I ended up staying an extra day in Pushkar to do a few final things on the computer, plus I just wasn't quite ready to pack up and leave. So this morning I got up early (okay, 8) and packed up and checked out, then went down to the 50 rupees buffet for breakfast, which I found out about a few days ago, but wished I'd found out about when I first arrived in Pushkar. It was purely geared towards all the Western tourists, breakfast was from 7am until 12:30pm, with fruit salad, oatmeal, toast, jam, peanut butter, potatoes, etc. But it was sure a good deal, and I knew I wouldn't be getting another breakfast like that for a while, especially at that price, so that was a nice way to say goodbye to Pushkar. Next time I go back there I'll have to actually explore around a little more instead of being on the computer the whole time, but I did get some good things wrapped up that I'd hoped to get to at some point during my trip.
So anyhow, this morning I hopped on the bus from Pushkar just half an hour away to the larger city of Ajmer. Then from there I lucked out when I asked a bus that was just leaving the bus station where it was going, and it was the bus I needed. So then it took another 5 hours to get here to Bundi. Bundi looks quite nice so far, other than the fact that they have a bit of a fly problem in the evening, and their otherwise picturesque lake has no water in it. But it's a quaint little town with a palace overlooking it from a ridge above it, and a quiet little place with small lanes like in Jaiselmer, but not nearly as touristy. Not quite as impressive either, but it has a nice atmosphere to it. Tomorrow I'll most likely check out the palace and fort, and then I might only stick around for one more night, since I kind of need to pick up the pace. Speaking of which, internet is 4 times as expensive here as in Pushkar, and my hour is almost up so I'd better run. Next place I'm headed is either Fatehpur Sikri or else Orchha, but it looks like Fatehpur Sikri because it has better transport connections directly from here...
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Monday, February 25, 2008
STILL in Pushkar
I've been in Pushkar for eight days now. Originally I was thinking I might bypass it altogether, taking the bus here that arrived early morning, then hopping on a bus straight to my next destination. Then I decided to at least stop for a day or two and take a break from the long bus ride here. Then, I discovered internet access at ten rupees an hour, which I'd been keeping my eyes open for for a while to get assorted things done. Plus, it's just a really easy and pleasant place to hang out, not too crazy or noisy and lots of good people-watching, and good shopping if I needed to actually buy anything, which is exactly what I need not to do. But basically, other than today I've spent 5-6 hours each day here in this internet cafe working both online and offline, the main accomplishment being getting Part 1 of my travel book edited, so that at some point here I can send it out again to potential publishers.
Other than that nothing too exciting has happened. I've barely wandered out of the main bazaar area other than walking up to one temple on a nearby overlooking hill, and walking around the lake a couple times. But one cool thing that happened was that I ran into another guy I'd met in Jaiselmer. Actually we met on the bus between Jaiselmer and Khuhri, the little desert town that I stayed at after Jaiselmer. But this was when I initially went there just for a daytrip. The bus was packed and we were the only other foreigners on it and ended up sitting next to each other. He's from Spain and his English isn't great so communication is a little wobbly, but still with a few attempts both ways we eventually manage to get the idea across. So we ended up talking a bit on the bus, then afterwards were wandering in the same direction towards the village, and ended up hiking up to the nearby dunes together. We caught the bus back to Jaiselmer a couple hours later, then back in Jaiselmer said see you later. We'd figured out that we both might be going to Pushkar, although he was first going to Bikaner (where I was before Jaiselmer); but figured since neither of our plans were very definite that running into each other again would be pretty unlikely.
So, the day after I'd arrived here in Pushkar, I was on the computer, next to a window that looked down to the street below. A big, loud procession started going by (apparently related to a wedding, there've been a bunch of them) and I decided to take a photo of it. When I did, the guy sitting next to me, who had been there for a while, looked over at me and said, "Hey!" It was the Spanish guy and he had recognized the noise of my camera, since not many people have film cameras. So, he and I have mostly just hung out in the evenings when we both have gone to the same little street side cafe that makes really good Israeli laffas (basically a tortilla wrap). Then, last night we ended up talking with a German girl at the same restaurant, and she mentioned that she had a pool at her hotel, which non-guests could use for a fee. So today we all met up there for the afternoon and hung out in the sun by the pool, which was a little strange because it was a fairly nice hotel, the pool was in a courtyard with a garden so that you couldn't see or here the street. So you could have been at a hotel just about anywhere in the world, whereas usually even in your hotel room you've still got the sounds of India percolating through.
