Owning four camels is a tremendous responsibility. Yes, we bought our camels. After locating the camels in a village outside Bikaner, we rode 20 miles (30 Km) across the desert to get the animals back to town and the money to pay the camel owners. We traveled with the owners. The trip was unusual in that we started the ride at 9:30 PM. In the darkness, the desert trees created fantastic silhouettes against the horizon -- a giant crocodile, a man astride a hippo, and a stegosaurus. I sat on a blanket folded into quarters, a riding pad, and a folded jacket and could still feel the wooden saddle frame after an hour. When the chafing became intolerable, Dan and I walked while our guides rode. We got to town at 4:30 AM. Seven hours of night riding left both Dan and I punchy, but not our village escorts who were ready to be paid and visit town.

The next day Dr. K.L. Bhadani, a founder of the International Desert Animal Welfare Society of India, immunized our animals. Earlier, he had accompanied us to inspect our final choice in camels. In his concern for the humane treatment of animals, he has donated his time to aiding our expedition.

Every day working with the camels has been an education. We have hired an experienced camel handler, Katea-Ram-Ji to help us with the camels. While he understands camels, he doesn't understand English. This leads to some amusing and sometimes dangerous situations. For example, Dan had a frighteningly funny riding lesson. On his first city ride, Katea- Ram handed Dan the reins. They were crossed. Dan sensibly uncrossed them. This was a camel riding no-no. When Dan and mount reached the street, a bus came by, blaring its horn. Dan's mount took one look at the approaching bus and bolted into traffic, going at a full gallop, head on toward swerving cars, trucks, motorcycles, and auto rickshaws, with Kitea-Ram chasing behind in flip-flops. Dan pulled back on the reins which only pulled the camel's head high into the air (crossed reins would have put more pressure on the camel's nose pegs and may have stopped the animal). Kitea-Ram yelled in Hindi for Dan to stop. Dan holding on for dear life and yelled back words that he only uses when stressed.

The sight of a foreigner clinging to an out-of-control camel galloping down a city street delighted the pedestrians. They were laughing so hard, they almost fell down. When Dan's camel finally stopped, much to Dan's relief, a crowd of 150 people surrounded him, laughing and miming his antics. Dan was the talk of the neighborhood.

We almost have all our gear constructed and will be departing Bikaner shortly. We hope our departure is not as harrowing as some of our camel-riding lessons. Next stop, the Rat Temple, where rats are worshipped.