Our last day in Jaisalamer.... Sigh. We really love this place. We had a slow morning, lazily packing up our stuff and eating. We set out late morning to wander up to the Fort and get lost a bit on the twisting, winding alleyways.
I found one tiny little alley that had stairs at the end. We went up, there was a great, unimpeded view of the city below.
We stopped by a restaurant just outside the Fort gate for some "short eats", drinks and cards. I loved the sign next door that misspelled "chilled" beer...
We said our goodbyes to Ashraf and the staff at Mystic Jaisalmer. It was a perfect stay.
Ashraf's guy drove us to the nearby train station. We were Tyndall early, so I was able to get my shoes fixed (who knew they needed some maintenance.... Luckily I had potential shoe repair guys pointing them out over the last couple of days!).
I've been using a website called the Man in Seat 61 for all of our train travel information - bookings, how to reserve online, logistical info, expectations etc. The guy is really passionate about train travel and has information and experience for practically every train trip you can take in the world.
For our overnight train, I followed the step by step instructions outlined on his website for booking our Jaisalmer to Delhi train - it's hilarious and took about two days, but the instructions were perfect (you would think you were breaking into the Pentagon with all the security, blind passwords, one time use usernames etc). Surprisingly, once you have your e-tickets, the process is easy - no printouts required - just show the ticket from an electronic device to the onboard ticket checker and you're good to go!
The train setup was very similar to our Thailand overnight train. We had our own little four bed section, with a curtain at the end to section off our "berth". We were in the second class air conditioned sleeper seats, the highest you can book online. They were clean, though worn, but they were pretty comfortable. Beth, On the other hand, was not comfortable. With all the sitting and car driving we'd been doing over the last ten days, her back was not in the best shape. The prospect of being on the train for the next 18 hours was a little intimidating for her. The kids, however, were in their element. They love the upper bunks on the trains where they can set up their stuff, read, play Minecraft and just generally fool around.
The toilets were better than I thought - similar to Thailand and Vietnam, and they were serviced throughout the trip. Chaiwalas came by periodically to sell thimble sized cups of chai (no Venti skim chai sans foam on the train :-(). The dinner we bought for three (we knew Robin would be asleep) was mediocre at best and was served at 11:00pm for some reason. Luckily we'd bought fruit, vegetables and snacks to keep everyone happy.
Sleep came quickly - the train runs very smoothly and goes quite dark at night. We have a whirlwind finish to India so a good sleep is a big asset right now.
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