Sore bums after Bikaner

As our train edged closer to Bikaner, it was clear that we were starting to enter the boundaries of the Rajasthan desert. It was beautiful watching the sun come up over the flat, dry landscape.

Our main aim in coming to Bikaner was to experience a little of the Rajasthan desert, hopefully go on a camel ride and also avoid the crowds of package tourists that descend on the more popular desert tourist destination of Jaisalmer.

There is not a lot to say about the city of Bikaner - it has a fort (as does just about every city in Rajasthan), some pretty good Thali restaurants and an interesting old city that we spent a day slowly getting lost in. Perhaps what distinguishes it from other Indian cities we have visited so far is that instead of just seeing cows walking down the main road, in Bikaner you can also see camels side by side with cars and rickshaws. The locals were also pretty friendly. Brendan was invited to join in a game of scramble - a popular Indian game which involves flicking tokens across a smoothe board and trying to sink them into pockets (kind of a mixture between pool and air hockey). He was only slightly humiliated when he was thrashed by a 6 year old, who in the end was trying to line the tokens up next to the hole for Brendan - which he still missed... Oh well, at least he gave the locals something to laugh about for the day.

We ended up going on our camel safari for 3 days and 2 nights with a small group, including a young french couple and two girls - one from Romania and the other from Lithuania (we made a nice, but odd little group). For those of you who have never been on a camel, let me try and describe the sensation. PAIN! I am guessing it is probably the most uncomfortable form of transport imaginable - hence why the locals ride in the camel cart and not stupidly on the camel. It was not surprising that by the 3rd day the majority of the group opted to walk through the desert, rather than ride the camels. Despite the bruises and broken tail bones, it was a fantastic 3 days. We saw some amazing desert scenery, quite a bit of wildlife, ate pretty decent camping food and, best of all, slept right under the stars; just chucking a blanket down on the sand dunes and falling asleep gazing up at the starry night. The villages we passed through greeted us warmly - the local kids were so excited they would come running towards us and beg to have their photos taken.

One last stop before leaving Bikaner was to pay a visit to the Hindu Rat Temple about 30km outside of town. At this place the rats are worshipped and fed by the local Hindu population. It is even considered good luck if they run over your feet (which Brendan experienced in bare feet..ewwhh...not me Thank God). Can't say it was one of my favourite places...bit gross...but definitely interesting!

All in all, I am definitely glad we made it to Bikaner. Yesterday we left early in the morning and spent the whole day travelling south. We are now in Udaipur and will probably spend a couple of days here and in nearby Chittorgarh before heading to Mumbai.

Make sure you check out the India photo album - we put a whole bunch from the camel trek in there!

//Kate