The most interesting and exiting experience of the journey so far is definitely the three day camel safari in the desert approximately 50 kilometers from the Pakistani border. We left Pushkar with the late night bus that also had sleeping facilities. We arrived at Jaisalmer the next morning at about 10:00 AM. No need to say we had slept better other nights then in this bumpy bus that was honking all night long. Upon arrival there was a jeep waiting for us so as to avoid the hassle of about 20 people trying to get you to stay in their hotel. This is where we met two Canadian girls (Tiffany and Sarah) and a Czech guy (Pavel). Once we got to Jaisalmer were shown a room that seemed like a fair deal. The bed turned out to be crappy but it was a good deal considering the price was less than 1 Euro! At the hotel we met a French couple that was from a place near Brittany (I think that would be the part where they speak German, is that right P.? ;-))) and as there was a good feeling in this group we had soon decided to go on the camel safari together.
The next day we got up at 05:30 as we had to pack our stuff and leave the room before going to the desert. A jeep took us to the starting location where the camel drivers and these extraordinary weird-looking animals were awaiting us. These were special camels as they have evolved over time so as to be able to cross different types of terrain. They have three stomachs, weigh about 900 kilograms, drink about thirty liters of water per day and usually reach an age of approximately thirty years. Riding a camel is similar to riding a horse they say but if you’ve never driven either one before, then your muscles have a hard time … Luckily my mum knows this stuff and she had given us a mythical crème called ARNICA that does miracles!!
After about 4 hours of riding we took a break where “Tiger” (the main camel driver) and his two men prepared lunch for us. The food was really tasty and even more so if you consider the circumstances in which it was prepared. By the way, dishes are washed with sand! After a nice nap we hit the road again and I must say that I was happy once we arrived at our destination which was a dune-sort of landscape. Again great food was prepared for the seven of us (there was even beer!); after that Tiger sang us a couple of songs: it started out with a traditional kind of music they sing in the desert but quite soon he sang a version of “I’m a Barbie girl; you can wash my hair in the bloody sand …”caught by complete surprise everyone was laughing their @$$ off! As everybody was really tired we went to sleep early underneath a sky with an amazing amount of stars I had never seen before. I have to admit (and I think I can say the same on behalf of Rut) that every now and then I opened my eyes to check and make sure there weren’t any snakes or scorpions entering our sleeping bags! I can’t really say we slept well, the sand seems softer then it really is, it got really cold and the whole situation was new to all of us.
On the second day we got up early so as to see the sunrise. It was quite special to see the desert light up. The silence in this place was amazing: all you hear is birds, goats and the breezing of the wind and at night all you hear is the camels chewing over their food, quite funny. It really is a place that makes you realize how unnatural life in the city actually is (though ofcourse that has its nice parts too). We made a shorter ride this time as almost everyone had muscle ache from the first day. That day I got to know Tiger a bit better which I found intriguing. He is an extraordinary man: 25 years old, married when he was thirteen with five children, illiterate and learned his English by tourists he takes on safari, he has a great sense of humor and is a very wise person. He’s been doing this work now for six years and hopes to start up his own business once he has enough money to buy two more camels (the cost about 500 Euro). After lunch everyone had a lay down while the sand blew into our hair, ears, shoes … everywhere! Again, the second night we didn’t sleep that well but that’s part of the experience.
The third day we made a 25 kilometer ride which was more than enough in my opinion as my legs were killing me despite of the miracle crème! The trip ended with Tiger playing the guitar (see pictures)!! To make a long story short this was just GREAT!
Tomorrow we’re heading to Udaipur, the city where the James Bond movie “ Octopussy” was filmed.
