Thar Desert, Rajasthan

Two Catalan Spaniards and I began our trek on camel-back into the desert at 3:00 p.m. yesterday. I made the decision to stay overnight at the camp on the sand instead of head back to the hotel after dinner (I had already checked out and did not want to face another hotel owner and their proclivity for shirking ethics to get people in the door). Our camels had less enthusiasm then we did, and mine would have been fully lame had it not be coaxed along by the other three. Nonetheless, we made our way through the brush, a few wild camels, and deer to our camp in the dunes. We eluded the typical Thar desert heat by a few days, as last week the pre-rain temperatures were well into the 90's. Ours could not have been above the low 80's. The sun began to set and I was pleasantly surprised with the rising full moon. The dunes in their entirety were visible under its lights. Sleep became second priority to witnessing the landscape and night sky's seamless intersection. Our dinner of dal, chapathi, rice, chai, and mixed vegetable curry was cooked over the fire and, unlike many restaurants in the cities, the camel-men weren't shy about throwing some heat into a foreigner's dish. I'm writing this from a Mahindra Jeep in the middle of the desert, covered in sand and wedged between a car door and an elderly woman who hitched a ride to a water-hole. Abandoned towns line the roadways, large groups of 400 or more sheep share our one lane road, and local village men and women wave at each car that passes. A Cobra crosses the road in front of our vehicle. I squirm. The old lady laughs at me.

Tonight at 1:20 a.m. local time I catch my train out of the desert to Jaipur.Read more