A Day in Bikaner

 Sensory overload!!!

Today was one of those days I love in India... a day where every one of your senses is stimulated with a very high voltage current..... Usually all at once!

We started our day at the Junagadh Fort here in Bikaner.

 The best thing about this fort  is the elaborate and very rich interior.....walls and ceilings painted with gold and fabrics woven with both gold and silver. It dates back to the late 1400's but has been added to over the centuries. It has also stood up to many many attacks.

I might have spent 3 months in India over the last year and a half but I still have a lot to learn. I was admiring the beautiful dolls clothes in the Fort but Tarun informed me that they weren't dolls clothes but clothes to dress the Gods in. Whoops!

Bikaner is most well known as the place of the Rat Temple....actually about 30 kms away so it gave us the chance to experience another back road through a pretty cool little village. I still think it's hilarious the way people look at me when we venture out of the usual tourist areas. Tarun stopped and asked some guys for directions and they almost climbed through the window trying to get a better look at me.

But then things changed and I started looking at them. Love the uniforms the school girls wear here... often the same style but in different colours... I particularly like blue and white and marvel at how they keep the white looking so clean in such a dusty atmosphere.

The Rat Temple was weird. The actual temple is very old with a very beautiful entrance.

It was a Temple so we had to take off our shoes. My first reaction was 'ow' as the ground was very hot on the feet. The second reaction was 'yuk!' as we had to walk around the rat infested temple in bare feet. As we entered it sure stimulated my sense of smell! I'm sure you can imagine!

There were rats everywhere ... up, down and around and in every little crevice you could see... And the ones you couldn't see.

I have a friend, and I know she'll read this and know exactly who I'm talking about, who was recently so traumatised by a mouse in the house that she had to call for help ... she even put it on Facebook!!

Wish you had been with me 'D' .... I would have loved to see your reaction as rats ran over your toes... and that they did as they were completely unafraid of people.

As we left Tarun once again enjoyed telling some gullible person that I had adopted him as a very young child. When questioned about his proficiency in Hindi he informed them that I'd sent him to a Hindi school. You can't stop this man :-)

Rat watching is thirsty work, so aware that I wasn't going to have too many more chances, I once again sampled the wonderful sugarcane juice. It's amazing how much juice they can extract from such a small length of cane.

Back to the city and we got a tuktuk driver to take us round the Old City... even Tarun accepted that the streets were too narrow for the car this time. The tuktuk driver waited for us while we had a very nice lunch ...

... all for way less than NZ $10.

Our first stop was to look at some beautiful old houses

..then through the streets that were so narrow that we could reach out and touch everything we passed.

 

A real surprise was a beautiful Jain Temple over 500 years old. Evidently when it was built ghee was used as a substitute for water and in very hot weather it can be seen seeping out of the floor.... not so hot today!

The interior was amazing and completely unexpected.

Just around the corner there was another Temple and at least 1000 pigeons but I liked the cow eating plastic... not sure what sort of milk she produces, if any!

 

The next stop was to meet one of the locals, a man with a moustache two metres long. He keeps it wound up and secured with hair clips but unwound it for our benefit... And a few rupees!

Back to the car and back to the hotel, driving past the Border Security place on the way.

There is a big military presence in many of these places close to the border of Pakistan, and given the number of military training places I've seen on this and previous trips, I'd assume that India has a huge army.

The pool was very welcome when we arrived back at the hotel.

Dinner here at the hotel tonight. It's served outside around the pool but I'm not so sure about tonight as it's just started to rain. I can't believe that every time we've had rain, not that it's happened often, or for long, it's been in the desert!!!

Bikaner

Oh for those off-roads Tarun!

Roughly 250 kms to Bikaner today and all of it on main roads. That means for a much faster, smoother and easier drive but it's not nearly so much fun. This is desert country and the scenery doesn't change too much. We saw this

And this...

And then wow... A cotton factory in the distance.

Lots of camel carts though and they're always fun.

Unlike the camel we need lots of water. We have to buy it in small quantities here otherwise we're drinking very hot water. Tarun seems to be in and out of shops buying it at very frequent intervals.

