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Published: October 29th 2005
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After leaving Kashmir we began the journey south, back once again through Dharamsala and Delhi (where we met up with Paul) and continued on our way to the state of Rajasthan. Our first stop was the city of Agra, which may be best known for being the home of the Taj Majal, which is said to be “the greatest monument to love ever created”. The story goes that it was built by the fifth Mughal emperor in 1631, in memory of his second wife, Mumtaz Mahal, who died after giving birth to their 14th child. Not surprisingly.
It was just as beautiful as rumored to be, although our photos don’t quite do it justice. Although we were told it is most brilliant in the early morning sun and thus managed to somehow arrive around sunrise (okay, shortly after), the fog (or maybe the smog?) made everything seem kind of hazy. Word has it that at present the greatest threat to maintaining the Taj Mahal is the pollution caused by car fumes which results in acid rain. To address this problem the government has placed a ban on vehicle traffic within a certain range of the palace…but this will likely not
make much of a difference.
Anyways, after Agra we headed to Pushkar, which was rumored to be a laid back desert town with lots to see. After a few days of buses and trains we were ready to settle in one spot for a couple of days. What better place to regenerate…or so we thought.
While in Pushkar we decided that to really get out into the backcountry a ‘camel safari’ would be a great way to do it. The plan was to set out in time to see the sunset and return sometime the next day. We met our camels and guides and all was well as we set off into the desert. Paul and Lindsay both had camels named Krishna, purely by coincidence. Tara’s camel was unnamed, as it was still ‘in training’. This was obvious. From the get-go both the Krishnas seemed even-tempered and content, while the unnamed trainee camel didn’t seem too happy to have anyone on his back, and made sure to let everyone know it.
We’d left knowing the temperature was going to drop for the night, but not worried as we had been assured that we would have tents to
set up in the desert. We stopped travelling to set up camp as night fell, and as suspected so did the temperature. We started to get worried when our fearless guides asked if any of us had matches so we could start a fire. Luckily Paul, always the Boyscout, had brought some along. We got a fire going, further adding to the deforestation of the area, but soon ran out of desert flora to burn. At about the same time began to realize the tents were only part of the marketing strategy, not a part of our reality, and we would be sleeping under the stars. By coincidence our guides seemed to all have family within camel walking distance and left for the night, assuring us they’d return in the morning.
It was a cold night, and there were dogs. Wild dogs; fairly interested in meeting their new desert company. Morning came, not too soon. We waited for the return of our guides, then set off back to town. The unnamed camel (who we’d nicknamed ‘Shanti’ in an attempt to send him peaceful vibes) was obviously not a morning camel, and we could tell as we started off it
Tara and "Shanti"
We should have foreseen where this was going to lead! would be an interesting ride back to town. Unfortunately we hadn’t seen the last of the wild dogs, and as soon as we started out they re-emerged barking and fighting. This had no effect on either of the Krishna camels, but ‘Shanti’ was not impressed, became spooked, and proceeded to do the camel equivalent of bucking, which sent both Tara and one of the guides no less than 9 feet to the ground below. Ouch. Somehow, Tara escaped with only a sprained thumb and soreness but the guide was not so lucky and could not carry on, reporting he had great pain in his knee.
It’s often said that deserts, in their seeming emptiness, hold dangers that are often unseen to the human eye. Hidden dangers however were not our problem in the desert, but rather the more obvious ones and we decided to avoid camels altogether for the rest of our journey.
So, needless to say, our camel safari did not go as smoothly as planned, but both of the Krishnas will be remembered fondly.
We leave the desert and head to Mumbai, en route to Goa. However, once arriving in Mumbai we are informed all
This wasn't in the brochure!
Yes, this is where we slept...in a sandbox! tickets heading to Goa are sold out, due to the Diwali (like Christmas in India) holiday season. Ooops… that was poor planning. What could we do but change plans? We decided to head further south, destination Kerala and then work our way back up north.
Exhausted from our last 20 hour stint on the train and hungry and thirsty, we head to a restaurant near the train station before catching our next train. In a moment of stupidity brought on by the sweltering heat, Lindsay and Tara both proceed to drink ½ a liter of the first thing put in front of them in the restaurant, a bottle of chilled mineral water (so we think). This is the conversation that ensued:
L: This water tastes funny.
T: I think it’s great. And cold…hmmm, more please.
L: No, really (taking another drink) it just doesn’t taste right.
T: Well, he(the waiter),took the lid off in front of us…didn’t he? (slight panic in voice)
L: No, look, no plastic seal…
L and T: Silence.
We confirm with our waiter that in fact the water was straight from the taps of Mumbai, which might not sound like a big deal,
but considering what we’d heard and seen of the state of water in big city India, we were already composing our wills. However, more than 24 hours have passed and we aren’t feeling anything too out of the ordinary going on, and we’ll keep you posted as we continue the journey south.
Thanks for all your replies!
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Melissa
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Sand Troopers
You both deserve "traveler of the year awards" for your desert adventure. All in all, you appear to be in great spirits about it all and are having a blast. We are with Deb and Susan now and are currently in the Cameron Highlands (Malaysia) so beautiful! We are also experiencing some moderate travel issues as it is Muslim New Year this week and they have 3 stat holidays! Ahhh, the joys of traveling. Love the website, hope you are able to see ours occasionally too. Be safe! Melissa