Desert Safari...

Jaisalmer, India: I’d heard of the desert safari and was wondering what all the hype was about. It is one of the more expensive things to do in India, but it is suppose to be amazing. The problem with desert safaris is that it is really hot during day time and really cold during night time. You have to consider both extremes while packing your gear. We were only going for one night, so it wasn’t an enormous undertaking.

You have to do a lot of research on your own to make sure that you are getting everything you need to survive a night in the desert. Luckily, when we were at the Deepak Guesthouse, I had mentioned to the manager (Papli) that we were interested in doing the desert safari. There was a group of 14 people with Intrepid Travels that had checked in that morning. There were people from all over the world, some from Australia, some from England, some from USA, some from Poland and some other countries. We were sure that they were most likely to do the desert safari. I spoke to Papli and asked him if it were possible for Gin & I to join this group for the desert safari. It had to be approved by the group leader, Anand, from Intrepid Travels. He was a kid in his 20’s and didn’t mind us joining the group as long as we paid for the trip. I was happy about joining this group because I knew that joining this group meant that quality was guaranteed. Another advantage was that we didn’t have to pay for the folk dance that local villagers were going to do at night in the desert. The group had already paid for it. It was only Rs.50/person extra for the folk dance anyway.

We paid Rs. 850/person for the desert safari. It included a camel ride for 2 hours the first day, snacks at sunset, folk dance after sunset followed by dinner. The following morning, we would have breakfast and another 1.5 hour camel ride back. I was all excited about this adventure.

The following day we left for the safari. They drove us about 1.5 hour into the desert where we had our camels waiting for us. Each person got their own camel to ride. I was happy about that. It does take a little getting used to riding a camel. My camel was very obedient, but Gin’s camel was a renegade. He was a young 'en, a little hot blooded crazy renegade. He had to be tied with my camel, so whenever I went fast, Gin’s camel had to try and catch up to my camel. It was fun! Neither one of us had ridden a camel before for such a length of time and that too in the desert. Now the desert was a little bit of a disappointment. It wasn’t like the pictures I had seen. It was more like barren land with bushes here and there. Lonely Planet did mention this, but I was hoping that it would be wrong. Unfortunately, they were right.


At the end of the camel ride, we finally reached what looked like sand dunes. Yay! I was really happy to see the sand dunes now. I was off my camel and on my camera. It was the best time to take pics because the sun was setting. Once I was satisfied with the pics I had taken, we were ready for some snacks and tea. We took the snacks & the tea on the sand dunes and watched the sun disappear slowly in the horizon. It was one of the most amazing sunsets I’ve ever seen so far.

After the sunset, we hung out a little longer on the sand dunes and went back to our camp site. There was a bonfire the staff had created and we were waiting for the local villagers to come and perform the folk dance & music. Once the mucisians and the dancers came, they put on an excellent show. We were all then forced to join them. The crew made sure that everyone got up and danced along with the villagers. It didn’t matter what kind of dance we did. People from all over the world were drinking and dancing in the middle of the desert with the local villagers from Jaisalmer under a beautiful starry sky. It couldn’t get any better. After everyone was exhausted, the musicians & dancers left. Everyone was hungry and ready for dinner. It was really good food, especially since everyone had spent all their energy dancing. It was starting to get really cold. Everyone started huddling around the bonfire.

We laid on our bed under the open starry sky. Gin & I were counting the number of shooting stars as our eyes started getting heavy. Once the bonfire was over, it got cold. I put on my winter jacket and pulled two layers of thick blankets, but I was still cold. Luckily, I fell asleep.

The following morning everyone woke up early and was ready to see the sunrise in the desert. It was a beautiful sunrise. It was cold, but fortunately the crew had made hot tea and snacks for breakfast. After the sunrise, we packed up and got ready to get back on our camels. Going back we took a different route altogether. Before finishing the camel ride, we had an open field where we raced our camels! While, we were racing our camel, mom & dad called from Greenfield. I barely managed to get the phone out of my pocket and handed it over to Gin. It was really interesting watching Gin try to answer the phone and race her camel at the same time. God bless technology!

Once the camel ride came to an end we stopped to have some tea. I took some pictures of the crew and we started heading back to Jaisalmer. In conclusion, it was one of the most amazing experiences we’ve ever had.

MORE PHOTOS: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=51814&id=813269869&l=e15e9b6827