Desert and Desserts

Pushkar in Rajasthan is surrounded by desert and I decided I wanted to go on a camel safari; my English friends, Sam and Hetty, and I set off in the afternoon into the Thar desert on some of the biggest camels I've ever seen. At first I didn't feel good about riding them and making them carry my weight and also I wasn't sure about the way they are controlled through a piercing in their septum; we only rode them for an hour at a time and when we arrived at the camp they were able to roam free in the shrubby desert all evening where they ate and rolled around so they looked like they have quite happy lives. 

It was really bumpy and sometimes they'd trot which was just like being on a horse. 

The camels were given regular rest stops.

The Thar desert.

We were led to our camp which consisted of a fire pit and three mats on the floor for us to sleep on; the camel men prepared dinner for us (typical Indian food - rice, daal, chapati and spicy pickle) and they even managed to get beer for us from a local village despite the strict rules against alcohol in Pushkar. As it got darker more and more stars became visible in the sky until it was absolutely teeming with twinkling lights! We laid on the mats for hours after dinner chatting and watching shooting stars - it was magical! I saw a black and white tarantula with my torch on my way to the loo and the camel man said-"ahh no problem, no problem, they only sometimes hurt people". Very reassuring.

We were told that the fences around the camp stop desert dogs from attacking!

Sunset.

After sleeping under the stars the rising sun over the mountains was our natural alarm clock the next morning; our blankets and clothes were damp from the morning dew and whilst the camel men prepared chai for us we brushed off all the wet sand and packed our stuff to go.

Sunrise.

Once we were back in the town we spent the day trying to even out the ridiculous sunburn lines we had acquired whilst biking. We went to a pool recommended by my guide book but it had a fish in it and monkey poo all around the edges so instead of going in we sat poolside (pooside) near palm trees under the strong Indian sunshine.

Sunburn!!!

Hot dogs or legs?

We went for ice cream that night and I also tried the popular tourist dessert called 'Hello to the Queen'.

Every shop has a 'cow stick' to prevent this from happening however the owner of this shop was probably too busy having a snooze on the shop floor to scare the cow away with a stick!

This is probably why that cow got to snack on a dress as it's a common sight in India - this photo is from a few weeks ago in Varanasi.