Ever since I watched the episode of Wildboyz where Chris Pontius and Steve-O went to Deshnok to the Karni Mata Temple, I've wanted to go there and see it for myself - something that outside the norm is just one of those things in life you really need to experience first hand. And that place, the Karni Mata Temple scarred me for life! Not for any bad reasons to be sure, but simply because it was so strange. Of Bikaner I really have nothing much to say, aside from the fact that it is big, much bigger than Jaisalmer. It was literally a stop-over to get me to Deshnok and then out to Jodhpur. In a way, I feel like I missed something there, because the town was interesting from what I did see of it.
Bikaner, Rajasthan : February 3, 2011
FML indeed - because of the return of my recurrent friend, I didn't sleep very well on the train between Jaisalmer and Bikaner, for fear, to be honest, that I would shit my pants. LoL! And what made that stick in my mind was the story before falling asleep from Max and Ian, about how Max, being really ill himself, had done just that, on a train no less, the night before. We arrived in Bikaner at 04:00 and jumped into the rickshaw from hell with Prakesh, the host of the quest house we were going to be staying at. That rickshaw - man, I thought it was honestly going to die en route - tabarnak! It sounded like something that should have been retired in the 70's and it went so slow, I think a snail would have beat it in a serious race. Grunting and growling, we slowly made our way clear across town to the guest house, located in a labyrinthine maze of back alleys about ten minutes past the Bikaner Fort. And since it was 04:00, and India has this disposition for not being overly well lit at night, it was hard to get a sense of direction or of landmarks as well passed them - and this would play a very big part in an adventure later in the day.
Since I had only booked ahead for my room, there wasn't a spare one for the girls. However, they took the room I was going to have and I ended taking the room of the guy who drove the rickshaw. Same price, but not even in the same house; it in the adjoining home. It was a spartan room to be sure, but really, we would only be sleeping from 04:30 until whenever it was we woke up to get on the road to Deshnok. Bidding the girls goodnight, I headed to my room to get settled for my nap - but my intestines had other ideas. Squat toilets are not fun - oh no. Not at all! Still, I get the whole hygienic angle and the water preservation. But I tell you, if you weren't raised with them, they're a tricky proposition to use when you're in a bad way. And in India, you don't put paper waste down the toilets, so you've got to either go native and hand wash your backside or find a way to dispose of your paper products. When there is a bucket provided, it's all good, but as was the case here, there was no bin and I had to go native. NEVER AGAIN!
Suffice it to say, without going into exact details here, that I didn't sleep well. And when I woke up at 9:30am, I did so to find an unexpected surprise - a rather dirty one. No shame in saying it... my fear came true! Thankfully, not on the train. Bad part was not having a second pair of pants - good thing was that we were in the desert, so it was hot and I could wear capri pants! Ouch... no-one knew about that (except the Ellies) until now, that is. LoL! It's funny you know - at home, this would be something you would never admit to - on the road with other people, it's just another funny thing that happens and there is nothing taboo about talking about it - worse things happen all the time. I could tell you the hilarious story about the girls while they were on safari - but it's not mine to tell. I was in stitches when I heard it - man, those are two crazy and wickedly awesome girls (nicest girls ever, if you listen to them say it ;)).
That's the funny thing, you know? When you're on the road, everything happens so fast, that there really isn't time to be judgemental about situations or people. You take it for what it is and that's that. Maybe it has something to do with the whole never seeing each other again or maybe it's something else entirely. I have no more clue now than I did before. It is what it is. Everything is just easier on the road; making friends, shitting your pants, telling your new friends about shitting your pants, whatever... LoL!
After cleaning up, both myself and the room, I woke the girls up, we ate breakfast and headed out with our host, Prakesh, who was going to lead us to the bus stand, so we could get to Deshnok and the Karni Mata Temple. Oh, before we left, Prakesh made me eat this handful of goodness (not), made from crushed cumin seeds, rock salt and yellow peppercorns. He ground it all up and made me eat it with a little water to wash it down. It's an ayurvedic remedy for diarrhea - tasted like crap, but I'll tell you, it worked! On the way, we stopped at a public school and were invited in to say hello to the students. And I tell you something in all truth - this is likely one of the most memorable highlights of my trip, because not only did we say hello to the kids, but we ended up giving them mini lessons, in english, geography, math and the girls even sang some songs for them. The school itself was one of the better ones I'd visited on my trip, although it was very different from what you and I are used to. Still, they had what they needed - and they didn't ask us for money to help buy books or pens or whatever, like some schools did. Yep, really was in the top 5 things I did on my trip. I really enjoyed reading a story to the kids and seeing the Ellies performing their magic! Those two are born education providers, I'm telling you.
