In case you’re wondering why there wasn’t a post yesterday, we were abducted. By camels. In the Thar Desert. And left to die.

All that is true except for the abduction and the dying parts. We did ride camels yesterday and today. We left at around 2:30 yesterday and went to a cemetery, a temple, the empty village, and the camel village. The empty village used to have people until the 1700s or 1800s when everyone packed up and left overnight. Now it is “of archaeological, historical, and architectural importance.” Next to it is the Jurassic [Cactus] Park. We didn’t go there.

The camel village is in the middle of nowhere. We got there after a long, long ride in the Jeep driven by Amin. We had chai tea in someone’s house and then got on our camels and rode off. Goonpat and a man rode on the first camel, then Dad, then me, and then Mom. Ethan didn’t ride in our line.

Before we crossed the road, we saw the goats of the village heading home. We also saw skeletons of goats and cows. After we crossed the road, we followed a dirt track for about an hour until we arrived at the dunes. Ethan was disappointed because there were other groups of people there and because we were so close to the main road. We could hear the cars drive by we were so close.

Ethan and I jumped off the dunes (sometimes Ethan jumped with Goonpat, the eleven-year-old boy who came with us) until we had some chai tea and supper. After supper we looked at the stars, heard a song by Amin, the man on the camel, and two who came in the Jeep, and went to bed. Our beds had actual sheets and blankets, which I didn’t think I would need. Well, it got cold (in the lower 80s).

We woke up to watch the sunrise, which wasn’t very impressive, and had breakfast which was fruit, toast, and cookies. Then we got on our camels and rode for two hours because Ethan had wanted to. Because my camel kept slamming my leg against Mom’s camel, I got to ride seperately. Ethan was mad because he couldn’t kick his camel hard enough so he had to be roped to Mom. On this ride, one of the two dogs chased foxes and antelope to his heart’s content.

We finally piled back in the Jeep, said good-bye to the camel man, Goonpat, and the others, and rode back to Jaisalmer. I don’t think a shower has ever felt so good. Ciao!