Camel riding amoung other things

PICTURES!!
Right to left top to bottom:
A spice and vegie market in Pushkar. A regular street in Pushkar similar to many streets in India thus far but perhaps a little more aimed at foreigners. Me being carried by Moti (the camel) with our camel cart ahead going through the Rajasthan desert. Pushkar Sikh temple with the typical surroundings: Cows and trash. My "Penciling" creation at the hostel.

Kelly's Life

Well I arrived to Pushkar and the holy lake there was empty :( The lake was drained because it was quite polluted or poisoned. There are lots of stories of what happened but who knows what the truth really is? However, in the previous years and last year especially the monsoon has been significantly less so the lake has still not filled up. One person told me last year there was 80% less rain! The real devastating thing is the farmers not getting the needed rain for their fields and the many people lacking enough drinking water.

I got to draw a picture on a wall of the hostel I was staying at and I was really satisfied with it, if not impressed with myself. I also met my newly made friend from Norway, Renate, and we started our camel adventure. We went from Pushkar to Jodhpur which took about 6 days. Less time and riding than we originally planned to do but our camel got a soar on his leg so among other reasons we decided to stop in Jodhpur. We had two camels (Moti and Krishna), one camel cart (not named) and two guides (Govinda a young guy and Banchraj a really nice and happily married guy). I'd say things went pretty well. We slepted on the Rajasthan desert floor, with the snakes and scorpions alike. Renate and I had some really interesting discussions and it felt really nice to communicate so easily with someone. No big sand dunes but really sandy and hot. Really got a deeper appreciation for water and was so surprised when I'd see our guides or local people waste it. I tried to develop a relationship with our riding camel Moti, and I think we made a friendship but we didn't quite have a talk. At least I wasn't satisfied. Our guides were good guys but they didn't seem to know where we were going at times, took us along the roads longer than I would have liked and we had trouble understanding eachother at times. Going through small villages was extra interesting because we got even more attention than usual: not only is it a foreigner he's on top of a camel!!! A major difference between camel riding and horseback riding is that you either have to make the camel sit down (which they don't seem to like to do all that much) or you need a tree branch or big pile of sand to break your fall. This being said Renate and I found ourselves quite trapped one time in the middle of a large group of villagers all looking at us propped up on a Moti, like performers with nothing to entertain the crowd with and no power to run off stage. We just had to wait until Govinda and Banchraj filled up our water jug from the well which seemed to take ages.

We spent a few days in Jodhpur where there was a crazy festival where women carried bamboo bats and hit the men while music played all throughout the city.

Now we are in Jaisalmer and plan to go to a national park to try to see some sand dunes and hopefully hear some music and dancing. Then we'll be heading to Mumbai where I'll meet up with a friend I made there and then head on our way to Goa where I hope to learn more about yoga and different meditation techniques.

Yeah that's it for now.
Hope everyone is doing well and if you aren't perhaps it is a challenge to inspire growth in one way or another.
Health,
Kelly