 

Speaking of water, it rained last night and we saw huge puddles of water on the sides of the road. There is no drainage system in these towns and the water doesn't seem to seep into the ground very quickly so it needs to wait for the sun to evaporate it. Never thought I would see this in the desert 

Thought we'd get breakfast on the road today but by the time we were hungry there was nowhere much to eat, so it was out with the cashew nuts and oranges again.

We got a lovely welcome at our desert resort hotel, flowers round our neck, cold drinks and towels and even a board in the foyer welcoming Mr Tarun .... Obviously I didn't count :-(

Take a look at  Maharaja Mr Tarun  with his flowers and fancy hairdo. I think a hair cut is going to be high on his agenda when he gets back to Delhi.

It seems like the Maharaja has his palace, including the restaurant and swimming pool, all to himself and his guest, as we are the only ones here......apart from the lizards that are scuttling around the walls and all the birds conversing rather loudly in the vicinity. 

After a very welcome swim and laze around the pool I reminded the Maharaja that he was actually working so off into explore the city :-)

First stop is a rooftop restaurant for a drink. Some of these old buildings are absolutely gorgeous and I love the style of architecture .

..... and that's about as far as we got. Only 4 nights left before I leave and we are both feeling a little tired now. It's been a very busy four weeks and we've done so much, so spending a few hours in a beautiful roof top setting was  about all we had energy for. Tomorrow we will be staying put and doing some touristy things.

Loved the cow and all the dogs sleeping beside our car when we left the restaurant. Often they just sleep in the middle of the road, which probably has something to do with why we see so many dead dogs on the road.

Jodhpur

Today I became very aware that I'm on the homeward run as it was back to Jodhpur to the same hotel that we stayed in on our way down to Gujarat. Tarun has been dreaming of that swimming pool for a while now.

The first part of the drive wasn't too exciting as we were on a main highway and although the road was great there isn't a great amount to see on these roads. The real sights are on the lesser roads but the very very best sights are on the lesser lesser roads where Tarun has vowed to keep off :-)

Didn't think he'd stick with that resolution!

I consider myself very lucky to have been able to venture into these out of the way places and I think I really realised that when I reached the very touristy Udaipur where the tourists were mainly seeing buildings and shops. Thank you Tarun... youve given me a very unique experience.

We hadn't seen many monkeys for a while so I was happy that we started to see them again leaving Udaipur. They sit and watch us go by, often on the road where the cars pass by very closely. These black faced monkeys have extremely long tails which often stretch out over the road and I wonder how many cars end up running over the tail. Ouch!

Before we hit the desert the roads were very pretty with lots of trees with green leaves and flowers.

Lots of activity of course with vehicles, animals and people. At one point there was a sign indicating that there were leopards in the area but despite Tarun's warnings on both this trip and the one I did last year, I have never seen one. The people are always colourful and I've started to recognise the regional differences in dress.

The villages are also very different and the houses constructed in different materials and styles.

 

I have noticed many handmade bricks as I've travelled around . You often see a large square brick structure with smoke arising from it as they are fired.

 

At one stage today we had to wait for a train. This is usually chaotic but much easier today because there wasn't too much traffic. I decided to count the carriages... 59!! That is a very long train.

There is a festival of gypsy music on in Jodhpur and the hotel seems to be full of foreign tourists. We spent the afternoon swimming and relaxing. 

Off to Bikaner tomorrow... another long drive but we are staying for two nights. 

A Day in Udaipur

Two nights in one place means a leisurely start to the morning. Last night Tarun very briefly suggested he could run around the lake this morning but I noticed that it didn't happen.

Udaipur is full of little narrow streets so a tuktuk was the best option to go into the town,as was a reasonably early start to beat the heat. We wandered around the streets a bit and it made me realise how much I prefer the less touristy places. There are lots of foreigners around here, many of them with a tour group.... Indian mother duck is leading all the western ducklings as they wander along behind. There are many shops selling Indian handcrafts, clothes and souvenirs ... all very colourful and gloriously blingy in the Rasathan style.

