Sandfort

Grr.. We arrived at 5:30am after sleeping above a fat man with a snoring problem so not much sleep and to top it off our hostel didn't pick us up, as promised. Our taxi driver did a great job of waking half the neighbourhood to find our hostel and then woke the guys, who were supposed to collect us, with such force that they offered us their blankets on the floor until our room was ready. I got some sleep and was awoken by James saying 'Emily, Emily do you want chai?' I opened my eyes and looked up to see three guys looking down at me smiling! It was quite disconcerting but I rolled over and saw James with a glass (mugs haven't made it to India yet!) of hot chai and I remembered how we ended up on the floor in the foyer! The hostel was one of the swankiest we've stayed in and the owner was rather handsome so James was happy! We booked ourselves on a camel safari with an American foursome and spent most of the first day catching up on sleep.

I have used the next blog to write about the camel safari so this is only about our time in Jaisalmer. We ate at our rooftop restaurant on most evenings only treating ourselves to a swanky meat meal in the fort walls on one occasion. We were also drawn to our hotel restaurant because of Bollywood. They played a film every night but once was enough for James! I loved it, but maybe not every evening. We explored the fort palace, Jain temples and the ornate Haveli's. We wandered around the narrow streets calling 'namaste' to all the friendly locals, feeding/stroking cute puppies and cows left over chapati and taking photos of the murals on the houses.

A huge weight was lifted from our shoulders when we got our passports delivered. We were on our way back from a wander and Ashraf, the handsome owner, said we had just missed a delivery from India Post. Luckily he knows everyone in Jaisalmer, so he rang the postman and took us on a walk to meet him. There was only one package and it was addressed to James so I started to worry. James signed for the package and Ashraf ripped it open... all four of our passports were there-yes! Now, to organise our visa transfer.

Jaisalmer is a great city with its impressive fort rising from the city like a giant sandcastle. The people here are friendly and it has been a relaxing and enjoyable few days.