Hari Boonbari, Camel-a Safari!

Today Kat and I got back from our much anticipated camel safari! We did a two-day-and-one-night trip into the desert on camels! We booked a great one with our hotel that took us out to a lesser known area and it paid off. We didn't see another camel group the entire time. Most of the landscape was desert scrubland but we did get through a couple of sand dune areas. The dunes are pretty fun on a camel because they really get moving on the downhill side of a dune! Camels are extrodinarily weird creatures. They have really long legs, huge eyes, and they make the strangest gargling yelping sounds imagineable. Luckily none of us were bitten or spit on the entire trip.

Our guides cooked an excellent dinner for us over the fire complete with Chai. We started having some fun with our two fellow travellers with the camera at night and came up with some pretty wild photos like the one shown that Kat so artfully drew. The youngest camel boy especially had fun dancing around at night with the flashlights! After we settled down a bit the camel guides sang some wonderful songs. We slept on blankets under the stars - it was probably the only night in India that we actually have to have a blanket to stay warm.

The other great view in Jaisalmer is the city fort. It's actually endangered right now due to poor water management (get on this Frei!) and it's doomed to self destruction soon. It's a shame because it's beatiful and it's really the crown jewel of this great city. The intricate work done in sandstone makes this city truly unique. Also, the hospitality and generosity of the people of Rajastan has been unrivaled so far in India. I realize this sounds hokey, but this is pretty unique for us so far in India so it is a very welcome change.

Tomorrow we board the train for Jodphur and then Mumbai!