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Published: April 4th 2008
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Sandcastle
Jaisalmer Fort We are coming now to the end of our time in India and are making the long trip this afternoon out of Rajasthan to Delhi. The past few days have been spent in the sandcastle city of Jaisalmer which has a definite Aladdin feel about it. Its centrepiece is a huge Fort of the Mughal period surrounded by a vast desert, miles from anywhere. We managed to stay inside the fort itself at a relatively new guesthouse where we stayed for free as we agreed to use their camel safari company.
The safari we went on lasted for 3 days and 2 nights, we took a jeep out about 30km from Jaisalmer where we met with the desert men and our camels and rode off into the wilderness. The trip was nothing short of breathtaking, seeing miles upon miles of barren land and along the way coming across goats, wild deer, desert foxes, mice, lizards and scorpions. At the end of the first day we arrived at the dunes where we slept on the sand underneath the stars where the lack of light pollution meant they were some of the brightest i have ever seen. It was dreamlike in its
Lunchtime
Cooking Lunch in the shade of a tree beauty and made all the more fun by the fires we made and the desert whisky we managed to get from one of the villages which was homemade yet tasted different as it was sweetened with masala (often used in tea and consists of different varieties of spices like cardaman, saffron, cinnamon and nutmeg). Interesting in taste but made the trip all the more exciting.
The desert men we went with were great cooking us some of the best Indian food we have had since our arrival in India and in such vast quantities that we never went hungry. Constantly breaking into song at random intervals and making jokes they were incredibly good company, the youngest of which as a 6 year old boy named Imam who seemed to look comfortable wherever he sat be it in a tree or sprawled across a camel whilst the rest of us fidgeted from the unnatural angle of our legs spread across the back of the camels getting progressively more and more sore.
We had lots of fun at the sand dunes doing somersaults and jumping to the delight of our guides and children. Along the way we came across a
Freedom
Paul running through the dunes number of villages in the middle of nowhere, one of which was the home of our guides. we were met with many smiling children so excited to see foreigners and invited into their houses which were essentially just mud huts but looked incredibly clean. Despite its simplicity the villages seemed to have everything some even schools and they all looked healthy.
The highlight of the trip was probably encountering a sandstorm which made the trip feel alot more like an adventure when the element of risk was introduced. We could see in thje distance the upturned sand rapidly approach us before bracing the harsh winds and sand getting in our eyes and mouths
The 3 days although we thought would seem long flew by and it was sad to leave our newly made friends but we were glad to be able to have a cold drink and a shower. It is hard to think that this was their daily life, where we had felt we had had enough by the end they followed this hard daily routine everyday of their lives but despite their lack of creature comforts they all seemed incredibly happy people.
Jaisalmer seems like
Village Girl
Lone girl collecting water in one of the small villages something from a fairy tale and so different from anywhere else we have been but it is only with excitement that we look forward to getting to the country's capital.
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In case you don't notice i have added more photos to the old blogs for you to enjoy
with regards to the food poisoning i am sorry to have left you worrying but it only lasted 24 hours as i was convinced not to stay ill and kept well hydrated and forced myself to eat and get on with it. As for losing weight, if i did i have more then made up for it with the vast amounts i ate on the safari
finally as for Reading Festival, Luke has offered me first priority as he has an extra ticket and i definitely feel Sophie has to go as the line up is unheard of, it hasn't been this good since, forever.
Mum and dad if it is ok i will try and call you on Sunday at 11:00 uk time which will be 16:30 my time, so hopefully you will get this message before then so you can await my call
Monkey Boy
Imam climbing a tree Missing you all
Ali
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