(click on photos to go to gallery)
In 2007 I went on an assignment to Jodhpur, I however travelled further to Jaisalmer to see my first desert. My two day stay in Khuri village was unplanned but something that I cherish. (Published in Deccan Herald 2010)
When I reach Jaisalmer the first thing I do is crane my neck looking for the sand dunes in the horizons. I think that’s the first instinct we have whenever we reach a place known for something. I guess it would be the first thing one would do in Agra too – scour the skyline for the Taj Mahal or in Khajuraho- look for the temples. But I see nothing. Not even when I crisscross the entire Jaisalmer town in a cab looking for a hotel. All I see are pale golden colored houses, monuments, havelis and more houses. Where are the dunes?
There are of course not in Jaisalmer town contrary to my visions of dunes and camels in each backyard here. The dunes are 45 kilometers from Jaisalmer towards the Pakistan border. Jaisalmer itself is exotic enough and the smell and feel of the desert emanates from every street. If you have made the traditional touristy circuit like I did- arriving first in the capital Jaipur then Jodhpur and now Jaisalmer, you will see the colour palate of cities shifting dramatically from pink to blue to golden.
In Jaisalmer the golden comes from the yellow sandstone found here and used in the construction. The twelfth century Jaisalmer Fort that sits overlooking the city is made entirely of this stone and because of the golden hues it emits , it is popularly called the Golden Fort. It is a perhaps the only major fort in the world with a living population. 25percent of Jaisalmer’s population reside within this fort built in 1156 by the Rajput ruler Jaisala. The human pressures on the fort are evident and the fort continues to crumble in small portions each year. The drains are clogged or uncovered, there are hotels and restaurants inside the fort, there are temples and priests, not to mention a sizable population of cows and dogs.
I try and be a conscientious traveler and follow my Lonely Planet which implores tourists to refrain from staying in hotels built in the fort . Those who choose to stay here cant be blamed. One gets great views of the Jaisalmer from up here including the shimmering dunes in the far distance.
It takes less than an hour to reach the dunes from Jaisalmer. But I am headed to Khuri Village –an outpost to the dunes where I intend to stay for a few days and wallow in the glow of the desert before I rush back to the cities. Sam is another village where one can stay and enjoy excursions to the beautiful sand dunes but its heavily commercialized. I choose Khuri village and am rewarded with tranquility, authentic Rajasthani culture and way of life.
But what makes this possible is Mr Badal and his Badal House in Khuri. Badal House is a homestay –a cluster of five hutments that serve as rooms- and is a must visit for anyone who wants a real sampling of desert life. And it comes unbelievably cheap.
You get a room here for 250 rupees including meals. The rooms are basic
with a cot, a fan and an attached toilet. But the meals are elaborate by village
standards and if you are not ready- very spicy. Badal’s wife covered demurely in ghunghat like all the Rajput women, makes the meals . You wont see her on the streets or fetching water from the village well like the other women, she being a Rajput and all. “The women you see at the well fetching watcher are not Rajput women. In Rajput households women don’t do any outside work’’. Mr Badal informs me.
He is himself however reasonably liberal and hates to wear the Rajasthani turban as he says it makes his head go hot. Mr Badal has steered away from commercialism and works with no tourist company or tout. His nephew Badal, a camel man is his only assistant and tourist guide. Mr Badal arranges desert safaris in the dunes on his camel for the tourists.
The camel safari to the dunes is great not so much because of where we are headed but what one passes along the way. Sitting high on the camel back I am witness to the medieval theatre of ancient desert rituals. Women in colorful ghagharas and cholis, arms covers in bangles, walking back from the well balancing pots of water on their head. Further beyond there are shepherd with their folk and still further the camel pond where all the camel men gather to exchange gossip while their camels tank up. Somewhere in the shrubs one can see fleeting glimpse of the Chinkaras.
I am finally glad to dismount the camel and sink my feet into the desert sand. I think camel rides are highly uncomfortable for journeys upwards of one kilometers. But before I can savour the wavering expanse of the dunes I am accosted by a Kalbalia dancer- who insists I watch her dance instead and pay her. Ignoring doesn’t help much as one is followed around till you give up.
I can see lots of tourists riding on the camels but I choose to walk . Camel rides take you further deep into the desert but you can do it on foot though you wont of course be as sure footed as the camels. The sun is setting and this is the time when all tourists take out their camera and shoot each other. But as soon the sun goes down a storm whips up as if on cue. The camel men and the camels remain dignified in the storm. The rest of us run, scream, scamper and fall down the dunes making a mess of ourselves. But the storm begins to ebb the closer we got to the highway.
Traveling on the train back to Delhi a few days later, I can still feel the grains of Khuri sand dunes grind inside my ears as I yawn and try to sleep.
How to get there:
If you are traveling from New Delhi one can fly in to Jaisalmer but the preferred mode of transport is the train. The train goes via Jaipur and Jodhpur and one can
make stopovers in these two towns as well. Khuri Village is 45 kilometers from Jaisalmer town and can be reached by a taxi in less than an hour.
Hi,
Can you share contact details of Mr Badal,
I am planning to go there Sept end.
Thanks
Abhijeet . Here is Mr Badals no- 03014-274120. However I went there almost 4 years ago. So you would have to check if the no is still the same. Good Luck and enjoy your trip.
tXZDX2 Good post.
Sir very good photoes
Thanks Dinesh