After finding out the British couple that was going to join us were "sick", departing and hour late and stopping for smokes for our driver we finally arrived. We loaded up our camels, hopped on and were then lead by our guides who walked. About 40 min later we arrived in a "village" for what many books and guides say is a cultural experience, not. After standing around a smaller version of Jaisalmer for 30 min we got back on the camels to move on. This time one of our guides was replaced by the seven year old nephew of one of our guides. So while the one guide lead Marisa's camel, mine was following a 7 year old in flip flops.
Another 40 min later we stopped for lunch. This involved starting a fire, making veg curry and chipatti and napping for a few hours. So by 3pm we had been on camelback for not quite 2 hours and traveled maybe 2 miles. That said, I would have been fine with calling it a day at that point but for the fact that we paid for two days and Marisa really wanted to ride camels in the desert.
I have never been so uncomfortable on an animal before. Some of you know about my 8 hour horseback ride on a kids size saddle in South Dakota. This camel ride put that ordeal to shame. On top of that, camels are nasty animals. They might look cute from a distance or have a romantic appeal when seen in some sunset desert photo, but when they are flinging crap and pee (Marisa actually got hit while riding) all over and burping and farting non-stop your opinion changes in a hurry.
So after lunch we load up the camels to continue, having been joined by the other guide again, who found his missing camel. In the process of this, one of the camels wouldn't stay sitting so the guides could load him. Solution...take a stick about an inch thick and smack the camel in the face 3 three times until it sits and it's bleeding. Needless to say we were both horrified, and let our camel guides know. Of course our protesting does little good as this is just how they treat animals. We should have abandoned the trip at that point, asked for a refund and not tipped.
So after another 40 min of riding we stopped at another village and were told to walk around as if it was our home. Yeah! At this point I was ready to be done. The complete lack of comfort in riding the camel, the fact that the scenery wasn't really all that exciting and the camel beating had me tossing in the towel. After a bit of discussion Marisa and I hoped to go back to the road and just have the jeep come get us. That didn't happen as it was too late, but were told we could leave first thing in the morning. We proceeded to our campsite, watched the sunset and had another meal of veg curry and chipatti.
We woke up the next morning feeling as disgusting as might be humanly possible. It might have been the sand or the campfire, but I am going to bet it was the blankets than were last washed during Clinton's second term. Skipping breakfast we loaded up and headed for the pick-up.
After a couple hours of waiting our driver arrived. To pass the time, I read while Marisa played games with the 7 year old who had acted as our second guide. I think this kid actually did more work on the trip that either one of the actual guides individually. He was really a nice kid and one of the high points of the camel safari. I enjoyed listening to him sing songs while he was helping make dinner around the camp fire under the desert's night sky. That was the best moment of the trip for me.
We departed, giving our guides, the kid included, a small tip as they were really good aside from the stick incident. Our driver headed up the road in the opposite direction of town. He pulled into some village and stopped at some sort of guest house. He asked if we wanted to come in for tea. We just wanted to go back to town, which I am sure he knew as we cut our trip short. Turns out he just wanted to have tea and conversation with some dude at the guest house. This guy was one of the big shots, or thought he was. Like many of the places we have been, including the Middle East and Egypt, the guy at the top of the totem pole (e.g., hotel manager, etc.) really thinks he is something and feels like can do what he likes. It's really funny actually. Total case of big fish, small pond.
Finally we arrived back in Jaisalmer. After a shower we headed out for lunch and some cold beer. We then boarded a night train for Agra around 5pm.
All said and done, we should have ridden some camels in Jordan or Egypt to get our fix. But, now we know.
Marisa and the guide (with her sunglasses)
Just like the Four Seasons
Yup, hate camels
This is that "romatic photo"
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