Camel safari

Dropped by jeep 50km west from Jaisalmer in a dusty car park we meet our camels for the first time. Mine's called Jamie but bears no resemblance to a long time friend of mine sharing the same name. They're quite cute, but apparently grumpy animals. On trying to pet Jamie on the nose he raises his head and snorts. You can't blame them for being grumpy - every day some westerners come and they follow the same path to the same sand dunes in the incredible heat.

MWAH!

I mount up, legs stretched to capacity and beyond over the series of duvets and padding on the hump - later to be my bed for the night. With a sharp command from the trek leader the camel swiftly rises to its knees then up onto its toes [refrains from making crude joke] like a transformer transforming from a camel into a camel - awesome stuff. From this point I refer to my camel as Optimus.

Ten minutes in, and already incredibly uncomfortable, I look around at Greta, who's also showing signs of inner leg pain. We agree that the one and a half day trek was plenty. To anyone considering doing this I suggest practising the splits for at least a week before departure - this will increase your comfort levels dramatically. Also if your pack on the back of the camel is set in a certain way you can lie back, effectively (but not gracefully) using your bed for the night, in the day! (If spotted, the guides will have a word)

Lunch is under some thorn trees on some soft sand and is cooked fresh by the guides. We sit around while they prepare a delicious vegetarian thali and more chapathi's than we could eat (the rest went to the goats and dogs). After lunch we laze about on blankets for an hour soaking up the absolute peace and quiet.

The terrain is not what you might think, as in the "classical desert" sense - it's flat, dusty and rocky with huge wind turbines everywhere - there must be thousands . There are wild peacocks, wild dogs, goats, cows and even sweaty sheep all around. Local people scatter the landscape, collecting and carrying to and from villages. We visit two of these villages en-route to the dunes, one which serves as a watering hole for the camels, and an ice cold pepsi stop for humans as the water we're carrying is already bathwater. The camels slurp as much as they can, sharing the watering hole with thirsty goats, cows and dogs. Kids gather around looking for photo's, money and school pens. Fully refreshed we continue.

Around 4:30pm we see some huge dunes in the distance. This is what I wanted to see! We arrive half an hour later and quickly dismount the camels to race up the dunes to get a look from the top. Beyond the dune is more flat arid land. This huge dune must just float around this landscape on its own. After doing the usual jumping up and down the dunes, sitting about watching the sunset and feeding/watering some wild dogs that have gathered we settle down to dinner - another delicious thali. 

Post dinner and everyone's chatting, the camels are happily grunting and the camp fire is crackling. We quiz the guides about the "traditional songs around the camp fire" as mentioned in the book. They laugh, get an empty plastic water barrel (as a drum) and hilariously burst into the chorus of "I'm a barbie girl"

The bed rugs were very comfortable and warm. Once the moon had gone down you could pretty much see the complete band of the milky way (although not 100% clear). The effect is so dramatic I felt like I had vertigo, almost like being lifted up into space. Every two minutes a shooting star would flash across the sky. All of this, coupled with dogs howling/barking/grunting and trying to nuzzle onto a warm rug with you, camels grinding their teeth and other unidentifiable noises led to not much sleep - but it's more than worth it.

Up at 6am and blearily bounding up the sand dunes to get a shot of the sunrise before breakfast then the three hour trek back to the waiting jeep. A fantastic experience, and I would recommend Ganesh travels if you're undecided who to go with. Once back in Jaisalmer we grab our stored bags and remove the sandy desert via a shower. I'm now heading north and Greta south, it's sad to part company with such an awesome travel companion, I'll miss her. Next stop Bikaner.

Sunrise