Camel Trek - Rajasthan, India

​I took a 4 day camel trek, through a part of Rajasthan, India. It was 48 degrees at 9 a.m.  It didn't cool down until 4 p.m. We weren't allowed to ride them between those hours just too hot for the camels. So we would ride them around from 7 a.m. until 9 to 9:30 a.m. and then, relax for a few hours. Make lunch, get out of the sun, and relax. Then, we'd ride them until 7 or 8 p.m. During the day you had to find shelter from the heat, when the only offering is a thick bush that leaves with these small spiked prickers on the ground. Those prickers were absolutely impossible to get out of cloth, and they made your skin bleed. The other problem was that I had developed saddle sores on the morning of the second day. They began to bleed on the 3rd day. Oh, what fun. It took more than 3 weeks for them to go away. Try keeping them clean and healthy while you have dysentery so badly that you lose 32 pounds of weight in 28 days. Plus the Northern India doesn't general promote healthy and clean living. Not fun.
 
The reward for all of that: During my 4 days across the desert, I watched the fool moon come up every night just after the sun went down. Zero light pollution and a full moon on the second night. At my request, we slept on the tops of the sand dunes every night. It was magnificent. Having been to Turkey and the Grand Bazaar, I couldn't help but let my mind drift away full of imaginary camels majestically moving the princes across the land toward the Bazaar leaving a wake of permeating fragrances and colors. One could easily drift away on a slice of that kind of beauty. I feel truly blessed to have been able to experience this moment in time.

My camel was a young boy name was Shiva. At night, to keep the camels from running away on us, they would tie their front feet together with a braided rope. To get away, the camels would have to hop like kangaroos, and they could never hop farther than we could walk. The last night we rode past a small desert village that was raising female camels. I noticed Shiva was impossible to control while we were near the village. When we woke up, my camel was nowhere in sight. I suggest the village as Shiva's hiding spot. My guide sent his baby brother, who was also my cook, to find Shiva. He was 4 kilometers away playing with the girls, right where I told him he would be. Truly funny. Men will ALWAYS be men.