Mai I nak cerita sedikit sebanyak tentang Abu Safari and Jaisalmer. Well, Jaisalmer is located in Rajasthan, India and it is famous for its Thar Desert. Apa beza Thar desert dengan desert kat Mesir tu? Ha, I pun tak tahu actually sebab tak pernah pergi sana tapi yang I tau Thar desert is known as The Great Indian Desert and it is a border separating India and Pakistan. Ha begitu lah serba sedikit tentang Jaisalmer and Thar Desert.
Pasal Abu Safari pulak, it's actually a hotel which also offers a package of sleeping under the stars in the wide open Thar Desert. Imagine! Bukan selalu pun kita dapat tidur kat padang pasir tu kan? Nak jumpa padang pasir apa entah lagi kat Malaysia ni, that's why we're all excited! YASS! Tapi kat Jaisalmer ni banyak je hotels yang offers this kind of package. Why we choose Abu Safari? Tanya Farah. LOL. Tapi sebenarnya, among all the packages and hotels, we liked Abu Safari the most because it has good reviews, also it's cheap and the package looks really nice.
Tapi sebelum we all get excited nak tidur under the stars, let us sleep first. The journey is super tiring okayyy! Imagine almost 24 jam dalam train?! We need a proper sleep first and also, nak mandi.
By the way, here's a secret, the last time we both took a shower was when we were in Varanasi, which was TWO days ago. LOL. But, jangan judge dulu! Kat sana kan winter, we even barely sweat kot. So takde istilah berlengas ke ketibas ke none. And semua orang pun wangi je, termasuklah kami.
Serius.
Okay, sampai je kat Abu Safari, kitorang check in kat kaunter just to inform about our booking earlier. Well, u boleh booking online by going to their website (click!) and email them. Nanti diorang bagi nombor telefon to contact them once you've reached Jaisalmer (that's why Farah boleh call driver dia the moment we step foot there). Kalau malas nak email ke apa ke, boleh je book them from Booking.com or Trip Advisor.
Lepas check in, they took us to a dorm upstairs for us to freshen up and sleep. Lucky for us, waktu kitorang sampai tu, memang takde orang pun dalam dorm tu so we can sleep wherever we want! And we both ambik kesempatan untuk tidur tepi tingkap. Feeling feeling princess uols sambil merenung Jaisalmer fort kat luar tu.
 |
| How cozyyyyy |
Around 8 plus, kitorang pun bangun and seterusnya mandi selepas dua hari tak mandi dan bersiap siap lah untuk the next adventure! Ha kau semangat gitu.
Bila kitorang turun bawah, jumpa dengan orang Abu Safari tu, they said we would only be going to the desert at 2 pm so we've got ample time untuk jalan jalan and pusing Jaisalmer town if we want.
By the way, the price for our package is Rs 2000 per person, which basically only RM 140. Tapi, kitorang kena tambah another Rs 500 sebab we demand to eat meat. LOL memang kan, pergi tempat majority vegetarian tapi tak reti nak makan makanan vegetarian. Tetap lah nak makan daging! Well, priorities guys, priorities.
Oh, lupa nak bagitau, harga package tu is inclusive of dinner (while in the desert) and also penginapan sementara kitorang di dorm tadi and also the auto from train station to the hotel. So, murah lah kan?
So lepas settle semua benda bayar and all, we decided untuk jalan jalan pusing Jaisalmer. Okay, one thing pasal Jaisalmer ni kan, dia macam town yang out of this world. I felt like I was in a different era. Macam zaman dahulu kala, dalam buku cerita kanak kanak yang cerita pasal orang Arab tu. Ha macam tu. Geddit tak feeling dia macam mana?
Also, of all places that we've been so far, Jaisalmer ni lah yang paling banyak muslim. Even owner and workers in Abu Safari ni pun muslim jugak. Tapi, despite it's high muslim population, kat Jaisalmer ni jugak lah first time kitorang jumpa babi berlenggang korek sampah tengah jalan. Babi tu dah macam anjing dah. Hahaha excited gak lah sebab babi babi ni walaupun tak comel, diorang tak kacau orang. So kalau tengah jalan tu, takpayah risau lah ada babi datang menyondol ke menyendeng ke.
