Day 127 Monday 22 January 2007 Jodhpur to Jaisalmer, Rajasthan, India

Its easier finding our way out of the city than into it and despite the erratic and often indecipherable signposting , (we are getting expert in reading the first letters of hindi script – sanskrit?) we are soon on the road to Jaisalmer 300km east. Soon we get into real desert areas, although its mainly thorny scrub rather than sand dunes. The roads are good, with little traffic so we are able to cruise at 100kms with only the odd camel to swerve around.

As we approach Jaisalmer, we pass masses of army bases and airforce stations – we are only 100km from the Pakistani border and the sky is filled with jet fighters. Pakistan is still a very touchy subject here despite the last war being in 1985.
Soon Jaisalmer fort looms on the horizon, a massive pile like a series of giant sandcastles with 99 separate bastions. Its India’s only lived in fort with much of the city inside its walls, in a maze of alleys, temples, havelis and palaces. After finding the hotel (not one to write home about) we head to a hill with cenotaphs or burial monuments to watch the sunset and thento the old city which surrounds the fort. We make repeated forays to penetrate its city walls but ultimately are forced to abandon the attack and park in a square outside, venturing in on foot to find a restaurant from which we have a splendid view of the fort within.

Distance Today: 314km Trip to date: 19,515km