We arrived in Jaisalmer – where the Lonely Planet commented that you’d have to be crazy to go this time of year due to the hellish heat- about supper time and it was still in the mid-40’s. The regular Indian crowd greeted us at the bus station- auto-rickshaw drivers who were keen to convince us to go to their friends guesthouses where they inevitably would receive kickbacks. This display was especially impressive in Jaisalmer where they had no problem lying to us about our intended destination- it’s closed; it has no water, etc. We eventually arrived, paid the price (which had increased along the way) and made our weary way up the hill to Jaisalmer Fort. We had heard that the fort was THE place to stay in town and I’m pleased to say the rumors were true! The room Julie and I stayed in looked like something out of an Arabian movie complete with a giant, mirrored bathroom, a huge carved, wooden bed, mile-high, stone ceilings with wooden rafters and a cushion-filled balcony looking out over a court yard! I half-expected Aladdin to fly up to our balcony on a magic carpet to take us for a ride!
The first evening we took a much-needed shower in our posh bathroom and then had a delicious dinner on the rooftop overlooking the city with Pam and an American she had met. The next morning we shopped and explored the beautiful alleyways of the fort engaged in the mind-blowing activity of mailing postcards- always aggravating in India!
In the afternoon, Marcella, Pam Julie and I made our way down to entrance to the fort to meet our guide Babu, who was to take us on an overnight camel safari in the dessert. Now those of you who know me know that I don’t really like camels (due to an unfortunate experience with one in Egypt) but I decided to put my fears aside and give them another chance.
Babu and his brother, Mr. Singh, picked us up as promised and transported us in a jeep (which started out fun, but soon got bumpy) to a small village in the dessert-scrub land. The kids there went so bananas when they saw us that we soon had to be confined to a local’s living room for our own sanity. They were pretty cute though. After chi, it was back in the jeep- next stop Mr. Singh’s house to pack the camels and hit the trails.
At Mr. Singh’s we hung out with his little daughter and son who were sweet. Julie and Marcella especially connected with the little daughter and Jules left minus two bangles. Now the moment of truth- the mounting of the camels! We all managed to make it onto our camels with minimal drama (but A LOT of laughs). For those that don’t know- camels have an unusual way of standing up and sitting down that makes mounting and dismounting more interesting then what you would experience on a different animal. I’m sorry to say my camel was pretty mangy- as if to reinforce my inevitable dislike. Julie had to ride with Babu on his “favorite” camel, Pam rode with Mr. Singh and Marcella (or the lone ranger) rode on her own.
As we started to ride, my anxiety diminished marginally and I really enjoyed the scenery. For all its harshness, the dessert is quite beautiful. We saw some tough, but beautiful plants including dessert flowers and some wildlife including tiny deer. We stopped at a few remote villages and cruised around with all the children following us. Hilghlights of the villages included nearly getting my watch stolen by an eight year old boy, holding a beautiful, black, baby goat and watching Marcella (always full of suprises) school the local children at a game similar to jacks except played with rocks. Apparently she became quite good at it while working at a health facility in Africa. It’s amazing how easily children can create games!
We arrived, after a few hours riding, at our camp site in the valley in between two vast sand dunes where we decided to walk to the top to watch the sun set while the men took care of the camels and set up camp. The sunset was breathtaking.
We returned to camp to assist Babu, who had turned into a drill sergeant, in creating what turned out to be fabulous dinner. I was in charge of fire creation and maintenance (a very important job I though) and chopping tomatoes. I don’t know what it is about food that you cook and eat out in the wilderness that makes it taste so good and I don’t care- all I can say is YUMMY!
We drank our beer, ate our dinner, chatted and dodged Babu’s endless advances (which is the kind of bullshit that makes you want to punch most Indian men in the face) and then turned in early to stargaze. The stars in the dessert were beautiful and the girls and I spent some time pointing out constellations that we knew- it didn't take long...hehe.
I can’t speak for everyone else but I got ZERO minutes sleep that night. I guess I’m not cut out for dessert safaris, but between blowing sand (so much that we had move our sight) giant dung-beetles (that actually push camel shit around) crawling on me and Babu “accidentally” venturing onto my part of the sleeping mat I just couldn’t catch any zzz’s. Pam said at one point she woke up and glanced over to see me just sitting on my mat glaring off into the distance (and I mean glaring…not staring).
Thankfully morning came quicker then expected. We got up early, attempted to do some yoga in the sand- very difficult- I wouldn’t advise. Then I went for a brief walk and a roll down a dune and it was time to have breakfast and pack up and head back. I got the feeling the night was rough on everyone as the camp was noticeably quieter in the morning.
Also, riding a camel was much more painful on day two! My ass has never been so sore and it got worse with every bump. There was talk of visiting some more villages on the way home and Marecella, who was now galloping on her camel completely unassisted, was extremely into that idea. Thankfully, Pam and Julie were also suffering posterior pain and sleep deprivation so we outvoted her! Also we had all had enough of the romantic advances of our guide so it was best that we cut the trip short.
We returned to Mr. Singh’s home, painfully dismounted and firmly refused the offer of chio as everyone was slightly disgruntled. I agreed (much to the dismay of the rest of the girls as they were annoyed with Babu’s antics) to write a review of our trip. However, afterward, in the jeep, I informed them that I had learned that neither Babu nor Mr. Singh could read English so I decided that I would write a COMPLETELY honest review of our trip…hehe. We took the jeep back, took long, hot showers where we discovered our asses were not only bruised, but chaffed and lounged in our gorgeous room for the rest of the day. Julie and I also concluded that neither of us enjoy riding animals of any sort and that we could care less if we saw camels, in particular, ever again!
We also decided that our broken asses could not handle another all day, bumpy bus ride in the heat the following day so Pam, Julie and I decided to split on a taxi to our next destination- Pushkar! Given the cheap price and the amazing increase in speed and comfort- it was the best decision ever! Our last evening and morning in Jaisalmer we basically just took in the sights, and nursed ourselves back to health!
Now this entry sounds like a bit of a shit show and a pretty rough time, but I can assure you that conversations following the events have confirmed that we were all happy to have experienced the safari, it was just a bit ridiculous while it was happening…you know the saying…what doesn’t kill you…
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