In the Thar Desert

One of my favourite movies was ‘City Slickers’ (‘Scappo dalla cittá’), the story of three friends in the middle of their mid-life crises who decide - to temporarily escape their problems - to spend a vacation together playing to the ‘cow boys’ - and join an organized group who has to move a herd of cattle from New Mexico to Colorado. During that trip they have to face a number of unforeseen events, by overcoming which they eventually overcome their crises.

One of my favourite scenes in that movie is when the three friends, after having led the herd across a river in flood, proudly gallop together through the prairies singing softly the soundtrack of the Magnificent Seven...

I always dreamt to find myself in the same situation, and - with all the due differences - I had this opportunity last week, when we decided to venture in the Thar Desert on a camel. After a couple of hours of quiet ride on these loose-limbed animals in fact, we suddenly went wild and started a wild run in the middle of the dunes, inciting our camels in an improbable Hindi... an incomparable feeling of freedom!

(If you want to know who actually won the ride, check http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tLmZxRwbzBI ).

We spent then a wonderful night around a fire under the stars of Rajasthan, eating dhal and chapati, and trying to teach ‘Bella Ciao’, ‘Fiume Rosso’, and the Chinese national anthem to our guides (two young kids not older than 12-13 years).

The following morning we arduously went back to Jaisalmer on the back of our camels, suffering the pains of hell for our sore bottoms.

It was beautiful overnight excursion and we spent a wonderful night - but, while massaging our butts, I was sadly observing we are not cut for the adventure anymore...