Desert Bound

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15/01/16 Arrive in beautiful Pathankot for breakfast and join my Rajastan bound sleeper train @ 11am, climb aboard my favoured shelf,a chilly ride with most under big blankets, doze along before reaching Bikaner junction at midnight. 16/01/16 rough sleep the night in the station waiting room and head out at 7, check my pack into a nearby "hotel", walk to the Town, get in on student rate(?) impressive architecture at scale, decorative & well worth a visit just to see the weapon exhibits & cool old photos, via the post office to the bhandasar temple in the old city, return back to town and catch a 20 inr bus to Karni Mata temple 30ks from town. An irresistible trip to what's known locally as the mouse temple, local descendants of the late Karni Mata fully intend to be reincarnated as kaba (rats) to join the existing residents of which there's quite a few. Bare feet really get you in touch with this rather nibbly, sticky place. Amusingly lots of little restaurants and stalls outside but for some reason I'd lost my appetite, return to Bikaner for a very good andymurray at the evergreen restau, and grab some sleep before a 7am train to Jaisalmer from nearby Lalgarh station. 7 hour 100 inr train to Jaisalmer 17/01/16 reach Jaisalmer by 1pm, stroll around a wee museum, spin all around town on tuk trying to find a non existent hostel hah before choosing Dylan cafe, 175 dorm. Spend the rest of the day slowly wandering the many winding streets & shops within & around the expansive fort walls , book overnight camel trip for next day with "the real desert man" lol. 18/01/16 8am drive via some b class sights before boarding my camel Mr Golu with 2 Frenchman and our delightful guide Mr Khan, long peaceful lunch break on the scrub dunes before more riding to our sunset sleeping spot, nice grub and picturesque sandy camp to rest our achy thighs. 19/01/16 wake up for beautiful sunrise before stomping back to start point & return jeep to Jaisalmer. ,

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