Carol's Travels

As we walked to breakfast, we enjoyed the beautiful sunrise at the camp. I thoroughly enjoyed the food.
We went back to Jaipur via a different route from which we had come. This was through one of the oldest mountain ranges in the world. We stopped for lunch at McDonald’s where Paul and I had veggie burgers, fries, and a coke. It was probably better than most McDonald’s burgers. A large party of young women were excited to see us. I walked over smiling at them, and I got their permission to take some of their pictures. They took ours too.

We rode on the bus about six hours back to Jaipur. We checked into the same hotel and same room where we had previously stayed. Then we went out to view the summer palace which is in a man-made lake. We spent a very short time checking out the venders in the park beside the lake. Then we went to a place that demonstrated woodblock printing. After that we were shown the process of making wool rugs. We had the opportunity to purchase rugs or silk products in another section of the complex. I wasn’t in the shopping mood, so I bought nothing.

After that, we stopped at a market. My attention span for shopping was gone. It took only ten minutes to realize that I was ready to eat dinner. Fifteen minutes later, we all went to an Italian restaurant which had rather tasteless food. On the way back to the hotel, the bus passed by three huge weddings. Our guide suggested that we crash one of them, but most of us wanted to just get back to the hotel. After we were in our room, we heard band music outside in the street. It was a wedding party parade, complete with drums and horns.

This morning I enjoyed the breakfast here at the camp. There was a good variety of food, even fresh juice made in the juicer with a beet, red carrots, and an orange. Next time, I would leave out the beet.

Next we each had a choice of riding a camel or riding in a cushioned cart pulled by a camel. Of course, I chose to ride on a camel. Only five of us rode camels. I looked over the camels, and I picked the camel to ride that seemed to like me. We rode through the festival grounds looking at the camels, cows, and horses for sale. When people come to the festival with the intent to buy, they bring cash because that is the way business transactions are done here. People stay in tents, and they use cooking fires. They use dried cow patties for fuel.

 After the camel ride was over, we walked through the festival grounds where we stopped to look at what the vendors were selling. There were handmade leather loafers, bells for camels and dancers, harnesses, blankets, food for both people and animals, and even some “cure-all” medications. Fancy horses and camels danced to drum music. We enjoyed exploring the grounds and talking with the locals. Thy seemed to be fascinated with us. One man approached me and asked my profession. He taught high school students, and he seemed pleased that I was a teacher too. I enjoyed interacting with the locals. Only one pushy vender who wouldn’t take “no” for answer tried to sell poor quality necklaces to me. I was glad to reach the camp where he was not allowed to enter.

We had a little time to relax before lunch. The selection of food for lunch was varied and tasty. The food at this camp is catered to Americans by not making it very spicy.  
After lunch someone wanted to see how a turban was tied. Some workers at the camp brought out a long colorful piece of starched cloth. They wrapped the turban around Paul’s head. He was chosen because we have been on the most OAT trips from our group. Paul acted very regally while we took pictures.

We had some down time, then most of us went on another walk through the festival grounds. Most had bought and sold the animals they had brought the cash to buy. We were talking to one man who had bought at least ten cows. He paid $1,000 for some of them. That is a lot of cash to be carrying around.  

Before the buyers left, they had to go to the government office on site to register the purchase. After all, the government had to have their cut.
After returning to camp, I went to see the Indian dancing for a while. Then we had dinner. Tomorrow we will return to Jaipur.

We rode on the bus for six hours to Nagaur. There were countless acacia trees beside the road all the way. I took quite a few pictures of the houses and trees as we passed.

When we arrived in Nagaur, young ladies in costume greeted us by presenting each of us with fresh marigold flower leis. Paul and I stayed in tent #21. A few minutes later, we ate a buffet lunch in the dining tent.

I was surprised that the temperature was fairly hot here. After lunch we rested for a while until we felt refreshed. Then we all went walking through the camel festival grounds. It was mind boggling. to see so many decorated camels with their owners. People are here to buy and sell camels. We talked with two men who had just completed a transaction. Both were very happy. The new owner planned to ride the camel for two days to his home.

While we walked through the camel-laden grounds, young boys followed us around and talked with us in their limited English. They wanted to pose for pictures then look at them. Finally, I put my peepers finger puppet on my hand and said hello to the children and teens as we walked by more camels.

Just before dinner we watched young women wearing beautiful glitzy costumes dance to traditional music where drums and some type of small hand organ were the major instruments. Some of us were asked to participate in the dance too. Afterward we had dinner. The food here isn’t as spicy as some that we have had. The cooks use a lot of fresh veggies.  

Later when I got into bed, there was a hot water bottle in it. The temperature had cooled down, but I didn’t feel it was necessary to use it. I enjoyed listening to the crickets as I went to sleep.