What we did: Camel Safari
Budget: 3500R/$70; Spent:3135R/$63
Jeff was still feeling ill when we woke up this morning. We weren't sure if he would be well enough to go on the Safari today. Jeff slept most of the morning trying to rest and get himself well enough. At around 11am the hotel manager knocked on our door basically telling us we needed to leave the room as the checkout time was 10am. Poor Jeff was not feeling well enough to stand so I packed up our stuff and we were out of the room 30 mins later.
The hotel gave us a room to stay in until we made a decision about whether to go on the safari or not. With less than 3 hours before we were supposed to leave for the safari Jeff rested in the room and I rushed to the chemist with the hotel owner's son on the back of his motorcycle to get some medication for Jeff. I thought there was a good possibility I would fall off the back of the motorcycle because he was going so fast. Thank god that was not the case. We got him two pills and some drink crystals with electrolytes to prevent dehydration.
Jeff slept for the next 2 hours and I caught up with my family on Skype.
At 3pm Jeff decided he was feeling well enough to go on our safari.
I ran to get a chocolate croissant I was in love with for the road, and at 3:30pm we left.
The ride took about 20 minutes. We got a cute driver. We stopped along the way to take a picture with him. His English was not very good though and he was driving like a crazed maniac and blaring Indian music most of the ride.
We arrived at a meeting point on the highway and were so excited to get up on the camels. Three camels and two guides, an older man and a young boy were waiting. We took many pictures of the camels. It's amazing being on a camel's back while it is standing up. They are so tall!
The guides took the camels by reins and we were led for more than an hour through a desert-like area. We saw many goats, camels, and cows on the way. There were also many tents and huts where countless locals call home. Near the end of the ride we passed through sand dunes. They were beautiful and looked like silk from a distance. The scenery was surreal, as if it was right out of a Hollywood movie set.
We arrived near some huts, dismounted, and observed the setting sun. It was kind of hazy, so sunset wasn't that spectacular. There were three hut-like things with no roofs, no running water and no electricity. They only consisted of round base structures tall enough to block the cold wind. One of these would be where we would be sleeping and the other two housed the family that would be looking after us.
We sat with a husband and wife and their baby son for some time. The father explained that they move their home to the sand dunes in the winter time because the sand provides much more warmth than the hard, gravel terrain they usually live in. Remarkable how little these people survive on. We weren't offered drinks that night even though 6 bottles of water were included in the cost of the trip. We quickly realized why. The family most likely hopes to keep them for their own use since clean water is so difficult to come by in this area. They brought us some baked potato chips that were quite tasty. They must have been deep fried, but didn't have the greasiness of typical chips. Animals were running everywhere. The young goats got into all sorts of trouble, including trying to get food from the shelters. Even after being beaten back with a stick, they would try a couple minutes later.
Dinner came and it was rice with mixed vegetables and a bread. It was excellent. There's nothing like homemade food. We had earlier watched the wife make the bread herself. It was a good thing we had brought our blankets with us, because it was very cold even just after sunset.
After eating, we were led to our hut, which was basically just a wind block and shown our bed. It consisted of only blankets, but the thickest I've ever seen. Boy does it get cold in the desert. Two blankets we used as a matress and three others we put on top of ourselves to keep us warm.
We fell asleep under the stars, talking about how crazy it is that we were actually doing this. It wasn't romantic but it was a wonderful and humbling experience.
Budget: 3500R/$70; Spent:3135R/$63
Jeff was still feeling ill when we woke up this morning. We weren't sure if he would be well enough to go on the Safari today. Jeff slept most of the morning trying to rest and get himself well enough. At around 11am the hotel manager knocked on our door basically telling us we needed to leave the room as the checkout time was 10am. Poor Jeff was not feeling well enough to stand so I packed up our stuff and we were out of the room 30 mins later.
The hotel gave us a room to stay in until we made a decision about whether to go on the safari or not. With less than 3 hours before we were supposed to leave for the safari Jeff rested in the room and I rushed to the chemist with the hotel owner's son on the back of his motorcycle to get some medication for Jeff. I thought there was a good possibility I would fall off the back of the motorcycle because he was going so fast. Thank god that was not the case. We got him two pills and some drink crystals with electrolytes to prevent dehydration.
Jeff slept for the next 2 hours and I caught up with my family on Skype.
At 3pm Jeff decided he was feeling well enough to go on our safari.
I ran to get a chocolate croissant I was in love with for the road, and at 3:30pm we left.
The ride took about 20 minutes. We got a cute driver. We stopped along the way to take a picture with him. His English was not very good though and he was driving like a crazed maniac and blaring Indian music most of the ride.
We arrived at a meeting point on the highway and were so excited to get up on the camels. Three camels and two guides, an older man and a young boy were waiting. We took many pictures of the camels. It's amazing being on a camel's back while it is standing up. They are so tall!
The guides took the camels by reins and we were led for more than an hour through a desert-like area. We saw many goats, camels, and cows on the way. There were also many tents and huts where countless locals call home. Near the end of the ride we passed through sand dunes. They were beautiful and looked like silk from a distance. The scenery was surreal, as if it was right out of a Hollywood movie set.
We arrived near some huts, dismounted, and observed the setting sun. It was kind of hazy, so sunset wasn't that spectacular. There were three hut-like things with no roofs, no running water and no electricity. They only consisted of round base structures tall enough to block the cold wind. One of these would be where we would be sleeping and the other two housed the family that would be looking after us.
We sat with a husband and wife and their baby son for some time. The father explained that they move their home to the sand dunes in the winter time because the sand provides much more warmth than the hard, gravel terrain they usually live in. Remarkable how little these people survive on. We weren't offered drinks that night even though 6 bottles of water were included in the cost of the trip. We quickly realized why. The family most likely hopes to keep them for their own use since clean water is so difficult to come by in this area. They brought us some baked potato chips that were quite tasty. They must have been deep fried, but didn't have the greasiness of typical chips. Animals were running everywhere. The young goats got into all sorts of trouble, including trying to get food from the shelters. Even after being beaten back with a stick, they would try a couple minutes later.
Dinner came and it was rice with mixed vegetables and a bread. It was excellent. There's nothing like homemade food. We had earlier watched the wife make the bread herself. It was a good thing we had brought our blankets with us, because it was very cold even just after sunset.
After eating, we were led to our hut, which was basically just a wind block and shown our bed. It consisted of only blankets, but the thickest I've ever seen. Boy does it get cold in the desert. Two blankets we used as a matress and three others we put on top of ourselves to keep us warm.
We fell asleep under the stars, talking about how crazy it is that we were actually doing this. It wasn't romantic but it was a wonderful and humbling experience.
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