Deserts, camels and sun - oh my!

Yes, yes, cheesy title. I blame it on the intense soreness and pain that I'm praying will not cripple me for life.
If you think I'm exagerating, I dare you to ride a camel for two days and tell me how YOU feel post-trotting.

How can I describe this experience? It was one of the most intense, all encompassing things I can ever remember doing. As Laura and I signed ourselves off on this trek, we accepted that pain, heat and general discomfort would be a huge factor - but hey, it's only 2 days of your life, so why not? My experience with camels was limited - I'd done an hour long "walk" on a camel in Egypt for an evening, with a guide leading it the whole way. I wasn't too scared or worried.

We woke up at 6 am on Saturday morning, jumped into the jeep at 6:30 and took off 60 km away from the city of Jaisalmer. The group consisted of 5 girls - Laura, myself and 3 girls from the UK (who were, incidentally, perfect travel/camel companions). All you can see around you is the desert - sand and rather morose looking shrubs and prickles as far as the eye can see. We arrived around 7:30, met our 3 guides, who cooked us an enormous breakfast of eggs, toast, and huge cups of steaming chai. It was, incidentally, freezing - I was worried I was going to catch pneumonia from the jeep trip. By 7:30, as we watched the sun rise over the desert, it warmed slightly, until we were comfortable in fleeces and scarves.
We were introduced to our partners for the next two days - 5 rather disgruntled camels - and given an Intro to Camel lecture that lasted all of 5 minutes, in which were instructed on how to turn, stop and basically attempt to control our camels. Forgot the guides leading us - we were on our own!

My camel - Para is his name - I can affectionately describe as a grumpy, burping, unmannerly old man. He was one of the older ones of the pack, and took his leadership duties quite seriously. I climbed on as gracefully as possible - if you've ever gotten on a camel you know that grace and camel riding doesn't really work together - he jumped up a little too quickly for me, and the guide told me I was in the lead. Which caused a little bit of a shock for about 10 minutes, until I realized that Para knew the trail like the back of his hoof, and steadily sauntered off.

Despite some slight mishaps - a binge eating camel (Laura's!) who wouldn't stop deviating from the trail to eat - and some testosterone filled ones who tried to go for wandering females - everything was wonderful. We ambled on for about 3 or 4 hours (with a break at a village - the kids were nightmares and were trying to take all our stuff) until the noon sun made us stop. Luckily, there was an amazing breeze, but the sun beat down like nothing I've ever felt. Thank god for wearing long pants and long sleeve shirts - I would easily have fried otherwise.
THen a looooong break - from noon til 4, because of how hot it was. More chai, one of the best meals I've had in India (fresh chapatis, saffron rice, aloo subhji). Then, reading under the one tree that provided shade, naps. Generally, relaxation at its best.

At 4, we got back on our camels for another 2-3 hours. At this point, the soreness had kicked in, but it was still manageable. We arrived at beautiful, beautiful sand dunes (the rolling waves of sand, and everything!) which we trekked over until we arrived at our camp site for the night.
It was the first time I'd experienced absolute peace and quiet since getting to India. There was no trash anywhere to be found. In the distance, a lone shepherd herded his desert goats, and you could hear the faint clanging of a bell attached to one of them. We watched the sun fade behind the dunes, feeling peace like never before.
Then - our guide walked up the dunes with a tray of chai for us. For a fleeting moment, I understood what it must have felt like in Colonial India - the image of him walking up in his all white, flowing outfit and turban with a tray of chai cups was so alien to us all. He stayed and chatted with us for a while about how long he'd done this trip - 8 years - and how he was from one of the villages in the desert. He can navigate anywhere in the desert, but confessed that he gets lost in Jaisalmer. He's only 26, but he's been maneuvering through these deserts his whole life. I can't even begin to imagine what such a life would be like - though I can understand the passion and attachment that these people hold for their traditional lives, staying rather than moving to the dirty, crowded, polluted cities.

Then, another wonderful fresh meal. We all helped make the chapatis - which was fun - we claimed we had to work for our meals - and settled around the campfire for the evening.
They set out our beds for us - it was like a luxury hotel out in the stars. We had mattresses with clean sheets and a big comforter for the cold desert air - and everything was so perfect I could have been dreaming it all. We called it an early night -by 9:30 we were all tucked in - but I kept myself awake to look at the stars.
How can I describe the stars? There must have been hundreds of thousands of them, splashed across the dark night sky, everywhere. They were above us and stretched down to the tips of the sand dunes, as if they were melting into the sand. I saw at least 5 shooting stars, and the glittering sky was the last thing I saw before dozing off into one of the best sleeps I've had since getting to India.

Ok, I realize this is a long post, but part of my writing it all out allows me to re-live it, so bear with me! :)

We woke up around 6:30 the next morning, refreshed and ready (well, not physically) for another day in the saddle. We watched the sun rise, blood red, perfectly circular, in the sky. We ate another hearty breakfast (chai served to us in bed, how much better does life get!) and prepared our camels for another day.

We thought we'd mastered the whole camel riding thing - but today the guides seemed to want to polish our trotting skills. The one thing I've taken away from this experience is that speed and comfort don't work in harmony when camel riding - in fact, the slower, the better where I'm concerned. I think we did about an hour's worth of galloping yesterday - exhausting, and combined with seriously sore thigh muscles is... not always fun. And it was HOT. There was almost no breeze, and the sun felt like a furnace. On the plus side, Para was seriously listening to me and I was maneuvering him around, having a blast.
More lunch, more rest. The last 2 hours passed quickly and were also interminable. I spent the first hour and a half reflecting on how much I enjoyed camel riding - the last half hour bitterly praying to ever be able to walk again and would this camel ride never end??

Spotting the jeep in the distance was like finding an oasis. We stumbled off our camels - I actually had to use my arm to lift my leg off the saddle, staggered into the jeep, and tried not to smell the stench on us.
I've never been so exhausted and happy. It was, by far, one of the most amazing experiences of India. Maybe the 20 day safari next?

Today Laura and I are on to Delhi - I'm psyched for the 20 hour AC train ride - can use sleep and cool air. Then, the Golden Triangle tour until the 10th, when I meet my new program and am off again to Udaipur!
Until then...

Miss you all!