Castles made of sand

Jaislmer, on the western edge of Rajasthan bordering the Great Thar Desert, is home to an enormous yellow sandstone fort, the most famous one in the region (and by far the most touristy). With a warning from our driver about the sheisty hawkers, we set out on a self guided tour of the city which ended on top of the fort walls eating pineapple pizza from an "authentic" italian restaurant - next to the "authentic" bhang shop.

Jaisalmer is the golden city, which aptly fits its desert landscape and sandstone buildings. This is the first fort that has held a small village inside its walls, homes, shops, jain temples, and restaurants.

The next day, we did some more sight seeing, saw an old lavish haveli with a stunning courtyard, and made our way to the sand dunes. About 40 km further into the desert, closer to the border with Pakistan are the Sam sand dunes, guarded by the military on camels. Although the area of seemingly manicured sand dunes were not very large, it fulfilled our wish of seeing a Sahara-like desert landscape, complete with hundreds of camels, both wild and in costume.