Thousands of beady eyes watched us. Coarse black hair, slithering tails -- there were hundreds of rats. When you enter the rat temple at Deshnok, you almost miss the intricate carvings of elephants, cobras, ibis, and rats covering the temple wall. The real rats catch your eye. Here rats are worshipped. Bowls of milk two feet across have rats perched like birds around a bird bath, sipping the morning offering. Other rats consume the grain that worshippers scatter on the marble floor.

The rats are very comfortable around humans, hopping over feet, running to and fro in front of tourists, and sometimes laying on the floor napping, four feet in the air. They know they are safe in this shrine.

You have to take your shoes off to enter the temple. From a hygiene standpoint this made me nervous. Fortunately, we were allowed to leave our socks on. These socks would eventually have to be thrown away, as washing out the smell of rat urine picked up by the socks wasn't accomplished in two washings. Even some of the Indian women visiting the temple were nervous, hopping when a curious rat ran under their skirts.

At the temple, we walked through corridors from left to right, which is supposed to bring luck. We are looking for a white rat which brings even more luck if you see one.

Due to all the newspaper accounts and television coverage, everyone knows we are the foreigners riding camels across India. They come up to us in the temple to wish as luck, as do the rats.

The Castro Camels asked a question about the solar lights we are carrying for installation. Our lights come from Lumileds in San Jose, California. They are providing LED lights for a variety of applications, such as for use in traffic signals. Next time you look at a traffic signal, notice if they are made up of lots of individual lights.

Questions from Addison Brown in Ohio.The cost of a single solar light system for a house is $40 USD. They weigh about 10 pounds and take several hours to set up. As far as where we sleep at night, it is quite variable. Sometimes in the open desert. Other times in farmers' fields; right now we are setting up in a tiny road side rest stop. We eat the local food whenever possible, trying to be careful since the health standards are much different than we are used to in the U.S. So we boil or bake or fry any food we buy in local markets. The bathroom is just any open space with a little privacy. And there is often not much privacy, a good reason to wear a really long shirt so that you can crouch down and be covered.

Next we will introduce you to the four girls on our trip.