After leaving the school, we made our way towards the bus stand, through a maze of never-ending twists and turns. Prakesh got us to the last stretch that ran to the highway and then left us there to find our own way. I'm sure he had other things to do, like organizing our bus tickets, me for Jodhpur and the girls for Pushkar. It took a while, what with the girl's shopping and me not being able to communicate well enough with the ticket guy to get our ride sorted to heqad to Deshnok. In the end, and 30 rupees later, we got on the bus and headed out of Bikaner for Deshnok, 30 kilometers out of town. And the whole way there, there was this Indian guy who was just obsessed with the girls - he could not stop staring at them. I don't even think the guy blinked for the entire ride! The burdens of being beautiful, right girls? :)
Deshnok is rather interesting. It's literally a collections of small buildings clustered around the temple. Or at least, that's the most I could see of it. The temple itself was like a small fortress, completely covered in chicken wire to keep the rats and pigeons inside of it. Now just imagine, rat and pigeons, locked inside, thousands of them combined, and you cannot wear shoes, nor flipflops. Yep, barefoot on marble floors that was more shit in places than marble. And to top it all off, we were now five instead of three! Yeah, we ran into Max and Ian here! See what I mean? Same people, different places! And that was cool as hell, as they were really neat guys - they certainly made the ride back to Bikaner very musical! But I'm a little ahead of myself...
Can you believe I actually got bit by a fucking rat while taking a photo of the cluster around the milk bowl? Yep, right on the toe. But at least I didn't get shat on like Ellie Mair did! LoL! Kidding Elles... it was ghastly! Foul little beast! How dare it? But yeah, it was funny - or least our taking pictures of it made it seem. She was none too fucking thrilled at the time though. Speaking of shit, you know what the worst was? Nope, not walking barefoot in rat and pigeon shit, although that was fairly rotten, especially in the inner sanctums. No, the smell of the cow shit pucks was pungent in here - I don't think they dried enough, because when they're dry, they don't smell THAT bad. And there were people eating on the floors, with rats on their plates and other people were sleeping on the floor with rats climbing all over them. And, wow, there were dead rats everywhere. The place was a disease waiting to happen.
And I loved every fucking minute of it. Pardon my french. Yes I know it's not french - I speak it remember? Et j'ai adoré chaque minute en tabarnak! Happy now?
But for all of the gnarly stuff, we all had fun there, at least I know I did! It was everything I was expecting and more. But man, was it ever messed up. I'm ruined forever now... and the double boob squeeze Ellie Sedgwick got from that 12 year old kid did nothing to sour her day! ;) That cheeky little bugger! (you knew I was going to remind you, didn't you?) That certainly made the short walk back to the bus stand laughable!
Eventually, we got to the right spot to take the bus back to Bikaner, and a few minutes later, with a local in tow acting as a guide, we were backward bound, to the musical renditions of Ian and Ellie Sedgwick. I don't think the Indians on the bus liked it much, but the white devils at the back of the bus didn't care. You'd need to experience a train at night-time to understand how much the cell phones playing 25 different songs at the same time makes out teeth itch sometimes. I'd like to think that their singing was something in the way of payback or pay-forward. Whatever - it was fun, even though my stomach was starting to churl again! FML, would Muna's curse ever go away?
Back in town, we got off the bus to go to Baskin Robbins, but decided against it in favour of something a little more substantial. For me, that meant a lassi - I needed some yogurt to balance out the old intestines. For everyone else, it meant a virtual buffet of all that is good to sample - aside from the chai, which was kind of horrendous. The pizza was amazing (yeah, I sampled it against my own better judgment).
Leaving there, the five of us went in search of the market district, where we eventually lost Max to an internet cafe (chatting with his girlfriend). Me, I bought a pair of fake Levis (Yes, Ellie M, you were right!) - that said they were 32,32 - just my size, only for 100 rupees! From there, Ian, the Ellies and myself went in search of the spice markets, which were kind of neat, aside from the squished baby dog I tried to hide from the girls (damn you girls, why didn't you just listen to me and not look?). We even lost Ian in there, as his hotel was RIGHT there and it was getting on in darkness.
