Baffled by Bikaner

After Jaiselmer won us over with it's golden feel and chilled vibes, it was always going to be difficult for the next place on our journey to live up to it. However, we were't quite ready for the stark contrast that Bikaner brought to the party.


Maybe we should have known bad things were coming after a less-than-comfortable bus journey. After once again being hassled for selfies at the bus 'station' (this time going up a notch after being passed a small child and having a full family portrait) we boarded the 12 noon bus. It is worth noting at this point that our bus seemed about 40 year older than it's counterparts, with it's battered exterior and clunky noises as it pulled away.

Nearing the end of the 10 hour bus journey, and by this point it was pretty crammed full. Bodies occupied the entire aisle and sleep was pretty much out of the question. The man sat in the aisle next to Butty started to touch her leg, whilst looking slightly (very) worse for wear. After trying to ignore him, he lent forward and started whispering something to us that was in no way legible, before getting out the classic brown paper bag and taking a swig. At this point, people around us started shouting out to the bus conductor who quickly made his way through the sea of people. The drunk man was beaten, whilst swaying and falling into anyone within a 2 two metre radius, and then dragged to the front of the bus. He promptly followed his alcohol being launched out the bus, and we continued onwards to Bikaner.

We only planned to stay in Bikaner one night, as a stop over before heading to Amritsar (located in the north of Rajasthan, about half an hour from the Pakistan border). We arrived at 10pm and got a tuk tuk to our .. um .. 'accommodation'. Again, maybe it should have been a warning sign when the tuk tuk driver insisted on actually walking us in to our room for the night to ensure we arrived safely!!

We wandered into a dark, empty room where a group of 5 or 6 men were sat smoking weed in a corner. They looked completely blankly at us and we thought we had clearly come to the wrong place. Feeling and looking awkward in equal proportions we enquired "ummmm.... I think we may have a room booked here?".

The blank faces continued to stare back until, eventually, another man appeared in the room saying "booking.com?'. We nodded enthusiastically and he responded "how much am I charging you?". We informed him and, as standard, he asked for our passports. After passing them over, he then informed us he would be keeping them until the following morning as he had no way of scanning them.  I think we pretty much wrestled them back out his hands by the end and told him he could have them back in the morning, when he had figured out how to make a copy. After being offered, multiple times, to join in with the smoking party, we finally got shown to our room. It isn't easy to describe said room, but lets leave it at this; the door didn't shut, let alone lock, we had one lumpy pillow to share, and the wall separating us and the men sitting outside appeared to be, quite literally, paper thin. The toilet facilities were certainly no better, if not worse, and there was no access to drinking water. After barricading ourselves into our room using our backpacks and having a terrible night's sleep, we left very abruptly in the morning (we pretty much ran out the door).

With a whole day to fill before our evening bus to Amritsar, and both of our huge backpacks to hand, Bikaner wasn't filling us with inspiration on things to do. After a lot of walking we finally found a
cafe and, having not eaten for about 24 hours, we couldn't wait to fill our stomachs. Turns out; even the porridge in Bikaner is disappointing!! Anyway, the cafe agreed to look after our bags, and we had an ok day at best, briefly looking round the fort, meeting some horses (definitely the highlight!), and ending up back in the cafe. Bikinar; you were a blast!

Amritsar was much more of a success. We spent two nights there and enjoyed it thoroughly. On our first night we went over to the Pakistan/India border where they have this huge daily military practice at around 5pm. It is a free event, that has been taking place since 1959 and we were surprised to find it filled a whole
stadium! There was no denying the feel good vibes this place mustered up and we absolutely loved it.

The second day we spent exploring the local markets before going to the memorial site know as Jallianwala Bagh. This is a garden which has been created to remember the hundreds of innocent civilians that were killed in 1919 by troops of the British Indian Army under the command of Colonel Reginald Dyer. You could even still see the bullet marks on a wall, along with the well which many people fell into.


After this, we concluded our Amritsar trip with a visit to the incredible Golden Temple. The beauty and peacefulness of this temple was quite overpowering, like a safe haven amongst the daily chaos outside the gates. The people of Amritsar are predominantly Sikh, and the Golden Temple is, spiritually, the most important shrine there is for their religion. There are four entrances and it is said that this represents the openness of the temple to all, as "everybody, irrespective of cast, creed or race can seek spiritual solace and religious fulfilment without any hindrance". This same mantra, to provide for all, is also implemented through the very impressive dining system that is available 24 hours a day. We sat amongst people from all different backgrounds and religions and were provided a full dinner, all free of charge - they wouldn't even allow us to wash up!

It was a fantastic experience, only somewhat dampened by my body deciding to suddenly contract it's first bout of Delhi Belly as I roamed the peaceful aisles around the temple. It is true what they say; you really do only have about 3-4 minutes to find a toilet, and I cut it very fine!! There really wouldn't have been many places worst to have such an accident than the holiest place there is for Sikhs!!