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Published: July 24th 2014
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Day 4 - Bikaner and Camel Safari
The train journey was a welcome improvement to the ones that I suffered in China! I got on the train, made my bed, was then asleep within the first ten minutes. I was so ready for a marathon sleep.
We arrived into Bikaner early in the morning and reached our hotel by 8am.
We were driven down in local jeeps to a village hotel called The Tamarind. We have a couple of rooms to freshen up and change. I had breakfast of cornflakes with yoghurt closely followed by toast and jam with a lovely cup of black tea!
Ankur explained that this hotel belonged to the late Mahataj Bhairon Singh, Prime Minister of Bikaner State. I really feel like I am in,The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel'!
Bikaner is a semi arid part of the Thar desert with sandy dunes and scatterred villages. In recent years due to Canal network the topography of the region has changed quite a bit, but you can still see the harsh realities of the desert here.
Kyle and I had a good yoga session in the garden after breakfast this morning. It was so hot, the sweat was
dripping from us both! But I felt so much better for making the effort.The rest of the day was really lazy until 1pm, which was the time that we had to be ready to go for the camel trek.
We were driven down in to a village called Raisar from where we take our camels for our trek into the desert. The group rode for a couple of hours through villages and fields to our lunch point at a shady area.
We had a simple but delicious meal. Made by the village men, our hosts for the evening.
After lunch, we had to we set off for the night camp. Sadly, I only lasted about 30 minutes! The sun was so hot, it was starting to affect me. I became dizzy and disorientated. I ended up in some random persons house sat in front of the air con! After about 15 mins I started too improve. Ankur gave me a rehydration replacement drink which helped. I left my camel for a camel drawn cart ride! I was so pleased to be using Patricks umbrella, it made it so much better for me to help to keep me out of the
sun. I soon improved to full recovery!
We continued for another hour and a half till we reached a point over the dunes. The next issue was that the camel had the most horrendous diarrhoea! It continually gave out . It's backside was about a foot away from me.... It was disgusting! The worst part was that after it had continually tried to empty it's bowels.... It then swished its tail and splattered it all over! Finally, Ankur asked the lad to tie up its tail.... This made a small improvement!
On arrival at the night camp, after a simple, but delicious meal. It was evening at the camp; we climbed a big dune to witness a stunning sunset, but sadly it was too cloudy to see! But the scenery, and good company made up for it!
The accommodation was to be alpine safari tents with bedding, but we all opted for a bed under the stars. After the evening meal, we had drinks, chatted, just general good social time. I like the group, it is very diverse, but also compatible!
The food was followed by entertainment from the village men, drumming and singing their traditional tunes. We all joined
in dancing, clapping and chanting around the fire.
A good nights sleep was had by all.
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Dimitri
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Donkey Dung
oh dear, quite an eventful day. take care of yaself now.