The caravan continues
"The ship of the desert"... in the mountains
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VOLKOV:
It made me pleased with myself that I didn't forget to grab my long sleeved
white shirt. It took no time to get sunburnt. Luba now had more responsibilities.
She treated sunburns and corns. A regular road ended, and a narrow stony
path stood before us. When we stopped, Luba made an announcement. She said,
"Whoever needs help, come here one by one!" We all got in a line. At the
place where we stopped, the river had created some small streams and waterholes.
We went skinny dipping.
We were all waiting for the crossing that we'd dread. I hoped that
luck would stay on our side. Generally, you get more superstitious while
being in an expedition. The meat had floated away and I thought, "Let us
have all the problems before we reach the mountains. Then let everything
be OK".
With great pleasure I was watching the camels. We had dumped 100kg
on each one, and they could pull it without having to stop to eat. They
are elegant creatures. It seems that their noses get pierced with a stick
in early childhood. People fasten the rope to the stick that makes it very
easy to control them. After each passage camels get tied up to their noses
for a couple of hours. Then they get released, they rush to bushes and
start chewing until morning. |
