Camel Safari

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We just got back from spending a night in the desert and are about to leave by bus for Jodhpur. Yesterday we had a relaxing morning and then at 3 set off for our camel safari. We rode camels into the desert for a couple hours then explored the sand dunes, watched the sunset, ate good food, relaxed on our camp beds, and slept under the stars. This morning we returned by camel for an hour and then took showers because we were all covered in sand!
So camels. They're a lot more jerky than riding horses; in fact, the trotting was more comfortable than the walking! They're also a lot taller than horses and being on their backs when they stand up and sit down is an adventure! Some of the camels had to be led but I was lucky enough to get a really well trained one so I got to ride him all by myself! He liked to eat though so it was sometimes challenging to keep him moving.
The Indian desert looks kind of like the Outback of Australia. I was envisioning endless sand dunes, but I guess that's more the Sahara/Middle East. The place where we camped was in the only sand dunes visible and they were pretty small. The sunset was nice over the sand dunes with lots of oranges, pinks, and yellows. We got to sleep right under the stars which was nice, on small cots raised slightly off the sand. The stars weren't very impressive when we went to sleep, but we woke up in the middle of the night and they were amazing! Almost as good as in Nepal! Extremely bright and tons of them! We even saw some shooting stars!
Dinner was like being back in Nepal with dal and different curried vegetables. Breakfast was chai (yum!) and toast and bananas.
It was nice to be away from all the car horns and street lights, out in the middle of the desert, completely in the open! Very relaxing!

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