So its really about time for me to get my butt in gear and start heading for Nepal, since I meet my friend John in Pokhara, Nepal around March 10th. That's two weeks from now, which would be tons of time if I were headed straight there, but with all the stops I've got planned along the way it's going to end up being a little rushed. Or else, I may end up just skipping a few of them. But then, the trek that we're planning to do only takes about a week roundtrip, which would get me back to Pokhara afterwards around March 18th or 19th. My flight leaves out of Delhi on March 27th, so if I wanted, then I could still come back to India and see a few other places right before I fly to Thailand. But on the other hand I may also want to do some more exploring of Nepal instead. I haven't gotten a guidebook for there yet so I don't know really what other places are interesting, although I'm sure I could easily use up another week there.
From here I'll be catching a bus, I'm thinking day after tomorrow so February 27th, about 6 hours to the medium-sized town of Bundi, which is supposed to be an atmospheric but untouristy town set in a canyon, with a great palace overlooking it. I was originally thinking it sounded like a good place to stay for a while, but of course now I won't have much more than a few days. But I'm sure they'll have internet access, so most likely I'll be writing next from there. By the way here's a link with some info on Bundi:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bundi
Other than that nothing too exciting has happened. I've barely wandered out of the main bazaar area other than walking up to one temple on a nearby overlooking hill, and walking around the lake a couple times. But one cool thing that happened was that I ran into another guy I'd met in Jaiselmer. Actually we met on the bus between Jaiselmer and Khuhri, the little desert town that I stayed at after Jaiselmer. But this was when I initially went there just for a daytrip. The bus was packed and we were the only other foreigners on it and ended up sitting next to each other. He's from Spain and his English isn't great so communication is a little wobbly, but still with a few attempts both ways we eventually manage to get the idea across. So we ended up talking a bit on the bus, then afterwards were wandering in the same direction towards the village, and ended up hiking up to the nearby dunes together. We caught the bus back to Jaiselmer a couple hours later, then back in Jaiselmer said see you later. We'd figured out that we both might be going to Pushkar, although he was first going to Bikaner (where I was before Jaiselmer); but figured since neither of our plans were very definite that running into each other again would be pretty unlikely.
So, the day after I'd arrived here in Pushkar, I was on the computer, next to a window that looked down to the street below. A big, loud procession started going by (apparently related to a wedding, there've been a bunch of them) and I decided to take a photo of it. When I did, the guy sitting next to me, who had been there for a while, looked over at me and said, "Hey!" It was the Spanish guy and he had recognized the noise of my camera, since not many people have film cameras. So, he and I have mostly just hung out in the evenings when we both have gone to the same little street side cafe that makes really good Israeli laffas (basically a tortilla wrap). Then, last night we ended up talking with a German girl at the same restaurant, and she mentioned that she had a pool at her hotel, which non-guests could use for a fee. So today we all met up there for the afternoon and hung out in the sun by the pool, which was a little strange because it was a fairly nice hotel, the pool was in a courtyard with a garden so that you couldn't see or here the street. So you could have been at a hotel just about anywhere in the world, whereas usually even in your hotel room you've still got the sounds of India percolating through.
So its really about time for me to get my butt in gear and start heading for Nepal, since I meet my friend John in Pokhara, Nepal around March 10th. That's two weeks from now, which would be tons of time if I were headed straight there, but with all the stops I've got planned along the way it's going to end up being a little rushed. Or else, I may end up just skipping a few of them. But then, the trek that we're planning to do only takes about a week roundtrip, which would get me back to Pokhara afterwards around March 18th or 19th. My flight leaves out of Delhi on March 27th, so if I wanted, then I could still come back to India and see a few other places right before I fly to Thailand. But on the other hand I may also want to do some more exploring of Nepal instead. I haven't gotten a guidebook for there yet so I don't know really what other places are interesting, although I'm sure I could easily use up another week there.
From here I'll be catching a bus, I'm thinking day after tomorrow so February 27th, about 6 hours to the medium-sized town of Bundi, which is supposed to be an atmospheric but untouristy town set in a canyon, with a great palace overlooking it. I was originally thinking it sounded like a good place to stay for a while, but of course now I won't have much more than a few days. But I'm sure they'll have internet access, so most likely I'll be writing next from there. By the way here's a link with some info on Bundi:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bundi
Saturday, February 23, 2008
the post office in Jaiselmer
Dealing with the post office back in Jaiselmer (a couple of weeks ago now) was not unlike getting the train ticket in Delhi, although on a somewhat smaller, mellower scale. First, of course, I showed up with my three packages to mail back home on Saturday (they were open until 5) at about 3:30 pm. However, despite being open, they'd stopped handling packages at 3; so I had to come back Monday between 10am and 3pm.
