Day 15: Jaisalmer. Desert safari.

Today we have our desert safari.

We stop off at numerous monuments on our way out further into the desert, including some more cenotaphs and a Jain temple the size of Thumbelina’s house. Not literally, but it’s amazingly small.

We arrive at our camel camp ready to saddle up and set off into the dunes. Phil has done his best to explain how unpleasant this ride is going to be, but actually – it isn’t that bad. It’s not horse riding that’s for sure, but when you’re up and walking pretty slowly, the ride is actually not too uncomfortable. However, there’s no denying that camels must be one of the ugliest and stinkiest animals ever.

We’re taken on an hours ride through the beautiful dunes of the Thar desert, led by children! Luckily, the camels look in no hurry to rush off anywhere or shake off their guides or else we may be requesting slightly older navigators. We finally arrive at our camp just in time for sunset, which is beautiful.

Our guides strike up a fire and starting cooking this evening’s dinner. One of the boys sits with us as we build a small campfire to keep us warm into the evening.

We have a newly-wed Indian couple with us who work as translators enabling us to find out more about this young lads life. We wrap up against the cold in jumpers and scarves and this young lad has bare feet and a thin cotton shirt. He says he has left his jumper at home, but we’re not so sure. He’s 13 years old (looks about ten) and has already left school. In India, you have to pay to go to school in pretty much most of the country, so not only is this a cost for the family, but the loss of a child being able to help out earning money means that sending a child to school is too much of a financial burden. His story is not unique. Out in the villages this is a common theme – at least in what we’ve seen of Rajasthan so far.

One of the other major problems for this region is the lack of rain. Jaisalmer is currently experiencing a major drought, which is having a huge impact on its residents. All of the lakes have dried up and there is barely any grass for the camels to eat, let alone the impact on farming. According to the guides, a child can easily get to seven years old without having seen rain.

However, we manage to have a cheerful evening, singing songs around the campfire and trying to teach the boys how to take photographs with the different cameras that the group have brought with them. There’s almost a full moon and we go to sleep with plenty of light and the sounds of the desert to keep us company.