Week 10 – Jodhpur – Jaisalmer – Bikaner

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We arrived in Jodhpur and were besieged by auto rickshaw drivers the moment we got off the bus. Then out of the chaos appeared a smiling face who said he would pay for our rickshaw if we had a look at his hotel. Although no thing is ever for free in India, we took him up on his offer. The hotel turned out to be nice, with a good crowd of people, so we stayed, but I'm sure we paid for the rickshaw at some point!

Jodhpur is a great place with a huge rock fort towering over the narrow, crowed streets of the town below. We spent our time there wandering around the fort and it's gardens. From the battlements we could gaze out over the city, full of houses painted blue to reflect the sun and repel insects.

The busy streets were a world away from the calm of the fort. Every building seemed to be a shop or restaurant. There was just enough room for two motorbikes to pass but when cows, dogs, cars and people are added to the mix the result is chaos. The only peaceful moment was when I stopped off at a street side barber shop for a long overdue shave and head massage.

Another bus took us to Jaisalmer and another man with a hotel gave us another free ride from the bus stop.

Jaisalmer is a desert town dominated by a sandstone fort which looks kind'a like a huge sand-castle. A lazy day was spent aimlessly walk the forts grounds, marvelling at the intricate stone work.

Jaisalmer is also the centre for Rajasthan's camel safaris. We were intending to do a camel safari from Bikaner on the recommendation of some people we meet at Mount Abu, but we had a spare afternoon so went on a half day trek to fill in time. Our safari took us to a village for sweet tea and opium, then onto sand dunes to watched the sunset and enjoy a cold beer. The evening was rounded off with lots of food, music and dancing.

The next day our legs and bottoms were aching from riding the camels and the six hour journey to Bikaner became a real chore. Yet again we were besieged by rickshaw drivers once we left the bus but this time they all wanted to take us to the same hotel, the one we wanted to go to as well!

After talking to a couple who had just returned from a camel safari and still feeling sore from the day before, we decided to not to ride any more camels. Our half day trek seemed to have covered the experience in a condensed amount of time. Instead we caught a local bus out to Karni Mata Temple (The Rat Temple). An otherwise unimpressive temple that's home for hundreds of thousands of rats, all running, jumping and fighting each other. Bowls of sugar water and milk are put out for the rats which are revered as reincarnated storytellers If ever there was heaven on earth for rats it would have to be here. Although for me, walking barefoot through all the rat droppings, it was more like hell.

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Photos

Tracy in the rat temple
Calm down dear its only a 1000 rats crawling at your feet!