Golden desert city of Jaisalmer: the good, the bad and the ugly

After a seventeen hour train ride from Delhi we bump into the old castle town of Jaisalmer. Slightly tired but enthusiastic, we step onto the platform: we are ready for the ' golden city of India'. Jaisalmer immediately feels different from Delhi: smaller, less crowded and much less horny traffic. Not surprising, because Jaisalmer only has around 70,000 inhabitants compared to more than 18 million in Delhi. A quiet little town so. Jaisalmer is located in the far west of the state of Rajasthan on the border with Pakistan and forms the gateway to the Thar desert. This attracts many tourists who want to spend a night in the desert or want to go on a 'desert camel safari'. My stay in Jaisalmer resulted in a love-hate relationship with this city. In this article I list the good and bad sides of Jaisalmer.

THE GOOD

THE GOLDEN FORT

The absolute draw of the city is the fort of Jaisalmer, built in the twelfth century as a caravan stop on the Silk Road. This gigantic bastion is located high on a hill and is surrounded by a thick wall with no fewer than 99 towers. The yellow sandstone gives the fort a beautiful golden glow in the evening light. Hence the nickname for Jaisalmer: the golden city. Within the walls of the fort you will find the historic city center with hundreds of havelis, the royal palace and various Jainist temples. A walk through the fort is highly recommended: it houses a maze of colorful streets and alleys. A party to wander around in! Another special fact: the fort is still inhabited by around 3,000 people. They live in the havelis and most earn their money with the tourists. They run a restaurant, a hotel or a souvenir shop. This makes the fort a bit of a tourist attraction, but at the same time it also gives a lively atmosphere. You can book a taxi for jaisalmer jodhpur tour packages.

VIEW THE NICEST HAVELIS

Not only the fort is a beautiful appearance, you will also find beautiful sandstone havelis in Jaisalmer. These are old merchant houses of the rich Indian merchants and political elite. Jaisalmer's most beautiful havelis include the Patwon Ki Haveli (consisting of 5 havelis), the Nathmal Ki Haveli and the Salim Sing Ki Haveli. In addition to the havelis, I also found the Mandir Palace with the characteristic Tazia Tower very beautiful. This palace annex hotel is located just outside the old town on Ghandi Chowk and is rarely visited by tourists. An ideal place to take beautiful photos.

THE BAD

COMMERCIAL DESERT TOURISM

One of the items on my bucket list for India was a desert overnight. Falling asleep romantically under the bare starry sky. Many travelers want such a magical experience, I understand that. It is just a shame that the growing tourism has had a commercial effect on the desert nights. Most desert tours take you to the 'Sam Sand Dunes', a piece of desert 40 kilometers from Jaisalmer. Here dozens of luxury tent villages are waiting for you side by side. These camps are like resorts, complete with beds, toilets and your own set of camels. In the evening you can join the circle to watch the music and dance show. Are you going for a walk on the sand dunes, then you will be approached every once in a while by sellers of drinks or gypsy children who want to dance or sing for you for money. These children are true perseverers: they stay with you and will not leave. How do I know this? Our guide first brought us to such a large tented camp. Fortunately, we soon realized that this was not for us and left again.

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One of the large tented camps at the Sam Sand Dunes.

HOW DID I DEAL WITH THIS?

Fortunately there are other options. For example, go to another sand dune (Khuri or Sundra), sleep in the open air on a mat or go for a private double tent. We did the latter. Together with a guide, a tent and a jeep we drove deeper into the Thar desert in search of a quiet place. And we found that! While our guide set up the tent we enjoyed the sunset. In the evening we ate a 'mystery dinner' (it's hard to see what you eat in the dark), we had conversations with our guide about Indian culture and we fell asleep in our own tent. It was a wonderful experience. The only downside: the cold! In January the temperature can drop considerably in the desert and in the morning we woke up with a thick layer of fog. A beautiful sunrise was not possible for us!

Waking up to fog in the desert, who would have thought that?

THE UGLY

CAMEL SAFARI

A regular part of almost every desert tour in the Thar desert is a 'camel safari'. It seems that all the desert tours that you encounter online and in the city are combined with a trip by camel or dromedary. You simply cannot ignore it. Not really strange either, because the camel safari is one of the most important ways in which the locals earn their money. Near the Sam Sand Dunes you can see dozens of camels and dromedaries with colorful saddles waiting for the coaches with tourists. Personally I thought it was terrible to see these tourist trips on a large scale. I understand that camels and dromedaries are transport animals. Unlike the elephant, these animals can take a lot of weight on their backs, but I don't think the use of camels and dromedaries for the entertainment of tourists is okay. The pleasure of the tourist does not have to be at the expense of the animal. The dromedaries that I saw sat in the sun all the time, had a pin through their nose and hardly got any water. Moreover, I sincerely wonder how much of the money earned will benefit the health of the animal.

In this photo you happen to see one dromedary, but in the area you constantly saw new tourists climbing the camels and dromedaries.

HOW DID I DEAL WITH THIS?

How did I then explore the Thar Desert? On foot! After we drove to the desert with a jeep, we went for a walk across the plains and watched the sunset from one of the dunes. If you ask me a great way to see the desert. If you still want to take a camel ride, always look carefully at the animal itself. Is it well fed, does the animal have injuries and is it sufficiently shaded? These are all signals that tell you how healthy the camel or dromedary is.

For more tips on how to be an animal-friendly tourist, visit the World Animal Protection website. This organization is committed to stopping wildlife attractions.

AND ... IS JAISALMER A MUST?

Yes, despite the commercialization and the camel rides, Jaisalmer is a must. The city itself is attractive and compact and has a beautiful fortress and an amazing collection of havelis. No wonder many travelers want to visit this city. Unfortunately, tourism also has a number of negative effects. The first example of this is the fort. The large number of inhabitants of the fort and tourism have a negative impact on the sewerage and drainage system, as a result of which the fort has been subsiding for some time. In order not to contribute to this, it is therefore advised to look for a hotel outside the fort. The second example is the 'one size fits all' desert tours. There seems to be one type of offer for tourists: a camel ride with overnight stay in the Sam Sand Dunes. You will be surprised if you want a tour without a camel ride. Really, I experienced it myself. If you asked me, a desert night would be so much nicer if you look at small-scale Community Based Tourism (activities where you really get to know the locals and they can also benefit from tourism) and animal-friendly activities. But that is still far away for Jaisalmer, because as long as tourists want to continue to make the 'camel safaris', it will also be offered.