Thar Desert Safari

Day 111 - 114.

After plenty of deliberation between the group 're the ethicality of camel riding we were all eventually swayed by the persuasive Jamil (owner of camels a plenty). Assuring us not only that this would be a great desert adventure but that his Camels were treated among the best, by the end of the speech I almost believed the Camels would enjoy this little venture into the desert more than I might..

As a result we parted with our hard earned rupees and boarded the Jeep into the Thar desert, Turban in one hand bottle of India's finest Old Monk Rum in the other. We met Hussien shortly after (our guide from a local village) and his two lackies 50km into the nothingness, who alongside his 7 camels eagerly awaited our arrival.

It wasn't long before we all chose our respective camels, or should I say they chose us, proper HP sorting hat style. I was lucky enough to be saddled up with Tiger, the biggest horniest bastard of them all, he was a festival race winner however and rather comfortable so we bonded quickly. Ellie never did learn her Camels name, I think it's safe to say they shared a strictly professional relationship.

Our camels were to carry everything that was needed for a 5 day stint, we would be sleeping under the stars with only the sand as our bed each night so no tents were needed, blankets only. Days were spent meandering through baron desert landscape, rolling down sand dunes and bonding over long lunches prepared over a freshly lit fire each day. There being not another soul insight it was feasting hawks and wild antelope that filled the landscape and our camels made for a great vantage point.

Come dusk we set up our basic camp, always tucked away behind a nearby dune with a warm fire to huddle around and a fresh curry to share.

Bed etiquette in camp was fairly strict, once the moon lit up the night sky we formed a line of 6 and Hussien and co proceeded to layer blankets over us, tucking as they went so that all of us where as cosy as possible. It was safe to say sleep was fairly sporadic, it's hard to pin down exactly why but I'd say Ellie's ever rustling anorak, my feet being well and truly buried in the cold sand and the never ending fear of waking up with a camels mouth organ in my face all share equal blame. That being said we shared many laughs and regardless of the cold it was a truly amazing night sleeping under the stars - the most we've ever seen!

After sun broke on our last day we shared our final morning chai with the group and mounted our camels for the last time. We were all beginning to notice the lack of showering, toilets or the pleasure of having some shade and so it was a nice day to be finishing our little desert adventure. We parted with half of the group and said a sad farewell as we headed back to the civilization of Jaisalmer that evening.

"WWelcomeee"

P.s

If your confused by the camel mouth organ reference - Google it, it's gross & this only got worse once we spotted roaming females.

Sadly Camel riding is not so ethical in reality, we may have been slightly naive re this early on and this will be certainly a one time thing. Blaming the desert sun and India's definition of 'ethical' for this decision.Okumaya devam et