Karni Mata Mandir (The Rat Temple)

After arriving in Bikaner at 5am, we checked into a really nice Haveli. We both went to sleep for a good 5/6 hours and then we were on our way to the Mandir. We were going to catch the bus there and then after meeting this persuasive rickshaw driver we decided to go with him.

The temple is just outside Bikaner therefore it took us about 40min to reach there. I was really excited and couldn't wait to see the temple. Once we were about to enter the Mandir I was a little wary and cautious. As soon as we took our shoes of I was looking everywhere I stepped because if you step on a rat you have to replace it with its own weight in silver, even if that wasn't the case I wouldn't want to step on one! Lol

While I was in the Mandir I thought to myself this is cool, even though there is millions of rats everywhere, they were mainly tucked into the corners. Well that’s when one just ran across brushing passed me and I nearly screamed! I slowly got used to it and was able to walk around the Mandir at a more peaceful pace. I couldn't believe how many rats were there and I was trying my best to spot the white one as its said to be good luck, but unfortunately didn't and I wasn't going to go searching for it in all the corners if you know what I mean!

Also devotees are meant to drink the same milk as the rats are drinking from. This is called Prasad (blessed food or drink), yeah we passed on that and had some nice hot Halwa from outside, which was also prasad. I hope the rats didn't eat from that!

After leaving the temple we went to book a bus ticket back to Jaipur as everyone in Jaipur kept calling us and asking when we'll be back, so we lied to them and thought we'll give them a nice surprise. We then went back to the Haveli and had dinner on the rooftop which was amazing, as we not only had a nice view of Bikaner but there were traditional Marwari singers and dancers there to entertain us all. It was a really nice way to finish off the day; we then chilled on the heritage swing until our auto came to pick us up. Soon we were on the bus back to Jaipur.

We arrived in Jaipur at 5am, we then caught an auto to Sanjay and Priya's house and after arguing with the rickshaw wala about the price, we definitely managed to surprise them, as well as give them an early wake up call.

So that day we went around visiting all our friends to say we were back, not like we were gone for that long. That evening Priya had her annual function on at the school, so we all went down and gave her and her class support. I must say it was fab the kids done a play on Cinderella and the performances where superb and so where the dances.

The next few days we went out and enjoyed as much time as we had left. On the last evening I and Mike went to have dinner on the rooftop of a 5 star hotel and it was really nice, we just reminisced about our travels and I knew it was going to be a little weird to see him go.

So it was the 25th and we both had our tickets to Delhi, everyone came to see Michael off and then we were on our way.

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