Returning to the Deserts of Rajasthan and 3 days by Camel

I left Varanasi with every intention of not returning to Delhi. But my only way of literally crossing from one side of the counrty at it's widest point to the other. Was either stopping in Delhi or Agra. And I definatly had had my fill of both those months back. Although I felt more at ease with India and had finally found a place with in to just accept India back on platform 12 in Calcutta and along the banks of the Ganges in Varanasi. So choosing a lesser of two evils, I chose Delhi after heving spent a week in the piss hole that is known as Parahgange Bazaare. So I set out on a late train and made a 14 hour over night journey back to Delhi where it all began.

Stepping off the train I actually smiled. This same platform those months back, a turban wearing thief with a shoe fetish, had knicked both pairs of michelles flip flops on our way to Bombay. The air was as exhaust ridden and smoggy as I had remembered if not more. But it smelt and looked familiar. Familiar was something I hadn't seen or experienced in some months....It brough a smile to my face. And I walked the streets with more ease and comfort then I had those months ago. I returned to my old hotel for breakfast and a place to drop my bag for the day. And they ripped me off again. There's not a lot of love between me and Hotel Shelton. They had previously become the poster boys of all my problems in India. But with India you do learn to accept or go mad. As soon as I had stepped off the train I walked past all the touts, screaming rickshaw drivers, and scammers with a smile and made my way right back upto the Foriegn ticket office and found a train leaving that very night for Jodphur my next destination. So a few errands in the Bazaare buying departure tickets to Thailand ( with a full night layed over in Dhaka Bangladesh...it was the cheapest I could find) a few more pics burned to CD, and a return to my favorite rooftop restaurant for some cheese bread and Pasta and I was thankfully whisked away on another 13 hour train from Delhi.

Jodphur is known as the blue city in rajasthan. The majority of its buildings every where you look, painted a sky blue. It is a reasonably quiet city for its size. And is dominated by a massive monolith of rock that is the fort above Jodphur. It is an imposing structure that bears the marks (Cannonballs) of many invaders. But the fort never fell. And it offers a stunning panoramic view of the blue city below. I spent a few hours just sitting high up on the walls with my feet dangling (Something you definatly could not do back in the U.S.) and staring far out to the distant horizon and what looked like a picasso's blue cubist period below me. I also upgraded thanks to a letter from my mom that said "Open when you get lonely". Which I did, the words were worth more then the green note to me inside but it did buy me 3 nights at a 250 year old maharaja's palace. Complete with marble everything, ornate stone work, a double bed, original paintings, Beautiful drapped textiles, a arabian cushioned balcony with a stunning view of the fort. A full bathroom with a huge shower head that actually had good water pressure and hot water. Not only that...it had a bath tub. I hadn't seen one of those in almost 4 months. And it had a beautiful rooftop restaurant to boot with views of the city and the whole fort above. So for 3 nights and four days I allowed myself some luxury In India. That costing under 25 dollars a day still. but I usually spend under $5.00 on average for a room.

I left Jodphur by way of Bus on a 6 hour trip to Jalsmier along the border of Pakistan and in the Thar desert. I was sick and the day hadn't started well with an Argument over 10 ruppees (25 cents) "tourist" charge at the bus lot. I know its nothing but it's the whole idea of people just taking money from you. Of course after this argument I had to still hand over the ten rupees and had a crowd of twenty Indian men all standing within breathing distance just staring and pointing and smiling at how I was dressed. So this didn't help the situation at all, not to mention me visiting the bathroom 4 times between 6:30 and 8. Somewhere on the bus ride out I regained my smile watching the desert and snap shots of life passing out side my window. This was the India I had wanted to see. the reason i had crossed all the way back over. And I really smiled when I arrived in Jalsemier to a sea of touts trying to sell they're hotels to me. there were quite leterally thirty guys swarming around me and grabbing at me pulling me this way and that as I was the only tourist to get off the bus. All I could do was laugh. It really was quite funny.

