I love hiking, and it's doubly fun leading my lightened camel by his rope, letting him carry all my gear while I pace across the desert. Our guides think I'm nuts, but I've never been happier. My camel, belching in my ear, reflects my good cheer. Though barren at first glance, the desert is actually quite alive. Birds appear from nowhere, and we spot mongoose scurrying across the landscape, diving into burrows.
Lizards are common.
On the 3rd day we spot herds of deer running on the horizon. A surprising amount of land is apparently cultivated as well. Though it's now the dry season, plowed and turned soil mark areas where desert farmers plant millet during monsoon season. Our saga of India is becoming as endless as this camel trip, but this is only befitting a land so rich in experience and majestic in landscape. Of course, this is India.