Jaisalmer: A City of Deception

I need to explain how the locals of Jaisalmer India are so blinded by money that they will do pretty much whatever it takes to get it. Its really a shame that this place is so corrupt towards tourists because the natural setting here is amazingly charming.

My journey of deception begins as soon as I got on the bus to. I'm hit left and right with extra charges for luggage, an extra entry fee and so on. It was really bullshit but hey wouldn't let me on without paying. Then, the second you step out in Jaisalmer, you are bombarded with representatives from all the guest houses and hotels. This situation is so bad that they have police officers there to protect you and beat them off of you. After asking around who is from my guest house (Hotel Golden City), no one responded. Then out of nowhere, a man named Raju says he is from my guesthouse and he's here to pick me up. Half way through the ride, he tells me he's not from Hotel Golden City and he's taking me to his guesthouse instead. As it turns out I decided that Raju's place was better than Golden City and half the price so I stayed with him. Lucky.

While checking in, he immediately shoots me a pitch for a camel trek. His initial offer was sky high and honestly insulting. He also told me that on this particular trek, we wont see any tourists and made promises of several amazing sites. There would also be two American girls my age and a British couple. So I figured there is a good crew and I can probably negotiate the price down to a 1/3 of his initial offer. I got it down to just under half at $20 a night which he said was unheard of and I was not to tell ANYONE how much I paid, especially the others on my trek. So the trek was booked and I went about the rest of my day.

I woke the next day to find there was no hot water showers, as Raju promised there would be. They didn't even have a water heater for the showers, instead its just a bucket of warm water. I then went to breakfast where I was to meet my fellow trekkers. Waiting for me was not two American girls and a British couple. It was a young German girl and her mother. They had been told that there were two German guys and a couple joining their trek and that they also had received an "unheard of" camel trek price. We all shared an amazing realization of how these Indian's loured us all into their treks.

These were just the most ridiculous lies I have been given among many others. But I have to warn everyone to stay on guard when you come here because they will say whatever you want to hear to get a rupee out of you.