On Monday, because Suzie was sick during the night with vomiting and diarrhoea, we stayed at the hotel until it was time to catch the night train to Jaisalmer. In the afternoon, Keith walked to the Udai Bhawan Palace which was a huge palace hotel built in 1929. It was built from Jodhpur sandstone and had some great murals inside, particularly the Mughals fighting the Rajputs with Jodhpur fort in the background. Keith walked back past an Indian army desert forces base including a Victory tank from the 1971 war with Pakistan.
We arrived at Jaisalmer station at 5 am on Tuesday morning in a bleary state but we were picked up by a van from the hotel which saved us negotiating with a rickshaw driver. We breakfasted on muesli and tea in the rooftop restaurant – which had great views of the honey coloured sandstone Jaisalmer Fort. After breakfast we walked around the fort walls to the first fort gate. We walked around inside admiring the elaborately carved sandstone buildings and temples. There were slightly different designs and great views from the fort walls. The fort was a little different because there was actually a small town within the fort walls. It was a maze of alleyways, shops and houses. We walked down to Gandhi Chowk and had a look at a couple of restaurants from the Lonely Planet. We ended up eating at the hotel – where we enjoyed the sunset view of the fort from the rooftop. For our food industry friends, Jaisalmer is in the middle of the Thar desert which is where guar gum comes from.
The next morning we set the alarm for 7 am and headed out to the fort after breakfast. Our first stop was the Fort Palace Museum. We walked up several sets of stairs with interesting rooms on each floor and beautiful architectural style, including one room containing exquisitely carved temple sculptures, until we reached the roof which had spectacular 360° views over the old city and beyond the city walls. After that we walked to the interconnecting maze of seven yellow Jain sandstone temples. We visited the first two of the temples in the complex. The carving was similar in style to the other Jain temples that we had seen with beautifully carved Buddhas, apsara dancers, Ganeshas, musicians, and toranas (architraves) – but they looked quite different as they were in the soft yellow sandstone. The Jain artists had fled Muslim persecution. Their carving in the Jaisalmer sandstone was superb in its detail and complexity. As the other temples were closed we walked out of the fort gate to the Salim Singh-ki-Haveli. At the top of the mansion was a large sandstone pavilion with arches that were intricately carved with peacocks. We walked back into the fort to view the remaining Jain temples including a library established in 1500.
Then we walked to Patwa ki Haveli, a large building built over an arch and along a laneway. Its many levels had intricately carved screens, balconies and doorways. Then we walked to Nathmal ki Haveli constructed by two brothers who made the two sides of the facade different in small ways eg elephant on one side inset and on the other protruding etc. After lunch, we retreated to our air conditioned room after walking back along the fort wall – the heat was intense. It seemed to build all day so that even after the sun went down the sandstone radiated heat for hours afterwards. Keith went out to take a walk around the other side of the fort. He caught a rickshaw to the railway station to find out about the trains to Bikaner and then to the Gadi Sagar Lake. The lake used to be the water supply for the city but was pretty dried up and he saw the Indians feeding the catfish and the geese. There were lots of small temples and shrines around the lake and the Tilon-ki-Pol, a gate that straddles the road to the tank and rumoured to have been built by a famous courtesan.
On Thursday we caught a train to Bikaner. Unfortunately there was no AC class on the train to Bikaner so we had to sit in sleeper class which was pretty hot and dusty. We saw camels, goats, black face sheep, small antelope, bee eaters and several dead animals – just skin and bone left. It was very flat and sandy with large areas of small lavender tinged stones. There were small shrubs and some trees but many were dead. There were signs of smaller animals, possibly rodents, from many holes around the shrub roots. There were many signs of agriculture with furrows in the ground and some areas with water irrigation burst into green, but for the most part it was a hot dry wasteland with occasional dust devils whipping up the sand. It was so amazing to see small antelope crouched in the shade of a large shrub, or some goats standing on their back legs to feed, or some mud huts with people and camels every now and again. The water we bought cold on the way actually heated up to the point it was hot to drink. We also saw plenty of Indian Army activity and many tanks at one stage.
We arrived at Bikaner and the rickshaw drivers went mad so obviously there are no tourists around. We checked into Bhairon Vilas and got an enormous heritage suite with amazing decor including a genuine leopard skin, flags, guns, deer skin, cobra design candle holders, antique furniture, lamps, four poster brass bed and 6 metre high ceilings! We rested awhile before wandering out to look around the hotel grounds. We found a friendly boxer dog, a 1934 Chevrolet, immaculate grounds and reception area before heading out through the impressive front gate to wander around Bikaner Fort and Palace in the sunset. We also saw the large water tank and some good statues opposite the fort entry.
