Day 49 Jaisalmer 16th Aug 09

The Ac 3 tier cabin was good!! They provide clean smelling sheets, blankets and pillow.. Whoa we are in for a treat. We settle in and got to know a Taiwanese married couple in the same cabin as us. The wife spoke to Ramli first in mandarin if he could speak mandarin so I answered for him and we started talking. They have been travelling about 15 days to Nepal and India. Chatted with the wife for a while and doze off into the night. Before we knew it, a man came over to our cabin switched on the lights and said Jaisalmer..I jumped up and wake Ramli and when the Taiwanese couple heard the commotion they also woke up.

They were asking what hotel we will be planning to stay and if we are going for the camel safari. We told them we didn’t plan anything yet so will just go and see what’s os available. And also the nice lady boss at Heaven’s Guesthouse at Jodhpur has arranged for a Sagar guesthouse to pick us up to check the hotel. So we walked together to the main hall of the railway station and as per normal we are greeted by a big group of touts whom already appeared when we were trying to get down the train. We rejected all of them and trying our bests to find the hotel Sagar sign. After looking for awhile it seems that they weren’t there. So we deicded we will go with the Taiwanese couple to check Hotel Paradise as they advised that it is very highly recommended on the travelling websites which they have researched before.

Sunrise from the roof of Hotel Paradise

So off we went 4 of us with our big backpacks all 4 of us squeezed into the small auto rickshaw. After about 10mins we arrived at the gate of the fort and was ushered towards Hotel Paradise which is situated in the fort. We check the rooms available and decided to take one with the balcony and city view, no ac and costs Rp550. The Taiwanese couple was asking the hotel guy about the camel safari and so we listened in. A 2D/1N trip costs Rp900/pax including 1 camel, bed, lunch, dinner and breakfast. We discussed and decided to go for the trip and experience to be able to sleep in the dune in the open. The Taiwanese couple wanted to come back later about evening time as the offer earlier is for the trip that will arrive in Jaisalmer town about 1100hrs and it will costs another Rp150/pax for 2 more hours for camel ride and lunch. Since is only about another SGD5.00 we agreed.

The hotel guy was very nice to allow us to take a shower in the room and rest for 2 hours with no charge. The departure time is 0900hrs so we still have about 2.5hrs to rest. We went upstairs to the roof terrace and enjoyed the sunrise, so far we have not seen such a perfect sunrise like these. The gold, orange sun slowly moving up from the horizon all perfect and round. After a while went to the room to take a shower and had breakfast before we head out for the trip.

We were all so excited as 4 of us have not been to any desert before.. We got into the jeep that brought us to the camel pick up point about 20mins journey. We met the 2 camel man hoped on the camel for the first time. Hoping on was easy but when the camel got up it was like sitting on a roller coaster, you have to hold on tight otherwise you will fall off.

My ride

So our journey began, the first 30mins on the camel was all fun and exciting. But after it was a aching journey for the butt.. Ramli leg cramped and he had to try sit cross legged to make him feel better. We started the ride about 0930hrs and stopped 1.5hrs later and stopped at a big shady tree for lunch. We were excited to see how they are going to cook up our lunch.

the camels free to go for lunch

getting down for lunch

cooking with the very bare essentials

They unloaded everything from the camel and let them go free to enjoy the leaves on the trees but with the front legs tied. They could still move but like models walking on the desert walkway. Looks hilarious to see a 4 legged animal to walked with only 2 legs. We turn our attention to the camels after staring at the camels for about 10mins. Mathu one of the camel man started digging a hole with the metal scoop he have with him. Malu the other guy started looking for wood for fire. They started taking out all the vegetables, flour and the spices for the food. First they boiled the water and cooked chai tea for us. It is so amazing to see what they could do with so little and after about 1hr they served up very tasty chapatti and vegetable curry. But if you see how they cooked up the meal you might not want to eat the food as it isn’t as clean as we “the city people” would expect. But from a open air kitchen what could you expect right. As long we don’t get our stomach upset it is good for us.

During lunch the Taiwanese couple was discussing with the 2 camel man about getting a goat to have it slaughtered fresh and cooked the meat for curry. They asked if we wanted to share the costs of Rp1500 = SGD50 for a goat and we told them that we aren’t mutton lovers so told them they could go ahead with it and our worry is that the meat wont be Halal.. After the couple told the man that they didn’t want to have the goat cause we aren’t sharing, so they asked us why and we told them the reason. And they told us not to worry cause they are able to slaughter the goat halal as they have learned from their muslim friends before. Hmmm we could consider, for me it isn’t so much on eating but the experience of having able to bbq a fresh goat and how they will slaughter it in the desert with so little they have.

local lady getting water

So we agreed and the wife tried her bests to haggle the price to Rp1000 but the 2 man kept telling us that it isn’t possible as they got belongs to the shepherds and not theirs and they don’t earn any commission from it. But the Taiwanese didn’t believe what they say and insisted at Rp1000 and even gave them the money for the goat. Malu didn’t even want to accept the money as he kept saying it isn’t possible at all to have the goat at this price. The wife was very insistent to have the goat at the price she wanted to pay. So she just left the 2 man thinking about it as she told me that she is sure that they will make some money out of it.

