November 19th, 2010

Today we arrived in Bikaner after spending a hard night sleep in our luxury tents on the desert boarder.We spent ~ 2.5 hours on the camels my butt is so sore - I was thankful they are skinner than those in Morrocco.Sharlinder offered me the second camel, I should have known something was up - I had the oldest driver but the best looking as far as photographic and we were by chance color coordinated- both dawning orange for our trek.Our camel was cranky with a capital C.When we arrived at the camp he turned is gnarly mouth and snapped and groaned before by camel mate shook his stick at him.I was glad we stopped part way to get a break and roam a bit on the sand dunes - our saddle was leaning left and I tired to compensate by leaning right.The first time I got off my knees almost buckled - I would not make a good nomad by any means.Some of the women had enough but with a short break and not much further they preserved.

I vowed for a good night sleep - its been a rarity for me on this trip.A bit of a night cap, a little sleeping aid and bam…lights out until 7:00 - missed the sun rise - one of the few I could have taken in this trip.

We were in for a long drive - go figure - its not raining and the sun is shinning.Not sure about the rest of the group but the long drive and a camel butt are not a good mix.

Believe it not we stopped at a temple that worships rats - well to me, they were bigger than a mouse and smaller than a rat.Its good luck if you see a white one or if it runs across your foot.The group hesitated before deciding to go in but hey, this is a once ina life time opportunity...incredible India indeed.