I'm not sure if they'd come into the category of souvenirs but the shop selling false teeth was worth a look. I can't be 100% sure but they looked very much used to me. All shapes and sizes... top ones and bottom ones, full ones and partial ones......something  to suit everyone! Window shopping was enough for me as I had no desire at all to try anything for size.

The fruit and vegetable stalls in India always look good so today it was bananas, oranges and mangoes for lunch .

Anyone who has travelled in Asia will know that toilets are challenges that are best avoided, but when you have to go you have to go. The picture outside was of a woman but this is what I had to deal with inside. I just hoped that the men saw the picture of a woman and stayed outside.

Walking through the streets is never boring.....

We made it down to the edge of the lake and sat a while watching a couple of women washing their clothes... and themselves.

There were a group of boys having a lot of fun in the water right by where I saw dead fish last time I was in Udaipur. A policeman came and moved them in but they were back as soon as the policeman left.

It was all very hot and tiring so it was a good excuse for a lassi where we could look down on all the people passing by.

Despite the fact that it is very touristy, Udaipur is a very beautiful place . Some of the buildings around the lake are beautiful and it's hard to know wether it is most beautiful during the day or at night. There are lights all around the lake and we are also lucky to have a full moon. We have eaten at the hotel restaurant both nights as the food is good and the setting absolutely beautiful with tables set out on a lawn leading to the lake, all lit with candles. Just the right sort of place to enjoy a nice wine! However, I guess it depends on how much you want it, as for $NZ 30 a glass I decided that I didn't want it that badly.

Tomorrow morning we are back off to Jodphur, staying in the same nice hotel we were in last time.... the swimming pool being a big attraction. It's not so much that we are wanting to go back to Jodphur, it's more that it's the best place to stop as we head back to Delhi. It seems sooo long ago that we were there..

Udaipur

 

Who would have thought ... a breakfast of chicken sausages, potato, cooked tomato, bacon, egg and toast. I could have been at home.

It was a 260km drive to Udaipur with only one stop for chai and samosa.... Yeah I think we do eat all day, but perhaps not as much as we drink! I've lost count of the empty water bottles we've thrown out but it's been enough to start our own recycling factory.

The country became very dry as we headed into Rajasthan and most of the way driving was pretty easy .... Apart from the number of trucks of course.

We arrived in Udaipur early afternoon. 

The hotel is very lovely as you can see in the photos and the room looks over the lake. 

We are staying here for two nights as we've had a few one night stops and they get very tiring. We sometimes need two nights to catch up on a few chores like washing clothes. Tarun also had to mend his pants.... I remember him doing that on the last trip we did together as well. Nice to see a man who can mend his own pants!

Udaipur is a beautiful place . I was here in    November 2013 and I have very fond memories of it. This is the place where we did a cook school.... hmmm I never did try out those dishes at home. I have cooked the chicken curry that Tarun  taught me to make last year though and it was very good..... wow, he can cook and sew...... What a catch!!!!

 And here is the photo to prove that I really did make it. 

The hotel restaurant leads right down to the lakefront so we spent a bit of time sitting there watching the activity on the lake and the squirrels darting around. It was quite a contrast to the chaos we experienced earlier today in Ahmedabad.

Tarun remarked on how clean the lake looked  but changed his mind when I told him about the dead fish I saw floating around in it last time I was here. The restaurant actually serves 'lake fish' but I'm not planning on ordering that.

We went for a walk around the lake just before sunset.......

......and kept walking and walking ......

....... until it got dark. We had the odd stop where we sat and watched life go by. Lots of people just walking, talking and snacking on street food. I worried a bit about the dog that was caught on a little bit of land between the water of the lake and a big high wall but it was a waste of time as after a while she just took a mighty leap up on to the wall and was gone. Didn't know dogs could jump so high.

It was a walk back in the dark with a full moon and the lights reflected on the lake. This place may be touristy but I like it very much. It is very very beautiful and the area around the lake looks very much like it could be in Europe.