Camel Safari Deja vu ..

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You’d have thought the bittersweet memories of sore bums in the Sahara would have been enough to deter us from another two days astride a camel…turns out the lure of the Thar desert was way too much for us two edjits - as we saddled up for some more camel love… We opted for the non-touristy trip in which we were expecting to get a bit further out there, we weren’t expecting to be the only two on the trip!! We were whisked off by jeep to an unknown location where we met Bablu and Geejew, our camels, and David and Abdul, our guides. Aaron was swiftly matched up with the lead camel Bablu, who continuously fired out hot-curry farts, and I was matched with Geejew who was well mannered, kinda cute and most importantly - didn’t pee on my foot like that brute in the Sahara!!

20 mins into the trip and numb bums were beginning to kick in, along with that familiar, ‘why would you pay good rupees to suffer this’, kinda feeling. Thankfully A much needed lunch break was around the corner and under the next tree. We chatted to Abdul and David and watched in amazement as they prepared a feast of potato crackers, veg curry, freshly baked chapati, rice and chai. Started us dreaming of camping trips in NZ and the culinary treats we could cook up over the camp fire…hehehe…as if…much practice needed!! It was all going great, full as a googies egg until Aaron got a tingling in his tongue and it went all gray and limp, it just hung out of his mouth like a dog and say the most rediculous things (see photo). After a snooze it was back the in saddle again, so far the desert had been flat, scrubby and pretty un-desert like, we were promised dunes that evening. We reached the dunes, had an amazing sunset, another amazing feast, after which there was nothing left to do but lie out under about a million stars, watching for shooting stars and moving satellites until we fell asleep, switching on the light sabre every now and again to chase off the dung beetles. It was great to find a little patch of pure peace and quiet in India, only the occasional air-force jet travelling at the speed of sound passing over our heads broke the silence, you have to bear in mind we were at the India/Pakistan border!!

The highlight of our second day was a trip to a traditional (fleece the tourists for everything they have) village. However, gone was the relaxing camel trot of yesterday as David galloped us across the desert at a high ’hang onto your boobs’ speed at which I didn’t even realise camels could go, I sure was wishing I’d packed that sports bra!! It was kinda funny for the first 5mins but wore off fast. On reaching the village we were taken to their home, which was made of mud with a thatched roof, nice and cool inside, we had a cuppa tea, carried on with the children, one of which cried when we coudn’t supply him with a pen (jeez why are you never prepared for these things)!! Of course then followed the hard sell where I bought an overpriced handmade trinket and tried to escape the house with both sisters hanging onto me trying to take my rings, pointing at them suggesting I should give it to them, I tried to tell them it was from my mum and therefore they weren‘t getting their paws on it, but I guess sentimentality was the last thing on their mind!! Yikes…I escaped rings intact ….

So…we had a great trip in the Thar desert, but I think we both agree we’re hanging up our camel riding boots…we’ve experienced enough camels to last us a lifetime…

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