Bikaner, India
Home of the Junagarh Fort.
After a long bus ride to Bikaner, we opted to miss out on the additional 1 hour ride to see the rat temple. Instead, Grant and I took a rickshaw into town, to check it out. Bikaner, a city of 600,000, is not very touristy at all. The center is very crowded (the most crowded I’ve seen yet) with pedestrians spilling out into the street, and cyclists and rickshaws trying to squeeze their way through the crowds. Very few signs had English on them, and rickshaw drivers couldn’t interpret directions on our hotel business card, let alone speak English. It was all quite overwhelming for me. I was happy to retreat to our fan-cooled hotel room, hidden away within the Lalgarh Palace grounds on the outskirt of town.
The next day, we toured YAF (Yet Another Fort). I was definitely starting to get a little forted out at this point. I was also hoping to get off the beaten path more. We have been covering all the typical tourist must-sees, and not seeing many hidden gems (except for the camp in the Thar Desert, and the old castle guest house in Pachewar). The blazing heat of the Rajasthan desert started wearing me down too. I don’t take too well to the heat. It’s a good thing we weren’t there during the summer!
That all being said, the Junagarh fort was very impressive, especially on the inside. This fort was built by Raj Sing, near the end of the 16th century, and is well preserved/restored. It had been recently renovated, with some very ornate doors and colorfully decorated ceilings and walls.
From Bikaner, we boarded the overnight train to Chendigar, on our way to the Indian Himalayas… very much looking forward to the cool mountain air.
