Bumpy Ride in Bikaner

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We arrived in Bikaner, Northern India on the edge of the Great Thar Desert which separates India from Pakistan.
We were struck by a blaze of heat when we descended from the train, it was the hottest spot yet. (Not sure what we were expecting the desert to be like!) After checking into our hotel which overlooked the city and desert we settled down for the night with another Indian or curry as known locally. We were entertained by two Hindi lady singers and dancers over dinner. She managed to persuade me to dance after one beer which shows that my tolerance has definetly gone down. I managed a few Makarana moves and was thinking off introducing the swardo dance to Indian culture but decided against it. Amy stayed put, a wise move.

The next morning, the day of the camel ride. I have to admit we were a tad bit nervous so we decided to go for only 3 hours to see how we would fare out. Our safari was about 17k from our hotel in the desert. I was surprised to see lots of green plants and trees there and it actually didn't feel too hot. I had a preconception of seeing mirages in the disatnce and bumping into characters like chicko from the good, the bad and the Ugly.
So myself and Amy plonked ourselves on the camel, Amy holding onto me and I holding onto the reins. It was quite terrifying with the locals gesticulating and telling me to hold on tight. We succeeded after swaying over the camel Cheru's head. Our companions were in a cart ahead being lead by another camel (they explained only tourists are mad enough to ride on the camels especially mid summer!). The pace was quite tame so after a few minutes we started to enjoy it. I jumped off after an hour while Amy took the reins. I think the camel was quite relieved when the heavy weight was lifted. we had a nice cup of chai during our break and then I jumped on for the last half hour managing to split my Indian trousers that resembled pyjamas...what a waste they were. All went swimmingly well aside from when Cheru caught sight of a female camel in the distance and took me for a trot!
The next day we had a few pains...won't go into details.

Our third day in Bikaner was spent walking around the town. I struck up a conversation with a local, Vasim and he brought us around the old part of the city to local vendors smelling and guessing the different spices. We also visted a Jain temple which was very impressive, part of the temple was built on a foundation of butter instaed of water as the Jain's are quite wealthy.
We were fed and watered again in the hotel but Amy insisted on eating away from the dancing lady..smart move, she must have been shamed by my moves on the previous night!
As i went to bed that night I didn't feel too well, a suspicious gurgling somewhere down below ....must have been the chicken soup...didn't think it was a good move...eemm maybe the Delhi belly has nabbed me.

Anyways gotta go ...next stop Mount Abu...we're becoming spiritual...

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Comments

[Jason O'Neill]

Anyone for scrambelled eggs with "Cheese" and a few rashers!!, etc.