Campfire camel-raderie

Trip Start Nov 07, 2004
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Trip End May 20, 2005


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Flag of India  ,
Monday, December 6, 2004

True to form we boarded the train to Jaisalmer with tickets for the wrong day. We thought this an easy mistake to make as the train arrived at 23.50 but didn't leave until 00.05. Unfortunately an irate ticket collector thought this was an unforgivable attempt to defraud the Indian Railways, and applied punative fines on top of another ticket. Following this we got to our hotel (a 550 year old building set within the old fort) with uncharacteristic ease. Jaisalmer is a truly beautiful city, built from honey coloured sandstone, and quickly established itself as our favourite place in India so far. Just walking around the fort was an amazing experience, the notable absence of hassle, few motor vehicles and even clean streets all added to its charm.

Our helpful hotel organised a camel safari. We took a jeep deep into the Great Thar Desert, where we met our guides (Harkha and Lilou) and our camels (Mr India and Papaya), the latter didn't smell as much as we had feared, but were just as flatulent 01- Jaisalmer Fort Walls
01- Jaisalmer Fort Walls
 . The trekking wasn't too onerous, with frequent stops for veg curry and endless chapatis. Our presence in a few desert villages didn't go unnoticed and we were mobbed by children keen to show us round for rewards of chocolate. In the evening we set up camp in the dunes and sang songs around the fire. Our guides had an impressive repertoire of Indian songs (all of which seemed to involve a loved one going far away (usually Pakistan) and not coming back/dying), we kept our end up with a few of the British classics. At night we slept under a blanket, and the stars. Our first experience of complete silence since arriving in India. Three days, two nights and an errant tick later, we returned to the hotel to a warm welcome, hot showers and cold beer.

Caroline and Mark
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