Camels and Rats, Oh My

First impressions of Bikaner weren’t favourable. I was tired and used to sleepy charming Jaisalmer. Bikaner was loud and gruff and jarring. There were a lot of dead dogs. A lot. The humans, living dogs and cows were all Canadian-sized compared to everyone else in India. Our new friend, S, says that’s because Bikaner is famous for its bikanji snacks.

We were wondering what we had done, booking ourselves for 3 days. Once we saw the fort and Jain temples, then what? Trapped in Bikaner with the traffic and the monster cows.

After a good sleep and some breakfast it didn’t seem quite as terrible, and we set out for the day. 

Mission #1-The Karni Mata Temple 30 km outside town. AKA the rat temple. Karni Mata was a 14th century incarnation of Durga who decreed that her descendants would come back as rats. Those who have already returned live in the rat temple and are worshipped and fed. You have to remove your shoes but they will provide foot covers for prissy foreigners not wanting to step in rat shit. There are wriggly rats in all the nooks and crannies and hanging out by the huge saucers of milk provided. The devotees sometimes partake of the milk the rats have blessed by drinking. The white rats are particularly auspicious and it is considered lucky to see one. I saw 2! Since it’s mainly an Indian tourist attraction, that meant we were also attractions. I  guested in dozens and dozens of selfies and agreed to take photos of the children who followed me. All in all, pretty damned cool.

The Lalgarh Fort was the latest in a series of magnificent forts we’ve seen. The rest of the day was spent at Glops, drinking cold coffees and then chatting with a lovely miniature artist. Bikaner was looking better and we had ideas for our next day.

The former palace in now a hotel and was mostly pretty - lots of creepy dead trophy animals. We went to yet another former palace and it was an overall mouldy experience. 

But then we met up with our artist friend and all went out to the National Camel Research Centre. It was amazing! Over 400 camels of different breeds and different stages of life. There was a calf born the day before who was learning to nurse, a lot of babies and youths, pregnant mamas, non-preggo females, and males looking to impregnate someone. There was a whole lotta camel going on. I was in camel heaven. Then our friend bought us a treat - saffron flavoured camel milk ice cream. Delicious and nutritious. Camel milk is high in vitamin C, copper, iron and zinc. It is supposedly healthy for diabetics.

 Rats, camels and a new friend. Not a bad visit at all.