We started by hearing about the 900 year old fort, it’s the only living fort in India. 3000 people live in it including Lalu-ji and he is the 44th generation living in his house. The kids loved hearing him call the old kings robbers and about the silk route that made Jaisalmer rich .
As we walked into the fort we were welcomed by a 75 year old man playing music on two flutes, it was amazing to watch and listen. The fort is made so well with interlocking blocks, it has withstood the earthquakes but got damaged in the rain recently (thanks to climate change).
My favourite part of the fort was seeing the wedding invites on people’s walls. Instead of sending invites they paint it on the walls inviting everyone. They just add the dates and names of the other children as their weddings come up.
Our guides wedding invite from 2005 (along with his three sisters) is still up on his house. I love his background story too - he learnt German and got a job in a German bank in Bangalore, but after a month there he was homesick and returned to Jaisalmer. He helped a friend out by taking some German tourists around town, received a great tip and realised that this was the job he enjoyed and 23 years later he continues to do it. His grandfather was an astrologer and had predicted at birth he would have the gift of the gab and use it for work. He thought his grandfather got it wrong when he got his banker job but he was right all along.
We had chai and samosa breaks along the way and then headed to the newer part of town (300-400 year old).
We saw the beautiful havelis, the more balconies the richer the status and the five built here first, have so many balconies . They are so intricately designed that when one of them was being sold no one wanted to buy it as they were worried no one would marry their sons as the wives would have to do too much cleaning !
We then went inside the old prime minister’s house where the seventh generation family still lives. They now have a shop in there to earn a revenue, for the first time I saw things made of camel bones, gorgeous pieces.
We finished with dinner at our hotel. The rooftop had just the right vibe. Live music, fireworks and the fort lit up. Perfect ending to the day .
What lovely stories in your day.
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