From Bikaner we drove to the Thar desert near Jaisalmer for the camel safari. We were greeted with chai and then headed out on the camels. It was quite nerve racking at first, especially when they stand up, but once we relaxed it was fine. We rode out to the sand dunes and watched the sun set. We were happy to have a rest; after an hour on a camels back your legs ache and your bum more so. Pete decided it's probably more comfortable for women than men.

As soon as the sun had gone down the temperature started to drop. We then got back on the camels and headed back for some dinner. On the way back the camels began to run which was surprisingly more comfortable than their walking. We had some traditional food and watched as local village people danced and sang. At one point Kate was dragged up to dance with them, it was a pretty entertaining!

We had the choice to sleep in a mud hut or go back out to the dunes and sleep under the stars. We opted for the latter, as did most other people. Once the guides had loaded up the cart with beds and blankets we jumped on. The camel then pulled us all back out into the desert. It wasn't too dark as there was a huge full moon and it lit up the desert. We discovered on the trip back out that camels have a tendency to fart a lot and they usually follow through. When sitting on the cart right behind him and level with his backside you can't miss it.

We set up our beds (which were complete with mattress, and surprisingly very comfortable) and got to sleep under the stars. The camel and guide also slept here. Everyone woke up a few times in the night as it was freezing but it was amazing waking up in the desert and gazing at the star filled sky. In the morning we watched the sun rise and then packed the cart and headed back to base for breakfast. After a standard breakfast of toast and jam we headed in to Jaisalmer.

We arrived at our hotel after an hours drive and were shown to our room. Our front door opened right out on to a swimming pool and the room was very colourful with tiny mirrors set into the walls and colourful materials on the ceiling. It looked a bit like a circus tent when you lay in bed.

We went on a tour round the fort. This is the only fort to still have 4000 people living inside. You enter through four gates that are spread out along an S shaped road. This is so, when they were attacked, the elephant couldn't charge straight through all four gates. In the words of our guide, "the fatty would sit down when it got to the corner and not charge the second gate". Inside you have the palace where the Maharajas once lived but it is now like its very own little city. It was an amazing maze of alleyways with shops and houses round every corner. Everyone was cleaning and decorating their homes for Diwali. We really enjoyed walking round and glad we had a guide, it would have been really easy to get lost in there.

We headed back to the hotel and had a snack. It was shortly after this Pete found out the true meaning of The Delhi Belly. After some rest he managed to get up to the rooftop for a drink. We bumped into some friends, Malcolm and Liz; originally English they now live in Australia. They seem to have done lots of traveling and Liz was a nurse and knows a lot about ayurvedic medicine so helped Pete out with hydration solution and what not. We then went for dinner with them to a restaurant that serves Thalis from different regions. It was the first time Pete hadn't cleared his plate but Kate managed to.

We have loved Jaisalmer and we are sad to leave, we will definitely come here again if we come back to India.