Health
stroke and sunburn are common ailments, especially for those who come from more temperate climes. But fortunately, ensuring a regular intake of fluids, using strong sunscreens and wearing a shady hat and sunglasses easily minimize the risks from the hot desert sun. A sunscreen with minimum SPF 20 to escape sunburn is essential. The major risks to your health from the armies of mosquitoes are malaria, encephalitis, kala azar and dengue. Cover your arms and legs; be liberal with the repellent and in problem areas sleep under a mosquito net. Traveller's diarrhoea is another running problem and year after year traveller after traveller gets the ‘loosies'. Ensure it's nothing nastier by avoiding green salads, uncooked food, and water that you haven't sanitised by dropping an iodine pill into. Slightly more serious is the risk of contacting AIDS, Hepatitis B and other sexually transmitted diseases. For your sake and the sake of the people you're visiting always use a condom. Have safe responsible sex. The quality of health services is not really adequate in Jaisalmer with few hospitals and nursing homes except for the government hospital and the odd private clinic. Jodhpur is the closest centre with adequate facilities for diagnosis and treatment. But there are a sufficient number of well-stocked chemists/ pharmaceutical shops, where medicines are fairly cheap but it is always a good idea to take along prescription drugs. Travellers from yellow fever areas are required to have an inoculation certificate.

Safety
Jaisalmer is a safe destination only for travellers who follow the rules and play safe. The desert demands respect and should always be treated with due caution. Travellers are advised not to traipse off into the wilderness  unless accompanied by experienced local drivers and/or accredited guides. So make sure you deal with accredited or licensed travel agents, guides and tour operators only. Be extremely alert after sunset and try your best to be in a busy area when it gets dark. Political disturbances and riots are rare and when they do happen, everyone's aware well in advance of potential troubled days ahead. Cases of mugging, theft and pick pocketing often happen and tourists are the favourite target of touts and scamsters though by and large serious crimes against travellers are rare. Women travelling alone, particularly need to be extra cautious, as the state is notoriously chauvinistic in its attitude to lone women, often considered fair game.

Basic precautions:
•  Keep your money and travel documents close to your body (perhaps in a     pouch slung around your neck, tucked out of sight under your shirt),
•  Keep several photocopies of your passport, insurance, travellers' cheques     etc. scattered through your luggage,
•  Do not use a waist pouch, it may as well be a transparent plastic bag: it's     that fragile and that obvious!
•  Do not put all your money in one place,
•  Many women travellers wear the long tunic and loose pyjama dress of     Indian women called the salwar-kameez and find that it substantially     dissuades unwanted male attention.
•  If you are travelling alone, do not advertise it.
•  If you lose your passport lodge, a First Information Report at the local police     station and contact your embassy.

It's hopefully been a great tour of town .