So, me and Farah pun decided to start exploring the town. And we decided to go to Jaisalmer fort since the fort tu memang boleh nampak from our hotel.
 |
| The Jaisalmer Fort |
Cantik kan? Jaisalmer Fort ni sebenarnya dah diwartakan as one of World Heritage in UNESCO. Also, fun fact about Jaisalmer Fort is that it's a fully preserved fortified city and it hosts a quarter of Jaisalmer population in it. In addition, Jaisalmer Fort is also one of the largest fort in the world, IN THE WORLD, okay. It's also called as Sonar Quilla which means, Golden Fort sebab warna dia nampak macam kuning keemasan.
Perjalanan dari Abu Safari ke Jaisalmer Fort ni only around 5 minutes plus by walking. Okay lah tu. Tapi fort ni besar gila I taktahu if we have covered all ke tak.
Unlike fort lain kat India that we've visited, nak masuk dalam fort ni you tak payah bayar apa apa pun. It's free entrance. Unless, you nak masuk dalam Laxminath Temple, Jain Temple, or the Royal Palace (Raj Mahal). Kalau setakat nak jalan jalan dalam tu macam kitorang, free of charge okay.
Kan I cakap bila kat Jaisalmer, I felt like I was in a different era kan, tu I belum masuk the shoplots dalam tu lagi, lagi lah rasa macam wow, it feels like I'm in a really, really, really old town. Everything is vintage kat sini.
 |
| One of thr structure inside the Fort |
I tak sure lah this one is a palace ke, or a temple.
 |
| Yours truly,, in the middle of the street |
 |
| Farah jadi model Kamdar jap |
Kat sini, kedai kedai dia rileks je berjual tepi jalan. Macam kat Varanasi, they don't shout to attract you to go shopping there. So rasa tenang je jalan jalan sambil tengok kedai.
Fun tips, kalau you nak cari saree cantik and murah, like I said, you boleh beli dekat Varanasi. Saree and kurtis yang di jual dekat Jaisalmer ni tak sama langsung pattern dia macam kat Varanasi or Kolkata. Kat sini warna dia more to very earthy and a bit dull if I may say. Warna dia tak silau and honestly, kat sini banyak gila jual kurta and kurtis. I even bought one for myself and 2 for my dad and my brother. Kat sini jugak banyak gila jual cadar with funny quotes. So cheeky.
Basically, kat Jaisalmer fort ni, Farah and I shopping kurtas and kurtis je. And we also bought postcards for ourselves. Tapi at the same time, we berjimat cermat lah jugak sebab duit dah kena catu. Dah lah kitorang belum beli tiket balik Delhi lagi haa tak pasal karang tak balik Malaysia. LOL
 |
| Belanja gambar Jaisalmer Fort from up close |
Sebenarnya bila kat India I suka nak feeling feeling macam photographer, LOL padahal kalau you nak tahu, you klik je kamera tu kat sini, mesti you dapat gambar cantik punya. Like, out of 10 clicks, 4 tu confirm cantik lah. Sebab apa? Sebab India ni memang cantik lah!
So around noon, we go back to the hotel and pack our bags for our night in the desert. And also, ushar tiket untuk pergi Delhi
Oh ye, Abu Safari ni treat guests dia macam family sendiri. You rasa macam you yang own the hotel. Boleh lepak merata rata and they even treat you like you're part of them. You can even lepak kat registration counter tu if you want!
 |
| Farah kerja part time jadi receptionist Abu Safari |
Since our plan is now messed up sebab we were supposed to visit Jodhpur kan, so we decided whatever happens, kitorang tetap nak pergi Jodhpur jugak. So, bila kitorang sembang dengan one of the staff, they told us that there are buses going to Jodhpur everyday and it only costs Rs 200. Ha, apa lagi we then decided yes, we'll be going to Jodhpur by bus!
