Just Call Me Sandy - Thar Desert

We arrived in Jodhpur on Monday afternoon and then headed about 2 hours outside of the city to the edge of the Thar Desert.  It had been a long traveling day, we had gotten up at 5am in Bhutan, suitcases out by 6am and on the bus by 7am. . . then a 2 1/12 hour bus ride.  We were bitter about being in the group that went to the desert first, the other half of our group was enjoying the the day in Jodhpur.  We got on our bus and headed out. . .first of all, these roads are not made for regular size vehicles let alone a huge greyhound-type bus!  It was a harrowing drive to say the least. . .we dodged people, cows, dogs, goats, tuk-tuks, motorbikes, public buses, carts brimming with grain, and the giant potholes.  We passed many stone quarries on our way, most house are made out of stone not bricks.  There are trees in this desert and because of recent digging of wells and places that collect the rains during the monsoon season there are farms in the desert.  It seems to me they are fighting an uphill battle but they continue to irrigate the desert to grow crops.

We finally reached the Manwar Resort and got ready to head out to the tent camp.  We were going to go out there in open jeeps and stop at some local houses on the way.  The first thing they issued were hospital masks so protect us from the dust/sand in the desert.  I know we looked stupid but they did save us from inhaling so much sand!

Our first stop in the desert was to a blacksmith's house.  His wife was preparing the house for the festival next week by putting a fresh coat of cow dung on the outside walls!  She had a nice big pile of it right there and used her hands to smear it evenly on the walls.

The husband was heating some metal on an open fire and pounding it into a bowl.  The women sitting with him was his daughter-in-law and according to local custom can not show her face to any older male relatives.  She is operating the bellows to keep the fire very hot.

The next stop on our journey to the desert was to a house where all the men from the village had gathered to preform the traditional welcome ceremony with Opium.  Opium has been outlawed in India for awhile now but they still manage to find it to use in the ceremony.  The opium is crushed and diluted in water and then strained through the device shown below.

The first offering is to the highest ranking religious man in the village.  He slurps the opium liquid from the house owner's hand three times.  They make a big deal out of it, first refusing and then saying okay.  The men were very animated in doing this ritual.  They were also smoking raw tobacco out of water pipes and horned shaped pipes.

The man sitting next to Jeanna was very enamored with her and beckoned her over to sit with him when we first came in.  He patted the space on the rug right next to him and had her move to come closer.

They offered Jeanna the pipe first and she tried to pretend to take a puff but ended up inhaling the tobacco smoke!  She was a trooper and didn't choke like a school girl on her first cigarette, she did say that it burned the crap out of her throat. . .so I was glad that I did not partake!

Then they offered the opium mixture to the group, I had a momentary lapse in judgement and sidled over to Jeanna's friend.  He poured some of the dark liquid into his hand and I bent down to slurp it up. . .in that moment here were the thoughts going through my mind "Was that real bottled water that he used to mix this stuff?", "When was the last time he washed his hands?", "If there is real opium in this how long would be detectable in a UA?", and "Take a double dose of Cipro before you go to bed tonight".  I slurped it up and it was very bitter. . .they gave me a piece of raw sugar to eat afterwards and then I did it again. . .I didn't make it the third time I had snapped back to reality and realized that was a crazy thing to do!  No effects from the opium. . .no little buzz. . .nothing. . . it has been over 24 hours and I am okay.  I did take the Cipro though just in case!

We left the men and got back into our jeeps and made our way to the Manwar Tented Camps.  You can see the semi circled of tents in the distance.  They made this to look like a replica of the royal hunting camps from the 18th and 19th century.

We were greeted by music and women who put a tilaka on our foreheads!  The entire inside of the tent ring was lined with camels in their finest decorations with their owners standing beside them.

Camels are not the most cuddliest animals on the planet. . .they bite, spit and kick you.  However, they did look stunning lined up and resting with their owners.

We had a few minutes to freshen up before our camel ride to the cocktail party to watch sunset so we went to explore our tent.  

This is the inside of the tent, the walls and ceiling were a beautiful patterned fabric and we had two single beds and a desk and two chairs in the main room.  There was a bathroom with a flushing toilet and a sink and a wooden platform with to buckets of water sitting on it.  There was a cute watering can-like container on the sink to wash your face with. . .the water from the sink just drained out on the sand.  I am not quite sure where the toilet drained to. . . 

This photo of the "shower" platform was taken in the morning when they delivered the brown tepid water.  I declined the "shower" deciding to wait until we got to Jodhpur in the afternoon. . .Jeanna wanted the adventure!  I was a nice partner and used the small container to wash her hair for her. . .not quite like Robert Redford in "Out of Africa" but I tried! 

Back to the evening before. . .after freshening up we got on our camels.  I do have video of Jeanna getting up on the camel and will put all that together when we get home.  As our friends know who traveled to Morocco the camel is different kind of ride.  When they first start to get up they use their back legs first which throws you forward, then the get up on their front legs which throws you back!!!  Luckily we only rode for about 15-20 minutes so we did not have to use our bike shorts or chamois butter for our sensitive areas!

Here is a look at the group heading to the top of the hill for sundowners!!!

A girl and her camel!

This guy was a riot and stood on his camel like something out of Lawrence Olivia!  He balanced up there for awhile as we all snapped out cameras!

Here is out musical entertainment for the cocktail hour and into the evening!

After sunset we got back on the camels and headed down the hill to dinner.  We sat on carpets and pillows with low tables in two semi-circles.  The fed us various Indian foods and we watched magnificent dancers while we ate.  We are hoping that we will get some pictures because we were in the back row and couldn't get good shots.  Then when we thought the evening was over, fireworks lite up the night sky!!  They were beautiful!

In the morning we had a delightful breakfast,  Jeanna made friends with the camel cart guy and I with the man with the very long mustache!  The Indians LOVE their mustaches. . .the grow them, they curl them, they are a sign of place in society. . .they are everywhere!  My brother lives in New Delhi. . .I am wondering if he is going to sport a mustache soon????

They camels came back in the morning to greet us  as were walking to breakfast.

The other thing to greet us at breakfast was the Dhurri Rug Man and the shoemaker!  Jeanna made fast friends with the rug man and he enjoyed telling us of all his famous customers that he has met in his business!

We liked him so much and his rugs that I am confessing to buying this rug in India. . .Turkey is still a secret!  We are going to use this rug at Chautauqua on the front porch!  

We are ready to leave the desert and head back to Jodhpur to spend the night at the Umaid Bhawan Palace.  It is now we realize how lucky we are to be in the group that went to the desert first!  The desert was an experience of a lifetime but the no running water and no real electricity for a hairdryer would be a REAL bummer if we had to leave from here and get on the plane for 6 hours to fly to Jordan!  We are thanking out lucky stars that for whatever reason the program changed and our group headed to desert first. . . we will spend a glorious night in the palace and then off to Jordon!