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Desert Ships
I arrived at Jaisalmer train station at midday to a huge crowd of touts and rickshaw drivers all wanting me to go to their hotels and get in their vehicles, asking my name and where I'm staying to which I bluntly refused any answers not wanting to fall for any of the scams by which if they know your name they tell you they're there to pick you up or that your hotel is closed and take you to another which is giving them big commission which is of course passed onto me! Luckily there was a man there with a huge sign for my hotel the 'Shahi Palace' and we set off on the short 10 minute jeep ride to the hotel. They had no record of my booking despite the pages of emails I showed them and I knew it was the right place, nonetheless they showed me the available rooms and I went for what I had originally booked which was nice enough. I told them I had planned to go on their desert camel safari the following day but there were already 2 american girls going at 3pm so it was more convenient for them if we went together but also the company was a plus for me. So no less than a few hours after arriving showered and changed I was off in a jeep into the wilderness. It was a 1.5 hour jeep rife to a drop off point where our 3 camels awaited and our 3 young guides (the youngest 9, the eldest 14!) They unpacked the jeep and strapped enough water, food and blankets for the night ahead to the camels and got on. This was a lot easier as it sounds because although the camel (mine was called Shiva) was sitting, the saddle was still high enough that it was a struggle to get my leg over. Once this task was accomplished my guide (he told me his name was Jackie) shouted at the camel and I found myself thrown foreword suddenly then back as it stood up, once up it's quite a daunting hight your sitting at and the thought of falling of the camel rings of broken bones!
Once the two girls were on and we were all set, each guide led one of the camels with a piece if rope and we trekked for almost 2 hours further into nowhere passing only one or two small villages where the houses were msse of mud with thatched roofs and where we passed women carrying water vases on their heads from the wells and children chased us asking for sweets or shouting "pens for school!" or "10 rupees please!" phrases that had obviously been passed down for generations since western tourists first passed through these parts.
By this point my thighs are killing me and it's baffling why anyone would want to ride a camel for a week long safari never mind 1 day and just before I couldn't bare it any longer, the sand dunes loomed in the near distance which we arrived at shortly after and dismounted (again with great difficulty) and I felt like a baby learning to walk for the first time! The boys set up a few blankets on the sand and collected wood for a fire as we went for a walk around the dunes and took some photos of the setting sun. We returned a few minutes later to a bit of commotion in the shrubs beside our little camp where the boys had been collecting fire wood. Jackie, the eldest had been stung by a scorpion which had appeared to have somehow crawled up inside his clothing and wasn't noticed until the pain and they were all attacking it with sticks in the bush and we were assured it was well and truly dead. That did not stop us worrying about any others that may be scuttling around our camp as well as anything else that may harm us as not one of us had actually once thought about any desert creapy crawlies! Once everyone had calmed down and Jackie had refused the pain killers that the girls had not understanding what it was exactly we sat down on the blankets and enjoyed the scenery and the comic personalities of the camels right next to us while the boys prepared our dinner. By about 8pm dinner was served and I found it amazing that the 3 young boys had managed to prepare a feast for all of us of a vegetable curry with rice and chapati's all freshly made, they had even chopped and peeled all the vegetables and made dough and baked the chapati's all around this tiny fire! After dinner we had come to terms with the fact that we were sleeping right where we set up camp on the blankets in the ground but then the boys started packing up the camels and told us we were moving! We just shifted up onto slightly higher ground only a few yards away where they miraculously produced what resembled little square trampoline type things which were about a foot off the ground and made out beds for us, we had one each and the 3 boys plus the driver (who showed up for dinner with the jeep nearby as the girls weren't too sure about riding the camels all the way back in the morning) shared two pushed together. It was quite a relief to all of us that we were slightly raised off the ground as the wind picked up more and more as the night went on and sand was already being whipped up into our faces, plus less chances of a visit from a scorpion we all thought!
We all drifted off to sleep at about 10:30pm but I woke up in the middle of the night as I must have slept with my mouth slightly ajar because it was a bit sandy on my tongue and the wind was making quite a racket, I was glad I did however because as I looked up the sky was amazing and like nothing I'd seen before i swear I could make out different galaxies and each star was so clear et le piece de resistance..two huge shooting stars right across the sky, it was awesome and made my whole trip!
The next morning we awoke at 6am to the boys already preparing breakfast, toast made on the fire with little sachets of marmalade and chai tea, just what I needed! They then asked if we wanted to go back on camels or jeep to which we asked if we could just have a little jaunt around the sand dunes on the camels and then take the jeep back. Up I went and my Lawrence of Arabia fantasy (not that I actually had one) was complete! I wanted to try going a little faster which the girls weren't keen on however the boys all talked amongst each other and then simultaneously whipped the camels and to much surprise for the two girls we all raced off toward the jeep! It was good fun but I couldn't go that pace for more than a few minutes as it is quite harsh on sensitive areas to say the least! We then popped in the jeep and had a speedy drive back to the hotel for a much anticipated shower to get rid of all the sand, sweat and sunscreen that had piled up on our skin and clothing.
Feeling rather worn out a lazy afternoon followed the return to the hotel and it wasn't until dinner time I ventured out of the hotel to a restaurant recommended by the rough guide called Trio where on the way whilst asking for directions I was attacked by a cow wandering along the road which swung its horns at me and jabbed me in the pelvis, I shouted and jumped but no one seemed to blink an eye but were probably busy trying to hide their amusement. I bumped onto the two american girls again at the Trio restaurant and joined them for beer and ordered my Thali which was very nice indeed and we had dinner whilst listening to a huge racket what sounded like a man reading over a tannoy to the whole town, then he burst into song and then played music, maybe it was radio thar desert or something! After dinner we went back to the hotel and played cards on the rooftop restaurant with an eclectic mix of music playing from the speakers on the roof such as Mariah Carey and Backstreet Boys, I have come to understand that in India people have a really warped view of western music tastes or they're just stuck in the 90's! At 11pm it was bed time and I had a lovely video skype session with the family and was great to chat to Ella, Mum and Michael and hear about home and all the exciting life changes and Ellas (aka cinder-Ellas) ball :-) But really made me wish I could just pop home for a normal family dinner and pop back or that they could all teleport themselves here to join me for a Rajasthani thali, a lassi and a kingfisher beer in the rooftop restaurant listening to a mix of 90's pop and Bollywood tunes!
- comments
angela what a great trip you re having Sean ! what an adventure Can it get any better!!