I'm sitting on a camel, journeying through a desert that's, surprisingly, not as hot as I had expected. The Thar desert, to be exact. I'm wearing a round camo hat for shade, and sunglasses. Even though it's not as hot as I'd expected, the sun is still very bright. As we really start to enter the desert, the sparse houses of shepherds start to disappear along with any vegetation that might sustain their hardy goats. However, even here there is still coarse grass and shrubs, and occasionally a weathered tree.
After touring Jodhpur, we traveled by train, to Jaisalmer, yet another city to start with "J". Jaisalmer is on the verge of the Thar desert, and is very dry and filled with camels. The city holds a Middle Aged citadel, a feature Rajasthan is well known and famed for.
The safari begins in a jeep that would take us further into the heart of the desert. We aren't the only ones in the car though, a young British couple is also coming. We all get a little worried when my younger sister Sarah started feeling sick in the car, especially because none of us ever get car-sick. The road we are on is steadily growing worse, transforming from a nice paved road into two tire tracks in the sand. Then the Jeeps (one for supplies and one for passengers) stop in a sort of clearing. nearly a dozen camels are harnessed here, ready for us to ride. We would take maybe a three hour ride to a group of dunes, where we would camp for the night, then ride back the next morning. However, very sadly for all of us, Sarah feels to sick to ride the camels, and has to accompany the jeep to our camping site, along with my Mom. Asides from what I mentioned above about our journey, we saw a desert fox, and got to trot on the camels, which was really cool. Camel riding is not at all like horse riding. The main difference being that camels sway back and forth, no matter whether you're galloping or walking. As I ride these beasts, I like to imagine what it would be like to ride into battle with them. Soon we approach our campsite, already prepared by the guides in the Jeep. Sarah is not feeling any better, and my parents are worried. Probably the first thing me and my brother Jonathan do after dismounting and checking on Sarah, is to explore the dunes. Then we start jumping off the sheer faces of sand into more sand below, which is awesome. As it gets dark we have supper (rice and curry) and then brush our teeth and use the washroom (a.k.a. the bush), before going to sleep under the stars. The next day is the same, except in reverse. My Dad had gone with one of the guides to get some medicine from a pharmacist in a village several kilometers away (in the desert!) the day before, and Sarah was feeling better for it, but not good enough to ride. Our trip back was similar to the one there, but this time my Mom came riding, and my Dad went with Sarah in the Jeep. Before we left in the trucks, Sarah got to pet the camels and take a short ride, but we all felt awful for her. Back in Jaisalmer we took a train to our next amazing destination, Shimla.
Altogether, our camel safari was an amazing experience, and one I'll never forget!
After touring Jodhpur, we traveled by train, to Jaisalmer, yet another city to start with "J". Jaisalmer is on the verge of the Thar desert, and is very dry and filled with camels. The city holds a Middle Aged citadel, a feature Rajasthan is well known and famed for.
The safari begins in a jeep that would take us further into the heart of the desert. We aren't the only ones in the car though, a young British couple is also coming. We all get a little worried when my younger sister Sarah started feeling sick in the car, especially because none of us ever get car-sick. The road we are on is steadily growing worse, transforming from a nice paved road into two tire tracks in the sand. Then the Jeeps (one for supplies and one for passengers) stop in a sort of clearing. nearly a dozen camels are harnessed here, ready for us to ride. We would take maybe a three hour ride to a group of dunes, where we would camp for the night, then ride back the next morning. However, very sadly for all of us, Sarah feels to sick to ride the camels, and has to accompany the jeep to our camping site, along with my Mom. Asides from what I mentioned above about our journey, we saw a desert fox, and got to trot on the camels, which was really cool. Camel riding is not at all like horse riding. The main difference being that camels sway back and forth, no matter whether you're galloping or walking. As I ride these beasts, I like to imagine what it would be like to ride into battle with them. Soon we approach our campsite, already prepared by the guides in the Jeep. Sarah is not feeling any better, and my parents are worried. Probably the first thing me and my brother Jonathan do after dismounting and checking on Sarah, is to explore the dunes. Then we start jumping off the sheer faces of sand into more sand below, which is awesome. As it gets dark we have supper (rice and curry) and then brush our teeth and use the washroom (a.k.a. the bush), before going to sleep under the stars. The next day is the same, except in reverse. My Dad had gone with one of the guides to get some medicine from a pharmacist in a village several kilometers away (in the desert!) the day before, and Sarah was feeling better for it, but not good enough to ride. Our trip back was similar to the one there, but this time my Mom came riding, and my Dad went with Sarah in the Jeep. Before we left in the trucks, Sarah got to pet the camels and take a short ride, but we all felt awful for her. Back in Jaisalmer we took a train to our next amazing destination, Shimla.
Altogether, our camel safari was an amazing experience, and one I'll never forget!
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| Me and Johnny jumping off a dune. |
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| One of the many dung beetles that was ferrying away the camels droppings. |
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