I peered out from under an icy blanket at the dawn light creeping over the sandy horizon. A dog was sleeping on my feet to keep warm, and the camel drivers were just lighting a fire, ready to cook us up some more very basic food. I knew that once I had forced myself out into the freezing temperatures and put on my cold boots that one night under the starry skies of the Great Thar Desert would be enough.

We were a mixed group of about 12, coming from Brazil, Norway, USA, Taiwan and Mexico. We had spent the evening sat around the campfire listening to the camel drivers singing their folk songs. I was particularly interested in the night sky, as it was a new moon and we were a good 40km from any light pollution. But this was a small set of sand dunes in an otherwise vast desert of unattractive scrubland, a place that the other armies of tourists will find sooner or later. Plenty already have. We heard stories of the adventurous few that have taken camel safaris of up to 22 days. They would get to visit some very remote villages, but other than that their only tale will be how close they managed to get to the Pakistan border. This would probably not be very close as the military patrol a 20km buffer zone, which is unfortunately the reason for littering the desert with large forests of wind turbines to keep the border bathed in high-intensity spotlights.

Something that I liked about this camel trip though, unlike others I have taken was that the camels were pretty much left alone to do as they please. No discipline or whips, and I got to lead my own camel Ellofen down to the oasis for a drink. There was a young camel that was allowed to just trot alongside with the rest of the family, and when one of the male camels got a bit frisky the camel drivers brought him a female and allowed him to get on with it.

Back in Jaisalmer, it is impossible not to be impressed by its huge fort, which rises out of the surrounding desert and dominates the town and the surrounding landscape. Inside, it is a maze of narrow streets where 25% of Jaisalmer's population still lives. I really enjoyed my stay in this town, which feels like it is on the edge of the world, and in India's eyes I suppose it is. I had a trip to the great sand dunes at Sam before leaving. These are about 40km north of the town where everyone goes at sunset. And I mean everyone - hundreds of people, camels and dogs crawling all over them! With another cold night approaching, which I will spend sleeping on my first train in a fortnight, I am glad now to be cutting my trip to Rajasthan short and turning soon towards the warmer weather of the south.

Posted from Jodhpur, January 8th, 2011.