We are in Bikaner in the Thar desert...and its raining! Really shelling it down, actually...with hail!!!!

I will get back to the camel trip in a minute, don't worry :) After writing the last blog entry we went back to the hotel and went to bed - we were both very tired...so tired that we didn't put the mosi net up or put our earplugs in. In the middle of the night A woke with a mosi buzzing in her ear... and then we heard the thunder. I opened the window and it was shelling it down outside and the occasional burst of lightening was spectacularly lighting up the sky and the fort! We immediately thought of Sarjan and the other camel men, knowing that they were camel parking in the desert...and I was also wondering if Pepsi was afraid of lightening :)

The next morning we left Jaisalmer - neither of us feeling particularly excited about leaving but we had things we wanted to do and get to Delhi to prepare for China, so we had to get moving. Things looked dry after the night's storm and we got on our way...catching up two Enfield riders at a train crossing. We exchanged information, like you do :), and we asked them about the Enfields and they asked us about the Pulsars. They said their bikes are always in the shop and I told them about our trouble free mounts (which they are, for the most part). When the gates went up we left them in the dust... wishing they had Pulsars :) We decided to have a break about 120kms into the days ride - it had been nice and fast so far - and we stopped at a restaurant for a half hour or so.

When we got back on the road the wind started to pick up and we had a bit of a cross breeze....then it was blowing sand across the road. We reached a town and decided to take a little break from the strain of riding the bike leaned into the wind and we sought a place out of the wind. After about 5 minutes we had a look around and saw that there was a proper sandstorm coming! We moved the bikes closer to the building and took shelter against a wall. When it had eased up a bit we decided we had better move on and we headed out onto the road. We raced ahead of a storm for about the next 50kms and then it just took a turn across our path and there was nothing we could do - we tried to ride into it, but the bikes were getting harder to control and the visibility was dropping - now the sand was leaving drifts in the road at the small bridges! We turned around and pulled into a temple on the side of the road and we went into a side building...then it started to rain, so we pulled the bikes in with us :)

We have no rain protection for us or our luggage - it's only rained three times in 3 months, we were going with the odds, and this is very unseasonable rain (we are in the desert and this is not the wet season!). When the rain had passed we got back out onto the road and ripped it up as fast as we could, getting very cold in the process. We made it to Bikaner and with a bit of searching we found our hotel where we were very warmly welcomed!!! The hotel manager in Jaisalmer had recommended the hotel and he had even called ahead to tell them we were coming - that was so nice! It had been raining in Bikaner and the minute we walked in we were offered a nice warm cup of chai before a room was even mentioned and they helped us unload the bikes before everything got soaked - it had just started to rain again. As A and I sat there shivering in our new wool shawls and sipping lovely tea we had a nice conversation with the proprietor. Then it was off to a nice hot shower and then back out for a lovely hot meal! We are so spoiled :)

I will tell you about our time in Bikaner....but first back to the camel safari!!!!

So, we were at the water trough and Pepsi was being a babe magnet (so he thought :). The camel men knew that these camels were going to be a bit troublesome, so we all formed a line and the person in front held the reins of the camel behind - in groups of 2 or 3 camels. Then we headed onto our first big sand dune and it was AMAZING!!! just like Lawrence of Arabia :) And I could look around and not have to worry about what Pepsi was doing...I forgot to mention that he is also what is known as a "butt biter" and you have to make sure he doesn't try to take chunks out of the backside of the camel in front :) For some reason he doesn't do it when being led. We arrived at camp on the far side of this big dune area and we let the camel men sort the camels and camp and get the fire going....and we all went for a walk on the dunes :) We came back for a delicious cup of chai, helped collect some firewood for the night's bonfire and then went to watch the sunset...I said we were spoiled!

The guys cooked up another delicious meal and I had my fill of chapatis :) and then we moved up onto the dune and started the bonfire - it was just starting to get dark and the planets were out and the stars were on their way. The camel men finished their dishwashing with sand and collected some instruments - one tin plate and one 5 gallon water bottle :) - and then they started to sing some songs! We got all sorts of songs in Hindi - love songs, sad songs, Bollywood songs - and they had some parodies (their parody of Barbie Girl - I'm a camel man, in the bloody sand - was brilliant :):):) and they even knew some Israeli songs! It was a lot of fun and then it was time for bed. We decided to sleep up on the dune because there are fewer dung beetles there....but there was more wind and a lot of blowing sand and we were covered (in a light dusting) in sand when we woke up. in the night I woke up to see the most beautiful moonrise...amazing. It was warmer than I expected at night (I did not freeze my butt off :) but it was also a lot more damp than I expected - my hat was wet with dew in the morning.