Maka, kami pun merancang perjalanan kami sementara tunggu driver nak sampai. We decided that we'll be going to Jodhpur the next day, and stay there for a night. After that, we'll buy train tickets to Delhi from Jodhpur and explore Delhi and take the flight back home petang tu.
Nasib baik lah flight ticket balik KL tu malam so we'll have ample time to explore Delhi.
Plus, kitorang tak eager sangat nak explore Delhi because most locals that we met told us that,
"Delhi people are CRAZY!"
LOL. We decided we do not want to find the truth behind the statement.
Tapi, satu masalah lagi! Kitorang tak boleh beli tiket untuk ke Delhi, YET. Why? Sebab untuk beli tiket train, bukan macam beli tiket bas. And memandangkan kitorang ni foreigner, kitorang kena lah beli tiket Tatkal. Which somehow means, tiket immediate (takdelah immediate sangat pun). You boleh refer my first post to understand more about this Tatkal tickets. And since tatkal tickets ni only available after 10 am before our day of departure, kitorang decide, okay rileks lah beli later. Plus, so far kitorang tengok banyak lagi kuota time tu.
The perks of travelling during odd times of the year.
Since dekat Abu Safari ni they were letting us their computers for free, kitorang pun ambil kesempatan untuk check in flight siap siap and print the boarding pass terus. FREE OF CHARGE. YASSS!
Also, kitorang dah siap siap book our stay dekat Jodhpur by using Booking.com.
Lepas dah settle everything, we then took our bags downstairs. Since malam tu we would be sleeping in the desert, kitorang takde lah bawak all of our belongings there. Kitorang tinggalkan je our bags kat hotel tu. Jangan risau, they have a special room for you to leave your belongings. Kitorang bawak all the important stuffs and only left the clothes je kat situ. Lock your bags okay, jangan lupa.
Then around 3 pm, our journey to the desert began. Kitorang naik jeep untuk ke Thar desert. There were two German ladies joining us in this trip.
On the way ke desert tu, which takes roughly around 30 to 45 minutes, the driver stopped at a Gypsy village. Tapi, kalau nak masuk and ambik gambar dalam tu, you kena bayar. So we decided, nope we're not gonna pay, so kitorang pun naik balik jeep and teruskan perjalanan menuju ke desert tu.
This was my first time going to a desert, and the view....OMG faham tak cantik?
 |
| Kincir angin! (?) |
Untuk yang tak tahu, kincir angin ni fungsi dia nak generate electric untuk kawasan setempat.
The driver then dropped us off in a middle of nowhere (ye lah nowhere sebab I memang taktahu pun celah mana and apa nama tempat tu haha) where a group of people (and kids) await us with four camels!
YEAY!
 |
| The kids and the camels |
So, from there, our journey will continue for another hour. Sebab rupanya we haven't arrived to our destination yet! We'll be travelling to the middle of the desert by camels!
EXCITED NYAAAAA!
 |
| The khaleesi is now ready to travel |
Okay, I stop sini dulu ye?
Next post I cerita about our night under the stars (REAL PUNYA) and our journey to Jodhpur. I'll put more pictures sebab gambar kat Jaisalmer banyak yang cantik!
See you in the next post!
Namashkar India (Part 1: Preparation)
Namashkar India (Part 2: Kolkata Here We Come!)
Namashkar India (Part 3: Mystical Varanasi)
Namashkar India (Part 4: Magical Varanasi)
Namashkar India (Part 5: Agra, The City of Love)
Namashkar India (Part 6: A Night Under The Sky, Jaisalmer)
Namashkar India (Part 7: A Night Under The Stars, Jaisalmer)
Namashkar India (Part 8: Starry Starry Night)
Namashkar India (Part 9: Majestic Fort)
Namashkar India (Part 10: Delhi, You Crazy!)
No comments:
Post a Comment