Woke up late as usual and the luxury of the Gobardhan Palace Hotel most certainly was holding me back from starting the day and getting on with it. I enjoyed the Lal Maas and champagne which I had for my lunch having started the day around afternoon. I hit the road after that and headed for the Desert Safari a few miles from the hotel.

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An adventure camp had been built in the desert for tourists to come and enjoy camel rides, folk dance and finish with a dinner. All this for Rs 2000 which I thought was reasonable. I walked unto my camel man called Saleem and he took me for on a  ride on his camel.

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A beautiful beast ” What is his name ?” I asked Saleem. “Hrithik Roshan” he said proudly! I was pleased about this celebrity namesake camel and that too a pretty big deal at Bollywood, a great dancer and actor – Hrithik Roshan. “ Does he do break dance like Hrithik, can he jump from one building to another like Krishh.” The Boy said “ Sir baitho tho is par , yeh kamal ka hei .” I was looking forward to this. I sat on top of the camel and we went into the desert. I took my pictures and enjoyed the view of the sand dunes and the evening sunset , which was a lurid pink in colour!

The Pink Desert Sunset
The Pink Desert Sunset

I drank some soda and then handed the camera to Saleem to take my pictures in the backdrop and after a few takes he got it right.The sun was about to set and we headed back to our camp , where a treat of samosa and pakodas awaited us .

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 I enjoyed it to the hilt sat down to watch the traditional Rajasthani folk dance and music .The women with their painted faces and shiny ghagra’s danced to traditional folk tunes. It reminded me of Aishwarya Rai dancing in the epic Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam to Nibuda Nibuda. All the while I clicked away as some one stroked a bon fire , as it was getting cold after the sunset .

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After a traditional vegetarian meal of vegetables , dal , kachori and paneer the show was over . I drove back into the comfort of my room, carrying back fond memories of the Desert Beast Hrithik Roshan.

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