Jaisalmer

After flying into Delhi on the night of the 21st and staying in one of the worst hotels I have ever been in, we got our train from Delhi to Jaisalmer. This however, was not without trouble as when approaching the New Delhi train station we were approached by what we thought was a rail worker and told a story that almost resulted in us being scammed. More on that later, I intend to do a whole post about the scams we encountered.
After finally finding our train at Old Delhi station we boarded and got ready for the overnight ride. We rode in AC two tier, which basically means the car is cooled and in each berth there are four beds which fold down. It was actually not too bad for sleeping and I was none the worse after 9 hours of overnight travel. As we approached Jaisalmer in the late morning I started to have a headache and to feel a bit like diarrhea was coming on. As we got off the train I knew I was in for something. Luckily we found our hotel manager Chimmy waiting for us at the station and within 20 minutes we were being shown our rooms at the Hotel Suraj. Just after settling in I headed for the bathroom which inaugurated a 12 hour session of losing fluids in all ways possible. Luckily Aya was still feeling ok and with the help of Chimmy was able to locate some medication, water, and soft foods. By late in the evening my stomach was starting to un-cramp and I could keep some fruit and water down, by which time Aya was also feeling ill. It was a terrible night, but by morning light we were both feeling a bit better and managed to get up the strength to go next door for breakfast at sunrise before going back to bed for another 4 hours or so. By noon we were feeling good enough to make a little circuit around the castle, but not much more that day, just a lot of resting and restocking fluids. It is amazing how frail the human body is.
On our final day in Jaisalmer we made it to Gadsisar Lake on the southern edge of town and to some other havelis outside of the fort. Unfortunately we didn't get to take the overnight camel ride into the desert that we were hoping for, but we were really glad to be back on our feet and had a good laugh about the quality time we spent together.

Jaisalmer's Hotel Suraj

I'm sure this sounds a bit like a brochure, but I really wanted to describe this hotel because I found it so interesting.
This is a bit of the view of the Hotel Suraj, where we stayed in Jaisalmer. The hotel itself is in a very old Haveli(stone carved house)that has been owned by the same family for generations. To get to the hotel you have to enter the fort, past ramparts and gates, and then weave your way among narrow lanes, filled with merchants and the errant cow, to get to the hotel. On the first floor the owner's family lives. In the center of the building is an open courtyard that goes to the sky and lets in light during the day. To the south side of the building is a stairwell that leads to the roof on the 5th floor if I remember. We had a room on the 3rd floor which had open windows to the courtyard and to the west.
Going into the room are a pair of ancient, heavy wooden doors that can only be locked by chain at the foot of the door. The room has the air of a cave, but not too dark or dank, open and refreshingly cool in the heat of Jaisalmer. In the ceiling are a number of hooks that have been drilled into the rock, obviously long ago. These were used for oil lanterns to light the room. Colorful paintings adorned the walls. Being located in the fort itself made for a very convenient way to see Jaisalmer's main attraction. The family who owns the place is also friendly and the manager, Chimmy, was very helpful in getting us anything we needed, which turned out very well.