I found a little hole in the wall inside the fort of Jalsemier. Jalsemier is a place in the western deserts of Rajasthan. It is the India you dream to see. I am still here now, a few days longer then I had anticipated. Though I leave bright and early tommorw on another Bus North to Bikner and the Holy Rat temple. The Jalsemier fort is a huge sandstone fort the color of the desert and every single building within the maze that makes up the forts interior, as well as the whole town surrounding it outside the walls below. It is all, a golden sienna color. One that is especially rich at sunset, when viewed from one of the restaurant rooftops within the fort. And it is a great contrast coming from the blue city that was also in the desert. But much redder in tone.

The Fort is sorrounded by 99 round towers and connected by a winding rampart above the walls. Within are guest houses and craft stores that have been selling they're wares for hundreds of years. The narrow winding streets are filled with beautifully ornate textiles and crafts of camel leather, wood, and brass. Some of these streets are so narrow they get cow jams within. I ran into one the other day and no matter how hard I pushed or slapped it on the rump it would not move. They no they run things here. I had to turn around with a smile and a shake of a head and head back the other way. As well as traditional Jalsemier weavings (which I just bought today), and clothing as well. The men wear turbans with huge curled Mustachios that they take a great amount of pride in. While the women walk the streets in brilliantly colored saris. Wether rich or poor they are all dressed beautifully. The city is filled with great food and stunning views of the sandstone city and the desert beyond.

I was sick upon arriving in Jalsemier but was to dazzled to remember that. I took a step of faith and signed up onto a 2 night 3 day camel Safari leaving the next day with 4 people my age. It was achance to meet a few people and get out into some fresh air. So after some good conversation with a familiar face I had briefly talked to 2 months previous in Goa watching the sun set over the city with the muslims calling to prayer from the towers with a beer and a view that reminds you of why you left home. I woke early to leave by jeep from a bleary eyed indian who looked like he layed on the sauce pretty heavily the night before. And before I knew it we were all dropped off in the desert to a hand full of camels waiting for us. And two dark skinned Indian guides waiting for us. One muslim and the other Hindu. For our part... Me an American, An Irish Girl, a Swedish girl and a german couple.

We were sorted out and handed our camels. My camel was Sonya ( though it was a he not a she) Sonya was a bit lazy at times, a bit of a grazer, and stubborn at times with bad breath.... But really........................ what can you expect from a camel. I had learned to board an elephant in Nepal and now learned how to board a camel. pulling on they're reins that are connected to a nose peg that is pierced into they're upper nostrils, saying (chuutttt chut chut chut chut chut) till they neel all the way down onto the ground. Then looping the reins over the head. You approach the saddle lifting one leg high with the help of lifting your pant leg with one hand grabbing it up highe still and then spring onto the camels back in one jump. If you get on to slow they might get up with you only half way on and stretch you into the splits before dumping you uncermoniously into the dirt on your butt. This might or might not have happened to me. My pride forbids me to tell you any more.

When a camel stands it first throws you forward into the saddle. As the back legs stand first, then your thrown back in the opposite direction as the front legs straighten all the way up and finally the back legs stand fully upright and your straight right where you ought to be...really high off the ground on the back of a camel. When you stop to sit you go through the opposite process. Camels have a loping gate, that moves your whole body in a backward and forward motion. And there are no stir ups, so your legs just bounce around like jelly. And by day 2 your thighs are very very sore. I had to quite literally grab my leg and pull it over the saddle to get out. Day 3 though was very good. So you definatly adjust.

