people in desert
13/12/04 2:50 pm Waiting for lunch beside a pile of camel dung.
Before dinner, the guide gave a long speech why he deserve a big tip. He is nice to me, but he tried to cheat a fancy pen I gave to a little girl. That reset his tips level to the standard rate of 100R.
They play music and smoke dopes, what a feat!
Passed a village where they are trying to trade camels. The seller is asking for 10,000 Rupees but the buyer asked for 9,000. They were happily eating opium as we left but the trade hadn't finished yet.
Oh, and the nice buyer offered a small piece of brownish lassie (dessert) which I later learnt was opium. My guide even asked me if I wanted to buy opium. Well, smoking dope is a very common pass time around this area. People looked healthy enough; I didn't notice any health problem as in the western countries.
Buying a camel to travel around India is not a bad idea. It is strong and can carry many things. It can easily walk around 4km/hr, more if beaten. It is not very picky when eating in the desert.
