Camel ride

This morning we got up and loaded our things up to move over to a nicer hotel. It was a good experience to have stayed one night there, but we were ready for someplace nice. We headed to Ajit Bhawan and it was beautiful! The bed was so soft, just like an American bed. They had a real shower (unlike our first place), a tv in the room, and a pool! We were thrilled. We ate a nice breakfast and then went to tour the Umaid Bhawan Palace nearby. The palace is still lived in by one Maharaja and his family. They live in a small section and then 60% of the palace is a hotel. There is a small area where tourists can come see some of the palace and their artifacts. It was interesting. Then we stopped at a shop on the way back and didn’t want to leave. It was a huge warehouse of furniture, handicrafts, and anything else you could imagine-all for sale. Joel had a massage scheduled so we were only able to stay for a while but made plans to return the next day. Joel got his massage (a full hour and a half!) while I just relaxed and read a book. They only had one masseuse so I let Joel get the massage. Then Joel headed to the pool and I took a nap before heading out on a camel safari! We drove about an hour outside of town to where a place called Osian. The drive was great because it went through these tiny villages and towns. There were lots of peacocks in the desert. I saw groups of 4 at a time all over the place. We also saw antelope. Oh, and we saw something crazy. There was a man wandering the streets and he only had pants on. However, his, umm, “man goods” were completely hanging out of his pants as he walked around! Very crazy. Ok, back to the drive. We stopped part way through the drive to visit a temple. The sign was only written in Hindi and our driver didn’t speak English, so I can’t even tell you what temple it was. But, Joel and I were the only ones there. We couldn’t tell if it was old and falling apart or new and just not completely built. It was beautiful though and fun to run around on with no one else there. While we were there, we could see what looked like a sandstorm heading our way. It was only 4:30 in the afternoon, but the sky was turning dark and the wind was picking up. We got back in the car before it got to us. It ended up not being a true sandstorm, but more like a huge dust cloud that just settled in on us. It didn’t affect the rest of our trip though so that was good. We were just covered in much more grime than we would have been if it hadn’t come in. Once we were about an hour out of town we stopped at the Osian Desert Café. It was this cute little building with nice toilets and a couple of outdoor tables where you could get food or drink. They had 2 camels waiting just outside the gates for us. We walked over and hopped on for a walk through the desert. It was so fun getting on and off the camel. The camel would start lying down and you would sit in the saddle (not sure if that is the proper name of what we sat on) and the camel would stand up. It was not a smooth transition so you had to hold on tight! When you dismounted they would lay down first. They would tuck their front legs halfway under them first. This would cause you to go at a 45 degree angle straight forward so you had to make sure you didn’t fall off! Then they would completely fold their back legs under them before putting their front legs the rest of the way down. Very fun! Our ride was great. Joel’s camel’s owner let Joel hold the reigns to his own camel. He directed it where to go just like a horse. My camel’s owner either didn’t trust me or didn’t trust his camel. He did let me hold the reigns for a few seconds for one photo, but quickly wanted them back! That was fine because I was too busy taking pictures to mess with directing the camel. Plus, I had no idea where we were going. The two owners just walked along with the camels as we went. It was not a smooth ride so my camera taking skills were definitely tested. You know how in all the old western movies they show the desert as this place that has bones all over the place. Well, the desert really is like that! We saw several whole cow skeletons lying around. It was so funny to see the skull with the horns lying in the desert just like in the movies. I was a little disappointed because the one picture I took of the skull didn’t come out with the focus on the skull but on a plant near it. I think I will still post it anyways because it was such a typical desert picture! When we were almost done with the ride, we stopped at some sand dunes and got down to play in them a little. Joel and I ran all over them. The sand was so fine. Not like the kind you have at a beach, but like fine flour. Joel sunk up to his knees a few times. It was really fun. When we took our shoes off later I was shocked at how much sand Joel had in his…probably 2 cups in each shoe! We drove back to the hotel and had a nice outdoor dinner that night.