Alice the camel has..... India Gappers tackle the desert in style

We have finally made it to the end of our first month here in Udaipur, India – and what a month it has been. We are defiantly all 100% settled in now and we all have our own routines. We have seen over 30 different people from all over the world come and go, and we are making some great friends along the way.

I think some of us feel that the teaching is getting a little repetitive and we are sometimes stuck for ideas – but none the less we are enjoying every minute of it! As I wrote last blog entry, we all did a weekend trip out to Jodhpur and did a camel safari. It was the most amazing experience and we had the best time. It was a 6 hour bus ride out to Jodhpur, which was a very interesting experience in itself. The roads were rocky, the air-con didn’t work, and worst of all, the bus driver honked his horn every 30 seconds (no joke). We were so relieved when we arrived, and went straight to dinner and then bed. The next day we went sight seeing around Jodhpur. Our first stop was Jaswant Thada, a beautiful marble memorial. We then went on to Meherangarh Fort which looks over all of Jodhpur.

Afterwards we had a quick lunch then went on a 2 hour jeep ride (with a stop off to an old Hindu temple) out to the desert. We saw the most amazing sunset when we arrived and had some fun on the sand dunes. We were staying with a family in the desert and they cooked us a delicious Rajasthan meal followed by a tradition dance show, where we all got to participate. That night we slept under the starts which was just the most beautiful and peaceful experience (minus the mosquitoes).

We woke at quarter to 5 and mounted our camels for the 40 minute ride up to the highest point in the desert. Unfortunately we couldn’t see the sunrise because of the clouds, but it was still the most amazing view. It started bucketing down on the ride home and most of us didn’t have a change of clothes! We warmed up with a home cooked breakfast, then got on the jeep for the ride back to Jodhpur, were we had a quick lunch and a shop, and then came home to Udaipur (where we all had the most deserving showers). Carla