Not Here for a Haircut

Thar Desert, Rajasthan, India. June 2017

 

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The reality of a camel safari in the desert during an Indian summer is lotsa sweat, a little heatstroke and very sore bums. The starts are early to cover some kilometres before the sun gets too vicious. The days are spent sitting under whatever tree you can find whilst constantly moving to keep under the minimal shade. With six or so hours of intense heat to endure before the afternoon ride to camp you have to enjoy the little things like watching a camel get a makeover.

The cameleers that had congregated around our tree used their time to make things as comfortable as possible for the camels which meant taking off their winter coat in order to endure the summer heat. There were no perms or mohawks and I dount the hairdressers in question had the piece of paper stating they’d completed their hairdressing apprenticeship but they got the job done.

Realistically, I wouldn’t have noticed they were getting their locks cropped if my brother hadn’t pointed it out. Once he pointed me in the right direction I moved towards the action and clicked away in order to see the latest camel styles later. Thankfully camels are large enough that I could at least see them even if the blunt scissors were too small to see. With a camera and a computer screen I can focus in on the action at my own leisure. And under an air conditioner.