West

12 Dec 2009
Hours and hours on the bus, as we got west-bound through Rajasthan, and the green, bright fields and red dirt gradually transforms into drier, browner desert. Low, plateau-ed off mountains stand in the background and the space is mostly empty, but we pass small villages on the way and make random stops filling the bus with locals sitting and standing in the aisles. And one woman sitting on the ground near us, well, she's beautiful. In the traditional Rajastani wear, she's wrapped in color, odorned with studs and jewerly, dramatic eyes outlined darkly, a scarf covering her head as a sign of marriage, and her stern glance reaches me and I'm locked onto her. I wonder of her own wearabouts, Jodhpur to Jaisalmer...

Jaisamer is fantastic. The people, not so much. Much of the city still operates within the fort, a maze of alleys filled with tiny shops, houses, and cows. The Jain temples within are extraordinary- intricately carved and well in-tact. Of course, it's difficult to become fully immersed in these fine moments, as we are hounded, stared and harrassed by the men of the city. As expected, being toursits in tourist-y spots, we are asked to come into stores, take a look "looking is free", scammed with inflated prices (which in most cases amounts to $1 USD or less but its the principle of it that insists haggling), but Jaisalmer takes the annoying salesman to a whole new level. We try our best to ignore it all, but its certainly difficult and frustrating to a point where we'd rather stay in our hotel or a restaurant for hours rather than walk around the streets. Granted, not everyone here is like this, but most are. Probably the only real annoyance of traveling in India, as everything else is great or easier to process, but we realize how much of a difference it makes to travel with a guy.