3 days out in the desert was exactly what I needed. to leave the craziness of all the cities. The screaming horns, the exhaust, the sellers, the touts, and the constant noise. I was reminded of it the first time we stopped for lunch. The sound of birds singing above us under the shade of a tree. Strangely I forgot that some times there are other sounds other than just rickshaws beeping. (They have a language all there own...that is rickshaws beeping..a conversation for another day) Although that quiet stillness during the day or especially during the night can be shattered by a mind boggling camel fart thats usually long enough to set your watch to. But Days were simple and beautiful. I forgot how much I loved the desert. A place that time doesn't seem to effect with all its old shrubs and villages that go back generations long turned to dust. Perhaps the shifting dunes. And every time of day in the desert wether it'e morning. high noon, evening, dusk, and night seem so much more pronounced then in any other landscape .... with the acception of mid winter back home. But it was three days out in the desert that I felt like I saw the real India. One untouched by the fingers of the west.

Our food was all cooked in old soot blackened pots and cooked over wood gathered fires. Hand made chapatis and old potatoe sacks filled with fruit and vegetables. The indian food was delicious and we had chai (tea) cooked up before every meal. The chai was especially good at dawn waiting for the sun to rise in that cool desert air. Morning in the desert just before and after dawn is an experience unlike anywhere in the world. My camel guide Ismael decided that the American Boy should go to camel college since I kept pestered him with so many questions. So for three days I helped with as much as I could. Every day going out and herding in all the hobbled camels. Walking far out into the desert in search of them with a small stick to send them running if they didn't want to. I had no idea how big camels were till I worked a little with them. When your leding them by rope out of the desert and back to camp. it's like pulling in 4 dogs by leash with all they're heads three feet above yours. By the third day I was saddeling all of them and tending to all the gear alone. When I left ismael asked me to come back out to camel college for awhile longer with just the two of us. I wished I had the time. I had desert dreams of being a cowboy by camel for two weeks. Reaching further out into the desert and learning more about camels.

We slept out on the sand dunes at night under camel smelling cotton blankets and huge beetles scurrying about over the dunes everywhere. The stars are of the desert are something to behold. Especially in that immense quiet. I would wake late sometimes to turn over but would be so caught up in staring at the heavans above that I found little sleep my few nights out there. We watched the sun rise and fall for a few mornings and nights out there and shared our fires with old wrinkled sheep herders. Who sang us songs old and beautifull along with the camel guides. I sang a few Johnny Cash and some Big rock candy monutain which they loved. everyone chipped in where they could.

The desert itself as viewed from up on high riding Sonya was somehing to see and alot I will not soon forget. Herds of Gazelles running through the valleys in the early morning dawn. Massive peacocks seeking shade under trees and shrubs at high noon. An occasional fox spooked up out of the brush. Small groups of camels eating from trees, peeking around bigger shrubs or seen at a distance. Seeing a camel in itself out in the wild was a rare treat fro me. one that always brought a smile to my face. Herds of desert cows. Old Orange turban wearing Shepherds with brown wrinkled faces and bristled white mustaches, herding flocks of white sheep with black faces or young muslim boys wearing brown with herds of black goats. There were old sun bleached bones of gazelle and cows lying about on the desert floor. They're bones stripped bare and white. Wild desert colored dogs that would follow us all day or show up at camp in the night looking for food. Women viewed at a distance carrying water, wood, or food in pots and bowls on they're heads. Wearing those brilliantly colored saris and how they stood out on the desert landscape. They walked about so elegantly in bare feet across the hot desert floor of sand, stone, and burrs. Village children that would show up at the wells while we watered the camels. Ragged cloths with the biggest smiles. We shared lunches and laughs and games with them. It felt good to get off the map for awhile.

It is night now and I have to return to pack and move again. But I have come to love India in the last few weeks. I head from here to the Holy rat Temple in Bikner. Then North to the Golden Palace and onward to mcloud gange. Where many tibetans and the Dali Lama live in exhile. One last visit to my beloved Himalaya and then onwards to S.E. Asia to begin the next stage of the trip. Reunite with the sisters as well as one more, plus mom and dad. Well time to walk the sandstone maze back home. I love you all and wish you all well. -Jeremy.