Patwaon-Ki-Haveli

DAY 4 JAISALMER FORT - The living fort.We hopped on the bike we rented in Jaisalmer and drove inside the fort. The best thing about this fort is that it is open 24*7 obviously the major temples , the main palace have their closing times but other than those you can roam around the fort, shop local art pieces, eat and just chill.

One of the most beautiful treasure of Jaisalmer city is "Patwon Ji ki Haveli". First ever erected haveli in Jaisalmer which is not just one haveli but cluster of 5 small havelis. History goes as back as 1805 when construction of commissioned by Guman Chand Patwa for himself who was a very rich man and a renowned trader of his time. After that time he ordered construction of five stories for his each sons. Whole haveli took 60 years to complete in 19th century. Don't forget to roam around the streets and reach here.

As this was unplanned trip we had decided to take a package from DDS Holidays for the whole of our trip. So we were welcomed by the owner of the camp himself, Mr. Bhati and after a 12 hour journey in the ordinary bus, it was like we were getting rewarded for our journey. We were dropped at our Hotel (Golden Haveli) which looked very welcoming, and gobbled away parathas right away since our last meal was the dal chawal at 2 am!! And we were ready to explore Jaisalmer. Our package also included a vehicle for sightseeing, so we started off with our sightseeing.

After getting back to the room and freshening up we took an auto to see the famous Patwon ki Havelis of the city. They are magnificent. The carvings, the amount of work gone into each and every detail is sure to have you mesmerized.Those narrow streets housing those havelis give you a feel which I haven’t experienced in any street in India yet. They make you feel like you are in a dream city of Aladdin. After spending as much time as we could afford to spend there we head back to the Jaisalmer fort to see the sunset sitting on the edges of the fort.As the sun set it was time to head back to the bus stand to get back to our office life. We had dinner at a nearby hotel and walked to the bus stand where our bus was waiting. Loaded with lots of memories and smiles on our faces, we were all refreshed and set to go back and face the complex problems of where to put the toilet in our hostel design!

Lifestyles of the rich and famous, from a few hundred years ago :)