We arrived in the little village around 230 pm and got to meet our camels and tour guides. We had 2 tour guides and 4 total camels. Sumar was my camel guide and he was riding Captain. At first I got to go behind him on "W" (who is roped to Captain) but then I got on Captain and got to steer him like a horse. Sumar even let me drive Captain while he was running. Then I got scared because I couldn't multitask and steer and sit without falling off and so Sumar took over. This camel riding lasted a good 3 hours and it ended on the top of a sand dune looking down on more sand dunes and no Ale. I had thought she was right behind us, but apparently she wasn't interested in riding on a running camel because she wanted to sit sideways instead and go slow. So then Sumar, Captain, W and I waited for slow poke Ale, her tour guide, and Alex and David (their camels.)
This was about the time I realized that 3 hours of camel riding was more than enough. Originally our hotel owner had given us the option of starting at 6 am or noon. I immediately agreed to 6 am since the more time the better?! Ale wanted the noon (she needs her beauty rest) and I decided she could decide since I didn't really care. For that I am thankful. It's not that it wasn't fun to ride a running camel in the desert, it's just 3 hours is a long time. The only other time I've ridden a camel was in Israel 2 years ago. It had seemed cool but in comparison to this, it was lame. The camels went in a circle and they definitely didn't run and I didn't get to steer and I had to share my camel and it lasted like 5 minutes. But still, 6 hours would have been really long.
So finally Ale and her crew met up with us and our camel guides picked a spot to set up camp. They put out a blanket for us and then started cooking. First we had a chai break. Then they started cooking dinner. They made such a delicious meal with just a few pans and pots and a fire. We had such a good veggie masala and a really nice thick chapati and some rice. It really was one of the best dishes I've had in India, especially considering we were in the middle of the desert. Of course, I had to pretend like I had not seen how dirty the pots and pans were and the lack of cleaning their hands with soap. At least they used bottled water!! The good news is that we aren't sick yet.
Of course throughout the course of dinner being prepared, Ale and I managed to take about 300 photographs as the sun was setting.We got some amazing shots, if I do say so myself. Of course you can't see those anytime soon (and if Ale gets her hands on my SD card, maybe never. Jk, we were both sitting there when the computer freaked out.) Ale and I then proceeded to enjoy ourselves and the beautiful (slightly cooler) desert. We talked to Sumar a lot. He comes from a villages called Donnie. I'm not sure if that is how it is spelled, but I told him my "husband" and I have a dog named Donnie and Sumar loved it. He told me one of his first camels was named Lauren. Needless to say, we bonded. It's actually my boyfriends dog but I figured it made me sound less murderable.
Sumar started working as a camel guide when he was just 8 years old and has been doing this for 20 years. He never went to school and can't read or write, so he doesn't have many job options. He does however know a good bit of English, Korean, Hindi, and Japanese from all the tourism. It is pretty amazing. He was a really neat person to talk to but it just broke my heart. He spends 6 months a year in the desert working and then when it's too hot he goes back to his village and helps his parents on their farm. He doesn't own his camels , so he gets a monthly salary from his boss for the 6 months of the year that he takes care of W and Captain 24/7. He told me he has started saving up for his own camel. If I had 40,000 rupees on me, I would have given it to him right then. Camels are really friendly when you get to know them. At first they wouldn't let Ale and I pet them, but then they realized we wouldn't stop trying and they started to enjoy their fa massages. Captain was my favorite. He was pretty cute (aka he let me pet him more.) W is actually the winner of last years Camel race at Jaisalmer's Camel Fair. This years camel fair is actually feb 23-25 but it didn't work with our schedule.
When we finally wanted to go to bed around 1030 pm, we asked Sumar to set up our bed. He threw a couple of blankets (the same ones we had been sitting on top of on our camels and then again all night as dinner was being prepared) on the desert and then gave us 4 equally dirty blankets to use to keep warm. Luckily, I had brought my north face fleece jacket and so I used that to cover my upper body and then since I had on leggings and socks, I used one blanket to cover my legs (and it was very far from my face.) I fell asleep staring at the stars and moon and the silhouettes of our camels standing against the horizon (they only sleep for little naps of 10-20 minutes throughout the day.) When Ale and I woke up two hours later the air suddenly frigid with howling winds, I had no choice but use my dirty blankets. Ale had even covered her entire face with a shawl. I thought this was because her face was cold, but it turns out it was because she had so much sand blowing in her face. She must have been protecting me from it, because I never felt it. It was at this point, when I reached into my backpack to get my extra clothes and realized I had grabbed the wrong bag of clothes and now had an extra pair of jeans and corduroys, neither of which seemed worth shimmying on (and let's be honest, who knows if they fit anymore.) Despite the fact that I was now covered in 2 dirty blankets, which I'm positive hadn't been cleaned since they had been bought 10 years before, I somehow managed to fall asleep and wake up to the sunrise.
We got to ride our camels back into town and take a jeep back to Jaiasalmer. Despite it being way dirtier than I am normally ever comfortable with, I rose to the occasion and Ale and I managed to have an unforgettable night in the desert. I've officially spent more time in my life on a camel than a horse.
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