Khuri & Camel Safari (3 nights)

My plan from Jodpur was to take a train to Jaisalmer and then a bus to the desert village of Khuri. I actually had a pretty smooth and eventless journey from Jodhpur to Jaisalmer. The only minor hitch was finding the guesthouse all locked up and having to sort of break out.

However, once I reached Jaisalmer I had a few problems. Firstly I had a bit of a fight to get to use the ATM outside of the train station. The indians could see me standing with pack outside the ATM door, but that didnt stop them simply barging past me! Next came the rickshaw problems. I asked the driver to take me to the bus stand for Khuri. He took me to his uncle's travel agency! When I argued and asked him to take me to the bus stand, he took me to another agency and when I argued again he just chucked me out and demanded his fare. I found another driver and asked him to take me to the 'government bus stand', which he did, only for me to discover that were no government buses to Khuri!! The driver told me the buses to Khuri left from a private bus stand on the other side of town. I was sceptical, but he said 'you can pay me once you are sitting on the bus'. I reluctantly agreed and he turned out to be honest and I was sat on a bus to Khuri only 15min later. One and a half hours and Rs20 later I was in Khuri :-)

By the time you reach Jaisalmer, you are pretty much in the desert. The tourists flock here to go on Camel Safaris. When you reach Khuri, you are well and truly in the middle of nowhere. Still, it has been touristified enough to have a few very simple guesthouses, which also provide safaris. The rooms are in in local style circular mud huts with thatched roofs. I paid Rs100 ($2) per night, and had three meals a day included. Then I took a Camel Safari for 2 thirds the price you can get them for in Jaisalmer.

At the guesthouse I was accompanied by many Koreans. It seems that I had picked the place that features in their version of lonely planet and was therefore full of them. They didnt speak a lot of English and spent most of the time coversing in their own language, however, they extended me every courtesy and tried to include me when they could. I drank a few whiskys with one chap called Gilsu around the campfire on the first night. The girls stuck to beer.

Camel Safari

On my second day, I joined two of the Korean girls on a camel trip into the desert. We met our Camels at 09.00am and awkwardly got into the saddle. Then, in a series of jerky movements, leading one to worry about falling off, they stood up. Our guides walked us out of the village and then sat the camels back down, even more jerky than getting up and bringing a squeal or two from the girls, and hopped up behind us. Suddenly we were off, trotting uncomfortably into the unknown. I cant say for certain, having never riden a horse fro more than 60 seconds, but people tell me you can settle into a nice rythem and flow with the movement of the beast. When riding a camel......you cant, you just bounce painfully up and down trying not to squash your man bits!

The desert, it is important to note, is not your rolling dune Sahara style sand, but is for the most part more of an arid, dry, and dusty plateau with coarse bushes and vicious cactai. Sure, it has patches of dunes, but they dont go on into the distance as though forever. Nevertheless, it is beautuful in its own way.

We stopped in a hamlet to let the camels drink from the well and we, so as not to feel left out, were provided with cups of chai. Next we ambled further into the desert and into one of the patches of dunes for lunch. Our guides, using a few pots and a fire, managed to rustle us up a very good aloo gobhi (potato, cauliflower curry) with rice and chapatis. There was no cutlery provided, so we had to eat with out hands. I was surprised to find myself uncomfortable with this. perhaps because, like every westerner, I have been brought up to think of it as wrong, but I soon got over it!

We spent a long time relaxing in the shade of the bushes while the guides sorted everything out. I was beginning to get restless, but it meant that we avoided the really hot part of the day. We rode on, passing herds of cattle and goats, and eventually stopped on a wondefully clean and untouched stretch of dunes for camp. I took hundreds of pics of the simply stunning sun-set as the camel drivers made our dinner. This time we had Dal, a sort of runny chick pea curry, again with rice and chapatis, sat around a fire. Once we had finished we prepared our beds, mine was two big cushions and two blankets, and then we lay under the stars. I had forgotton just how many of them there are when there are no clouds and you are miles from the nearest city.

The next morning we rode back into Khuri, having seen no other tourists the whole trip. I spent that day chilling out and enjoying the peace and quiet. I went for a walk in the afternoon and saw another sun-set from the nearby dunes. The next day, feeling content with the whole experience, I took the bus back to Jaisalmer.