy worship and picnics!
BM also took us to a privat museum; I did not take photos there but I still regret not buying a particular book. Next was a visit to a Jain Temple. Our stroll through the interesting street of Jaisalmer continued while BM shared many a fact or funny tale. Maybe our best guide this trip but maybe also having to do that we felt quite at home and relaxed in Jaisalmer.

Jains have sustained the ancient Shraman or ascetic religion and have significantly influenced other religious, ethical, political and economic spheres in India.
Jains have an ancient tradition of scholarship and have the highest degree of literacy in India. Their libraries are the oldest in the country.

Meanwhile we admired the craftmanship of the carvings, in awe of the overwhelming sense of detail and unable to grasp the amount of religious stories behind the small figures we saw all around us.

Jaisalmer was one of the last states to sign a treaty with the British. During the British Raj, Jaisalmer was the seat of a princely state of the same name, ruled by the Bhati clan of Rajputs. The present descendant is Brijraj Singh.
Though the city is under the governance of the Government of India, a lot of welfare work is carried out by him and his family. The Royal Family still commands a lot of respect from the people.

Traditionally, the main source of income here were the levies on the caravans.
However, the glory of Jaisalmer faded when Bombay emerged as a port and the sea trade replaced the traditional land routes.
The partition of India in 1947 lead to closing of all the trade routes on the Indo-Pak border and rendered Jaisalmer a drought-prone desert backwater on the international border. Ironically, skirmishes between India and Pakistan gave Jaisalmer a strategic importance and made it serviceable as an army supply depot.

Caravans were used mainly in desert areas and throughout the Silk Road, where traveling in groups aided in defense against bandits as well as helped to improve economies of scale in trade.

The silk road is an extensive interconnected network of trade routes across the Asian continent connecting East, South, and Western Asia with the Mediterranean world, including North Africa and Europe.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silk_Road
Extending over 4,000 miles, the routes enabled people to transport trade goods, especially luxuries such as slaves, silk, satins and other fine fabrics, musk, other perfumes, spices and medicines, jewels, glassware and even rhubarb, while simultaneously serving as a conduit for the spread of knowledge, ideas, cultures, and diseases between different parts of the world (China, India, Asia Minor and the Mediterranean). Trade on the Silk Road was a significant factor in the development of the great civilizations of China, India, Egypt, Persia, Arabia, and Rome, and in several respects helped lay the foundations for the modern world.

Lonely Planet's Susan Derby reported on this hotel:
At this brilliant hotel in a 300-year-old haveli, restorations have maintained the original structure - admirably not adding any extra rooms to squeeze out extra profits. The result is almost cavernous rooms with magnificent character.

In this sandstone charmer, there are 14 rooms ranging widely in layout. Some feel almost cave-like, with curved ceilings. A couple of upper-floor suites have wee balconies; some rooms have tubs while others a standing shower.

Rooms feature lovely traditional carved furniture and old paintings and relics, but are air-cooled and comfy so you don't suffer the inconveniences of centuries past.
Around the grounds, you'll also see relics of Rajput's past, including a beautiful swinging bench in the lobby area and more eyebrow-raising bits like bearskins and wooden cannons.

Jaisalmer is full of interesting restaurant options, but hotel guests find themselves regularly heading upstairs: The hotel's Saffron Restaurant serves delicious food in its pleasant dining room and its expansive outdoor terrace offers lovely views. Come up here for at least a beverage in the evening when children from the nearby artist's village play traditional Rajasthani music. www.nachanahaveli.com

In terms of dining I can also recommend next door's "Trio", a tented rooftop restaurant which also featured live music and dancers when we dined there. The Lonely Planet guidebook warned about flies coming to dinner here too, but we had no such problem. Perhaps january isn't the month for flies?

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