THAR DESERT - FEBRUARY 17

I am having a stroll in the city on my own. ............I also visit a tailor shop, to have sleeves sewn on my new shirt. When I bought it a few days ago, the sleeves were apart. Mr Tailorman offers me some tea and we have a chat together.

Then, I walk back to the hotel to meet the girls. At 1.30 pm, Christine and I will start our camel safari in the desert. We have booked a one-night-tour with Hotel Renuka. Jocelyne and Bernadette did not want to come, so they will stay in town and do something else. Jassi is here anyway and he can drive them wherever they want to. The hotel jeep will drive us to the meeting point. We first stop at the Bada Bagh Royal Cenotaphs. These cenotaphs are made of sandstone, it is beautiful work. All these domes and carvings, stunning! ....................Then, we continue until we arrive at the place where our camels wait for us. On the way, we see goats and a herd of sheep. We just wonder what they can eat, it is only stones and sand and some shrubs... Our camel man, Mohan and his help, Tellu, 10 years old, make the camels ready for us and off we go. Well, I only did a short camel ride a long time ago in Tunisia and I forgot how it felt. Well, I don’t like it so much, as I have trouble keeping my balance. I have the feeling I am going to fall over all the time. I don’t feel comfortable at all and I’ll be glad when we arrive in the proper desert. Right now, it is mainly shrubs…. We see the sand dunes in the distance. The whole trip takes about 2 hours…and we are amidst the sand dunes.. Sometimes, Mohan rides his camel at a faster pace, so ours have to ride faster too…. No, please, no running!!! Mohan is very talkative and he can even speak a little bit of French.

When we arrive at our night camp, there are 4 other tourists there, 2 girls from Norway, 1 guy from Japan and 1 girl from Canada. And of course, their camel men and helps…. It makes a nice group… We can admire the beautiful landscape. Of course, it can't be compared to the Sahara desert, but it is still nice. Soon the guys start the cooking.making the chapatis…. The camels have already got their food... ...We can see the sunset, but it is not that impressive tonight. The evening light over the dunes is wonderful though. ......Our dinner is very nice and there’s a very pleasant atmosphere. The boys start singing and playing the drums with the big water bottles. Great! Then, we have a nice walk in the dunes under the starry skies. And it is time to go to bed… Well, not exactly a bed! Just blankets over the ground and I have my duvet... That’s a nice experience, to be under the stars, still, the sand is quite hard and my back is aching during the night. I am getting old bones!!!. I manage to sleep though, as it is so peaceful.