Continuing from our last blog; We did however eventually arrive in Jaisalmer in one piece, only to find that our hotel (Mystic hotel) had given away our room as we didn't arrive at the scheduled time! After much arguing with the hotel manager and threatening to look elsewhere he gave us a upgrade for a cheaper price. We have no idea how they got top ratings on trip advisor.

Jaisalmer is known as the Golden City as its like a massive sandcastle from the distance. All of the buildings are made from sandstone and the fort offers stunning views. Jaisalmer is notorious across India for its camel safari trade and this was just the reason why we went.

We shopped around for a camel safari, and opted for Sahara Tours as we dealt with the charming Mr Desert (see photo). (the govt gave him his name, as he won some competition in Jaisalmers annual desert festival). We booked a 3 day, 2 night safari. Our hotel was well annoyed with us because we didn't book with them but did we care?

The next morning we got our bags, and as we left our hotel we saw a very sad scene. The golden Labrador puppy we had seen the day before bouncing about was dead on the side of the road and it's mother was nearby looking sorrowful. Helen had to hold back her tears.

We took a jeep ride to meet Bengali our 'Camel Man' and our Camels, Lalu, Raket (Helens camel) and Robert (Nicks camel). We trekked, picked up some supplies, had a long lunch and lounged under a tree. The Camels were unsaddled and hobbled, they didn't go far choosing to browse on nearby shrubs. We learnt that you don't need water to clean pots, pans and plates as Bengali just used the sand to scrub away and it did leave the plates etc sparkling! When it got cooler we carried on the trek to some sand dunes where we made camp for the evening, Helen and Nick were horrified to see loads of Scarab beetles (like a scene out of the Mummy) but soon found they were harmless. We had dinner and star watched for the rest of the evening, our bed for the night was just a duvet on the sand with a quilt on top. Sleeping under the stars is a unique experience and goes to show how much pollution affects the night sky as we hardly see stars back home. Both of us slept fairly soundly until it got very cold and the sun started to rise.

The next day we continued with our trek to a village to pick up some camel food, the looks we got from the locals......they all kept staring at Helen. Nick thinks its to do with her blonde hair!! The children kept asking for pens, which makes us realise how spoiled children back home are as if we gave a pen to a child we know they'd throw a strop that it wasn't musical or flashing with lights! We soon left and continued with our trek in the scorching Indian sun. It was a relief for both of us when we finally came to a halt under a big tree but, not without annoyance....we had an audience of about 10 children and 4 grown men. We did however manage to have lunch in peace after eventually shooing them away. It was funny as Bengali, had never seen a coca cola, aerosol or iPad in his life. This confirmed just how futuristic we must appear to the local remote villagers.

We were joined by an Australian and another camel man, another night was spent under the stars, this time on a camp bed to our relief away from the beetles. We bided the time by playing scrabble, trivial pursuit and cards until we dozed off.

Our last day was spent riding our camels to a massive tree for lunch and afternoon siesta then returned to base camp to be picked up by our jeep. Before arriving at base we had a trot on our Camels which was brilliant fun and gave Helen the opportunity to practice her riding position. We learnt from our 3 day safari that Camels burp, belch and fart for India. The trek also made us appreciate our Water, as remote desert villages rely on wells and walk miles on end just to get water that may not even be clean. (Helen is also sure that Nicks camel is a real rebel!). Nick found the safari therapeutic and enjoyed having the space/distance to reflect as it was just us 3, 3 camels and the vast desert.

On our return back to Jaisalmer we did not have accommodation booked so we spent about 2 hours searching for a place with a fantastic shower. Our search was fruitless and in the end we settled for Hotel Surja which was recommended by a local and it was a very good choice as the wifi was ultra fast which meant we got to talk to Helens parents, Jessica/Harry and Aaron/Alex/Fergus. It was brilliant catching up with everyone! We stayed for 2 nights in the fort which is honeycombed with narrow, winding lanes lined with houses, temples, guesthouses, restaurants and handicraft shops much to Helen's delight.

Our next destination is Jodhpur for one night before heading to Pushkar for their annual Camel fair, where 50,000 camels, horses and cattle are on display either for sale or on show. Theres also other competitions such as seeing how many people can balance on a camel and moustache tying etc. It's apparently a 'grand epic' according to the Lonely Planet so we are looking forwards to this!