Heading back to our guest house proved a chore - the rickshaw driver didn't know where the hell to go - we had to eventually stop and ask directions and luckily for us, someone came with us to make sure the driver got us to where we needed to go. What should have been a 10 minute ride max, ended up being closer to 20 - 25. Once safely back, our hosts had prepared dinner for us; something deliciously Indian for the girls, and fruit for me (lol). Prakesh was such a nice and thoughtful man.
We met an Italian man there at the guest house, who had been bicycling around Rajasthan. In his 60s, Guiseppe had spent the last 4 days riding from Jaisalmer to Bikaner. That's moxy! Not because he's in his 60's, but because he ventured an Indian highway on a bicycle for four days! Damn... and such a nice man too! He gave us all some postcards of Bikaner, as we didn't have time to get any for ourselves. I wonder how his trip went... Ellie Mair? Did you ever email him for news? I'd like to hear any news if you got it...
Prakesh also go us our bus tickets while we were in Deshnok. Me, I was bound for Jodhpur and the girls for Pushkar. And our departure time was VERY close to the time we arrived to the guest house. We had about 30 minutes or more to eat and get packed. And then it was back into the death-trap rickshaw.
Yep, Muna's curse came back in full force, while we were waiting for the buses no less - I had to run inside the train station at that point (enough said). When I got out, my bag was loaded (thanks again Ellie S!) and I was soon to be out of there; in my nice 32, 32 fake levis, that were actually an Asian 32. For us, it was more like a 28,28 - yeah, they were too short and I ripped the holy hell out of the crotch when I put them on - but I needed them, as the buses are kinda chilly still. Blankets cover those sorts of things nicely though!
A hasty goodbye said, and a promise to try to reconnect in Goa later, and I was on the road again... minus the nicest girls in the world. It was my pleasure to travel with you both - I am glad you diverted your plans to come to Bikaner. You made the journey there an absolute blast! Anyone who travels with those to is just about the luckiest person, like, ever!
Although Ellie Sedgwick, I am still somewhat disappointed with the whole fake nose ring thing... ;)
And yes, there was a lesson here folks: I learned how to say goodbye - something I wasn't very good at in life before this trip. Ask anyone, they'll tell you - I DO NOT DO GOODBYES. Except now, I do.
Bikaner, Rajasthan : February 3, 2011
FML indeed - because of the return of my recurrent friend, I didn't sleep very well on the train between Jaisalmer and Bikaner, for fear, to be honest, that I would shit my pants. LoL! And what made that stick in my mind was the story before falling asleep from Max and Ian, about how Max, being really ill himself, had done just that, on a train no less, the night before. We arrived in Bikaner at 04:00 and jumped into the rickshaw from hell with Prakesh, the host of the quest house we were going to be staying at. That rickshaw - man, I thought it was honestly going to die en route - tabarnak! It sounded like something that should have been retired in the 70's and it went so slow, I think a snail would have beat it in a serious race. Grunting and growling, we slowly made our way clear across town to the guest house, located in a labyrinthine maze of back alleys about ten minutes past the Bikaner Fort. And since it was 04:00, and India has this disposition for not being overly well lit at night, it was hard to get a sense of direction or of landmarks as well passed them - and this would play a very big part in an adventure later in the day.
Since I had only booked ahead for my room, there wasn't a spare one for the girls. However, they took the room I was going to have and I ended taking the room of the guy who drove the rickshaw. Same price, but not even in the same house; it in the adjoining home. It was a spartan room to be sure, but really, we would only be sleeping from 04:30 until whenever it was we woke up to get on the road to Deshnok. Bidding the girls goodnight, I headed to my room to get settled for my nap - but my intestines had other ideas. Squat toilets are not fun - oh no. Not at all! Still, I get the whole hygienic angle and the water preservation. But I tell you, if you weren't raised with them, they're a tricky proposition to use when you're in a bad way. And in India, you don't put paper waste down the toilets, so you've got to either go native and hand wash your backside or find a way to dispose of your paper products. When there is a bucket provided, it's all good, but as was the case here, there was no bin and I had to go native. NEVER AGAIN!
