Jaisalmer

On the eastern edge of Rajastan, 150km of desert between it and the border of Pakistan, is the ancient fort town of Jaisalmer. Jaisalmer felt as deeply Rajastani as we could find. The fort of Jaisalmer, built of golden sandstone with intricately carved and decorated exteriors, is thought to be the oldest "living" fort in the world; the palace is now a museum but hundreds of residents, as well as plenty of barnyard animals, still live inside the fort's high walls and narrow streets. With plenty of plush fabrics, furniture, and antiques for sale all around you, walking through the fort and the bazaar below feels you've been transported into the pages of 1,001 Arabian Nights. And, if you feel like you need some extra help to get your mind in the right frame, you can pay a visit to the government-authorized bhang shop! Bhang is basically fine powder of pounded cannibis that can be served mixed into lassis (smoothies), or in cookies, chocolate, and other treats. Bhang is traditionally consumed by Hindus on special holidays, but obviously now has mass appeal for tourists -- it's totally legal, and inexpensive! At the bhang shop in Jaisalmer, you can buy special "camel packs" -- a sampling of all the bhang treats to take on your camel safari. But if you come to Jaisalmer just looking for a bhang lassi and a camel safari, you'll miss out on the real magic. You need to give yourself a few days of just wandering around and taking in all the atmospheric streetlife of a place that truly lives up to the image outsiders have of Rajastan. This is a place where you feel like you've really travelled deep into India! Weeks after we left, whenever we found ourselves stuck somewhere where the honking, insanely chaotic traffic, pushy crowds and smelly trash heaps had pretty much obliterated the atmosphere of India, we found ourselves wishing we could just go back to Jaisalmer.