Jaisalmer

From the moment first-time travellers enter the tight-knit streets of dusty Jaisalmer, the grand and formidable rises of the Golden Fort take precedence, and quite rightly so. This startling UNESCO heritage site made of yellow sandstone forms the epicentre of the place, alive with the glorious Raj Mahal, a veritable wealth of Jain temples, and the wondrous Haveli houses complete with their Mughal adornments. Below, the town ticks over to the usual hubbub of Indian life, bursting with heady marketplaces and the aromatic thali plates of traditional Rajasthani cuisine.

Despite Jaisalmer’s gorgeous and almost arabesque veneer, it remains one of India’s remoter cities, disconnected from the other major metropolises of the north by sweeping swathes of undulating sand dunes and the encroaching reaches of the Thar Desert. Today, and this isolation has also become one of the city’s major pulls, with folks flocking here for camel safaris and outback jeep rides, or to join a Jaisalmer tour guide on excursions to Gadisar Lake and the various other hill forts of Rajasthan that pepper the ridges all around.