TRAVEL FEATURE - INDIA MARIA SCHUMACHER
CAMEL TRADE AND DESERT DUNES
Like many Indian traders we fled the imminent Himalayan winter and headed south through the fertile landscapes of the Punjab towards the desert state of Rajasthan . The peaceful quiet of the barren mountain landscapes had made way for busy lush green flatlands . Riding along smooth tarmac we watched men laying out handmade bricks to dry in neatly arranged rows and women in bright saris thrashing rice in the fields . A hazy smoke obscured the sun as rice fields were being burned to plant the season ’ s second crop . It seemed this land of plenty made life a lot easier here .
Arriving in Delhi in October , my partner Aidan and I had bought ourselves some used local Bajaj Pulsar 220 bikes in the famous Karol Bagh motorcycle market , and had ridden them along the famous Manali-Leh-Srinagar loop through the Himalayas right at the end of the season . Things up there were closing as the first snows began to fall and most seasonal traders were headed to warmer climes . And we were following them , as the next stop for many was the famous Pushkar Camel Fair .
It was a long way to India ’ s desert , and we were clocking up the miles on the infamously dangerous roads . Impossibly overloaded vehicles struggled along at a snail ’ s pace and underpowered trucks in bad repair were on the clock , taking risks to make the next paycheque . A decorated Tata with hand-painted signs of “ Horn Please ” on the back was swaying precariously at every corner . Upon passing the up-side-down wreck of one that recently hadn ’ t made it , the driver stopped at a stall for a garland of blessed flowers to adorn his own windscreen , then wobbled on at the same hasty speed . Safety , it seemed , was left firmly in the hands of the
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