Today we drove to the town of Dechu, many of the people who live and work here are very poor by our standards. Regardless, they are only too happy to show us how they run their machinery, the castor oil, sesame seed and peanut oil extraction was very interesting nothing is wasted, oil is extracted and the resulting fibre is a high protein paste which is fed to livestock. The locals, particularly the children love to chat with us and have their photographs taken with us. Amongst what seems like an unworkable chaotic environment these people survive, raise their children and have big dreams. They also like talking about cricket.

It’s then into our Mahindra 4WD to drive through the desert. While we found this refreshing, people eke out a living in the Thar Desert. The houses are dispersed quite a way from each other and numbers of occupants is quite low. Wildlife is readily seen, and birds are very common. Litter is almost absent, people here don’t waste anything.

It’s almost embarrassing, but our next stop is at a beautiful resort. It employs many people so that helps with the mixed feelings.

We visit a community of the Bishnois, beautiful people kind enough to show us through their home and answer our inquisitive inquiries.

We finish the day at a desert camp, very well setup and abundant birdlife and animals. It’s interesting, farmers, trees and wildlife life live in harmony, by comparison in Australia it’s a situation of shoot it, chop it down or burn it.

At dinner we are entertained by traditional Rajasthan music and dancing.

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