Jaisalmer is very chilled out, clean and beautiful. The fort rises up out of the desert like a huge and elaborate sandcastle.
We chose to stay at the Ratan Palace and I was impressed that it was open when we arrived at 4.30am. In fact Jaisalmer was buzzing with activity - we even had to fight off a tout who jumped in our rickshaw and offered us a double en suite for 80 rupees. It was almost certainly a ruse to get us into the hotel and then do the hard sell on a camel safari. Indian hard sell is a force to be reckoned with so I'm glad we declined! Ratan Palace and Renuka are sister hotels with a no pressure policy on camel safaris. They've also got an excellent reputation so within a day we'd signed up.
At 7.30am the hotel manager collected us and two French tourists in his jeep and we drove into the Thar desert stopping at an exqusitely carved Jain temple on the way. At 8.30 we met our group - 6 camels and three drivers. Within minutes we were on the camels and plodding into the desert. Joe and I's driver was called Naru. His patient, friendly ways proved very useful later! It was great fun being on a camel, and it felt very adventurous. Unfortunately my thighs started to 'feel the burn' quite quickly. Luckily after a couple of hours we stopped for lunch in the shade of a huge tree. One guy arrived on his motorbike and sold us COLD drinks. A huge luxury in the middle of the desert as all our mineral water was lukewarm by then. Our guides cooked us a tasty meal - the way they looked after us was pretty stunning - nagging us to eat more food and generally fussing over us. It was really nice. It's very relaxing being in the desert as long as you're in the shade. No traffic noise, no crowd noise, no electrical noise just silence. As all the conversations around me were in hindi and french I was able to just chill out, drinking it all in.
After a few hours we set off again. Because I'd said that I was uncomfortable my saddle was padded out with extra cushions. We trotted through this sparse and beautiful landscape. The camels stopped at an oasis for a drink and we passed herds of sheep and cattle and an area of green farmland. I lasted for about another hour and a half and then I just started finding the rocking motion of the camel combined with my aching thighs too much. Naru helped me off the camel and I started walking. This would have been OK but there are these annoying prickles in the sand that stick to your clothes and get in your sandals. About once a minute I had to stop and remove the burrs. By this point I was very hot and tired but Naru stayed and looked after me as I walked at a snail's pace.
Then we got to the dune were were going to camp out and I realised that all the effort had been worth it. Joe and I sat watching the desert sunset. Then we had a delicious freshly cooked dinner round the campfire and sang songs. The guides sang us some Hindi folk songs. Joe and I sang some English folk classics (rosemary lane / a blacksmith etc). We even tried to coax the Eloise and Angel into singing Freres Jacques but they weren't having it! Then it was time to go to bed which was a blanket under the stars. It was so silent and there were thousands of stars to gaze up at. I could see Scorpio and the Milk Way. I slept really well because it was so quiet and cold. The next morning I waited with Naru at a nearby farmer's house whilst the others trekked back to the starting point. The turbaned farmer made me a cup of chai giving me the only good cup - he drank out of a bowl and Naru out of a cut in half water bottle. Very touching. Then the hotel manager drove miles out of his way to come and collect me in the jeep. I was embarrased at causing so much fuss but apparently about 2 tourists in a hundred get too tired for the second day of riding. It was all done very graciously. So although I found the actual riding uncomfortable I was very impressed with how I was looked after and the experience of camping in the desert is once I'll never forget. I'd definitely recommend the Renuka / Ratan Palace safari!
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5 votes 
