Looong drive to Jaisalmer. 6.5 hrs. Bought lunch for Khan which seemed to break the ice between us. Need to as he's the only person I can trust and talk to on the whole trip....
Arrived in Jaisalmer just in time to be told that the camel safari starts in 30 mins!! Sh*t! Unpack and pack at the same time....
The room is a bit of a nightmare. Resembles a mini zoo with lots of interesting creatures and my very own resident lizzard in the toilet. As long as he doesn't start charging me that's OK. After sharing the flat in Chelsea I can put up with anything... (yeah Dave, it was ALL your fault!!!) ;-)
Drive for another hour to the desert. Get put on a camel sharpish so that we can take some photos of ourselves on the sand dunes. Slightly artificial but OK. Camels are great. They're just like Taun Tauns in Star Wars. They make a cool noise, have breath like the worst India can offer and they can gallop! Mine was called Michael Jackson!
After we get back to the huts, we get a show of local folk dancing. Very cool. Do a bit of funky moving myself! After the band leaves at midnight, Khan, Juda (Khan's friend at the hotel) take a walk on the dunes. The dunes are amazing at night and there is enough light to see for miles from the moon. Sat down and chatted about everything.... A desert boy came along with his radio and sat down with us. Truly cool.
Met Fede and Carlos the two Spanish guys I didn't get time to say hi to back a the huts. They're a bit standoff-ish but OK. We slept under the stars (well I did but not sure if I snored!)....
Posted by cmelikian at October 7, 2003 04:27 PM
how romantic to sleep under the stars in rajhastan - even if you did snore like a pregnant camel with haemmorhoids!
anyway that's a bit more like it - none of this going home because the streetlights ran out ...
i'm sure living with Dave in South Ken prepared you for a day with snorting camels, dodgy food from filthy kitchens (explains why you haven't been ill yet!) and even dirtier bathrooms covered in mysterious body hair!
btw didn't know the flat had been reclassified as being in Chelsea, but i suppose it doesn't matter; it was the skankiest of flats and only brought the tone of South ken down - a bedroll in the desert is a definite improvement ;-)
hang loose oh green-one and keep up the 'polite englishmen abroad' it's bound to work in India.
cheers
\rick meister
Posted by: rickster at October 9, 2003 05:45 PMDid you see many stars in the desert? Sounds cool! Did you have sleeping bags? Loi x
Posted by: loi at October 9, 2003 09:02 PMdid you use the duvet cover you bought to sleep on? :-P anyone want to place bets on which country chris will finally give up lugging it around in?
Polite Englishman abroad works a treat. There were many stars out there. It was extremely peaceful and nice to get away from the towns. Slept on kind of beds on stilits but sleeping on floor no probs. There were 10 times as many bugs/lizzards in my room than in desert.No scorpions either. Bugger. Really wanted to see one! Maybe in Nepal....
Hey it's my trip and I'll bring anything I like, including my spare duvet. Aguys gottahave some luxuries apart from the GPS, travel pillow,snazzy camera, mobile etc...!
Chris, you danced to folk music! Why did no-one else pick up on this?
Posted by: Si at October 14, 2003 08:15 AMFrom folk dance organizer to the entire population,please ask chris to dance to folk, because you will change your attitude about folk dancing.(From adanceteacher.mess)
Posted by: GM at October 14, 2003 10:56 PMThanks Dad!!
My dancing is exemplary. It's the music that is out of time....
Posted by: Chris M at October 15, 2003 02:39 PM