The Camel Safari

Mr Rocket, Chris' camel

We were awake by 5:30am and out the door of Oasis Hotel by 5:50am. We arrived at Trotters on Big Red just as the two Scottish guys we would be safari-ing with (Seamus and Callum) arrived by jeep. After locking up our excess luggage and locking Big Red up safely the four of us climbed into the back of the jeep and were on our way through the quiet yet narrow backstreets of Jaisalmer. We didn't get far though as, in true Indian fashion, our driver decided we should all drink some chai before leaving town. He mustn't have had enough cash for this impromptu splurge though and needed to borrow 10 rupees off Callum. After our quick cups of chai we were back on the road, thankful to be rugged up as the cool desert air blew in through the sides of the jeep.

When we went off road we spotted three camels galloping along happily and were quickly informed that they were to be our camels. Our brows furrowed as we counted one, two, three, four tourists and only three camels. We soon pulled up at 'camp' which was no different to the vast desert we had driven through except that it had the remnants of an old fire.

Soon our camels, and their driver, arrived and we were introduced to Johnnie Walker and Mr Rocket and were happy to learn that there were more camels coming. We sat around a pathetic excuse for a fire until the embers began burning holes in my sarong and we relocated to where our driver had started a better fire and was brewing chai. We took notes as he added powdered milk, water, ginger, some kind of mix from a packet as well as other miscellaneous spices. I think we're missing home when all we could talk about was how we would make chai next time we went camping in Australia. Regardless we enjoyed our chai along with sweet biscuits, poorly cooked toast with jam (spread with a pocket knife that was discreetly cleaned by our driver before being handed over for use) and bananas.

Lauren safari-ing

Two more camels arrived, guided by a thirteen year old boy (is child labour illegal here?) who would be accompanying us. In preparation we sunscreened up and got our new hats out. As I pulled my delightful number from my bag a second hat, a duplicate, dropped onto the dusty ground. I had somehow managed to take two hats instead of one and not notice until now.

Before long we said goodbye to our jeep driver and climbed into the saddles of our newest form of transport. I faced my fear and held on tightly as Johnnie Walker lurched from sitting to standing and then, tied together in a line and guided by our camel driver (on foot) we set off into the Thar Desert.

It was hard on the inner thighs so when we the camels stopped for a drink break and we de-saddled for a few minutes we were pretty happy about it. We took in the sights of the desert, both good and bad, as we progressed. A highlight included huge vultures soaring through the air. A lowlight was the dead cow that we soon discovered they were swarming around.

Chris safari-ing

As we rode we gained two extra camels and one extra Indian camel driver and soon stopped in the shade of a tree for lunch. As we again de-saddled it became evident that the ground was a dry, ploughed field that had hardened into big rocky lumps. The thin blankets we sat on begged the question...is this where we would be sleeping? India being India means that we had no idea of our itinerary whatsoever so we simply sat, waited and killed time by putting words in the camels' mouths as we discussed what they were probably thinking. It seemed that the two camels that had joined our original bunch were bad influences, scrapping with the others and generally leading them astray.

Our pre-lunch snack included cylinder-like prawn cracker things and freshly fried chilli potato chips. While not that delicious, they certainly were moreish. Lunch consisted of vegetable pilau (spiced rice), curried mixed vegetables and chapatti which was impressively made from scratch as we sat and waited. We had a visit from a large herd of goats who pretended they had come to eat the dry muddy ground rather than our delicious lunch and from an old man who seemed to want nothing more than company while he ate. When they all moved on our chefs/drivers/guides must have decided it was nap time. So, while we watched as our hobbled camels managed to venture further and further into the desert, our staff slept.