Suffice it to say, without going into exact details here, that I didn't sleep well. And when I woke up at 9:30am, I did so to find an unexpected surprise - a rather dirty one. No shame in saying it... my fear came true! Thankfully, not on the train. Bad part was not having a second pair of pants - good thing was that we were in the desert, so it was hot and I could wear capri pants! Ouch... no-one knew about that (except the Ellies) until now, that is. LoL! It's funny you know - at home, this would be something you would never admit to - on the road with other people, it's just another funny thing that happens and there is nothing taboo about talking about it - worse things happen all the time. I could tell you the hilarious story about the girls while they were on safari - but it's not mine to tell. I was in stitches when I heard it - man, those are two crazy and wickedly awesome girls (nicest girls ever, if you listen to them say it ;)).
That's the funny thing, you know? When you're on the road, everything happens so fast, that there really isn't time to be judgemental about situations or people. You take it for what it is and that's that. Maybe it has something to do with the whole never seeing each other again or maybe it's something else entirely. I have no more clue now than I did before. It is what it is. Everything is just easier on the road; making friends, shitting your pants, telling your new friends about shitting your pants, whatever... LoL!
After cleaning up, both myself and the room, I woke the girls up, we ate breakfast and headed out with our host, Prakesh, who was going to lead us to the bus stand, so we could get to Deshnok and the Karni Mata Temple. Oh, before we left, Prakesh made me eat this handful of goodness (not), made from crushed cumin seeds, rock salt and yellow peppercorns. He ground it all up and made me eat it with a little water to wash it down. It's an ayurvedic remedy for diarrhea - tasted like crap, but I'll tell you, it worked! On the way, we stopped at a public school and were invited in to say hello to the students. And I tell you something in all truth - this is likely one of the most memorable highlights of my trip, because not only did we say hello to the kids, but we ended up giving them mini lessons, in english, geography, math and the girls even sang some songs for them. The school itself was one of the better ones I'd visited on my trip, although it was very different from what you and I are used to. Still, they had what they needed - and they didn't ask us for money to help buy books or pens or whatever, like some schools did. Yep, really was in the top 5 things I did on my trip. I really enjoyed reading a story to the kids and seeing the Ellies performing their magic! Those two are born education providers, I'm telling you.
After leaving the school, we made our way towards the bus stand, through a maze of never-ending twists and turns. Prakesh got us to the last stretch that ran to the highway and then left us there to find our own way. I'm sure he had other things to do, like organizing our bus tickets, me for Jodhpur and the girls for Pushkar. It took a while, what with the girl's shopping and me not being able to communicate well enough with the ticket guy to get our ride sorted to heqad to Deshnok. In the end, and 30 rupees later, we got on the bus and headed out of Bikaner for Deshnok, 30 kilometers out of town. And the whole way there, there was this Indian guy who was just obsessed with the girls - he could not stop staring at them. I don't even think the guy blinked for the entire ride! The burdens of being beautiful, right girls? :)
Deshnok is rather interesting. It's literally a collections of small buildings clustered around the temple. Or at least, that's the most I could see of it. The temple itself was like a small fortress, completely covered in chicken wire to keep the rats and pigeons inside of it. Now just imagine, rat and pigeons, locked inside, thousands of them combined, and you cannot wear shoes, nor flipflops. Yep, barefoot on marble floors that was more shit in places than marble. And to top it all off, we were now five instead of three! Yeah, we ran into Max and Ian here! See what I mean? Same people, different places! And that was cool as hell, as they were really neat guys - they certainly made the ride back to Bikaner very musical! But I'm a little ahead of myself...
Can you believe I actually got bit by a fucking rat while taking a photo of the cluster around the milk bowl? Yep, right on the toe. But at least I didn't get shat on like Ellie Mair did! LoL! Kidding Elles... it was ghastly! Foul little beast! How dare it? But yeah, it was funny - or least our taking pictures of it made it seem. She was none too fucking thrilled at the time though. Speaking of shit, you know what the worst was? Nope, not walking barefoot in rat and pigeon shit, although that was fairly rotten, especially in the inner sanctums. No, the smell of the cow shit pucks was pungent in here - I don't think they dried enough, because when they're dry, they don't smell THAT bad. And there were people eating on the floors, with rats on their plates and other people were sleeping on the floor with rats climbing all over them. And, wow, there were dead rats everywhere. The place was a disease waiting to happen.
