Camel Safari

Kieran:

In the morning we went exploring the old fort, making our way through the maze of old alleyways, discovering numerous crumbling haveli's. The wonderful thing about the fort is that it's still used by the Indian people and has not been turned into money making tourist attraction, with an extortionate entrance fee and busloads visitors. In fact, Jaisalmer was only discovered as a tourist destination 20 years ago and many people don't make it out here because it's a bit off the main tourist circuit. But it was well worth the drive.

The views from the fort walls were amazing and you could see for miles over the baking desert.
Inside the fort, we stepped into our first Jain temple. We were guided by a monk and led round by candle light.Our guide enlightened us on the Jain religion while the light played upon the intricate carvings on the walls inside the small dark spaces. It definitely felt very special.

We then retreated to the city sprawled below the fort, where we were welcomed into a sliver maker's home and learned how to differentiate between real and fake silver, using a touch stone. We then went on to explore the market and bright street, where nick bought a scarf for the camel safari. We were also introduced to an Indian man disguised in sunglasses, sporting a turban, who said he would let us see his 4ft moustache if we gave him 10 rupees! so,of course, naturally we said "yes please"!

Ate some lunch before leaving Jaisalmer for the desert dunes where we would be saddling up on some camels.

The desert safari was good fun. we rode our camels out onto the dunes, stopping at a small village along the way and having a song sung for us by some local kids. We got to a great point on the dunes for sunset, where we met a cute Belgian girl, also on safari.

We returned to the camp to eat a dinner under the stars, whilst watching some live music. To finish off the day, we were whisked away by camel cart to sleep on the dunes, below the brightest moon I have ever seen, illuminating everything a blue grey. (We chased some dune bugs with a torch before hitting the hay!)

Nick:

No gerbils today, but we met a nice Belgian girl and a Japanese guy here. 'had a good chat.

Ridden to dunes , sitting on them now with drink. Amazing day! The city is beautiful.

Off to bed under stars, big moon-lit sand pit all to ourselves. Chasing beetles with a flashlight.