Alright, showed up Monday at the appropriate time, things were looking pretty good, only a couple of other people in line. But of course, they took a while. And, as I was standing there with about a two foot space between myself and the guy in front, another guy came up and stood sort of nonchalantly slightly off to the side and ahead of me, clearly planning to cut in line. I told him that I was in line. He sort of grunted and nodded, but kept standing there. Then he scooched up ahead a little more. I gestured my thumb over my shoulder, telling him he should go behind me, but he ignored me again. Considering there was only one guy ahead of me at that point, I decided to let it go this time.
Shortly after the guy in front had finished up, and the line-cutter squeezed his way up to the counter ahead of me, another guy came up behind me. Again I was about two feet behind the guy now in front. But the person behind me pointed to the space and said in English, "You must move up, or someone cuts in front of you." "Move where?" I said, or something to that effect. "Do I have to climb on top of the guy in front, to make it clear I'm standing in line and not just hanging out here for the fun of it?" I didn't move up any more, for hopefully obvious reasons, but resolved to be more insistent with any future line violators.
I made it to the counter, and of course was then given a form to fill out for each of my 3 packages, which then kicked me back out of the line. I filled out the forms, got back in line and moved forward until I was next in line. More people showed up and things got a little more tense. Two guys were trying to squeeze in on either side. But this time I had my packages up on the counter already, plus my elbow, as I'd squeezed up myself on one side.
Finally, with papers in hand, I was at the counter. The guy at the desk had other things to do, however. He put on his glasses, and I noticed that one of the lenses still had a sticker right in the middle of the lens, that obviously came with the glasses, but he hadn't taken it off yet. This didn't seem to bother him as he busied himself with some paperwork. But it bothered me. I kept wanting to reach forward, grab his glasses and take the sticker off for him. Finally, after another five minutes or so of my holding the line at bay, he took off his glasses and looked up at me. I waved the forms.
"Okay, you come inside," he said, because of the packages being mailed abroad. He pointed down to a door that entered into the inside area behind the counter. I walked down there with my packages and went through the door, then walked up to the same guy, behind him. He then went back to doing more paperwork. At this point, I was thinking to myself, "Great, now how many damn people in line is he going to help, before he turns around and deals with these packages?" The line was getting increasingly boisterous as more people showed up.
Miraculously, after a few minutes he turned around and gestured at my handful of packages, completely unfazed by the rowdy line pressing up against the counter. I handed him the smallest one, an envelope (sewn up in cloth, as required) with about 15 photos in it, and that's all. He put it on the scale, plugged in the destination, and then announced, "380 rupees." And then added, "by sea mail".
"What??" I said loudly. "That's impossible."
The reason being, I'd sent another package a month before that included a heavy jacket and a few other things, which had cost about the same, by air mail. It cost 8 rupees to send a postcard from India to the U.S. The photos were roughly the same size as a postcard. In other words, it would be way cheaper for me to send each of the photos separately, only 120 rupees altogether.
He looked at the computer and pointed at the screen, where it said 380 rupees, which I'd already seen. I again protested adamantly that something was wrong and explained having mailed a much larger package just recently, by air, for the same price. His English was a little too limited at that point, so he called over another guy from a different desk. I explained to him how this couldn't possibly be right. He looked at the computer, spoke with the other guy in Hindi (or maybe something else), they sort of scratched their chins, argued back and forth a bit, and punched assorted keys on the computer. Finally, the first guy said to me, "56 rupees, air mail."
"Now that's more like it," I said.
We proceeded through the other two packages, one medium-sized and one bigger one that I sent sea mail. This took at least another 15-20 minutes, and I was acutely aware of how impatient everyone in the line was getting; but at the same time glad as heck I wasn't stuck standing in it. Finally we got all the packages processed and stuck with their appropriate mailing labels, and I paid, 1,225 rupees in total. Then I looked up at the first person in line, a big Sikh guy with a dark beard and a turban, and said a little sheepishly, "Sorry, thanks for waiting." He just bobbled his head and smiled.