And I loved every fucking minute of it. Pardon my french. Yes I know it's not french - I speak it remember? Et j'ai adoré chaque minute en tabarnak! Happy now?
But for all of the gnarly stuff, we all had fun there, at least I know I did! It was everything I was expecting and more. But man, was it ever messed up. I'm ruined forever now... and the double boob squeeze Ellie Sedgwick got from that 12 year old kid did nothing to sour her day! ;) That cheeky little bugger! (you knew I was going to remind you, didn't you?) That certainly made the short walk back to the bus stand laughable!
Eventually, we got to the right spot to take the bus back to Bikaner, and a few minutes later, with a local in tow acting as a guide, we were backward bound, to the musical renditions of Ian and Ellie Sedgwick. I don't think the Indians on the bus liked it much, but the white devils at the back of the bus didn't care. You'd need to experience a train at night-time to understand how much the cell phones playing 25 different songs at the same time makes out teeth itch sometimes. I'd like to think that their singing was something in the way of payback or pay-forward. Whatever - it was fun, even though my stomach was starting to churl again! FML, would Muna's curse ever go away?
Back in town, we got off the bus to go to Baskin Robbins, but decided against it in favour of something a little more substantial. For me, that meant a lassi - I needed some yogurt to balance out the old intestines. For everyone else, it meant a virtual buffet of all that is good to sample - aside from the chai, which was kind of horrendous. The pizza was amazing (yeah, I sampled it against my own better judgment).
Leaving there, the five of us went in search of the market district, where we eventually lost Max to an internet cafe (chatting with his girlfriend). Me, I bought a pair of fake Levis (Yes, Ellie M, you were right!) - that said they were 32,32 - just my size, only for 100 rupees! From there, Ian, the Ellies and myself went in search of the spice markets, which were kind of neat, aside from the squished baby dog I tried to hide from the girls (damn you girls, why didn't you just listen to me and not look?). We even lost Ian in there, as his hotel was RIGHT there and it was getting on in darkness.
Heading back to our guest house proved a chore - the rickshaw driver didn't know where the hell to go - we had to eventually stop and ask directions and luckily for us, someone came with us to make sure the driver got us to where we needed to go. What should have been a 10 minute ride max, ended up being closer to 20 - 25. Once safely back, our hosts had prepared dinner for us; something deliciously Indian for the girls, and fruit for me (lol). Prakesh was such a nice and thoughtful man.
We met an Italian man there at the guest house, who had been bicycling around Rajasthan. In his 60s, Guiseppe had spent the last 4 days riding from Jaisalmer to Bikaner. That's moxy! Not because he's in his 60's, but because he ventured an Indian highway on a bicycle for four days! Damn... and such a nice man too! He gave us all some postcards of Bikaner, as we didn't have time to get any for ourselves. I wonder how his trip went... Ellie Mair? Did you ever email him for news? I'd like to hear any news if you got it...
Prakesh also go us our bus tickets while we were in Deshnok. Me, I was bound for Jodhpur and the girls for Pushkar. And our departure time was VERY close to the time we arrived to the guest house. We had about 30 minutes or more to eat and get packed. And then it was back into the death-trap rickshaw.
Yep, Muna's curse came back in full force, while we were waiting for the buses no less - I had to run inside the train station at that point (enough said). When I got out, my bag was loaded (thanks again Ellie S!) and I was soon to be out of there; in my nice 32, 32 fake levis, that were actually an Asian 32. For us, it was more like a 28,28 - yeah, they were too short and I ripped the holy hell out of the crotch when I put them on - but I needed them, as the buses are kinda chilly still. Blankets cover those sorts of things nicely though!
A hasty goodbye said, and a promise to try to reconnect in Goa later, and I was on the road again... minus the nicest girls in the world. It was my pleasure to travel with you both - I am glad you diverted your plans to come to Bikaner. You made the journey there an absolute blast! Anyone who travels with those to is just about the luckiest person, like, ever!
Although Ellie Sedgwick, I am still somewhat disappointed with the whole fake nose ring thing... ;)
And yes, there was a lesson here folks: I learned how to say goodbye - something I wasn't very good at in life before this trip. Ask anyone, they'll tell you - I DO NOT DO GOODBYES. Except now, I do.
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