Camels

I had a request for more 'head shots' in the photos- so here you are Laurie..my camel especially for you... his name is Maharajah, they only use male camels for riding, the females are much smaller and only used for breeding. Maharajah was pretty cool, although they do not take a liking to petting. The camel drivers are desert men, with sharp eyes and faces engraved by the sun, they love their camels, feeding them, cutting their fur, calling them by name. Our 'safari' travelled through dry scrubby land, rocky plains, and small dune terrain, large succulents are in flower blazing purple and red flowers, there are sporadic villages where goat and cattle herders live, the small children tending the goats, the men thatching the mud huts, a very simple life, no electricity, like the hill tribes i visited in Vietnam, perhaps aware of the 'modern world' but not encouraging its approach into their lives. The camel drivers however are fully tech with mobile phones on the go so they can find the other safari parties for our evening rendezvous. Making camp, the fire is lit for cooking chai, dal and chapatti, then bedding down under the pure starry night - blankets upon the sand, its quite peaceful, almost no sound at all- except for camel burps, pure existence as the sun sets silhouetting the landscape and the camels.

Camels may well be the most flatulent animals on god's earth, if my time with them is anything to go by. Not that i dislike them mind you, in fact they are quite wonderful, as a rider one feels very safe, and it is not uncomfortable to ride them, a short "ha" and they glide off on a gentle trot never minding at all the terrain, for their feet are so tough and well adapted. I think their gas stems from their feed, a large bag of chaff is placed for them at night and they chew and belch all night long on this, - loud guzzling noises like water down a huge drain, then during trekking the rear guard results manifest, quite like fermenting straw, with a fruitish tinge, needless to say i ride at the front of the group whenever possible...

Dawn on the sand dunes is beautiful, incredibly sharp light where every feature is sharp and luminous in the same moment, across the plains goat bells jangle but no man made sound is heard - something of a luxury in India, the camels groan and protest at being saddled but once its done they are again the ships of the desert loping along to take us back to base camp.















Surprisingly I am not even sore from the riding, only a crinked neck from sleeping on the sand without a pillow.

Back in town, i tour the Jain temples, small but full of amazing carvings and history, nothing on Mt Abu i am sure. The Jaisalmer palace is, like the fort, much less impressive than amazing Jodhpur, but still an enjoyable hour to wander the sandstone rooms. Maybe it is me but today's offering from the fort security guards was not opium but bhang...'shiva day today sir, everyone celebrate', i decline the consumption of the muddy green looking ball that that could well be mistaken for camel cud, preferring Nepalese charras anytime. I had thought bhang was made from ganja but the locals say it is not...can someone enlighten me on its botanical origins?

Back to lovely Jodhpur tomorrow, a local guy who teaches IT i met wants me to do a 'masterclass' in Mac computers for his friends, Macs are rare in India, Calcutta and Delhi have shops but it will be years before any Apple products other than ipods are seen outside these centres.

Thanks for all the comments!