Alright, showed up Monday at the appropriate time, things were looking pretty good, only a couple of other people in line. But of course, they took a while. And, as I was standing there with about a two foot space between myself and the guy in front, another guy came up and stood sort of nonchalantly slightly off to the side and ahead of me, clearly planning to cut in line. I told him that I was in line. He sort of grunted and nodded, but kept standing there. Then he scooched up ahead a little more. I gestured my thumb over my shoulder, telling him he should go behind me, but he ignored me again. Considering there was only one guy ahead of me at that point, I decided to let it go this time.
Shortly after the guy in front had finished up, and the line-cutter squeezed his way up to the counter ahead of me, another guy came up behind me. Again I was about two feet behind the guy now in front. But the person behind me pointed to the space and said in English, "You must move up, or someone cuts in front of you." "Move where?" I said, or something to that effect. "Do I have to climb on top of the guy in front, to make it clear I'm standing in line and not just hanging out here for the fun of it?" I didn't move up any more, for hopefully obvious reasons, but resolved to be more insistent with any future line violators.
I made it to the counter, and of course was then given a form to fill out for each of my 3 packages, which then kicked me back out of the line. I filled out the forms, got back in line and moved forward until I was next in line. More people showed up and things got a little more tense. Two guys were trying to squeeze in on either side. But this time I had my packages up on the counter already, plus my elbow, as I'd squeezed up myself on one side.
Finally, with papers in hand, I was at the counter. The guy at the desk had other things to do, however. He put on his glasses, and I noticed that one of the lenses still had a sticker right in the middle of the lens, that obviously came with the glasses, but he hadn't taken it off yet. This didn't seem to bother him as he busied himself with some paperwork. But it bothered me. I kept wanting to reach forward, grab his glasses and take the sticker off for him. Finally, after another five minutes or so of my holding the line at bay, he took off his glasses and looked up at me. I waved the forms.
"Okay, you come inside," he said, because of the packages being mailed abroad. He pointed down to a door that entered into the inside area behind the counter. I walked down there with my packages and went through the door, then walked up to the same guy, behind him. He then went back to doing more paperwork. At this point, I was thinking to myself, "Great, now how many damn people in line is he going to help, before he turns around and deals with these packages?" The line was getting increasingly boisterous as more people showed up.
Miraculously, after a few minutes he turned around and gestured at my handful of packages, completely unfazed by the rowdy line pressing up against the counter. I handed him the smallest one, an envelope (sewn up in cloth, as required) with about 15 photos in it, and that's all. He put it on the scale, plugged in the destination, and then announced, "380 rupees." And then added, "by sea mail".
"What??" I said loudly. "That's impossible."
The reason being, I'd sent another package a month before that included a heavy jacket and a few other things, which had cost about the same, by air mail. It cost 8 rupees to send a postcard from India to the U.S. The photos were roughly the same size as a postcard. In other words, it would be way cheaper for me to send each of the photos separately, only 120 rupees altogether.
He looked at the computer and pointed at the screen, where it said 380 rupees, which I'd already seen. I again protested adamantly that something was wrong and explained having mailed a much larger package just recently, by air, for the same price. His English was a little too limited at that point, so he called over another guy from a different desk. I explained to him how this couldn't possibly be right. He looked at the computer, spoke with the other guy in Hindi (or maybe something else), they sort of scratched their chins, argued back and forth a bit, and punched assorted keys on the computer. Finally, the first guy said to me, "56 rupees, air mail."
"Now that's more like it," I said.
We proceeded through the other two packages, one medium-sized and one bigger one that I sent sea mail. This took at least another 15-20 minutes, and I was acutely aware of how impatient everyone in the line was getting; but at the same time glad as heck I wasn't stuck standing in it. Finally we got all the packages processed and stuck with their appropriate mailing labels, and I paid, 1,225 rupees in total. Then I looked up at the first person in line, a big Sikh guy with a dark beard and a turban, and said a little sheepishly, "Sorry, thanks for waiting." He just bobbled his head and smiled.
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
in Pushkar
(Here's the photo of myself on a camel the previous time I was in Pushkar, in November, 1999)....
I'm now in the pleasant little lakeside town of Pushkar, back east a ways (a ten-hour overnight bus ride last night) from where I was in Jaiselmer, but still in the same Indian state of Rajasthan. I was here during my first trip to India, I think it was in November of 1999, right before their huge camel fair. I actually just left Jaiselmer right before their own big desert festival. But after the camel festival in Bikaner, and the camel safari, I don't exactly feel like I have to see everything camel-related while I'm here. Besides a festival in India means massive crowds, and I'm at the point where big Indian crowds isn't really what I want to hang around too much, so I'll be avoiding the cities for the most part from here as well.
