Well, we've survived the Thar desert! Absolutely wrecked by the time we got back from it but extremely happy that we did it. We did a bit of sight seeing of the incredible sandstone fortresses and the Jain temple. We were then taken to our camels where we began our journey! There were 6 of us on the same trip, our Norwegian friend from the train ride, Hakon, decided to join us as well as three Spaniards. When we were looking at our camels, there was one that looked like he had better days. I said to Davey that our chances of getting "Crusty" was highly probable (we always get the good end of the stick :P).... sure enough.... Davey got Crusty the Camel! We were in stitches for the whole trip! He had a huge amount of personality, just like Dave, so I think they were well suited. Riding it was easier than I expected, however I woke up that morning with my stomach feeling a little skew-iff (one too many banana lassi's methinks)and the camel joggled my gut around so felt seedy for most of the day. We visited a village where one of the local elderly men took me beside one of the mud huts and straw thatched roof on a stretcher bed and made me rest up while the cheeky little kids gathered around as curious of us as we were of them. My broken hindi was able to help me in a little conversation with them and they were happy that I could speak with them. We took a lovely break in the shade as Harka and Lela, our guides, made lunch and gave me a much welcome Gastrolyte drink. I can't speak well enough of these young lads who looked after us to the nth degree out there. The Thar desert is exactly as it says in the Lonely Planet... not the undulating dunes of sand, but more shrubs and goats in the desert.
We then headed back on our camels at 5 in the afternoon, but my stomach still wasn't the best so I got off the camel and walked the rest of the way, which was still really enjoyable! We then made it to sand dunes which was more of what we expected to see of the desert.... absolutely brilliant silken sands that stretched out for miles! We stayed there as the sun set over the desert and walked down to our base where we talked and laughed and then fell asleep under the stars. Usually when I wake up, the first thought I have is 'where am I?' to which the answer is usually back home on the Gold Coast in my comfy bed lookin at the wooden rafters in our bedroom. It was so exciting to wake up in the middle of the night and open my eyes to stars above me and think "I'm out in the Thar desert in India!". It gave me tingles just thinking that while I snuggled into our doonas and drifted back to sleep!
The next day we had brekky and headed for another few hours by camel, by this time I had settled down enough to enjoy the camel ride a whole lot more and joined the lads in a bit of camel racing before our jeep took us back to our hotel where we rested up for the rest of the day!
We were very stoked with our journey, it was quite gruelling but so very glad to have done it, a trip of a lifetime! Later this afternoon we head to Jodhpur and hopefully I'll have time to do a bit of shopping before we go as I really want to get some Indian mirrorwork bedspreads, a speciality of the area. I'm also uploading photos on all stories... just a few for now so you won't be too bored! btw... Thanks to Neetie, Cathy and Irra for your comments! So lovely to hear from you guys, it means alot to feel connected to close friends out here.
