From Pushkar to Mandvi

The timing had not been great; whilst my group of five would be on our camel trek, we would be missing a potentially hilarious event at the Pushkar fair. Hannah, on the second time of asking, had agreed to be involved in the ceremony which involves dressing up hapless Western tourists in traditional Indian wedding garb, and then letting a bunch of judges choose the best.

Hannah's event soon left our minds though. I was soon climbing behind Denny on the back of a crouching camel. Moments later, and with a couple of bumps, the camel was on it's feet, and we were totally aware of the very unsafe feeling that you get whilst riding a camel with nothing to hold on to. As the camel walks it pushes from side to side, and the only way to hold on appears to be to push your thighs into the beast; a pursuit that soon grows tiresome.

A minute into the journey I was inquisitive. I asked Denny if he had been told what the camel was called. He didn't know, but he informed me that the man walking in front of the camel was Roger. "Roger!" I called. Roger didn't flinch. "Roger!" I called again, but to no avail. "Roger?!" I asked one more time. After a slight pause, the man turned around. "What's our camel called?" I asked. "Raju!", replied the man I had mistakenly been calling Roger.

The ride was fun, but got increasingly tiresome on the legs. Gladly, it didn't take long for us to arrive at the camp. We had a nice evening sleeping under the stars and picking small spiky sand things off our Velcro-like clothes. A local man joined us and seem to enjoy playing the one and only song he knew on his instrument over and over, but it sounded good and atmospheric. Meanwhile our camels lazed around us, except Ernst's beloved camel, Johnny, who seemingly strayed away for hours by himself in the desert.

The following morning we rode our camels back to town, and before long the five of us were having a farewell meal in a restaurant. Hannah was there as well. "So did you win?", I jokingly asked. There was a slight pause before she answered; I clearly had spoiled the surprise. She embarrassingly uncovered a misspelled trophy before informing us all of her victory. The restaurant owner later brought out one of many different national newspapers from that day, open on page fourteen sporting bizarre pictures of the winning Western girl in Indian dress. It was a shame we missed it, she looked so horrible!

After saying an emotional goodbye to Hannah and Denny (possibly for the last time I think, especially where Denny is concerned) Jen, Becky and myself found ourselves on a bus to Udaipur. Unfortunately I got ill in Udaipur, probably from too much sun, and I spent a good few days trying to regain my energy and enthusiasm. After an uninspiring time in Udaipur, we moved on to Bhuj, and soon after that, Mandvi. I feel like little has happened of interest lately, but maybe things will pick up soon. Tonight we take an overnight train back into the state of Rajasthan. We arrive in Jodhpur in the morning.