Although it's been a couple weeks since my last update, there isn't a huge amount of stuff to cover. I ended up staying in Jaiselmer for a total of 15 days (including the three days on the camel safari) partly because I was sick and then also simply because it was such a gorgeous and atmospheric little city. The one problem being that the prevalent tourism certainly dilutes the experience a bit, and makes it a hassle walking around at times, as you're so regularly turning down someone or other trying to sell you something. But the main thing I accomplished while being sick was that I got all of my photos up to that point developed, got a bunch of them printed as 8x10s, and then sent them all back home to get them off my back, literally.
My last couple of days in Jaiselmer, once I was feeling pretty much back to normal, I went on a couple of bike rides out to some nearby small villages with some Jain temples. Then, the day before I was planning to leave, I went by bus about an hour away to the village of Khuhri. It was mentioned in my guidebook and was where I was originally planning to start my camel safari, before I got sucked into the 45 rupees room. So I'd like to go back there sometime, partly just because it was a great place, and also to do another camel safari from that area as it would be a better location, plus a little cheaper.
So although I just went there for the day at first, I liked it a lot so the next day, instead of leaving Jaiselmer altogether I packed up and took the bus back to the village of Khuhri. I was planning to only stay for a night or two but ended up staying for five nights (thus the delay in writing, since there wasn't any internet acces there). It was basically just a tiny little desert village, but due to its proximity to Jaiselmer and the fact that there are nice dunes a short walk away, it's now on the tourist's radar, and so basic guest houses are springing up there. But it still mostly has an unspoilt feel to it, to the extent that there are no restaurants other than what people make for you at the guest houses, no bookshops or shops selling clothes and trinkets, etc., other than the usual snack shops where you can get bottled water, cookies, chips, soft drinks, etc. (which was important because at my guest house they served the same thing each day for lunch and dinner, so I usually skipped lunch and had snacks for a change. But the good thing was that they made a mean omelette for breakfast.)
I didn't do a whole heck of a lot there, other than go for some hikes on the dunes (excellent sunsets from on top of them), finish a book, do some yoga in my adobe-style hut, and walk around the village and inform little kids that sadly I had no pens, rupees or chocolates to give them (all of which I actually did have with me, but they don't really need them and besides once you give one something, then they tell all their friends and family, and pretty soon you have a crowd of kids around you all wanting the same thing, and they're pretty persistent about it).
So from Khuhri I came back to Jaiselmer yesterday afternoon, bought a ticket for a bus leaving that afternoon direct here to Pushkar, did a couple quick things around town and then hopped on the bus. It turned out to be one of the more enjoyable bus/train/plane/automobile rides I've had, as I paid (a whole $9) for a sleeper bunk, which was a completely enclosed little compartment above the seats, with windows you could open and close on both sides, either to the aisles of the bus on one side or else to the outside, but with curtains on both sides. Although it was only maybe 5 1/2 feet long and about 2 1/2 feet wide, it was pretty comfy and I would have probably gotten some decent sleep, except that the Indian roads keep the bus constantly moving around, going over potholes, train tracks, speed bumps, etc. So, not much of a smooth ride. Then the bus arrived here a couple of hours earlier than expected (simply because it took a more direct route than they'd told me at the ticket office) which was at 3 am. In this case it was a good thing that hotel touts were there waiting for the bus, so that I was easily able to get a room, and pretty soon I was stretching out on a real bed.
I'm not quite sure how long I'll be staying here in Pushkar. Since I've been here before, and it's another touristy spot with the usual annoyances, I don't plan to hang around too long, plus I've got a number of new places that I'm looking forward to checking out. But mostly it's a fairly mellow little town and also internet here is super cheap (a third the price of Jaiselmer) so I'll most likely stay here at least a few days. Then, I'm headed for one of the places I'm most looking forward to in India, Bundi. It sounds like one of those places on par with Rishikesh, Jaiselmer and Pushkar, except that somehow it's escaped much attention and so is far less touristed. Then I'm looking at a couple of other spots that I discovered in the book that sound great and are all more or less in line between here and Nepal, where I plan to meet a friend in early March.
