Leading up to our India trip Erin's number one mentioned activity she wanted to do was spend a day with elephants. Number two however was the desert camel trek in Rajasthan. And so we did, a 36 hour trek through the Thar Desert, Erin, myself, a Finnish couple our age, and our guide, each of us a camel for our own.
The Thar Desert is not quite what you might imagine. There's still plenty of green shrubbery and the odd tree, wild (unedible) melons, small villages here and there, farms harvesting Chapati flour, and some dirt roads. The sand dunes we did see were small - no sand horizons or anything that vast. The region we trekked is part of the famous Silk Road - the trading line that saw caravans bring the spices and silks of the East to those of wealth in Medieval Europe.
The heat was hot. We were incredibly fortunate that it was cloudy both days so we didn't experience the worst it could be. The Finnish couple, Marco and Rena, ended up being hilarious. The entire trek ended up being a neverending exchange of Canadian and Finnish culture. They taught us Pesaballo (hilariously wacky Finnish baseball), and we taught them Rush.
Riding a camel is like riding a lackadaisical robot. They do your every order but with no sense of urgency or quick reflex - it's actually hilarious. Your reins hook up to a needle through their nose which you use to direct them left and right. The extra rope from the reins is looped and used to whip the camel's side telling it to go faster. We didn't see one spit but they do fart a LOT, which proved extra hilarious when it was only noise breaking the peace of the desert. The inside of your thighs get incredibly sore after a couple hours riding, but it's fairly easy to control. Erin discovered she didn't have to do any steering or speed control if she shadowed behind another rider's camel - the camels' will follow each others' path to a tee. I preferred leading and blazing my own path.
After starting the day at 6am, resting under a tree between 12-3pm during the hottest part of the day, we set up camp for the night at 6pm on the edge of the sand dunes. We were about 80km from the Pakistani border and not allowed any further because of the military buildup on the border by both sides. Our guides made us dinner and set our beds up for us. Admittedly we felt like helpless children being taken care of, the desert really did a number on us. The air was acrid breathe and we discovered our minds and bodies were grossly unfit to be exposed to the elements for such a long time. "White skin is like toilet paper," our guide aptly summed up.
Nighttime brought an intoxicating silence. It was cold enough for one blanket which was handy for keeping the beetles from crawling into your pants. We got back into town (Jaisalmer) the next day feeling incredibly satisfied. It was an enriching experience in that we realized what it takes to live and to make a living in the desert. Erin and I both now desire to do another someday, but would try for a longer trek and one with some truly biblical sand dunes!
The Thar Desert is not quite what you might imagine. There's still plenty of green shrubbery and the odd tree, wild (unedible) melons, small villages here and there, farms harvesting Chapati flour, and some dirt roads. The sand dunes we did see were small - no sand horizons or anything that vast. The region we trekked is part of the famous Silk Road - the trading line that saw caravans bring the spices and silks of the East to those of wealth in Medieval Europe.
The heat was hot. We were incredibly fortunate that it was cloudy both days so we didn't experience the worst it could be. The Finnish couple, Marco and Rena, ended up being hilarious. The entire trek ended up being a neverending exchange of Canadian and Finnish culture. They taught us Pesaballo (hilariously wacky Finnish baseball), and we taught them Rush.
Riding a camel is like riding a lackadaisical robot. They do your every order but with no sense of urgency or quick reflex - it's actually hilarious. Your reins hook up to a needle through their nose which you use to direct them left and right. The extra rope from the reins is looped and used to whip the camel's side telling it to go faster. We didn't see one spit but they do fart a LOT, which proved extra hilarious when it was only noise breaking the peace of the desert. The inside of your thighs get incredibly sore after a couple hours riding, but it's fairly easy to control. Erin discovered she didn't have to do any steering or speed control if she shadowed behind another rider's camel - the camels' will follow each others' path to a tee. I preferred leading and blazing my own path.
After starting the day at 6am, resting under a tree between 12-3pm during the hottest part of the day, we set up camp for the night at 6pm on the edge of the sand dunes. We were about 80km from the Pakistani border and not allowed any further because of the military buildup on the border by both sides. Our guides made us dinner and set our beds up for us. Admittedly we felt like helpless children being taken care of, the desert really did a number on us. The air was acrid breathe and we discovered our minds and bodies were grossly unfit to be exposed to the elements for such a long time. "White skin is like toilet paper," our guide aptly summed up.
Nighttime brought an intoxicating silence. It was cold enough for one blanket which was handy for keeping the beetles from crawling into your pants. We got back into town (Jaisalmer) the next day feeling incredibly satisfied. It was an enriching experience in that we realized what it takes to live and to make a living in the desert. Erin and I both now desire to do another someday, but would try for a longer trek and one with some truly biblical sand dunes!
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