Living like Rajas in Rajasthan

Next stop, a three day camel trek and home-stay in the Thar Desert. Following a 17 hour train ride, Tyler and I arrived in a small town in Rajasthan called Osyian. After coming from the sunny metropolis of Mumbai, stepping off the train in Osyian was a bit of a shock. Dawn was just breaking, and everything and everyone looked a bit dusty and weathered (ourselves included). As we did a 3/60, we were in immediate envy of those walking around wrapped-up in wool blankets, tuques and scarves; The desert is cold. Although we had checked the weather beforehand, our recollection of chilly weather has been seriously skewed by three years in the tropics. With temperatures dipping to 5°C , our Malaysian attire wasn't cutting it. We made our way through town on the hunt for warmth. We found it in the form of a seemingly second-hand tuque and a couple scarves that we would later fashion in every way possible. After getting our minimal kit, we wandered up to the town square to wait for our ride. While waiting, we began to get the mixed up feelings that accompany culture shock; Bug-eyed wonderment, curiosity and excitement...followed up by a touch of 'What the hell?' Luckily it seemed to be a two-way street that morning, as we were getting the hard stare from every man and his goat in town- Ever notice how freaky goats' eyes are?

From the town square we drove into the countryside where we would meet our camels. Sally and Joe Camel would be our faithful, seemingly spaced out and gluttonous steads for the next couple of days. The plan was to stay with one family the first night, and trek onto the next the following night. The first family we stayed with were living in a jhumpa home. This included four circular huts (mud floor, sand stone slab walls and thatched roof) with a central 'courtyard'-no electricity, no running water.The huts were situated in a circle and comprised of four different buildings; One for cooking, one for grain storage and two for sleeping. It was an amazing experience to see how the multi-generational family functioned and what their day-to-day looked like. After poking about the area, playing with the kids, passing the peace pipe with the elders,  getting a good nap in and catching a beauty of a sunset, the darkness fell and the stars shone bright. Come dinner time we all gathered in the cooking hut where Mom was rolling out the chapati over the fire and stewing up curried potatoes. As we sat on the floor wrapped in blankets it was interesting to see the order of things; Guests eat, men eat, children eat, women eat. When we are done, we go to bed. Tucked into our thatched roof hut, under a mountain of blankets, Ty and I felt pretty far from home. Nonetheless we were so appreciative of the day's experiences, our lot in life, and each other....mmaawwww, sleep tight Jagdish ♥

Early to bed, early to rise; The next day we rode the camels for way too long- Them camels are wide, boy howdy! Upon regaining feeling in my legs and shaking our camel toes (Hehe), we spent a second night with a second family. This family had a similar set up, but a separate sleeping area and washroom for the guests. The second family spoke a bit more English so we had a chance to warm up by the fire and chat. We learned that the Thar Desert, or the Great Indian Desert is the most densely populated desert in the world. It becomes super lush and fertile during the monsoon season, growing crops such as mustard seed, wheat and castor oil.  The water table is currently sinking, which is a big challenge they are facing..... Again, a fantastic family meal of curried buffalo yogurt, chapati and potatoes, followed by early bedtime, on account of the lack of electricity- Another tidbit, the Indian government plans to have the entire nation accessing electricity within their homes by 2018. Bonne Chance! The beauty of an early bedtime, no excuse not to see the sunrise. The desert is a beautiful place!

From Osyian, we made our way to probably our favourite of the places we visited, Jodhpur (although  how can you really choose?!). Jodhpur was not really on our radar as it was meant to be just a quick stop-over in order to grab the train to Jaipur. What it turned into was a fantastic day of touring the most amazing fort, dodging the dodgy, taking in views of the 'blue city' and having the most romantic dinner- yep, all while wearing our desert filth.