We had a really good sleep in our luxury accommodation and woke on Friday feeling refreshed. We caught a rickshaw and then the bus to Deshnok and the famous Karni Mata rat temple. At the temple there were some good carvings in white marble at the entrance and also some fine pictures in the silver metal doors. Inside were rats everywhere, hundreds of rats. They were mostly eating, drinking and sleeping but we did see a couple fighting. Some may have been dead but it was hard to tell and we certainly didn't want to touch them! In the centre was a small temple with deity and good metalwork around it. Locals were constantly arriving and leaving and some were prostrating themselves on the ground in front of the deity despite the rat poo everywhere! It was quite something to see but it made us feel queasy and we were happy to leave. When we got back to the hotel we washed our feet and our shoes!
We woke up with a jolt at 1.15 am on Saturday, grabbed our bags and went to reception to meet the rickshaw driver who was taking us to the station. It was still pretty warm and a couple of the hotel staff were sleeping on beds set up outside. The streets of Bikaner were surprisingly busy with people sleeping in the streets. We saw some men pouring something flammable onto a dead animal and we saw some men holding a metal post over the railway tracks for some unknown reason. The train arrived on time at 2.15am and we found our seats and fell into a fitful sleep. We woke up at around 10-30am and the countryside had changed. We crossed a couple of large rivers, saw hundreds of beehives along one stretch of track, saw lots of ripe wheat in fields, and much more greenery and trees. There were predominantly Sikhs as we were now in Punjab and their temples, or gurdwaras also dotted the countryside. When the train arrived at Jalandhar after 1.00 pm, Keith went to buy a ticket for our onward journey to Amritsar. When the train to Amritsar arrived we managed to upgrade our General Class ticket to an Air Conditioned Chair Class ticket which was a relief because the heat was really oppressive. At Amritsar, the hotels were really average but Keith found a hotel which had satellite TV (with English channels), air conditioning and WiFi. Just before dinner Suzie could feel the start of a cold sore on her lip so we went to a pharmacist. He tried to sell us an Ayurvedic remedy and insisted that Aciclovir cream was not appropriate (because he didn't have any) as herpes didn't occur on your lips – only on your back!! We went to another pharmacy within a medical centre and they insisted that we consult a doctor before they would supply the ointment. Finally at the next pharmacy we found and purchased some which at Rs 45 (AUD 1.10) is six times cheaper than in Australia – let's see if it works!!
We woke up late on Sunday and had a leisurely morning reading the paper, watching BBC World and catching up on emails. After a late breakfast, we went to the front of the railway to wait for the free bus to the Golden Temple. The Golden Temple is to Sikhs what Mecca is to Muslims. After a while two small buses packed with people returning from the Golden Temple arrived and there was a huge rush for the buses. People were even trying to get on before people had finished getting off. By the time we got on, it was standing room only and just when we thought the bus was full, the door opened and four more people got on. Thankfully it was only a short (but steamy) ride! At the Golden Temple we walked past a huge noisy hall from which emanated loud metallic clashes, to the shoe drop off. We worked out later that this was the free communal dining hall and the metallic clashing was the sound of the dirty metal thali dishes being banged together to remove food remnants before they were washed. The main feature of the complex was the Golden Temple which was set in the middle of a holy lake/tank with a single bridge for access. The queue across the bridge into the Golden Temple was massive and didn't seem to be moving so we decided to try and visit the temple early tomorrow morning and just walk around the temple complex instead. There were lots of Sikh men and children bathing in the holy water, their modesty shielded by a thin cotton square of cloth. We noticed that a few of the Sikh men and women had small curved daggers and large curved swords strapped to their waists.
We left and signed on for a trip to the India – Pakistan border closing ceremony. We were stuffed into a tiny van with a couple of Dutch girls and three German guys who were living in India. We drove for an hour to the border at Wagah and then walked to the border post. We had to queue for a security check and the police had great trouble controlling the rampant Indian crowds. We made it through to the stands and the atmosphere was festive. People were running up and down in front of the stands carrying the Indian flag. Loud Bollywood music blared from the speakers and young Indians came down from the stands to dance. Past the border gates a similar crowd in the stands watched and cheered from their side. The border guards were immaculately and colourfully dressed. Marshals also tried to get people in the crowd to sit down. After the dancing the border guards marched out and with great pomp and ceremony the gates were closed and the flags taken down. There was much goose stepping and serious marching amidst loud shouting of orders with a microphone. The Pakistan guards were barely visible but appeared to be in a darker green style of dress. The crowds on both sides were loud and enthusiastic. Afterwards we returned to the van and drove back to Amritsar.
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