My camel's name is Lalu, he's an adult male, with a golden coat, good teeth and placid eyes.
He responds to the command of his master Firoz but when he wants to eat or drink he responds to no one.
He carries me gently amongst the dunes of the Rajasthani Desert, the Thar, up to a point in which we can actually see Pakistan, only 30 km away towards the horizon.
Since we can safely assume we are actually breathing Pakistani air I naughtily suggest we tell people we've been to Pakistan, but it's just a joke since we have no visa to prove it.
Lalu (which by the way I think is a very nice name) doesn't really care about country boundaries, he knows the desert from either sides of the line is the exactly the same, sand, the odd shrub, many antelopes and the odd peacock.
Not much water obviously, although our guides know where to find the wells their ancestors built for them, they dig the water out and drink it, cover them again and leave them there for the next group.
Indeed it's not just the two of us, but the desert is so big that there could be the whole population of Delhi and you would still feel cosy.
When we stop to wait for sunset Lalu regurgitate a bit of grass and chews, chews chews, chews.
It's a chewing machine really!
By observing his teeth I wouldn't have thought he had much of chewing power but he goes for it big time! And regurgitates, and chews again.
It's hypnotising! I sit repaired from the wind and observe him taking life one step at a time.
He probably knows we're soon heading back to the resort but right now the most important thing is crouching on the sand and enjoying the views.
Steve's camel is not as classy. She's peeing and pooping on the spot and then sitting on top of it.
We laugh at that, thinking that in some ways it's a mirror of what we've seen so far.
Oh the humanity!
We've been dodging so much crap of any possible and thinkable kind in the last few days that the streets of Jaisalmer look perfectly clean to us and we can't help asking our guide why the reason for the almost compulsory cleanliness.
Jaisalmer has 7 Jain Temples and Jainism, seen as a form of extreme Buddhism from non-hindus, practices extreme measures to preserve the life of any living thing.
Jain believers go around barefoot and they swipe the ground with a straw broom in order to avoid accidentally killing any insect that was on their way.
Not only that, they do not eat anything that comes from below the ground since they say that by unearthing f.e. the potatoes they would kill the creatures living attached to them.
When they go inside their temples to pray they wear a scarf around their mouths since they don't want to inadvertently kill any fly they might swallow.
These are just the superficial facts about Jainism which is a very deep and strong faith, based on the extreme application of ahimsa (non-violence) precepts.
I've always been fascinated by Jainism and I take in as much as possible of this faith, raptured by the elegance of their temples.
But none of this would matter to my Lalu.
I've grown affectionate to my camel. I'm completely in his hands (well.. paws really), since with a jerk of his head he could easily scroll me off his back.
He walks gently instead, as if knowing that compared to him I'm a fragile creature.
Sunset is a bit hazy because of the heat but Steve and I have a good time taking photos and relaxing on the sand dunes.
After that a nice pepsi back at the resort and off we go to the hotel for some hindi soap opera (yes we've become addicted now!).
He responds to the command of his master Firoz but when he wants to eat or drink he responds to no one.
He carries me gently amongst the dunes of the Rajasthani Desert, the Thar, up to a point in which we can actually see Pakistan, only 30 km away towards the horizon.
Since we can safely assume we are actually breathing Pakistani air I naughtily suggest we tell people we've been to Pakistan, but it's just a joke since we have no visa to prove it.
Lalu (which by the way I think is a very nice name) doesn't really care about country boundaries, he knows the desert from either sides of the line is the exactly the same, sand, the odd shrub, many antelopes and the odd peacock.
Not much water obviously, although our guides know where to find the wells their ancestors built for them, they dig the water out and drink it, cover them again and leave them there for the next group.
Indeed it's not just the two of us, but the desert is so big that there could be the whole population of Delhi and you would still feel cosy.
When we stop to wait for sunset Lalu regurgitate a bit of grass and chews, chews chews, chews.
It's a chewing machine really!
By observing his teeth I wouldn't have thought he had much of chewing power but he goes for it big time! And regurgitates, and chews again.
It's hypnotising! I sit repaired from the wind and observe him taking life one step at a time.
He probably knows we're soon heading back to the resort but right now the most important thing is crouching on the sand and enjoying the views.
Steve's camel is not as classy. She's peeing and pooping on the spot and then sitting on top of it.
We laugh at that, thinking that in some ways it's a mirror of what we've seen so far.
Oh the humanity!
We've been dodging so much crap of any possible and thinkable kind in the last few days that the streets of Jaisalmer look perfectly clean to us and we can't help asking our guide why the reason for the almost compulsory cleanliness.
Jaisalmer has 7 Jain Temples and Jainism, seen as a form of extreme Buddhism from non-hindus, practices extreme measures to preserve the life of any living thing.
Jain believers go around barefoot and they swipe the ground with a straw broom in order to avoid accidentally killing any insect that was on their way.
Not only that, they do not eat anything that comes from below the ground since they say that by unearthing f.e. the potatoes they would kill the creatures living attached to them.
When they go inside their temples to pray they wear a scarf around their mouths since they don't want to inadvertently kill any fly they might swallow.
These are just the superficial facts about Jainism which is a very deep and strong faith, based on the extreme application of ahimsa (non-violence) precepts.
I've always been fascinated by Jainism and I take in as much as possible of this faith, raptured by the elegance of their temples.
But none of this would matter to my Lalu.
I've grown affectionate to my camel. I'm completely in his hands (well.. paws really), since with a jerk of his head he could easily scroll me off his back.
He walks gently instead, as if knowing that compared to him I'm a fragile creature.
Sunset is a bit hazy because of the heat but Steve and I have a good time taking photos and relaxing on the sand dunes.
After that a nice pepsi back at the resort and off we go to the hotel for some hindi soap opera (yes we've become addicted now!).
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