- Bikaner - arrival and orientation
- the Old City (Part One)
rest periods in India force themselves upon you, and it was to be expected after the last couple of days that we would at some point need a breather. today was one of those days. the aborted train journey and its successful version had drained us a little and, what's more, we had made no definite plans for the next few days. a little orientation and consideration was called for.
rising late and walking around the corner to the Amber restaurant for breakfast, we immediately picked up a young man called Rustam, who said that he was setting up his own camel safari outfit after working previously with his brother. as the only visible Westerners, touts were always going to latch on to us easily. he followed us into the restaurant and it took quite a while to shake him off - he appeared again as we went the very short distance around the corner once more to a cheap and well run internet cafe.
Bikaner seems to be a very bustling place, a lot of energy flying around at speed and quite visibly polluted. we were hailed with greetings even on the short walk to breakfast and back again. although a BBC weather check had said that it was the same temperature - 39C - as in Jaipur, felt noticeably hotter, perhaps amplified by all the dust.
we had done very little, but we still felt the need to rest again in the afternoon, taking the opportunity to plan a few things as well. it may sound a little lazy, but there is only so much that you can do when a short walk requires you to drink a great deal of water. the people in Bikaner - Bikanese? - seem to be out and about more in the heat than those further South and the traffic never stops, although we are of course near to the railway station. in the light of day, our room, seemed a little less functional, if not exactly homely, but we decided that we really couldn't face the hassle of moving again.
we were undecided about a few things and so (for the first time!) we decided to visit the tourist information bureau in town. although well past 4pm, the dry, dusty heat was still impressively oppressive. it was not difficult hailing a rickshaw and we don't think it ever will be, here, there seem to be so many of them. the prices all seem lower as well. the Bikaner rickshaw specialty appears to be carefully chosen painted or metal motifs fixed upon the back where the window would normally be, featuring Bollywood stars, romantic scenes, religious images and, er, Rambo. the short walk from our drop off point to the tourist info place yielded still more hails and hellos, as well as men sitting near huge sacks of dried chillies and other food for sale.
there appeared to be not really much to it, but the tourist office made up in advice what it lacked in facilities, helping us out regarding trains to Jaisalmer - as in, they do exist! - information on nearby Deshnok's famous rat temple, which we both wanted to visit, and also on camel safaris. the advice on the latter was helpful and detailed, although by this point we had both decided that it was simply unwise to do long morning and afternoon periods on a camel on this heat, no matter how much we may have wanted to do it and have a night under the stars.
in the later afternoon it was still hotter than we were used to for that time of day. we walked North from our hotel and found the 'bus stop' for a trip to Deshnok, more of an area for jumping on than anything marked with anything as prosaic as a sign. taking the Goga Gate into Bikaner's Old City, we had a bit of a wander before dinner.
stand off, Bikaner
in the space of 30 minutes we probably had more smiling, waved greetings, handshakes and brief beaming conversations than we had had in the previous three weeks. quite the attraction, we felt like visiting dignitaries. everywhere we went we drew excited and entirely genuine outgoing attention, even if it is quite difficult to have a conversation with someone on a bike riding past who asks your name and yet does not stop.
the architecture of the Old City is hatstand and we are hoping to give it a proper tour on another day. very modern buildings in garish colours occasionally intrude through a welter of crumbling old havelis, ugly unfinished concrete slabs, brick built structures and others with an air of faded glamour. the whole city's roads are lined with open channels that are obviously drains and sewers, but the arrangement seems to generally work, since it's clearly not rained here for a long time, any pools of liquid on the roads are from where it has collapsed into the oomskar (as Uncle Monty would say) below.
as well as the now high levels of constant smiles and introductions, we don't think that we have previously seen quite so many cows before. there have always been large numbers, but in Bikaner you can believe that there is one cow for every two people in India. a large number of them here are also pregnant - as if there isn't already enough cow dung on the streets!
a colourful procession passed us carrying large dolls of brides or goddess on their heads while, everywhere above us, unseen hands were flying small coloured diamond kites over the street.
street scene with goddesses, Bikaner.we reached another entrance way, the large Kota Gate, the wooden doors of which were studded with rows of large spikes.
the sheer numbers of people on the streets was impressive, chaotic and at times quite hard to navigate.
unlike, say, Pushkar, nothing here seems geared to Westerners, which is preferable. we walked through a crowded textile area and not one person hassled us in any way, all everyone wanted to do was say 'Hello' and make introductions.
we met a very pleasant man waiting for his wife's sari to be hemmed, who had seen us in the Amber restaurant earlier and told us not to go with Rustam on a camel safari, as he was a known bogus tout. he chatted with us about things to see in Bikaner and invited us to his temple hidden away in the Old City at some point. he was a nice change to speak with, as he had no apparent interest in taking us anywhere involving payment or selling anything to us.
after dinner, who should suddenly appear as we walked back but Rustam again, we wondered where he had hidden the tracking device. we managed to shake him off and picked up our laundry that we had dropped off earlier in the day - our largest ever, but our cheapest price yet, with everything looking beautifully done. it makes such a difference when you are so hot if your clothes at least approximate cleanliness when you put them on. an early start for Deshnok meant a correspondingly early night, but sleep came easily considering that we had really done very little. without the air conditioning, the room soon became very warm and uncomfortable indeed, yet with it on you had to sleep under a quilt. two opposite extremes simultaneously once more - an obvious but no less accurate metaphor for the Indian experience.
ttfn
edd & philippa
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