Rajasthan Memories

Oh Rajasthan, what an iconic state. We will talk about two of the cities that made us fall in love with India! One was a small village, where we were supposed to stay for two days and ended up staying ten – Pushkar. A city where we literally see more cows than people walking around. This city was special for us because it was where we made a great friendship that we believe we are taking with us for the rest of our lives! And, let’s be honest, that’s what makes traveling so beautiful!

A small visit became a 10 day-stay in Pushkar

Classic and typical of us, we were staying in the cheapest accommodation in Pushkar, even though the conditions were far from being the worst we would have found. We had a British friend, Lewis, staying in another place, a hostel that apparently was the coolest in town. Lucky us! Of course we spent the majority of our time there (haha), but even better, Lewis told us there was 2 portuguese girls staying there, and we had to meet them! They were the first Portuguese people we met in India. Total excitement! Raeesa (Ra) and Leonor (Li), were their names, and yes, it might not seem like, but both Portuguese!

The first night we had a drink, the second we had dinner and after a couple of days we connected so deeply, it seemed like we were old friends (haha). Even better when we discovered they were leaving to our next destination as well! The city that was going to steal our hearts… Jaisalmer!

”See you in Jaisalmer!”

For those who don’t know, Jaisalmer, is a small city in the extreme west of the Rajasthan state, which makes it very close to the Pakistan border. Basically, in the desert! We were so excited with the idea of reaching the desert, and doing a safari! Ra and Li were waiting for us to do the safari together, and the plan was doing it in the first day in Jaisalmer. We had no idea of the awesome experience that was waiting for us…

Related: 20 Travel Tips for India Beginners

As soon as we landed in Jaisalmer, we went directly to Hostel La Vie, where they were staying. We had so high expectations, Ra and Li didn’t stop talking good things about this hostel. And it didn’t take long to understand why. We arrived the hostel at around 5:30 am, and even though everyone was sleeping we were super welcomed! Got immediately an empty corner with some sofas were we could sleep for a couple of hours. Exactly what we were needing after several hours in a bus during the night. But first, and even half sleeping, we could not believe in the view we were having from our rooftop. INCREDIBLE!! We were not only above 80% of the city but also, we had the city fort just behind us. We were completely delighted!

After a few hours we were already preparing a bag full of warm clothes. Because during the day it is hot, but during the night the desert can get VERY cold. Yes, we were going to spend the night in the desert. How cool is that? At least we were finally going to use our warm clothes that we brought specially to survive Nepal that, unfortunately, we ended up not visiting.

Let’s go to the desert!

The desert adventure starts, in a Jeep (of course) and six citizens of the world: us 4 (the Portuguese crew) and 2 other guys, an Indian and a German, plus the most iconic and talented guide you could ever ask for. Turns out this guide, Di Caprio, was also the owner of the hostel, whose life story would make a great book. Those ones with a happy ending…

About the tour, it was a huge dilemma if we should do it or not, because of the part of riding the camels… We love animals and we didn’t want to support anything that hurts them or against their nature. We were informed… It may be debatable, but the truth is, for thousands of years, this animal is used as transport of people and goods, and their morphological structure is already for human weight. We just needed to be sure that the tour we chose treated these animals properly. And it did not take much time to be sure they did.

The trip was amazing, such great moments with lots of fun! Specially, when the man in charge puts Matilde leading the pack! That moment will stay in our minds forever! Matilde was freaking out, so afraid of the height and of the responsibility she had to lead the camel that was the leader of the pack!! You can’t imagine how hilarious it was, haha.

The perfect set-up for an incredible night

We have reached our destination. In the middle of the dunes, Di Caprio was already in a stone house waiting for us with a table prepared with Tchai, and some Indian snacks. . We were the only ones who still watched the camels rolling in the sand after this walk and getting ready for a night’s sleep. Another incredible moment. And then we climbed up the dunes… It was time to see the sunset! In the dunes!! We can’t think of a better sand set. Oh, we meant ‘sun set’ sorry haha.

Already hungry, we returned to the stone house and already had a Thali (typical food of this region) waiting for us! Moments of much chatting, and sharing stories, when we discovered that the Indian guy that came with us, Ujjawal, super educated, also had the same passion about travel as we do, and we learned so much about this amazing country that is India! (For those who want to know more about their experiences around the world you can access his page here.

What is better than a group of people that share the same interest (travel) sitting around a bonfire under the stars surrounded by dunes of a desert, sharing amazing stories and crazy experiences?! And this was how we stayed for hours. Such incredible moments to remember. This experience had to be lived to the fullest, the sky was so clear and there were endless stars on sight. We pulled the beds to the dunes, and we literally fell asleep staring at millions of stars!! Nothing can make us forget those moments.

Moments we are taking forever

We woke up and of course we had to start the day with Tchai (typical tea of India – which Li and Ra made us fall in love with). After a lovely breakfast it was time to go back, but this experience had to end exactly as it started. On a camel! There we were, ridding back to the jeep, to get home.

Jeep time, time to get back to the city! So, we spent a wonderful day that made us incredible memories but, even more important, good friendships! And just because we really liked these two crazy girls (Ra and Li) we continued to travel together until they returned to Portugal. Now there are many messages exchanged and promises, not a coffee in Lisbon, but a Tchai. We can’t wait for that!

For us, this is what matters … moments and friendships! We have been traveling for several months and we have met wonderful people we will never forget. We want to take a moment and thank every one of them, they made our adventure much better and super special and we can’t wait to see them again!

Related: A week with an indian family in Haryana, India

For all of you reading this, we hope we were able to recreate our unforgettable moments and that you have enjoyed reading it! We appreciate all of your support.

Much love,

Matilde and Miguel