November 10, 2009 – Day 319 – Jaisalmer, India

At sunrise we awoke to a morning as cold as the night had been. With nothing but our noses peeking out of our blankets, we were nearly frozen solid in the cold desert air. The stars were amazing but the wind that came with the blanket of night was almost more than we could take. Our toes hung over our tiny beds and let in an unwelcome draft that chilled our bones each time we stretched beyond the fetal position.

Boy and Camel, a story of freezing death

Sunrise was about as exciting as sunset; but that is just the way they are in the desert. It took quite a while for the sun to really warm things up and it was not until we were mounting the camels that the sand and air really started to heat back up. We shivered through a breakfast of boiled eggs, bananas, and lightly toasted bread alongside a small cup of sandy chai. Not the most glorious breakfast but better than going hungry!

In case there was a world wide toast shortage, we're sorry.

Getting the camels ready

It was a fun 2 hour ride back toward town, mostly quiet and peaceful but then more exciting toward the end when we got to race our camels. Turns our Saben’s camel, named Rocket, was faster than Lin’s camel Papu (who was more interested in snacking along the way).

Saben riding his steed, or whatever you call a racing camel

The jeep ride seemed much shorter going back into town and we were eating a big, healthy lunch before we knew it at one of our favorite restaurants in town (the Ganpati Restaurant—amazingly clean all the time and really delicious food). As we were leaving the cook caught us on our way to the door and welcomed us to stay for an extra few minutes for some complimentary chai. We had been to the restaurant nearly everyday we were here for about a week and he had really taken a liking to us. He always stacked up our plates with extra helpings of already sizable portions and was always very happy to see us. We thanked him for the spicy chai and made our way to the bus stand to go to Jodhpur. A great way to end an already wonderful week in a quiet desert town!