We left Jaipur, but on the way we called in again to Neemrana Fort to finish off our visit, and to climb the 368 steps to reach The Darshan Shrine. Afterwards our journey into Rajasthan State continues staying at Bikaner and Jaisalmer which are in the Thar Dessert – although due to monsoon there was lots of greenery.
At Bikaner we visited local Havellis (houses built to ensure the central courtyard remains cool), Royal Cenotaphs, Kote Gate, Junagarh Fort and the local markets. One of the key stops was to Karin Mata Temple, which is also known as the ‘Rat Temple‘, which homes 3,500/5,000 rats. This is the only temple in the world that worships rats. the temple is dedicated to the 14th-century sage and mystic Karni Mata, who was so bereaved following the death of her son that she begged the God of Death, Yama to revive him. At first, Yama refused but after some convincing, he then decided that he would let Karni Mata’s son be reincarnated as a rat.
At Jaisalmer we stayed for 3 nights in a havilli, which gave us glorious views of Jaisalmer Fort which was built in 1156 and currently is home to approx 5,000. It was amazing to walk through the narrow alleyways, with the added advantage of no TukTuks and beeping horns. During our exploration we managed to get away from the crowds and found a path to the ramparts of the fort, which no one else appeared to use. It spent us a good 2 hours walking around the fort, seeing the views of the city, with no locals or tourists around – bliss.
On our final night we went out to the desert by camel, watched the sunset, eat dinner, before sleeping in the desert overnight on a bed (no tent included) – this give us great views of the stars, Milky Way, satellites and shooting stars.
Our time in the dessert is now over and we are heading to our last 3 locations in Rajistan – Jodhpur, Pushkar and finally Udaipur.
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Looks absolutely epic. Very jealous. Enjoy enjoy enjoy! Xxx
I’ll be doing a supplementary blog when we leave India – talking about the good, the bad and the ugly. I can say that there have been a number of countries I would rate more highly.
I can believe that for sure.
I am glad you could do it and you look so happy 🥰
Rats are not my favourite animal – it took a few photos to get both of us smiling!!
Photos amazing, rats less so
It was one of those things you have to do once and only once, although the Indians loved stocking them!! I was so please to leave, sanitise my hands and then go straight back for a shower.