But sure enough she was right, they did think hard about it and even made a few phone calls to their shepherd friends to ask for a Rp1000 goat. But only came back to tell us that they could only find a Rp1200 goat which is just small and we need to decide and confirm if we want it cause after they bring it we cant back out. The wife was very happy that they really tried to find a cheaper goat thus agreed to them to have the goat but agreed to pay Rp1500 for a normal size goat instead of a small one. Kekekke the guys must be furious and thinking we are playing a fool with them. We wanted to give Rp750 to share for the goat but they only want to take Rp500 from us..

After the lunch they cleaned up the plates with sand… Wahahahhah Sand!! But it is amazing how clean and shiny the sand could make the plates look. With very minimal water they use to rinse it first and than use the sand to clean up the leftover food. After lunch we rested for a while and than continued our journey to the sand dunes

where we will sleep for the night.

The dunes

Halfway thru the journey Malu had to go and find the goat for dinner. About 2 hrs later we finally arrived at the dunes, it wasn’t what you would expect like those sand dunes you see in pictures of the Sahara desert. It is just a small portion of the Thar Desert with some trees and bushes near it. But still it is a treat for us, we walked around to take pictures, sat in the dunes to enjoy the view and waited for the sun to set. We rested and were curious why Malu isn’t back yet as it is about 2hrs after he left us.

We watch the beautiful desert sun set and finally we saw Malu walking towards us from a distance with the black goat behind him. The goat was “baaing” all the way and when I heard it my heart felt bad that it will be killed in a few mins time. And maybe that is why he is making noises all the way. When he finally arrived at the campsite Mathan asked us to check the goat but I was already far away to avoid the scene as I couldn’t be able to take it and even to eat it if I were to see what will be done to the goat. So Ramli and the husband went over to check things out and Ramli was the only one witnessing the slaughter. He took some photos using the Taiwanese couples camera so I didn’t get to see any pictures.

We left them to do the slaughtering and relax and waited for our dinner to be prepared. As the night got darker we got out our torches to light the way but feel that it will be a waste of the battries and not sure if it will last that long. So we asked Mathu and Malu if we could start our own fire.. It was fun starting up the fire and it is easy as the shrubs and branches in the desert is so dry it caught fire instantly and also it burnt out very fast. We played with the “campfire” for about 15mins and Mathan came over and told us that the goat is ready for us to bbq if we want, so he brought us one leg of the goat with a rusty wire poked thru it so we could hold and both ends to bbq it. We tried for about 15mins and all wanted to give up as it is taking to long and Lide (husband) went over to pass Mathan the goat leg and asked him to cook it instead but Mathan insisted that it will be cook in a while more so pass it back to us … Hahahahahha

the goat leg...

We held it for another 15mins to bbq and finally it was ready to eat. We could smell the nice aroma from the goat leg. We got a plate and tried peeling off the meat but it was difficult as the fire had actually burnt and dried up the meat. So we got a knife and Ramli help cut into pieces. For me not a mutton lover did try a small piece and was amazed by the taste. As it doesn’t taste so “muttony” and the meat is very tender and also very light colored not like the mutton we have back home which is all bloody and dark red. Everyone enjoyed the goat leg and after our dinner was served.

Curry mutton, dhal with rice and chapatti. The curry tasted good and the meat was cooked just nice all tender and sweet. Lide, Yili and Ramli was asking for a 2^nd and 3^rd serving and for me I couldn’t even finish my first serving and even gave mine to Ramli. I guess it is difficult for me to get over the barrier of eating mutton.. Eveyone enjoyed and finished their dinner and right after the soft drinks that we ordered was delivered. Soft drinks delivered in the desert how convenient…

I was asking Mathan where we will be sleeping at and if in the night we would be all covered with sand as the wind was blowing all day and bring up the sand. He said don’t worry we have beds for you.. I was like really!! Where did you keep it cause we didn’t see it. He said is magic.. *faint

So about 15mins later he seriously got us 4 bed frames with nylon straps tied around to make it the bed.. Like those bed that the Singh security guards would sleep on back in Singapore. Even though there isn’t any mattress we were glad we don’t have to sleep on the floor cause the wind was quite strong. They place the bed just on the sand dunes and laid the thick blankets on it.

We lay on it and watch the beautiful night sky all covered with the million and zillion stars all flickering thru the night. I even caught a glance of a shooting star. The experience was one that we have not experienced before and was glad that we did it!