Sunday, 9 November 2014, Jaisalmer
For those readers who have wondered how to pronounce the name of this city: Pati and BeeBee's guide, who was born here, says JESS-sel-mer, with the last two syllables equally (un)accented.
Pati and BeeBee slept in on this free day until 6:30 am. After wonderful hot baths and turning in their laundry (yesterday's clothing was full of sand), they had breakfast in the rooftop restaurant. This restaurant is rated highly on Trip Advisor (#6 of 118 restaurants in Jaisalmer) and, more importantly, breakfast here is included in their tour price.
Their plan for the day is to walk back to the Fort with stops at shops they have already identified, also with excellent reviews on Trip Advisor.
Walking out from the hotel at about 10 am, they easily found their way back to the Fort. There is a barber shop just before the outer gate, and Pati stopped for a haircut. (See that blog post.) Then they entered the Fort, passing through the four gates and into the square in front of the palace that they toured yesterday morning.
They were looking for a particular shop, and it was described by various sources as being just at the exit from the palace. They looked on every street in the fort with no luck. Then they thought that maybe it was outside the fort, so they searched streets just outside the fort also. No luck. They saw 1st Gate, a restaurant that is well-rated on Trip Advisor, and decided that they would try looking again after lunch.
After lunch, they asked the manager of 1st Gate where to find the shop. He gave them the same directions they already had. Once back in the fort, Pati tried a ruse: when approached by a tout (call him tout #1), Pati said he was 't shopping, he was supposed to meet a friend at (the location he was given for the shop). The tout took them to the exact location they had already tried and said he would look, too! No shop. Pati then went into a hotel lobby and asked the manager where the shop was. He gave directions which Pati understood and could follow. Unfortunately, tout #2 was also in the hotel lobby listening and called a confederate (tout #3), who overtook Pati and BeeBee on their way to the shop and insisted on accompanying them while acting like a guide. Soon he handed them off to tout #4, who accompanied them to the shop itself. It was not outside the palace exit; it was on top of the fort wall. The shop owner showed his merchandise, which was beautiful, and Pati made a purchase. The shop keeper did not accept credit cards, but tout #4 graciously offered to handle the charge in his shop and repay this shop owner. And Pati and BeeBee could look at his merchandise while they were there ... Pati dug deep and came up with the rupees to pay the shop owner right then and there. Tout #4 insisted on accompanying them afterward, and took them into his shop. As his assistant dragged out bedspreads and other large items, BeeBee said she already had bought all that on other trips and didn't want more, while Pati said he felt ill. Tout #4 finally gave up and let them go. Except for being a tout, Tout #4 seemed like a nice fellow with a pretty wife and child (he showed them pictures).
After this, Pati and BeeBee had two more places to track down, an ATM (since they will be hard to find for the next few days) and a famous sweets shop. They finally found a working ATM that had money to dispense, by walking several streets near their hotel until they found one. (On the way, Pati stepped in a cow pie. He supposed this was karma getting back at him for pretending to be sick to get away from the tout.) The sweets shop they found by following the excellent directions of their own hotel's manager, and they bought a few of the sweets that are always shown in pictures of Ganesh. They taste somewhat like Gulab Jamun, which they also like, but are bright yellow.
Finally back at their hotel, they headed to the rooftop restaurant for a last good dinner at their hotel. They had Gulab Jamun for dessert.
For those readers who have wondered how to pronounce the name of this city: Pati and BeeBee's guide, who was born here, says JESS-sel-mer, with the last two syllables equally (un)accented.
Pati and BeeBee slept in on this free day until 6:30 am. After wonderful hot baths and turning in their laundry (yesterday's clothing was full of sand), they had breakfast in the rooftop restaurant. This restaurant is rated highly on Trip Advisor (#6 of 118 restaurants in Jaisalmer) and, more importantly, breakfast here is included in their tour price.
Their plan for the day is to walk back to the Fort with stops at shops they have already identified, also with excellent reviews on Trip Advisor.
Walking out from the hotel at about 10 am, they easily found their way back to the Fort. There is a barber shop just before the outer gate, and Pati stopped for a haircut. (See that blog post.) Then they entered the Fort, passing through the four gates and into the square in front of the palace that they toured yesterday morning.
They were looking for a particular shop, and it was described by various sources as being just at the exit from the palace. They looked on every street in the fort with no luck. Then they thought that maybe it was outside the fort, so they searched streets just outside the fort also. No luck. They saw 1st Gate, a restaurant that is well-rated on Trip Advisor, and decided that they would try looking again after lunch.
After lunch, they asked the manager of 1st Gate where to find the shop. He gave them the same directions they already had. Once back in the fort, Pati tried a ruse: when approached by a tout (call him tout #1), Pati said he was 't shopping, he was supposed to meet a friend at (the location he was given for the shop). The tout took them to the exact location they had already tried and said he would look, too! No shop. Pati then went into a hotel lobby and asked the manager where the shop was. He gave directions which Pati understood and could follow. Unfortunately, tout #2 was also in the hotel lobby listening and called a confederate (tout #3), who overtook Pati and BeeBee on their way to the shop and insisted on accompanying them while acting like a guide. Soon he handed them off to tout #4, who accompanied them to the shop itself. It was not outside the palace exit; it was on top of the fort wall. The shop owner showed his merchandise, which was beautiful, and Pati made a purchase. The shop keeper did not accept credit cards, but tout #4 graciously offered to handle the charge in his shop and repay this shop owner. And Pati and BeeBee could look at his merchandise while they were there ... Pati dug deep and came up with the rupees to pay the shop owner right then and there. Tout #4 insisted on accompanying them afterward, and took them into his shop. As his assistant dragged out bedspreads and other large items, BeeBee said she already had bought all that on other trips and didn't want more, while Pati said he felt ill. Tout #4 finally gave up and let them go. Except for being a tout, Tout #4 seemed like a nice fellow with a pretty wife and child (he showed them pictures).
After this, Pati and BeeBee had two more places to track down, an ATM (since they will be hard to find for the next few days) and a famous sweets shop. They finally found a working ATM that had money to dispense, by walking several streets near their hotel until they found one. (On the way, Pati stepped in a cow pie. He supposed this was karma getting back at him for pretending to be sick to get away from the tout.) The sweets shop they found by following the excellent directions of their own hotel's manager, and they bought a few of the sweets that are always shown in pictures of Ganesh. They taste somewhat like Gulab Jamun, which they also like, but are bright yellow.
Finally back at their hotel, they headed to the rooftop restaurant for a last good dinner at their hotel. They had Gulab Jamun for dessert.
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