Shanti Shanti! - Blogabond

Namaste! Shanti shanti!

Well! our next destination here in India,Jaisalmer...Is pretty cool!
It is very arabic influenced with a nearby desert, a huge fort made out of golden

sandstone and camels walking around....

It is a very nice little town, easy to walk around and with loads of old buildings. The Hotel we stayed in was 400 years old! pretty cool! The fort that overlooks the town looks like a giant sandcastle! Once again, like in other places in India, it really feels like stepping back in time. There is plenty of things to see and wandering around inside the fort getting lost is a cool way to spend a few hours.

There is old buildings with exquisite carvings, towers and walls with giant paintings of

hindu gods, and of course alot of cows everywhere. Take away the motorcycles and cars and it could be 300 years ago.

Another thing that is possible to do in Jaisalmer is to go in to the desert on a camel safari. We thought about it but decided not to. And a good thing we did not!

Because on the night before we left we were walking home towards our hotel when we

here loud drumbeats! so we decide to check it out, and there is loads of people dancing and eating icecream and lots of light and music. So we ask someone what it is and apparently it is a wedding. The man comes riding on a horse and is going to his bride who

waits 1 kilometer away. And along the way there is a truck with music and drummers fiercly pounding away! It is cool to see and everyone is dancing. So we follow the procession all the way to see the bride, and we dance and chat with people along the way. They hung flowers around our necks as well... It is so much life and joy!

really cool! well except for the bride and groom there is joy, they dont smile much, but I think that is how it is here.

The next day we were going to take a bus to our next destination, but check out was at 9 in the morning and the bus at 3.30, so we had a lot of waiting to do and did not know what to do with our day. We sat down at a cafe to have a tea and after a while we heard drums...hmmm. Another wedding we thought. I went to have a look and see a huge elephant coming towards me! The elephant was painted in bright floral patterns and

looked absolutely stunning. After it comes loads of camels, jeeps painted gold and men on horses. And of course musicians and dancers and trucks with music and

people dancing. We follow the elephant and camels for some time. The musicians dance and perform in front of the elephant. Apparently all these people come

from very far, they are at the end of a 40 day pilgrimage to a temple in this town. They are a special branch of hindu called Jain. They are like hindu but have special rules about food and other stuff.

We stand still and watch people go by, dancing, singing. Then we go with them, talking to some, they give us special shawls around our neck and invite us to dance. All the time there are people throwing a red powder around. Apparently it is for good luck, but we try

to stay away from it as it gets everywhere. But in the end it is impossible as they come with handfuls of powder, throwing on everyone including us. Not much to do but smile...And they want us to take photos all the time, not just kids, old people as well.

One old lady wanted me to take a photo of her hands...

While non of us are religious, it is interesting to see spirituality like this, it is really filling these peoples lives, and they celebrate it with joy and energy like you cant find in religion in Europe. Before we left we went back to our hotel to borrow the shower, that red powder was hard to get off....

So that concludes our trip to Jaisalmer! Fairytale forts, magic evenings and spiritual gatherings! we had a great time here!

Bisous, puss o kram! kiss kiss!

Ola and Agnes painted red!

written by

agnesola on March 1, 2008 from Jaisalmer, India

from the travel blog: Baby and Baby's around the world travel...

Send a Compliment

en direct après conversation je retourne lire le blog et je me fais plaisir à revoir les photos. Elles sont magnifiques ! vous êtes en plein dans la vraie vie des locaux... hier je me suis promenée dans le désert de sel et dans le cimetière des trains (émission de télé "pékin express". Je connaissais déjà grâce à vous et j'avais l'impression d'avoir déjà fait le voyage !
bisous

written by mum danielle on March 5, 2008

c'est superbe ça fait rêver
on en a plein les yeux !
gros bisous
de Clélie, Delphine et Manu (qui n'est pas là !)

written by Delphine on March 5, 2008

comment on this...