Ships of the Desert

Jenna and I remain in Udaipur as this country recovers from the euphoria of India's victory over Pakistan in the Cricket World Cup semifinals. Fireworks were going off across the city for 45 minutes after the match ended on Wednesday night. I walked up to the rooftop of our guesthouse and had a perfect view of the cityscape: bursts of red, green, and blue popped up over the buildings and shimmered over Lake Pichola; loud explosions and crackles rent the air ceaselessly; cars honked; children gleefully wailed and screamed.

India now plays Sri Lanka in the final on Saturday night. I wonder how Udaipur's citizens will react if India wins it all.

In a continuing effort to update you on our trip across Rajasthan, I have posted some pictures of a wonderful night Jenna and I spent in the Thar Desert of western Rajasthan, near Jaisalmer.

We rode camels in the evening and had a picturesque view of the sunset over some small sand dunes, looking towards Pakistan (which was a good 40 miles away). We returned to a small hutment where we ate a traditional Rajasthani thali (or sampling of food) and were entertained by a local family of musicians. After that, we rode a camel cart back out to the sandy wilderness and set up cots in the middle of the desert and--quite literally--slept under the stars. I do not ever recall the constellations and Milky Way looking so distinct and multiudinous in America. It was a magical and somewhat uneasy night with the sound of stray dogs howling in the distance and our trusty camel farting and burping nearby.

We woke up the next morning before 5:30 to watch the sunrise. It was an unexplainably eerie feeling to toss aside the blanket, swing our legs over the side of the bed and place our feet directly in soft sand.

I cannot say we had a 'good night's sleep' but it was certainly a memorable experience.

Rise and shine: Jenna waking up after our night spent (trying to) sleep in the desert. It was literally nothing but a cot, a thick blanket, and the stars.

We prepare to mount our camels the previous afternoon. Jenna looks rather stylish. I, on the other hand, look about as conspicuously nerdy as I can get. Still, the floppy hat turned out to be a critical accoutrement to fight the desert sun.

Saya, my trusty camel. I think he was having digestive problems that day. His guttural moans sounded downright prehistoric, a sound from an epoch long past.

Yes, Jenna riding a camel. Handlers walked in front, guiding the camels.. All we had to do was sit on our saddles, grip the pommels, and suffer the bouncing.

Tracks of another camel caravan which passed us during our two-hour journey. It was a common sight to see other groups of tourists out in the scrubland of the Thar Desert. Camel tours are a very big draw for Jaisalmer. Touts offer the so-called safaris on nearly every block of the old town.

Tally-ho! Jenna took this rather romantic-looking shot of me standing on the ridge of a sand dune with the dying sun behind me.

The patriarch of the family of musicians who entertained us in the evening. He is playing a traditional Rajasthani flute, called a satara. It has a distinctive high-pitched whining sound many Westeners would associate with a snake-charmer.