My first camel ride!

In preparation for my Rajasthan trip in October, I made a trip to the Rock Garden in Chandigarh with a special mission in mind that, surprisingly, had nothing to do with rocks. My friend, Alex and I want go on a camel trek from Pushkar and camp overnight in the desert. But before I sign on to what I'm told will be a groin-wrenching 8 hour camel ride, I needed to figure out if I was allergic to camels. Considering I'm allergic to almost all (if not all) furry animals, this was a serious possibility.

So I sped my way through the maze of the Rock Garden, weaving in and out of the Indian tourists, to finally reach the bizarre carnival-like area where a single camel offers rides to children. To my slight embarrassment, I asked to ride the camel around the little area. After the 5 minute ride, I felt nothing, which was a good sign. But 5 minutes in the open air wasn't exactly a good test. But I balked at the idea of just sticking my face in the camel's dirty fur, because 1) it was dirty, 2) I didn't want the camel to bite me, 3) it would have made me look crazy. So I settled for just petting the fur and then rubbing my hand on my face while breathing in to try to provoke some kind of reaction. All I got was a small bump on my lip.

So, I'm hoping that means I can go on a short one-day camel trek and still camp out in the desert, I hope. I'll take an antihistamine and it'll be fine... (?)


Although it sounds really lame, it was SO fun to ride the camel! The last time I got to do something like that was when I was a little kid and rode a pony. Since then, I've been allergic, so this was a real treat. :D