Went out to the camel races today. It was a really odd experience. Don’t know why I was expecting something similar to a horse race, but it was rather different. We didn’t sit in the stands. We were in a bus that was on a roadway on the inside of the track. When the camels started we would follow along the way in the bus (or others in a car). They also don’t use jockeys anymore. Instead they use robotic riders with remote controlled whips. The owners ride along on the outside of the track in their SUV’s with the remotes whipping the camels to hurry up. I checked the speed of the bus and we were going 35-40 kph following along with the lead camels.
Here is a picture of the start of one of the races where I got out of the bus:
how…interesting. robotic jockeys that whip the camels when the operator presses a button? so bizarre. kind of saddening.