Monday, February 04, 2008
camel safari
The camel safari was excellent, worth all the trouble of getting out here to the fringes of India. We lucked out with the timing though, as something rather strange happened the last day: it rained. I very rarely see rain in India at all, since winter is the dry season, and out here in the desert apparently it can go years without raining sometimes. We didn't have tents, and so were sleeping just with blankets out in the desert (actually there was a hut the first night, but I'll get to that shortly). The second night it clouded up and sprinkled just a little, which freaked us all out a bit, but then it stopped after only a few minutes. If it had started genuinely raining in the middle of the night, I have no idea what we would have done, since they definitely didn't have any emergency tents buried away anywhere. But it did start raining pretty good on the third day and rained quite a bit last night, when I was back at my hotel. So I was really feeling for whoever started their camel safari yesterday, because not only was it wet but it got pretty cold. And even though it was dry for the two nights I was out there it was still chilly, which unfortunately managed to make my cough worse and brought back my cold. But I got some cough syrup and more cough drops, and don't have anything big planned for a little while. Plus I've got a decent mattress at my hotel and it's nice and quiet there, so I've been sleeping pretty good. So hopefully all considering, I'll be able to kick this cold for good soon.
Anyway, so the trip started with about an hour's jeep ride into the desert, on a paved road with small villages along the way. Along for the trip was myself, a couple from Norway, a couple from Australia and a Japanese guy. We pulled up alongside six camels on the side of the road, plus the Indian camel driver, who spoke just a little English, and a couple of young helpers. It turned out most of the time they didn't ride camels themselves, but just walked along with one guy leading the pack and the others walking along as well, helping when needed or else just walking along and talking. Sometimes, believe it or not, they were busy talking on their cell phones, since it seemed like we had cell phone service just about everywhere we went. That was actually one of the few complaints we had about the trip, not so much that we cared they were talking on cell phones, but rather that we never felt like we got as far from civilization as we imagined we would with three full days. But as long as you ignored a few buildings or towers off in the distance somewhere, you could easily imagine that you were actually in remote desert in the middle of nowhere. And it was really gorgeous desert, ranging from sage-covered scrub land I guess you'd say, similar to Nevada, to full-on big sandy dunes.
The first morning we got a late start and just went about an hour on the camels, before stopping for lunch at about noon. It took a while for them to make lunch (lunch and dinner was always just a vegetable curry dish with chapati, and sometimes rice, but it was good stuff, and breakfast was toast with jam and fruit) so the six of us just sprawled out on a couple of blankets under a tree and talked while they started up a campfire and worked on lunch. Once we'd finished lunch, nothing much happened in terms of getting back on the camels, and I think we were all wondering what we were waiting for. Eventually I figured out that, even though it wasn't terribly hot, desert protocol was no doubt that you don't bother riding your camels in the heat of the afternoon. So we ended up just lounging around until 4 or so before getting going again. Then we only went for maybe another hour or so, when we came into a little valley between these beautiful dunes, where there was a little thatched hut. That was just before sundown, so we all spread out across the dunes exploring a bit and then watched the sunset, which was amazing. Another small group of camel trekkers arrived at the same spot, three Americans and their camel drivers, who were also staying there for the night. I haven't run across that many Americans in either India or Thailand, so it was nice to hang out with some fellow countrymen. We all hung out around the campfire for the evening, talking as well as playing some cards. Another illustration that we weren't so far away from the world was that an Indian guy came walking up at one point with a bag full of beers and soft drinks to sell to us tourists. Although a semi-cold beer sounded nice, I passed, given my cough. Plus it was getting pretty chilly and I knew I wouldn't want to be getting up to go take a leak a bunch of times in the middle of the night. They gave us plenty of thick blankets (the same ones used for tying stuff down on the camels. Fortunately, I'd brought my own blanket and a sheet to sandwich myself in between). So I stayed pretty warm that night, but between the hard sand (it's soft when you're walking on it, but definitely not so much when you lay on it for a while) and breathing the cold air, I didn't sleep too great, which I'm sure is what brought my cold back.
