Jaisalmer:The Golden City
When I learned about Jaipur being the Pink City, I did not expect that there are other cities in Rajasthan which names are famous based on the dominant color of the whole city. Jaipur, the Pink City because of its natural Pink colored buildings and Forts that are still preserved and makes the whole city look like a blushing bride.
After visiting Jaipur several times, we decided to go on a weekend roadtrip to a different city in Rajasthan. The Golden City- Jaisalmer. I can’t describe my excitement to see how a Golden City looks like. Does it really covered with Gold?
Jaisalmer is more or less 560 kilometers from the west side of Jaipur. We started from Jaipur around 2 in the morning and took us 9 hours drive to reach Jailsamer.
Jaisalmer is the largest district of Rajasthan and it is south-west Pakistani border which is mostly deserted area. The drive was superb itself. We crossed around different landforms that I haven’t seen before or haven’t been discussed in my Geography class nor in my Asian History. The best part was, camels, peacock and different kind of animals just randomly cross the roads! It was like travelling around Safari.
So these are the places we visited during the three days in Jaisalmer:
Bada Bagh
Bada means “Big” Bagh means “ Garden” is open for everyone for FREE! It is a different kind of Garden, because you can’t see flowers or trees, instead it is a garden of cenotaphs of the kings and queens. It was a 15 minutes drive from the main town of Jaisalmer. We reached there around 4 in the afternoon and started to roam around this amazing place.
The carvings of each stones are just unbelievable and each cenotaph has tablets with the name of the King or Queen. The interesting part is, the bigger the cenotaph means the highest your role was. After roaming around, we saw windmills and decided to go all the way to check what’s in there.
So my photographer husband realized that the area is perfect for sunset shots, so we waited there for few more hours and it was worth it! The place became more picturesque as the sun sets in front of Bada Bagh and turned the whole place orange. This is one of the best things I have ever seen!
Jaisalmer Fort
The busiest and considered as the last “living forts” in India, because there are still some locals who are staying with the fort. This fort was built by King King Rawal Jaisal. This fort, just like the other forts in Rajasthan has its own wow factor. It is huge and it glowing due to its golden sandstone. Surrounding the fort are residences, temples, and souvenir shops. It is so beautiful that we visited the Fort on our first and last day in Jaisalmer. A must-see historical architecture in the World!
Kuldhara Village
The Abandoned village of Rajasthan. This village is known for some creepy titles,such as Haunted, Cursed and Ghost village. A story which is about 200 years ago that says, villagers were scared on this certain Leader named Salim Singh who threatened everyone to collect huge taxes from them if they stop him from pursuing the beautiful daughter of the village chief. Upon leaving the town, the people cursed it that no one will survive living the village.
One of the locals there told us that the village still look the same now from how it looks like when the villagers left it. Well, I guess nothing to be scared about since we are not planning to settle there. We just wanted to see this famous village and take some nice shots.
Thar Desert
One of the first things again in India! Desert! Being able to step on the sand of the desert was just as amazing as stepping on the white sand beaches in Philippines. I just wanted to roll and play with the sand but considering the heat, I cancelled my plan. However, it was just incredible! We spend our late afternoon there with some of the new friends we met.
After witnessing another breathtaking sunset of Jaisalmer from Thar Desert, we just hang out with the group and had a very authentic Rajasthani Thali cooked in the middle of the desert for dinner. Had few beers which was courtesy by our Thai friends. Since we did not plan to stay overnight, we left the group after few beers and life and travel stories shared. Witnessing world’s beauty and meeting people across the globe are such one of the priceless things we can have in this lifetime.
Jaisalmer is one of the cities in India that I would love to go back again and again and have pizza at the rooftop overlooking the whole Golden City.
