Palace View Hotel Bikaner

... even more repulsive. It is strange that in a place where they worship them, half of the population is sick and no one seems to care about this minor detail. I make a quick visit to the temple as I don't fancy walking around bare feed over food left overs or having a rat walking over me. Locals, however, have no problems with that and they even feed them, lay down and consider themselfs fortunate if one of these animals walks over them or if they spot the ...

... looking forward to the rest of rajasthan. Tomorrow we will see whats in Bikaner and hopefull go to the temple of Rats (which is as the name suggests, full of worshipped rats). By the evening tomorrow, we should find ourselves in Jaisalmer, and from there we embark on our camel safari. A lot more driving to be done to get us there though!<br><br>(so far drunk a lot of Chai Tea and eaten a lot of rice and naan) <br><br>Kieran

... of tourist as it offers picturesque view that is a great feast to the tourist&#8217;s eye. Apart from Jaipur, Kota is also one of the most popular destinations of this kingly state. Situated on the southern part of the state this is one of the most beautiful city of this monumental state. This city is laden with beautiful captivating forts, palaces, gardens and picturesque lakes. Well to ...

... more thing - earlier in the day, before lunch even, Indira took us to a miniature painting handicraft shop and I bought something with one of my travellers checks ($50). Just before dinner, apparently the guy had come to the hotel needing my passport for information. Well, he brought cashew nut sweets with him, which were *really* yummy. I will take some of those home if I can find them, since they would be kosher for Passover (if they lasted that long :))

... and would have been a fun place to have just wandered around until we got lost. As we had a taxi waiting we were careful to remember our way back. Chrissy was over the moon to find some stainless steel curry serving pots that she had been on the lookout for a while. They only cost a couple of quid for four - bargain! Like a lot of the shops there it was more like a large cupboard that opened out onto the street. I am sure the young shopkeeper who spoke no ...

... the swirling dust and sand, hooting and shouting and making hulaballoo as they went. Pavements are a rarity in India - much less pavements you can walk along, so we'd leave our hotel and pick our way in and out of these streams of traffic, often stopping at one of the stalls and taking a seat for a while to watch it all go past. The reason that we'd made the trek to Bikaner though was the Karni Mata Temple at nearby Deshnok - famous across the world as the 'rat temple ...

... We didn't, obviously, understand a word and hadn't a radio to tune in for the English translation, but I found it very moving nonetheless to see the man himself. Although getting on a bit now, he looked very well. Just walking through the small crowds he made eye contact with so many and had a very calm but also joyful presence. Not many political leaders can ilicit that response I think. We also attended a lecture held in the goverment ...

... pleasant and decorated with old photos of Bikaner's past rulers. Our room had an amazing view of the Fort across the street and views over the city. The courtyard even had a lawn which is something we haven't seen in a while. The service while we were here was also great. Even though the kitchen was closed, they opened it up in order to make us lunch since we hadn't eaten all day. The rest of the afternoon, we wandered ...

... but I liked it a lot. The chipati is like a fry bread and they make a little fire to cook them. They make the dough and everything right there. They just use flour water, and salt. We have eaten a lot of chipatis in India. We learned that there are three types of camels in India, Jaisalmer camels that are lighter in color and taller. They also have a little bit different look to therir faces. Bikaner camels are very ...