Can I smoke on camel?

India is a large country but it's going by very fast! I'm not gonna try to keep up with all that I've covered in last few days but will again stick to the highlights or at least the parts that stick out in my mind the most and I'm not even gonna pretend I remember in what order any of this happened. The biggest thing is, of course, the Camel Safari which wasn't really a safari in any term I associate with that word. It was a camel ride out to the duney part of the Thar desert and it was a blast even if it wasn't a real safari. We spent most of the day in the fort city of Jaisalmer which is a pretty cool place all by itself. Remember how much I liked all the walled cities and castles and such throughout the European part of my trek? Jaisalmer is the same kind of place with the added attraction of not having been bombed and rebuilt several times, cows and goats still roam around through the streets like maybe they did way back when and while you can by stuff like SIMS cards and internet access, you still buy it from a merchant who adds up your bill on any scrap of parchment (OK, it's really paper) he can find. So after wandering around Jaisalmer and finishing up any personal stuff like laundry and getting to the PO we packed up a smaller version of our bags for and overnight stay in the desert. First our gear was loaded into a jeep for the ride out to meet the camels. Then grabbing only protection from the sun and water we mounted our desert ships. Mine was named Raj, hindi for King. There was at least one other Raj, a Tiger and a Michael Jackson. I'm guessing the names were only for our benefit. We rode for about 2 1/2 hours. Most of the time, the ground was more like the desert I'm used to seeing in Oregon-hard packed earth and small rocks although there was a lot less vegetation in the Thar than in the high desert of Central and Eastern Oregon. Towards the end of our journey we did come onto the sand dunes that you would normally associate with camel caravans. I have sat atop a horse now and again and as I recall as a horse moves from on walking surface to another an inexperienced rider such as myself doesn't notice much difference in the ride. Not the case with a camel. My recommendation--If you ever have the opportunity to NOT ride a camel on pavement-TAKE IT! The discomfort of a camel saddle is directly proportional to the firmness of the ground beneath said camel. We arrived at Camp Camel well before sundown. The camel drivers took care of our steeds while we explored our home of the evening. There was a low L shaped wall of sorts made from branches and dried weeds or something and there were webbed cots that made up our dormitory. I had brought a set of juggling balls and a collapsible frisbee and pulled those out. The frisbee flopped but the juggling balls were great entertainment. Mind you, I never got around to juggling because once the camels were attended to the camel drivers had nothing to do and simply playing catch was enought for them. After watching the sunset, we gathered around the fire and when it got really dark, the musicians and dancing girls showed up. I kid you not. We didn't get the dance of the seven veils but the was lots of hip movements, footstomping and bells jingling to some nasaly bagpipey like music. We were invited to dance along and everyone including myself got up to shake some booty. No lighting was needed to discern the western people from the locals! One thing about Indian music-their songs are really long!
After the floor show, came dinner prepared by some of the camel drivers, I guess. There might have been a reason why the dinner was served after dark but it all tasted pretty good if maybe a bit sandy. And they prepared it relatively mild and offered the traditional spices on the side for those of us without cast iron stomachs. There was a bit more singing including the Camel Safari song which was an Indian rap wrapup of our days journey and the next days itinerary!
The final event of the evening was not really an event at all but at least equalled anything else that had happened and that was just simple the night sky. With no city lights to wash it out all of the billions and billions of lights were visible. I know. I counted. hee hee hee.
The next morning it turned out we had had visitors in the night and they were still with us. Desert dogs, I have no idea where they came from, were sleeping in our camp. One of them was IN the fire pit. The other one had curled up under one of the cots and in doing so had pulled the blanket off the occupant! They were friendly pooches and hung around while we packed up for the morning camel ride out of the desert. The ride out was only about an hour and a half and we were given the reins of our steeds at the end and permitted to open them up to what they could do! It wasn't exactly the Run for the Roses but. . .
Anything after a camel safari is going to pale in comparison but some of the other things I've been up to: a 19 hour overnight train ride, fort tour, shopping (I've been very bad!) eating (I've been doing pretty good) and just wandering through the cow towns (a new image comes to mind when I hear the term these days.)