Arabian Nights
After spending a week in Rajasthan--seeing battered palaces, ancient temples, and more goddamn cows than imaginable--we were elated to spend a quiet night in the desert, under the stars, on a bed of sand.
At first we were skeptical. Spending two days in the Thar Desert, on camels, with desert guides and no tents, only 120 km from Pakistan? Doesn't sound like fun. But sure enough, it turned out to be one of the highlights of our trip so far. And one of those memories you end up savoring forever--forgoing sleep, whispering, listening to the groaning camels and wild dogs, laughing, hearing the ghosts in the desert breeze, smelling camel on the damp blankets, gazing up at the bright moon and sea of stars, knowing that the sun will rise soon and the feeling will end.
These are the photos and stories from our two days in the desert.
Meeting one of our guides, Sala. He is only fourteen and told us that he only works on weekends, but I'm betting he works full-time. Sala is giving Michelle a lesson in broken English. Basically the only words we could understand was "Hold on!".
Riding my boy, Bulldozer.
Visiting an oasis in the middle of the Thar Desert. It was 100+ degrees at this point.
Oasis.
We arrived at the sand dunes after 90 minutes. One couple in our group didn't make it on the camel and had to walk. This awesome wild dog was waiting for us (or anyone) to arrive and feed him food and water. Good thing we fed him because he ended up protecting us all night from other wild dogs.
We arrived to the sand dune just before sunset.
Sand dune.
Michelle's new album cover
We saw these other riders from afar, but they didn't spend the night in the desert...too scared.
One phenomenon in the Thar Desert is the crazy amount of dung beetles. They roll camel dung into little balls, and their tracks can be seen all over the place. And they never stop working either. Halfway through the night I felt one trying to roll something across our sleeping area. Not cool. Check out a video below.
Michelle getting a little workout in before the sun sets.
Climbing a sand dune is not as easy as it looks.
Our temporarily adopted dog was exhausted from running around.
Enjoying some cold beers
Cheers!
Getting in some soccer
The sun setting over the sand dune.
Our desert guides preparing our meal for the night.
The camels laying down to sleep after a long day.
Our tarp where we slept all night under the stars, next to our new British friends (Jazz and Charlotte).
Desert life.
My masterpiece. I've never been so proud of a random photo. But Michelle quickly laughed it off, as she takes 10 of these amazing photos every day.
The morning sky! We made it through the night!
Sala barking orders as we rode out of the desert. Even though he is the youngest, he works the hardest and commands the most respect. Damn can he be tough...
Our other guide Malu was awesome and crazy too. As we rode back to civilization, Malu kept making up hilarious songs. His best was "Camel Safari" (see below for the music video - Camel Safari" by Malu).
Saying goodbye to the desert, Rajasthan, and our guides
- Stephen