Chalo Chalen India: Camel ride.....yee haw!

The final part of our Jaisalmer tour day was a visit to sunset point (called by L"sum") which is a tourist must see about 30-45 minutes outside of the city. The area is covered by sand dunes and offers an amazing view of sunset. They are tourist ready and have several camels prepared so that you can take a short camel ride from the parking lot out to the and dunes, watch the sunset, and then ride your camel back again to the parking lot. I have never seen camels in their natural habitat before, so I never tired of taking pictures of them as we were driving along the rode. I could not imagine what it would be like to ride one and even though everyone around me seemed to be having a great time, I was a wee bit scared. My only instructions were to hold on tight when the camel stands up because it rocks you back and forth, but after that you don't have to hold on. I, however, never let go of my tight grip of the handle on the camel saddle! In the first minute, we got a picture of both me and Abhijeet together on our camels and I was assured that that was enough of the camel ride experience for me. I insisted that Abhijeet tell my camel walker to let me down immediately, but he refused my request and urged me to hold on and enjoy the ride and views. One deep breath later and I had put my faith in the camel. I must admit, it was a pretty spectacular experience. When we reached the sunset viewpoint on the sand dunes we sat down for a break and the camels also got a well deserved break. There were local musicians and dancers who paraded through the area offering a song or dance in exchange for rupees. We did not ask for a dance, but were given one anyway and then asked to pay for it. In the middle of the dance, she grabbed my hand and posed me for several pictures. It was slightly awkward because it made me realize how driven the locals are to sell their culture for tourist rupees.