Laxmi Niwas Palace Bikaner

... un aspecte molt desmillorat respecte al seu estat salvatge, i si la primera vegada impressionen i et vols mantenir a una distancia de seguretat prudencial, a la segona vegada que les veus doncs ja ni t'immutes ni que pugin al bus amb tu o et tombis despres de comprar un parell de papaies i te les trobi a escassament un pam del teu nas.<br><br> ***********************<br><br>I go to Bikaner to visit the rat temple at Deshnok, a nearby city. Rats are not ...

... eye opening, we saw so many things and got our first glimpse of rural life in india. Leading away from delhi the roads slowly deteriorate and the landscape becomes more arid. We went through loads of villages and passed herd after herd of cows, goats and sheep being guided along the roads, by herders with sticks. We saw peacocks, wild pigs, camels and donkeys (many pulling trailers behind them, on which was usually ...

... of the tourist destination and road map of this kingly state. By hiring car one can easily visit these captivating destinations in an easy way. Visit to Jaipur- the pink city of India and grasp the beauty of this colourful state. One can visit Amber Fort, Jag Mandir, Hawa Mahal- the palaces of wind, Jantar Mantar- the astronomical wonderland, Johari Bazaar, City Palace. Visiting these ...

... passed on the opportunity, shame on me, but I could not bring myself to try it. Other things, yeah. Camel milk just held no appeal whatsoever. We got back on the bus which took us to the hotel for dinner (rooftop restaurant). I didn't eat much, still worried about my stomach, but the meal I had was just all right, nothing special. (Ok, I chose the wrong time to try the non-veg option ;-)) Our tour leader basically told us not to leave the hotel ...

... didn't squeal once but would have wet herself if one of the scabby little nibblers had mounted her foot! All the rats were much smaller than we were expecting and half of them looked very manky (considering they are holy and cared for). Chrissy even spotted a few dead ones, which was nice. The next stop was Bhandasar Temple, which is for the Jain religion. The temple dates back to the fifteenth century. It is said the foundations contain forty thousand ...

... water and feel thirsty again instantly. Did I mention that we don't like the desert?? Anyhow, Bikaner - a desert town (woo hoo!) was actually quite nice. I said to someone that I'd try to give a more in depth description of the places we visit as I'm not sure our blog entries have been capturing the essence of the towns. Which is hard in India as every time you turn around there are a hundred more things to assault your senses, but here we go... Bikaner was more Indian than ...

So, another fortnightly update on our Indian adventure! Since last emailing from the foothills of the Himalayas I write now in a calm hotel, with swimming pool nearby, escaping the heat of the deserts of Rajasthan. Our first dip since we've been on the road, and the cool water is wonderful! The last two weeks have seen us move on from Manali (the Rhotang Pass nightmares have now receded, thank God :-) onwards towards Dharamsala and MacLeod Ganj ...

... Durga, asked the God of Death, Yama, to bring back to life the son of a local storyteller. When Yama refused Karni Mata reincarnated all storytellers as rats, which deprived Yama of human souls. Now all of those rats live in the temple. You really have to watch your step inside, they are literally underfoot!

It's our first day of our camel safari. We have two camels to ride and one with a cart, three camel owners and one guide who speaks english. Toni and Kenny Lee started out on the camels and I road in the cart because they were both so excited about riding the camels. Later, Kenny Lee got tired and so we switched. Riding on these camels are different from the other camel we road. The saddles are different, not as ...