If you must get exercise, go in search of the springs of life…Moreover, you must walk like a camel, which is said to be the only animal which ruminates while walking.
-Walking, Thoreau
Much of the time we walked beside our camels, not riding while they walked. Either way, we ruminated on that eternal question, When do we get there? But before that, other queries occupied the mind. Where is the Nile? How are some camels faster than others? Who knows the route better, KhairAllah or Bilāl? What is the Arabic word for saddle sore? And more importantly, Why is it that the slower we walk, the more tired we feel?