22.3.2008

Camel Safari- Jaisalmer

Writing about something a few days after never feels same as writing about it instantly. On the second day of our safari after sleeping in the desert under the stars I sat down and reflected on the trip very quickly.

First thing I could recall was when we were in the shop with Dilip and Yogi Bear (yuk, some sleazy sales boy who said he can give us massage on our thighs-groins- after the camel ride if we were sore…yeah right!). Anyway I recalled the beautiful throws and bedcovers they had delivered from the village, hand sown by women from their glittery beautiful wedding dresses, saris, some by Muslim women from mainly black durkas and so on. They were amazing, had such history on them. The wedding dresses were what was worn and danced in around the fire in the desert, they had pearls on them, glitter, beads in amazing embroidery. I was very close to purchasing this throw but couldn't agree on a good price with Yogi Bear and realised that maybe I don't need to purchase it after all.

Then I recalled being at the back of Dilip's jeep into the safari, driving in dry heat, in the desert and a feeling of contentment and deep happiness. Being present in the middle of desert, desert that is harsh in nature but kind in certain places to allow for vegetation, desert that is home to so many people, desert that moves during sand storms, desert that soaks the rays of sun, moon and starts! So peaceful and quiet at the same time.

Homes were made out of stones stacked on top of each other, covered in mud, straw roofs but decorated in colourful way to distinguish it from the colour of the soil. Women were dressed in the brightest saris easily spotted walking around in the fields.

We went to the fort by the ghost town on our way, this was the village that everyone abandoned in one night a few hundred years ago because of the minister who was mean to the Brahmins and their children. When he wanted to marry one of the 15year old girls the whole village simply left.

Then we met our camels, mine was called Chaila, much younger than the other camels and considerably smaller. I wonder if such thing as "like camel like rider" because Chaila was pretty cheeky and seem to annoy the other two camels time to time by nudging them or playing with their tail. Ume (the Japanese boy who did the safari with us) had the funniest camel that seem to slurp and sneeze all the time, and constantly eating. The camel riders taught us how to stop the camels from eating the few flowers off the desert plants but Ume had to smack his camel time to time in addition. And every time I got near his camel I was very nervous about getting the saliva on my face as it slurped. He also had a wonky lip so the saliva was pretty much drooling from the side of his mouth.

The two Muslim desert riders liked me as soon as I said I was from Turkey and I was aMuslim. We seem to great each other very easily with Islamic terms "selamen aleykum" and so on. One of the riders had the scariest camel, which wailed and screamed as he climbed on him, and gave me the creeps every time it got near me, I was afraid to be bitten by this camel. His breath stunk (I'm sorry if I have high expectations, I know I cant get a camel with mint fresh breath) and he seemed to breath with a lot of anger. His screams were very disturbing.

In the evening we stopped by a sand dune that was full of tourists but we were told that they weren't going to spend the night there. There was a big group of tourists watching the tribe women dance and sing (wail) on the dunes. We walked to find a quiet space on the dunes to watch the sunset but the sky was rather cloudy so the sun just disappeared into the cloud than set on the horizon. Around that time we discovered the beetles walking around. I initially freaked out but Ume started to play with one and said that they don't bite. Noticing that there were so many around I learned to relax. We were bound to be surrounded by them later on when we slept on the sand anyhow.

We had some sweet chai while one of the camel riders made our beds (thick mattresses, sheets, pillows and very thick substantial blankets), then we sat around the fire with our camel riders talking, watching the fire, helping them make chapattis. What I found is that in the desert everyone knows each other and they are always surrounded by their friends or the children of their friends. So a young boy appeared sitting with us, smiling and simply being quiet. We found out that most children in the desert don't have education because there aren't any schools and the teachers the government sends tend not to care so much about children's' education, they may give a class for an hour if that at all and disappear whilst collecting their salary. However these desert people spoke good English, even knew a few Japanese words. They were very welcoming.

After we had our yummy veg curry, rice and chapatti meal we sat on our beds watching the moon and the stars, drinking some of the desert wine Dilip had given us. Soon we were all lost in our own thoughts, grew quiet and crept in our beds to call it a night. I don't know how long I stared at the stars but I saw a shooting star and made a wish, a wish I have been making for a long time and hopefully nearing to it day by day. I woke up a few times in the night with the cold breeze but overall slept so well in the bright light of the moon.

Next day we did 2-3 more hours on the camels, went through a few villages. The rhythmic movement of the camel set the pace slowly. We were again in our own little worlds but felt the heat of the desert pretty strongly. The camel riders sent us galloping on the camels a few times. I'm not sure if that was a joke for them or they felt we had to speed up but I didn't quite enjoy my ass hitting the saddle so hard, infact felt it ache a little the next day. Judith said she has muscle spasms a few times when she got off her camel.

By lunch time around 12.30 we were very happy to depart with our camels and rest under a big tree whilst more veg curry and chapatti was cooked for us.