Jaisalmer Camel Safari

Finally some time to catch up blogs. I have a couple of things to write up about India, some adventures in Indonesia and then Vietnam for Christmas.

It was not an auspicious beginning to our trip to Jaisalmer when, after about an hour, the bus gave a loud grinding cough and stopped completely leaving us sweating in the dust by the side of the road waiting for a replacement bus. We got nervous as other passengers jumped into vehicles passing by or crammed into other buses leaving us with dwindling numbers as the sun sunk down the horizon. But the replacement bus did come and we made it to Jaisalmer only an hour late.

We had to wait until morning to really appreciate the majesty of the ancient town. The old Fort walls loomed up above our little guesthouse (Roop). The town has a unique mystical and dusty appeal that makes you want to believe in magic carpets and genies in lamps. We spent an afternoon wandering barefoot through the different parts of the Jain Temple inside the old fort and marveling at the elaborate carving of the many Jain Gods.

The real highlight of our experience in Jaisalmer was the trip into the Thar Desert on camels. We found an outfitter who ran a reputable business that was family oriented and non-touristy (Sahara Travels) their office is just outside of the gate of the old Fort. Every café or hotel that we visited was very keen to outfit a camel trip for us at a price but we are thrilled with our choice, they were fantastic.

On the morning of our safari we got into a jeep that took us on a tour of some old ruins and then dropped us off to meet our camels and their weathered, gnarly handlers. We were at the edge of a stretch of sand that extended away from the highway as far as the eye could see. Our camels seemed ornery and stinky, but calm. Bela’s camel was tethered to mine and her handler walked holding the camel. She was a bit peeved not to be able to drive her own camel. I was pleased that the handler was there as I had visions of her galloping off into the dunes never to be seen again.

As exotic as it sounds, camels are really not the most comfortable things to ride. It was only a few minutes mounted before Bela began to do acrobatics on her beast trying to find a comfortable position. We settled into a quiet rhythm with a fairly steady pace meandering among the sand dunes across the desert as the sun sank down and our shadows grew longer. We were sad to see litter of plastic water bottles out in the desert, grim harbingers of what we are doing to the planet.

We arrived at our little campsite below a couple of larger dunes in time for a late dinner. The camels and their handlers quickly abandoned us except for a couple of men and two younger boys who were cooking for us. We were thrilled to be off our camels (owwch). The sand dunes were so beautiful, sculpted into gentle curves and shapes by the wind. We played, did yoga, ran, rolled and made sand angels. It was perfectly clear and as the sun set it cooled quickly. We ate dinner after the sun set by the fire. It was a delicious meal, simple dhal and rice with a vegetable curry and roti.

It was a full moon night. We had beds made up of blankets on the sand. They were huge thick blankets. Although we went to bed early, Bela could not sleep. I asked her why and she said, “It’s too beautiful to sleep.” We had to wait until all the stars had come out and the moon had risen fully before we could sleep.

We awoke to the camel handlers with cups of Chai at sunrise. They hard boiled some eggs and slapped together some toast. The camels re-appeared and were saddled for our return journey. It was a magical night in the desert.