But still, I woke up the next morning stoked to be out there, especially once the sun rose out of the sand and started warming things up. We got an earlier start on the camels this time and covered more ground, but we soon realized that we were doubling back towards an area where we'd been the previous day. We stopped again for an extended lunch, which we were all thankful for because it got seriously hot that day (I can't even imagine what it's like there in July, must be hellish), and also we were ready for a break from the camels after a good couple of hours of bumping along. But once we got going again we realized that indeed we seemed to be making a loop; and we ended up camping for the night on the other side of the same dunes where we'd been the previous night, probably less than a half mile away. Although we were slightly annoyed at this, it was only slightly since it was such a beautiful area, and we were glad that at least we didn't go back to the same camp. So we played a bunch more cards around the campfire again, plus backgammon, while waiting for dinner, then slept that night under the stars. Or at least it started out that way, then sometime in the middle of the night the stars disappeared as it clouded up, and I was laying there thinking at that point: "Man, it sure better not rain, or we're screwed." Luckily we only got that slight bit of a sprinkle. But the next morning it was still cloudy. Fortunately from there we didn't backtrack again across the same ground to the point from which we'd started, but instead went off in a new direction to a different area of the desert. This time we stopped for lunch at a big tree that was right near a little-used road. Eventually the driver gave us the option of riding the camels a little more, or else just hanging out there and then having the jeep pick us up. It started raining during lunch, and between that and our sore thighs we decided we'd had a pretty good camel experience, and would go with the jeep sooner rather than later.
So, although it wasn't the absolutely authentic camel-in-the-desert experience, it was an all-around good time and I definitely got some good pictures out there, devoid of any evidence of modern civilization. And although camels aren't the smoothest ride, I didn't find them to be all that uncomfortable, and the difference between being down on the ground and sitting 8-10 feet up in the air while being carried along is definitely a big part of the thrill. I'd definitely be interested in doing another one sometime, preferrably if it were going from Point A to Point B so that it was all new territory, and where you were getting out into a little more remote territory, perhaps for a week instead of just a few days.
I've been back in Jaiselmer for a couple of days now, just taking care of assorted things so far, i.e. getting a bunch of film developed (too curious to see them to wait until I get back), getting some shirts tailored, random shopping, doing laundry, paying the monthly bills online, etc. Yesterday afternoon I walked down to a small reservoir on the edge of town, ringed by amazing sandstone buildings. And sometime in the next couple of days I'll most likely go visit a smaller nearby desert town, called Khuhri, where you can hike right out into the dunes. Then at some point here I'll start heading back in the other direction, in other words east. It actually feels good that I'm basically at the halfway point and more or less headed back home from here, although it's obviously going to take a while. But I've pretty well got the rest of my trip here in India planned out, which will involve basically heading for Nepal but with a number of stops along the way, that aren't too far out of the way. In case anyone has a map handy, here are some of the places I'll most likely be heading to next: Jodhpur, Pushkar, Bundi, Bharatpur, Fatehpur Sikri, Orchha and then Nepal. Then from there I'm probably going straight back to Delhi to fly to Thailand on March 27th. Also I reserved the final leg of my flight just recently, from Hawaii back to California, on May 7th. I'd been leaving that open, but happened to check Travelocity and they had a deal direct from the island of Kauai to Oakland for under $200, so I figured I'd better take it while it was available.
Anyway, so the trip started with about an hour's jeep ride into the desert, on a paved road with small villages along the way. Along for the trip was myself, a couple from Norway, a couple from Australia and a Japanese guy. We pulled up alongside six camels on the side of the road, plus the Indian camel driver, who spoke just a little English, and a couple of young helpers. It turned out most of the time they didn't ride camels themselves, but just walked along with one guy leading the pack and the others walking along as well, helping when needed or else just walking along and talking. Sometimes, believe it or not, they were busy talking on their cell phones, since it seemed like we had cell phone service just about everywhere we went. That was actually one of the few complaints we had about the trip, not so much that we cared they were talking on cell phones, but rather that we never felt like we got as far from civilization as we imagined we would with three full days. But as long as you ignored a few buildings or towers off in the distance somewhere, you could easily imagine that you were actually in remote desert in the middle of nowhere. And it was really gorgeous desert, ranging from sage-covered scrub land I guess you'd say, similar to Nevada, to full-on big sandy dunes.
