Camels, camels, and more camels!!!
Trip Start
Jun 07, 2008
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66
188
Trip End
Jun 28, 2009
Pushkar,
Rajasthan,
India
Sunday, November 9, 2008
But during the day at Pushkar, it gets very, very hot. We went into the festival and walked around through the cow, horse, and camel areas where all the men were selling and buying camels. We saw lots of deals being made. Today is the last day of the cattle festival, so everywhere is here from the villages to meet their new cows, welcome them to their family, and take them home. We saw the free veteraniarian clinic where they were helping a horse with a hurt hoof, and lots of camels. The horses are especially beautiful - their ears curve at the top and they have lots of stamina to survive in the desert. If they are a thoroughbred, there ears can touch in the back of their heads. A few times guys on horses came charging down the dusty paths, almost knocking people over. These guys were checking out the horses before they bought them.
Here are some more camel facts (an update on Morocco!):
· The camels in India are real camels
· Camels here are called the Ships of the Thar Desert
· Camel races at fairs are a common sight
· The average camel cost about $1200 or 60,000 rupees, a lot of money for most of the families who live here
· There are three kinds of camels in India:
o Bikaneri: They have hairy ears and lots of stamina
o Jaisalmeri: They have longer legs and can cover 22 kilometers an hour
o Gujarati: These are darker-haired and good in marshy places
In the other part of the festival, we saw a movie theatre in a tent, people making chapatis (bread) over stones, people eating sugar cane, and lots of other kinds of food.
Lu and me on the camel cart
Lu and I rode a little ferris wheel that a guy pushed around with his hands and I got to play a game where I tried to shoot balloons with an gun. Lots of kids my age came around to shake my hand and say hello. They were all very nice. This afternoon, we went back to the festival to see more of the events. We saw lots of guys riding bareback on horses in the arena, testing the horses. Some of them were beautiful. Then we walked through the fair and got on a camel cart to see more camels. We stopped at the place where lots of camels are kept at night to see the sunset. We saw lots of camels who had been hobbled for the night, and one got caught in his hobble and then was very upset. It was cool to see all the camels and the dust in the sunset.
After dark, we went to the fair where Dad and I rode a giant boat and then we all rode the ferris wheel. The boat went very high and was lots of fun. The ferris wheel looked like it would go very slowly, but when we got on it, it went very fast! A boy my age rode it with us - he lives with his mother in a tent with his six brothers. He was nice. There were not any safety chains or seatbelts or anything - we could have fallen right out. That was crazy. We walked slowly back to get to our tents - it is a holy day so there were tons of people everywhere. I will be sorry to leave tomorrow - I like the festival a lot!
