Saturday, November 18, 2006

A desert tale

Again I am struggling to find the words to describe what I am experiencing.
It is the sounds, the sights, the emotions, the people I have experienced in the last few days that have truly reminded me why I am here.
I am not sure that 'magical' is the best word - but it really feels close to it.
The four days that I spent in the desert were incredible.
Each day we spent 5 or more hours riding camels over sand dunes, through desert scrub and past countless small villages and farms. We rode in the mornings for a few hours and then would stop for lunch and a siesta under some trees before heading out again for a ride to some sand dunes a few hours away. At night we enjoyed traditional songs by campfire, slept under the stars and woke to incredible sunrises over the sand dunes. Each day was the same, but completely different. It was all desert, but never the same.
I was lucky enough to meet an incredible friend, Jon, while I was in Jodpur and we travelled through the desert together with 8 other people and 4 camel drivers.
On the first day, I admit I was a little nervous about having to 'drive' my own camel, but after a few minutes it was easy. The camels have been travelling the same routes for many years and need very little steering. It was funny to see the different personalities between the camels come out over the few days. Some were gentle and quiet, while others were loud and sometimes defiant to the orders of the camel drivers.
My camel was named Maria (which means Peacock , the bird of Rajasthan) but was a 7 year old male camel. He was very friendly and usually listened to me (but not always).
Riding the camels was generally quite easy, but after the 3rd day it became quite painful and by the end of day four I felt as if I had been hit by a truck. But even with the pain in my legs and butt, it was worth it.
I returned to Jaisalmer alone, since Jon had to get back to Delhi for his flight on Sunday.
Now I am just relaxing and plan to take in a few of the local sights before I head north to Bikiner to visit the infamous Karni Mata Temple (which holds hundreds of rats - all believed to be reincarnated story tellers). Then I am going to a small town called Pushkar for a day or two before heading to Agra and Delhi.
Anyways, I have a kazillion photos which I will share when I get back to Canada in 9 days.
I promise to update again in a few days,
Love you all
Colleen

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