The first morning we got a late start and just went about an hour on the camels, before stopping for lunch at about noon. It took a while for them to make lunch (lunch and dinner was always just a vegetable curry dish with chapati, and sometimes rice, but it was good stuff, and breakfast was toast with jam and fruit) so the six of us just sprawled out on a couple of blankets under a tree and talked while they started up a campfire and worked on lunch. Once we'd finished lunch, nothing much happened in terms of getting back on the camels, and I think we were all wondering what we were waiting for. Eventually I figured out that, even though it wasn't terribly hot, desert protocol was no doubt that you don't bother riding your camels in the heat of the afternoon. So we ended up just lounging around until 4 or so before getting going again. Then we only went for maybe another hour or so, when we came into a little valley between these beautiful dunes, where there was a little thatched hut. That was just before sundown, so we all spread out across the dunes exploring a bit and then watched the sunset, which was amazing. Another small group of camel trekkers arrived at the same spot, three Americans and their camel drivers, who were also staying there for the night. I haven't run across that many Americans in either India or Thailand, so it was nice to hang out with some fellow countrymen. We all hung out around the campfire for the evening, talking as well as playing some cards. Another illustration that we weren't so far away from the world was that an Indian guy came walking up at one point with a bag full of beers and soft drinks to sell to us tourists. Although a semi-cold beer sounded nice, I passed, given my cough. Plus it was getting pretty chilly and I knew I wouldn't want to be getting up to go take a leak a bunch of times in the middle of the night. They gave us plenty of thick blankets (the same ones used for tying stuff down on the camels. Fortunately, I'd brought my own blanket and a sheet to sandwich myself in between). So I stayed pretty warm that night, but between the hard sand (it's soft when you're walking on it, but definitely not so much when you lay on it for a while) and breathing the cold air, I didn't sleep too great, which I'm sure is what brought my cold back.
But still, I woke up the next morning stoked to be out there, especially once the sun rose out of the sand and started warming things up. We got an earlier start on the camels this time and covered more ground, but we soon realized that we were doubling back towards an area where we'd been the previous day. We stopped again for an extended lunch, which we were all thankful for because it got seriously hot that day (I can't even imagine what it's like there in July, must be hellish), and also we were ready for a break from the camels after a good couple of hours of bumping along. But once we got going again we realized that indeed we seemed to be making a loop; and we ended up camping for the night on the other side of the same dunes where we'd been the previous night, probably less than a half mile away. Although we were slightly annoyed at this, it was only slightly since it was such a beautiful area, and we were glad that at least we didn't go back to the same camp. So we played a bunch more cards around the campfire again, plus backgammon, while waiting for dinner, then slept that night under the stars. Or at least it started out that way, then sometime in the middle of the night the stars disappeared as it clouded up, and I was laying there thinking at that point: "Man, it sure better not rain, or we're screwed." Luckily we only got that slight bit of a sprinkle. But the next morning it was still cloudy. Fortunately from there we didn't backtrack again across the same ground to the point from which we'd started, but instead went off in a new direction to a different area of the desert. This time we stopped for lunch at a big tree that was right near a little-used road. Eventually the driver gave us the option of riding the camels a little more, or else just hanging out there and then having the jeep pick us up. It started raining during lunch, and between that and our sore thighs we decided we'd had a pretty good camel experience, and would go with the jeep sooner rather than later.
So, although it wasn't the absolutely authentic camel-in-the-desert experience, it was an all-around good time and I definitely got some good pictures out there, devoid of any evidence of modern civilization. And although camels aren't the smoothest ride, I didn't find them to be all that uncomfortable, and the difference between being down on the ground and sitting 8-10 feet up in the air while being carried along is definitely a big part of the thrill. I'd definitely be interested in doing another one sometime, preferrably if it were going from Point A to Point B so that it was all new territory, and where you were getting out into a little more remote territory, perhaps for a week instead of just a few days.
I've been back in Jaiselmer for a couple of days now, just taking care of assorted things so far, i.e. getting a bunch of film developed (too curious to see them to wait until I get back), getting some shirts tailored, random shopping, doing laundry, paying the monthly bills online, etc. Yesterday afternoon I walked down to a small reservoir on the edge of town, ringed by amazing sandstone buildings. And sometime in the next couple of days I'll most likely go visit a smaller nearby desert town, called Khuhri, where you can hike right out into the dunes. Then at some point here I'll start heading back in the other direction, in other words east. It actually feels good that I'm basically at the halfway point and more or less headed back home from here, although it's obviously going to take a while. But I've pretty well got the rest of my trip here in India planned out, which will involve basically heading for Nepal but with a number of stops along the way, that aren't too far out of the way. In case anyone has a map handy, here are some of the places I'll most likely be heading to next: Jodhpur, Pushkar, Bundi, Bharatpur, Fatehpur Sikri, Orchha and then Nepal. Then from there I'm probably going straight back to Delhi to fly to Thailand on March 27th. Also I reserved the final leg of my flight just recently, from Hawaii back to California, on May 7th. I'd been leaving that open, but happened to check Travelocity and they had a deal direct from the island of Kauai to Oakland for under $200, so I figured I'd better take it while it was available.
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