It was my first experience with camel racing... and quite a memorable one.
These are trainers and owners setting up before the race.
Everyone waiting for the races to start. There were eight races in total so only a dozen or so camels raced at a time.
On the way to the starting line. The little figure on the back of the camel is the robot jockey. As recently as 2004 children were actually used as jockeys but this has since been outlawed as using children as jockeys is recognized as a form of child abuse. Still, it's sad that it took so long for such a change.
More on their way towards the starting line. If you look closely you can see markings on their sides near the arm pit. It was hard to tell if these were markings by the owners (like a brand) or wear from the whips.
Close up of the robot jockeys.
Lining up at the starting gate.
This is a view from the other side of the gate. The handlers stand in front of the net, holding the camels' reins. When the race starts, the net lifts, the camels come rushing out, and the handlers have to scramble to get out of the way of legs and hooves.
... And they're off!
It was pretty common to see the handlers' sandals flying up behind them as they tried to get out of the way.
I would've been terrified.
Luckily we didn't see anyone get hurt although I was told that it wasn't uncommon for people to get trampled. Supposedly getting trampled by a camel isn't a dangerous as a horse but either way, I wouldn't want it to happen.
Sometime around the 4th or 5th race, I was able to climb up on the camera van and ride along side the camels.
The trucks in the background are actually the owners. They are using remotes to control the jockeys and some of the camels have ear pieces so they can hear their owner.
Aside from the remote controlled robot and the ear piece, there was also a lot of yelling and slapping the side of trucks.
This camel is running so hard his bottom lip is flapping in the wind.
They have such an awkward stride but they look so determined. During shorter races spectators can actually ride their own cars alongside the race.
Nearing the end. You can see all the owners riding alongside their camels, trying to get them to go go go.
The winner (at least of this race)
I hope he gets a bath to clean off all that foam.
A herd of young racing camels. I think these are too young to race but they are probably being trained. Notice the matching outfits (on the camels of course)?
It wasn't that dusty, and it didn't really smell that bad, yet both camel and trainer were masked.
He kept waving and telling me to take more pictures so I thought I'd oblige with his photo in my blog.
All in all, it was an intense experience, one I planning on doing again. The winners do receive monetary prizes but it seems that the reward is more about the race than the prize.
