The carts do not have springs of any kind, but they are padded well with blankets. Good thing, too, because the roads are VERY rough and potholed. This is the stunning view from the cart. OK perhaps stunning is not the right word!
We had to take the road thru the village, and we were really like a freak show parade! They stared
at us and we stared back. Sometimes the kids would come out of the buildings to stare closer, or even wave. I was interested in the machines that were being used to pound tin. 
The step well was really interesting. The point of it was to make the water easily accessible, no matter how high or low the level. It was dug sometime in the 1700s, but the water is VERY low now. Some guys that showed up there at the well were telling us all about it (then later inviting us to stop at their silver store near the hotel on the way back! I tell you, when it comes to selling something, these people never miss a trick!) and explained that the drain on the water table is so much more now, with developement and building, that this well just doesn't fill up anymore. It was a very long way down... Alex counted 118 steps and we didn't go all the way. Our guides told us it was 80 metres deep (that is about 240 feet).
Keep in mind as you look at these photos that the majority of this structure is below ground level. I can't believe I didn't take a photo from the top so you could see how it looked. The top level you see is a series of small three-sided rooms that were for travellers to stay in. They would hang a blanket over the opening for privacy. There is not much to see until you get to the edge and look down at all these stairs. We walked down to a main level then decided that was far enough down - we held the camera out over the edge because it didn't feel very safe and leaning over seemed like a bad plan - then walked around to the far side to see the regular round-hole well that was dug at the back edge.
Loading up to go back - we started getting braver with the camels. Here is Alex getting close.
The "guides" also told us that that domed thing behind Alex used to be the end of a tunnel that ran from the fort to the well, as an option if the fort was attacked or under seige.
We got a fairly good view of the fort on the way back - the photo would have been better if I had been a bit taller. A camel cart on a bumpy road is not a good place to stand up for a better angle.
Here is Rich Cutler, chasing the cart! One of his kids dropped a shoe. We all laughed :)
Camels are not graceful or attractive. These ones had a stick thru their nose for steering, and if the driver thought he wasn't moving fast enough he used a thick wooden rod to beat him on the rump. And I mean a THICK rod! They must be tough. They don't move fast. We didn't see any biting or spitting .
Isaac really wasn't interested in getting very close to this camel. I wanted him to hold the rope but that was not going to happen!
It was hot. It was interesting. We had fun. :)
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