Exploring India by camel

In this week's Reader Postcard Gary Marks masters the uncomfortable art of camel-riding on a incredible desert safari in northwest India:

"The beasts were particularly unfazed to see us on arrival....

We had travelled 30km into the Thar Desert from Jaisalmer, in India, to go on a camel safari, and here they were at last. They were sitting down chewing their cud, and were completely uninterested in what was in store for them: us.

The rules were simple ... don't go around the front end of them, because they may bite or spit, and don't around the back of them, because they may kick or fart. Apart from that you just steer them like horses.

Anyway, we were paired up with an animal each, saddled up and hoisted up on to the saddle. Camels' backs are not really designed for a saddle - they stick up into a point.

Somehow they manage to construct a saddle out of wood and blankets on top of them. It is only barely comfortable, and you feel as though you are being thrust forward on to a hasp-like raised piece that stops you falling off.

Eventually they encourage the camels on to their feet and, wow, are you high up. It is most unnerving for a start, then they start moving.

Well, it is like riding on a wave. A most unusual sensation.

After a while you can relax to a point, although never completely. We were serenaded by the camel drivers en route.

With the turbans they had made for us we felt like Indians, although I'm sure we didn't look the part.

After a couple of hours of riding it was time for lunch. The camels were forced to sit down and that is always exciting. They drop on to their front knees first and you feel as though you are going to fall forward.

Fortunately, they then drop their hindquarters and sit while you alight.

The camels were then hobbled and allowed to roam free to eat the surrounding vegetation. Our camel drivers made a fire and cooked a lovely lunch of chapatis, fried vegetables and fruit. What a treat to eat this under the shade of a large tree near an oasis.

After lunch and a short siesta we again mounted the camels and continued our journey further into the desert.

As sunset was approaching, we again dismounted and watched the fiery red ball of the sun sink over the desert ... quite an unforgettable sight.

Apparently, at this stage we were only about 20km from the Pakistan border. Following the setting sun, we quickly mounted the camels again and travelled to our campsite before it became completely dark.

We were again treated to a magnificent meal cooked by our camel drivers; this time with lashings of Kingfisher beer.

Then on came a dancing troupe to entertain us, but by then the effects of a day in the saddle and the beer had sent us almost to sleep.

The bed in the tent was very welcome. We were not alone in the tent though, and had to share it with a dung beetle, numerous frogs and a very large spider. Sweet dreams!"

• Gary Marks lives in Dunedin.