Inviting roads – Day 6

We had planned to start as early as possible, to reach Jaisalmer. However, yesterday’s ride was tiring, and it was around 11 that we finally stepped outside the guest house. However, the bike was marked with droppings from my most beloved birds, pigeons. Wished I had a gun! I am generally not violent, but those huge droppings really pissed me off!

Took considerable time for first dragging the bike from the narrow street to main road, and then cleaning the beauty spots. Finally we started riding at around 11.30 a.m. It was noon till we finally hit the highway.

The highways around Jodhpur are in good condition, but somehow not as posh as the main highways. We started with routine stops and at good speeds. We kept the saddle bag in Jodhpur only, keeping only the necessary clothes with us. That reduced the load considerably, both on the bike as well as on my mind.

The roads are in good condition, so per hour I was able to churn 60-65 and even sometimes 70kms! We spotted some deers, peacocks and owls, along with the camels and cattle. Again had a lunch at some unnamed dhaba. Eating at such dhabas really has a charm of its own!

Spotted the train from Jodhpur to Jaisalmer. Felt good in heart that it takes even more time to reach to reach Jaisalmer than road!

We finally reached Jaisalmer at around 4.30p.m. Here I saw the example on online advertisement. When we were riding, some other bikers would join us to ride at same speed, and his pillion would start advertising about some hotel! And this was not just once, but had repeated experience. Seems recession brought out the best of advertising ideas!

Checked into our hotel, Hotel Payal, booked under Youth Hostel. The hotel had a swimming pool, but sadly in our 3 days stay, we never got time to dip even a finger in that pool!

In the evening, we went to the Desert festival cultural program, which was held on Shahid Poonam Singh stadium. The security arrangements and setup were good, but somehow, the programs seemed as if they were not that polished and rehearsed. Some dances were even unsynchronized. Still, had a good time that evening.

A poor attempt to click [B]Jaisalmer fort[/B]. The ground was full of dust, so please excuse!

When we came out, we asked a policeman about fort’s timings. He broke into a chat, which lasted for 15-20 mins, but not before the wonderful question about religion and jaati again! He told us not to take guide in the fort, also not to stay in Sam, but return to Jaisalmer in night. Don’t know what his reasons were for this! Also, he told that the camels had not returned from 26 Jan parade at Delhi, so this year the camel show was not going to be held, or not at least on the usual grand scale.

Hunted a while for a famed hotel Desert boy Dhani, which was supposed to be good. But after a cold soup and a horribly chilly noodles, we didn’t have too much of a good opinion about it.

Night was inviting, and tomorrow was a sightseeing day in Jaisalmer. Though it does get cold in the night, the thermalwears kept the cold away.

…to be continued.