december 26, 10:00 p.m. - Jaisalmer

Ok, so the camel ride was totally surreal. We were riding through the Thar desert and watching the sunset toward Pakistan (along with the fighter jets!) on Christmas day and I had a moment of, "holy crap, this is my life. This is AWESOME." I thought I had figured out how to post pictures, but not so much. But, I did join a group, they're called the Tally-ban or somesing like this (shout out to Stein's class! Yeah, I know, hell) I know the camel ride is totally touristy, but I have embraced my tourist-ness, it's not like I am ever going to pass as something different!

Tonight we had a home-cooked meal and entertainment from the family who owns the hotel. I had the best thing I have eaten so far, something called Aloo Gobi, it's cauliflower and potatos with some spices very tasty. The kid that was dancing showed us some slick moves which I am sure will get me a date back home, although, I am still holding out for my Indian (dot not feather) prince.

We did a secret S Christmas exchange, with a limit of 10 rupees (about 20 cents), so that was fun times. You can get such things as: candy bar, biscuits (cookies), marijuana satchel (only 9 rupees) , 5 packets of laundry soap and an elephant incense holder. I got biscuits and was quite pleased. I also had my first candy of the trip: a candy cane. My first candy! I usually have my first candy of the day by 9 am!

On that note. Many of my fellow travelers have already started getting sick. I have been lucky, but have been avoiding things like meat (vegetarian trip for me!), milk (including this apparently awesome drink called a lassi, not worth the runs for me), raw vegetables and fruits that are washed (I got pomegranates and oranges, I figure a peal protects them...so far so good!) and, of course, tap water and ice (it's hard to remember to use bottled water to brush your teeth. I am even filtering the bottled water through my super duper purifying bottle. Luckily, there are plenty of sodas, so I haven't gone through withdraws yet!

hmmmm what else. Oh yes, some of the funnest things are the lost-in-translation signs. The English versions are always just a little off... STD here! (which I am told has something to do with a phone)... Cock fireworks (a popular brand apparently, though they are known to explode prematurely BAZING!)... and my personal favorite Child beer (sadly, not beer made of children, but chiLLed beer).

Tomorrow we are on a bus at 5:30 am to head to Jodhpur, I am told we each have a seat, but we shall see. OH and I got lost again today trying to find this lake and was saved by the tourist police! I need to send them a thank you note.

In scarier news, turns out we were about 6 miles away from the Pakistani/India safe zone last night and we could hear artillery (spelling?) testing all night. If those two cannot get along and they ruin my trip I am going to be PISSED!

That's all for now. Hope everyone had a great Christmas. I miss you all, but mostly my Indy. There was a house dog at the hotel and I wanted it to come sleep with me!

Take care.

xoxo amy