Johnny Walker, Lauren's camel

The four of us camel connoisseurs enjoyed time swapping crazy India stories that more often than not began with "it was so weird..." After enough napping we decided it was time to get going and, with much prompting, our camel drivers dragged themselves from their slumber and went off on a hunt for our camels. After a three hour lunch none of the camels were visible as they had gone exploring off into their distance so it took some time before any of the men returned with any camels. On India time the camels were returned and loaded back up with supplies for the night ahead. We couldn't help but wonder whether the camels wandering off was a daily occurrence and, if so, why a better strategy for lunch time roaming had not been devised.

Sand Dunes!

We climbed aboard our camels once again and were joined by Frenchman Joe who had been delivered by jeep. Our remote desert experience was being questioned more and more as the day progressed and the fact that we saw motorcycle tour groups zipping by on a nearby road during lunch added to this confusion.

Together we continued through more land which looked more like scrub than quintessential desert. As we crossed through some plant covered dunes the temperature seemed to jump by ten degrees and the number of trees dropped just as dramatically. We were rewarded by our hot ride though when actual sand dunes popped up out of nowhere. Despite having only ridden for about an hour or so after lunch we were happy to disembark and go exploring the dunes. Finally...some photo opportunities that would prove that we had actually visited a desert and not just some regular arid Indian countryside.

Before footprints could ruin the pretty picture of the dunes we set off exploring the ridges and crevasses of these big, yellow dunes.

When we returned to camp it was once again chai time and we squatted as we drank from our metal cups and ate yet more fried snacks. We squatted partly because, thanks to the camel ride, sitting was like hell and partly because there were dung beetles everywhere we looked and they all seemed intent in getting to know us.

Dune Love

Chris loves the dunes

As the sun set we again took a walk through the dunes and were rewarded by venturing some way from camp with stunning views of the clouds changing colour and the sun dropped below the horizon.

Back at camp dinner was almost ready so we huddled around a fire pit in which there was no fire. As an example of true Indian efficiency the fire had not been started and our beds had not been set up. There was a theory floating around that it was a ploy to avoid work in that, as the sun went down, tourists would get into a mad panic and set up their own bedding. Not us though...we all plonked ourselves down to enjoy yet another feed of what was supplied at lunch but this time with added dahl. At least I think that's what it was...it was pretty dark.

As dinner finished up and seeing what we were dong was no longer a necessity the fire was lit. We sat and, in true campfire fashion, ended up scaring ourselves (or Callum and myself at least) by talking about scorpions, snakes, Pakistani desert raiders, ghosts and African murder laws among other joyous subjects.

As we did so out of the darkness came glowing eyes. The eyes approached the fire and, as we sat with bated breath, revealed themselves to belong to...puppies. Yes, wild, fluffy, cute puppies. That may or may not have had fleas, rabies (although there was no frothing of the mouth to be seen) and any other array of desert dog illnesses. Both gosh they were adorable. We went about our campfire business while they went exploring the dunes.

Camping, Great Thar Desert

Before long our chefs returned to the fire, this time with an empty, plastic 4L oil container which we would soon find out was for drumming. They sang. They sang out-of-tune songs in languages we didn't understand and it was not enjoyable in the slightest. When the boy sang in his child-tone it was slightly more bearable but at no point did it even approach the 'mystical camel songs' we had been told to expect. We tried to discourage them with limiting the applause and talking between songs. But, in true Indian 'I'm out to suit myself' fashion we told to be quiet because they wanted to sing. In The Jungle, Country Road, Frerojaka...an interesting repertoire to say the least. Joe, the Frenchman, was lucky and had left early enough to miss this show. Eventually, there was a break in the tunes long enough for us to suggest setting up our beds. With the option of sleeping by the fire or by the camels, we decided on the fire, which had gone out. Of course, the guides didn't have torches and, because they had left it until after dark to be persuaded into making up our beds, and because the kindling they had gathered was insufficient, it was pitch black. Thankfully, we all had torches we could lend them. One of them thanked Chris by putting his torch in their mouth.

Sunset

We convinced them to place our bedding slightly away from the ominous-looking bushes and set up, in a row, near the remnants of the fire and tried not to think about desert raiders or scorpions.

Desert Stars