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Published: July 11th 2010
We woke up very excited today as we off for our camel safari to the desert today! Papi gave us the morning to get some stuff together and we arranged to meet at Trio's for lunch from where we would set off. We split off and went to forage for biscuits/cokes/chocolate etc. Lucy and I managed to find a guy with a small street side stall we had seen the other 2 days who kept Mars bars (yes actual proper ones!) out of the sun in a special little cabinet, as if they were a priceless artifact. Having said this his charges were fairly reasonable (given the look of desperation I was probably hiding badly)!
After a last wander round Jaisalmer we arrived at Trio's where I ordered the stinkiest garlicky tarka dall I have ever had (yum!!!) as I love dhall and my justification was that this might boost my immunity for the desert! By the time i'd eaten it all my breath could probably also have rivalled the camels we met later.
We banged along the road to the desert in an open 4x4 jeep at top speed towards the flat sandy horizon.
As we arrived we were met
by a well-organised looking group of camel drivers with their proud-looking beasts. I have to say that from my first glimpse of the camels, I LOVED them. Rather whiffy, slightly bad-tempered and gaseous, they were none-the-less proud, dignified and beautiful creatures who took on 8 tourists plus a camel driver between them without so much as a flick of their long lashes! They are so cleverly adapted for this environment and seem to strut without a care in the world! Love them!
I got rather excited as (with my enthusiasm, and some reticence it has to be said from the others) I got first choice. I chose a large camel with a comfortable looking seating arrangement, going on the horse-riding proviso that the larger horse gives a more comfortable, less jolty ride.
My camel driver was smiling from ear to ear as I sat atop my camel, whose name I was told was Papu, I think he knew how much fun I was having! It must amuse them to see all these mad tourists coming to do what is essentially a normal everyday thing for them! The getting on bit was fine, no harder than a horse, it's the hanging
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Finally, a smile! I love this one!on bit while the camel himself gets up which is fun! As camels have a sort of two jointed front legs, first of all you tip backwards a bit as it stands on the first half of it front legs, then you tip forwards as it gets up on it's back legs, then it gets up on the whole of its front legs! It feels quite odd at first but hang on and it's all good!
I have heard it said that the camel is 'the ship of the desert' but I never realised just how much like a ship it would feel. I occasionally ride horses back home and the feeling is totally different. Not only do you sit on much broader a back but the whole movement is more fluid and rocks you about, like a boat. It's quite relaxing actually and had my camel driver not been sat directly behind me I might have leaned back and dropped off to sleep. The camel driver made all these quiet breathy soft little noises and at first I was rather alarmed as I seemed to be the only one close enough to hear them (!) but it soon became
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Feeling a bit mad in the desert apparent that this was his method of communication with Papu who had a remarkably strong will and had his own tour of the Thar desert in mind for us! Papu was as I mentionned a strapping camel and, as I later learned, it was camel mating season whilst we were there. On several occasions (once before we'd even left the small village) he made this absolutely amazing noise like hundreds of large bubbles originating somewhere deep in his belly and fighting to get out, and what appeared to be a large pinkish looking tongue came suddenly out of his mouth. We were explained to that this was a pouch in his throat which is used as part of a mating ritual, I had no ideas camels did this! It was so amusing but I have to say not that attractive. It certainly didn't work on a 'wild' (? may have been owned but just wandering freely) camel we saw later in the desert. Papu seemed to think it was irresistable though as he peeled off from the group and started a little jog towards said camel. The camel driver had to have some harsh words. Papu then sulkily put it
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Enjoying the sand dunes away and plodded back towards the group, another time eh Papu?!
The view from Papu's back was truely amazing, the desert was absolutely breath-takingly peaceful and beautiful. The gentle curve of the dunes stretched as far as the eye could see and apart from the camels disgusted-sounding snorts and the gentle breeze, it was completely silent. I had this mad urge to run away over the dunes (probably not such a sensible idea with about 500mls water on me!) and disappear! It was such a feeling of freedom and the open space and massive blue skies after all the busy, cluttered towns we have been travelling in was magnificent. We stopped for a few photos and for the camels to have a rest. Most camels folded themselves down on their legs quite neatly but Jill's amused everyone by flopping down sideways and lying with it's tongue out! It looked so totally knackered that we all joked she'd been eating too well!
We went throught the re-boarding process, now becoming much slicker and plodded on in our little train. At one point Papi (note not Papu!) decided that he wanted his camel to go a bit faster (despite him telling us
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View from Papu's back soberly as our guide we should not race the camels). As his camel driver was about 8 yrs old, he needed little persuasion that this would be fun and within minutes they were jiggling off on their camel into the distance. A few knowing glances between the rest of the camel drivers and we were all off at a much faster pace. My camel drivers instructions to hold on were not really necessary as I gripped for my life, he would have been quite a height to fall from!! Now, don't get me wrong, this was exciting, but Papu being the largest (and probably eldest) camel, he was nowhere near as fast as the smaller ones (much slower than a horse and decidedly less comfortable as I discovered at any speed). I think my camel driver was fully aware of this and after some non-verbal but very effective communication we slowed to a sort of trot. Just as the coccyx and other bones were starting to protest slightly, we arrived at our camp for the night! It was already all set up for us, a few large tents in the dip of one of the dunes, a kitchen tent already
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Camels and camel drivers producing good smells as we passed it and a set of rugs around a small fire.
I dismounted Papu who was taken off for his feed and walked up to meet the others. My crazy wanting to jump around all over the dunes feeling had not left me and I think Lucy and Sarah had the same feeling as we all broke into a run up the dunes to the top to watch the sunset. We started to run up and down the dunes (I went arse over tit at one point) and we ended up in a giggling mess laying on the sand. It felt great, we all said it felt like we were pissed but we'd not had a drop (yet!) I guess we were just very happy!
We watched the sunset, then sat round the fire having pakoras, then rice, dhall, pickles and 'desert beans' which looked rank but tasted ok actually. We sat around chatting for a bit until Lucy and I broke out our two Mars bars which we carefully divided between our group. Bliss!!! A bit of rum n' coke and Papi made us play his weird riddles game which were totally impossible and
he relished telling us the answer which were generally met with a groan rather than a satisfied 'ah' as I think he was hoping for! As we ran out of chat we all laid back and watched the night sky which seemed like a massive star-studded back dome around us. It reminded me of visiting the London Planetarium as a kid on a school trip as we could see so many stars and constellations without any of the light pollution we get elsewhere and back home. I though Papi was pulling my leg when he said he'd seen a shooting star, but then after watching for a few more minutes we all saw one, then two, then three!!! Amazing, first time for me and the perfect end to the perfect day!
We headed back to our tents about 1ish as it was getting bitterly cold. Papi told us it would as there are so few clouds to hold in the heat. He didn't seem as bothered by it though and as I curled up fully dressed inside my sleeping bag, under about 4 layers of massive thick blankets, I could hear Papi playing his strange musical instrument (I can't remember
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Camel train sets off the name of it) which sounded pretty spooky across the still desert air. I loved the Thar desert, one of the most beautiful and peaceful places I have ever been to.
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