We had chai with a bit of ginger in it with our breakfast of toast, jam, peanut butter and boiled egg. The other 4 had to get moving but we took a bit more time packing up and then we got under way, just the 5 of us (3 people, 2 camels :). We rode through some beautiful desert and then stopped to water the camels and so Sarjan could go into the village to buy some supplies to make A a desert birthday cake :). We stopped for lunch at about 11:30 when it was starting to get hot. We helped with the camels and got into the routine while Sarjan whipped up another delicious meal and *more* chapatis (my favorite part :). Then it's naptime for us and the camels (this is the regular routine - you rest in the hot part of the day). We headed out about 4pm and rode for another hour and a half to another dune. We did some camel trotting!!! It is very bouncy and there are no stirrups on a camel saddle.

Just before we stopped for the night we stopped to get more water, but before we could get our water we got to watch as a shepherd watered his flock of goats and sheep from the well - it was amusing to watch them fight over the water bowl (quite a large bowl, about three feet across and about a foot deep) - the shepherd got the water by hand using a bucket on a rope and sending it into the well and pulling it back out. Then, surprisingly, the shepherd walked with us to camp and he turned out to be one of Sarjan's buddies. They chatted and Sarjan started on dinner. We were again sent to find some firewood and we had a bit of a walk on the dune and watched the sunset. As Sarjan was putting the finishing touches on dinner another man arrived with a camel - it was the brother of the shepherd with the shepherd's camel, and the camel is a she...can you guess what the plan was??? :) Pepsi got his goiter out :):):) and we had National Geographic, live on the sand!!! I also got a photo for you all....just for educational purposes, of course :)

I do have to mention that when we started to watch they (the men) said that it takes about a half an hour, so sit back and relax....it lasted for all of maybe 5 minutes!!! (this is typical of men, no? They think time passes more slowly when this sort of thing is going on, I guess :) Then, just to be sure that the pregnancy happened for the she-camel, they let Tara have a go at her as well, so Tara got *his* goiter our and started foaming at the mouth (which is part of the show :)....both camels had finished their business and no where near 30 minutes had passed :). The shepherd and his brother left (the she camel stayed with us) and we had a lovely dinner...and the desert birthday cake was delicious!!!!! I will let A tell you about it.

Later the shepherd came back and we sat around the campfire chatting the night away....until the first creepy crawly thing ran in front of the fire!!!! Sarjan attacked it with his shoe (he thought it was a scorpion or a spider) but I checked it out and I know what scorpions are (I am one :) and this was not a scorpion and it only had 6 legs. This looked something like a cross between a crab, a grasshopper and a caterpillar. It had some claw things in front, 2 long antennae, a soft squishy torso like a caterpillar (black and white stripes) and the rear legs were like a grasshopper. Very strange!!!! I threw it in the fire so it couldn't come back to life...or call any friends and relatives to come get us :)

So, problem solved, we went back to our evening of drinking beer, eating birthday cake, telling stories and much laughter....until a scorpion ran across the front of the fire!!!! The shepherd went at it with his shoe this time and killed it and it definitely was a scorpion! Clear (or white?), not black, and about three inches long, from tip to tail. I was starting to think I wasn't going to sleep very well :( But Sarjan said he hasn't seen one for a year, that they come out in the hot weather and it is just starting to be the hot season and this one was attracted to the fire, where we were sleeping was far enough away. It was getting late and we built up the beds and went to sleep. Again I woke just in time to see a beautiful moonrise....and kick a few dung beetles out of my bed :) Then it was back to sleep.

In the morning it was quite chilly...I had to warm A up a bit and then bring her a cup fo chai before she was willing to crawl out from under her pile of camel blankets :) We had a similar breakfast to the day before and then loaded up and got moving before it got too hot. More beautiful desert scenery, another village and then we were among some modern windmills and stopped for lunch. After lunch and our nap :) we packed up and headed out ride the last leg to meet the jeep. We were in good spirits, but we were also sad....so we did more trotting on the camels which had us laughing again :)

I will tell you the end of the story later...must vacate the computer!!!! Be patient!!!!