A blog of two cities.

For my blog today (hello by the way) I have decided to describe to you the cities of Jaisalmer and Jodhpur as I have recently returned from the latter so this would be an opportune time for me to divulge such information.

First, let us begin with Jaisalmer. It is nicknamed the Golden City as it is made almost entirely from sandstone and is surrounded by desert. We are based just 15km from the fort which is the focus of the city.

The Fort itself is listed as a heritage concern as it is built with sandstone and it is only the fact that it rains very little in the desert that it has managed stay moderately intact. However, a few years ago, 9 people died whilst exploring the fort as a part collapsed. This I discovered only after spending a weekend in a hotel there a few weeks ago. 

The city seems to be quite an obscure one as it has not adopted many western features at all. However, it is a popular tourist destination and when you spend time wandering the streets you can see that most of the vendors on the main paths cater to tourists. On the weekends in which we are allowed full days and nights to explore the city, it is never uncommon to see an abundance of western travellers. Now that we have been here a while, it is clear to see how the shop owners operate in terms of price, hiking up many prices as soon as they see someone they believe not to know an object's worth. As we are volunteers and teachers they have become less aggressive with us and so far, in Jaisalmer, I have never ended up paying more than I find acceptable due to developing a few effective haggling techniques whilst in Jaipur. As I have mentioned in previous entries, there are cows everywhere that just wander the streets without being bothered by the residents and it is always advisable to steer clear of them lest you end up on the wrong side of them (which could be either end, as some of my fellow volunteers have discovered). There are a large number of beggars along the streets of Jaisalmer and, if staying in one place for an extended period of time, they will refuse to leave you alone even after having to resort to harsh words (both English and Hindi) and even sometimes after giving them Rupees. As a lot of them are children, it can be quite difficult to ignore them and feel okay about it. Unfortunately, a lot of the begging is run by gangs and most child beggars, it is said, are being controlled by an adult who uses them as a business paying them only small commission. What is quite unusual though, is that, unlike sometimes in England, you will never hear any verbal abuse from any of them and when they do leave you, it is, more often than not, with a smile and wave. 

Last weekend I visited Jodhpur, the capitol of Rajasthan (thank you to Pramod for that little fact), which is also called the blue city. 

It gets this name because, for some reason I do not know, the residents have opted to paint the walls of their houses blue. From the top of the fort, the highest point in the city, the effect is quite staggering and even on a clear day the blue expanse seems almost endless. Jodhpur seemed to be about 6 times the size of Jaisalmer and far too much to explore over one weekend. Like Jaipur, it had embraced certain elements of the west, most notably McDonalds (however the side effects of that experience has taught me that I need to slowly move back onto meat at a later date rather than take advantage of similar chances). There seemed to be a considerably smaller proportion of the population around that could speak English than in Jaisalmer which I found surprising as well as the fact that I saw fewer tourists in the actual city as well. Nevertheless, thanks to getting lost for an extended period, I discovered that the people there were incredibly friendly, helpful and generous which is useful as otherwise I could still be stuck in Jodhpur right now. Unfortunately,.the one person we found to be disagreeable was our hostel owner who threatened to kill Ed and Joe just before we managed to escape. Not recommending the Cozy Guest House as a result. 

For a teaching update, it is getting easier as we learn the kids names and the problem child seems to have stopped coming into school for some reason. We have also been painting the day care centre to make it more attractive and should be doing the same thing to the school once their exams start. 

I have to apologise now for the following information. The prospect for Indian gifts for people is not looking good at all as I have now run out of money after getting lost in Jodhpur. As a result I am currently living off six pounds a week. Sorry, but hopefully all the tales I return with will be presents enough.

Goodbye.