Travel Tales

After a very good night's sleep, we welcomed the new day with some healthy breakfast -- bread, omelette, and freshly sliced fruits. On the first two days our itinerary was pretty packed and it was going to be no different on the third day as well. Being our last day in Jaisalmer we had quite a few things to tick off from our list.  Of course the first destination was the fort. Since our hotel was pretty near we decided to walk it, probably a wrong decision. The sun was blazing down, and about midway from the fort we were looking for a ride to the fort. However, nothing was available and we had to continue on foot. Close to the fort there was some respite as the ramparts cast a shadow on the street. The unique thing about Jaisalmer's fort is that it is still residence to a sizable population. And this becomes evident as soon as you enter the fort. There are vendors everywhere selling anything from fruits to toys, students peeping out of their classroom windows, and families offe

On our way to Jaisalmer we crossed the iconic Ramdevra station. With plenty of daylight and throngs of people, it did seem very different from the mysterious place that I had always imagined it to be after having watched Satyajit Ray's Sonar Kella . Our train reached Jaisalmer at 11.40, right on time. We were to put up at Hotel Helsinki House, and they had sent us a car to take us to the hotel. The city seemed much quieter than Jaipur, with very few people and even less traffic on the road. And if Jaipur is 50% pink, Jaisalmer is 100% golden. Almost all the buildings are made from sandstone and the city dazzled under the afternoon sun. And soon at a distance we caught the first glimpse of the fort, sitting pretty on top of a hill. On check-in we were welcomed with a cup of tea and ushered into our room. The large bed was very inviting, but we stayed clear of it. A whole day of exploring was ahead of us. The hotel staff were kind enough to organise the desert safari for us; the plan

We had a very early morning flight to catch, 5.30 to be precise. Wasn't willing to take our chances with Uber or Ola in the middle of the night, so had booked a Meru cab for 3.30am. They are generally good for early morning airport transfer and we were not disappointed. As expected, the roads had almost no traffic and we were at the airport in no time. Our packing plan worked perfectly and there were absolutely no issues either at the airline's ticketing counter or at security check. We had some time to kill and having explored the limited things you can at an airport, we knew we were hungry. A quick bite and a cup of tea were just perfect. We were ready to fly! The flight was on time and fortunately, uneventful. In about two hours we had landed and by 8am we were on our Uber headed for our hotel. The city was still asleep. Most of the shops were closed and  there were only a few cars and two-wheelers on the roads. It was cloudy and there was a slight drizzle. We thought it wi