After what has seemed a relentlessly intense and overwhelming journey across North India through infamously crowded metropolae such as Calcutta, Varanasi and Agra; Rajashtan has offered some very welcome respite from India at its most. The people have taken tourist-bating - the sport of continued interference, salesmanship and confidence tricks - down several gears bringing new freedom in our willingness to engage with them. (Although that is not to say that the endless game of "come to my Emporium - no obligation to buy" - hasn't been pursued with the same enthusiasm).
What is so marvellous about this part of India is that for the citadels of Jaipur, Jasielmer, Jodhpur, Udaipur and many others, all the mystery, romance, chivalry of the desert and its kings are not fairytale fantasies but instead the extraordinary facts of a thrilling history. Magical and at times preposterous, tours of the palaces and hill-top forts that pepper this land reveal the stuff not only of legend but of Bollywood script. Maharajas, Maharinis, elephants armies and breathtaking treasure form the backbone of the history of Rajasthan in a character that becomes almost predictable. The opulence of the regal palaces is some of some of the most awesome artwork - both islamic and Hindu - and the impregnable nature of the forts bely a past that still seems tangible today (in a way that we discovered quite personally and surprisingly).
In many ways, despite twenty-first century trappings such as mobile phone branding, Bollywood and the internet, Rajasthan has not changed all that much and Indians remain as deeply embroiled in their relationship with the deities as they were then. Many of the Maharajas still sit on their thrones - most notably in Jaipur - and the influence of their ancestors is palpable and ubiquitous, particularly in the way their monuments literally overshadow the modern cities. But for most Indians, life is no different than it was in the days of the Moghuls. A detour on the Silk Route, the area still does a roaring - and quite regionally specialised - trade in all the same products: gems in Jaipur, silver in Jaiselmer and spices in Jodhpur. Continueing the history of the place as a bastion, and only 130 km away from the Pakistan Border, Rajasthan boasts countless army deployments off everything from helicopter gunships to camel contingents. In the corner of an museum in BIkiner Fort we discovered the relatively obscure Maharaja (Ganga Singh) in a painting containing Lloyd-George, Winston Churchill and Lord Kitchener as THE Indian military representative to a meeting of the Imperial War Cabinet fighting the First World War.
The desert reality of Rajasthan is ever present with every camel that walks down the street and the experience is incomplete without a camel trek (advisedly brief) across dunes into the sunset. My own highlight of this part of the trip underlies the magic of the place as watched a traditionally dressed muslim emerge (pictured above) from the dune-haze like a mirage while talking on a mobile phone in order to sell us beers as we watched the sunset vista. It confirmed like nothing else the maxim we are often reminded of: "in India, anything is possible".
(I must take a brief moment here to praise the network of people who ensured we had a smooth, enriching and rewarding tour. Janu of Janu's private tours introduced himself to us at Jaipur Train station and from that moment set about tirelessly attending to our logistics and welcome with remarkable astuteness and resourcefulness. Rakesh, the driver/guide Janu appointed to our service drove us around all of Rajasthan with the care and attention of a true professional. Sanjay of Sanjay's Villas in Jaiselmer laid on the most enduring memorable excursion into the Desert involving not only aforementioned camels and beers but also quite oppulent "gl-amping" and the romance of peasant folk music. As well as their man in Udaipur - Jamel - I sincerely recommend that anyone venturing into their domain plug into this highly capable and cost-effective network to get the very best out of their stay here.
While I've come out of Rajasthan with any number of my own stories, including our Christmas retreat in a living Maharaja's Palace by the lake in Dangapur, it is some of the yarns I've picked up along the way that will define this adventure. There's the little nine-year-old girl we found perfectly tight-rope walking - without a safety net - seven feet up outside the gates to Jaiselmer Fort. Her own father had been disabled and so her mother had set her to work monitizing the amazement of tourists for the sake of the family's survival. The look of concentration and determination on that little girl's face is one of the most inspiring things I've ever seen. Then there's the devotee who volunteered to be buried alive in the foundations of the 15th Century Fort at Jodhpur as the human sacrifice to negate the curse placed on its future by the disgruntled hermit who was evicted from his mountain-top retreat to make way for it.
FInally, there's the quite astonishing story of Kuldhara. Quoting the "Travelenz" Blog:
"The story is that the Diwan of Jaisalmer, Salim Singh, is believed to have developed a lecherous eye for the village chief’s daughter who was stunningly beautiful. He was keen on adding the beautiful lady to his harem or else face the threat of unreasonable taxes. With pride and honour overruling all worldly interests, the chiefs of the 84 villages decided to go away in a single night with whatever they could carry with them leaving behind not just their homes but also a curse. That anyone who tried to live in the village would perish."
The spooky ruin of streets, houses, temples and wells that remains to this day is the greatest testament not only to the mystery and romance of the desert but also to the sheer mystery and insanity of India.