The Bus Journey from Jodhpur to Bikaner

The bus trip from Jodhpur to Bikaner was quite an adventure by itself. I had my bus at 5 o’clock in the morning. I had gotten my ticket the day before at a travel agency in the city. This time, I was traveling with a “private bus” for the first time. Before, I always traveled with “government buses.” They were not very well maintained, but they were quite on time.

The guy at the travel agency had told me that the bus would leave from Paota Bus Station, close to the place I was staying. I got a rickshaw at 4:30 and arrived at Paota shortly. I started looking for the bus, but I found shortly that here are only the government buses. Damn! I showed my ticket to a few people, and they said the bus stays at another place, a couple of hundred meters away from here.

I went out of the station, and then there was this swarm of rickshaw drivers coming to my “help.” I told them about my ticket, and they said the bus was some 3 km away from here! Oh god, do I hate these bastards! I was confused and concerned to find the bus as soon as possible, but these rickshaw drivers were of no help.

I was arguing with these people when suddenly a Sikh guy (you can tell from the tight turban covering their head) came from the station towards us. He told off the rickshaws and after a short discussion they left us. Boy, he was god-sent! He had seen me looking for the private bus to Bikaner earlier in the station, and he knew where the station for private buses was. He was a passenger himself and wanted to go to Bikaner by a government bus some 30 minutes later, but he volunteered to show me the place! Incredible noble act!

We started walking and after some inquiries in local language, we found the bus. But then, the bus was empty with no driver and no one around it! I told the guy let’s forget it and take the government bus, because I didn’t want to waste my time and go back to that travel agency and wait till it opened, and get my money back. But he said no, I will find a solution! He was getting late for his bus, and when I told him, he said I will get a private bus with you! Seriously amazing man.

He then found another travel agency and after showing my ticket and some hot discussion in the local language, he converted my ticket to another one for a bus half an hour later free of charge. Seriously, I don’t know what I would have had to do at that hour of darkness and the people trying to scam me, should this guy not have shown up! Moral of the story: the private buses suck in India and are not to be trusted. And there are bastard people trying to scam you when you are in need (as expected), but there are also noble people who come to your help! This is priceless!

The Karni Mata Temple (Rat Temple)

I got off the bus at Deshnok, where the Karni Mata temple is. Deshnok is located some 30 km south of Bikaner. Karni Mata, aka rat temple, is one of the weirdest attractions of India. Basically it is a temple infested with a whole lot of rats! And those that know me know why I had to visit this temple!

Ok. Some story first. Members of the Charan caste of musicians believe that the incarnations of the goddess Durga periodically happen among them, one of whom was Karni Mata, born in a village nearby in 1387, who went on to perform miracles such as bringing the dead back to life, etc. Once he asked Yama, the god of the underworld to bring back to life the son of a follower from death, and Yama refused. Knowing that of all the creatures, only rats were outside Yama’s dominion, Karni Mata decreed that all Charans would be reincarnated as rats, thus escaping Yama’s power (from Rough Guide). So the rats in the temple are indeed the reincarnation of the deceased people of that caste, thus sacred and respected among these people.

So I arrived at Deshnok, and walked some 100m to the temple. I was worried what to do with my backpack, but over there, there was this shoeholder guy that I left my backpack with. No problem.

Quick Facts About the Rat Temple

Ok, now some quick facts:

  • If you think people go there to worship rats, you are wrong. They go there to respect their ancestors reincarnated as rats, and worship the incarnation of Durga, Karni Mata.

  • If you think it’s mostly touristic, you are wrong. There are loads of local people there doing their rituals.

  • If you think you can get in with your shoes, you are wrong. You have to remove your shoes, it’s a temple. But you can wear socks. Like I did.

  • If you think most tourists, if not locals wear socks, you are wrong. I only met one tourist who had socks! The rest had forgotten to bring them with them! And locals… no socks.

  • If you think I was afraid, you are wrong.

  • If you think I was disgusted by the rats, you are wrong. They were quite ok, and even sometimes cute! But I was disgusted by the number of flies and cockroaches!

  • If you think the place smells like a rat hole, you are wrong. They burn some herbs to kill the smell. But the rotten food still smells bad.

  • If you think you have seen a lot of rats in your life, you are wrong. Wait till you go there!

  • If you think this place must be a definite rat heaven, you are wrong. Many of the rats were in bad health condition, either from some disease, or from fights between them.

  • If you think the rats will jump on you, you are wrong. They barely move and most are asleep during the day. And they are used to having people around.

  • If you think the rats are afraid of you, you are wrong!

  • If you think you can see the white rat, you are wrong!

  • If you think I threw away the socks right after the exit, you are damn right!

More Facts About the Temple

Some more facts. If you kill one rat by accident, you have to pay the equivalent of the weight of the rat in GOLD! Another thing is that when I was there, they were emptying the donation boxes, and Oh My God! They were all full of money! They should earn damn a lot from this temple! Notably, they don’t charge you for entry, but if you bring a still or video camera, you have to pay 20 and 50 INR, respectively.

The other thing is that I wonder why with the prevalence of so much food, the population of the rats does not EXPLODE? This can happen in less than a year, if you leave one hundred of these couples together, given enough food is present. I wonder if the health issues and disease are the limiting factor, or if the owners kill some every day!

Journey to Jaisalmer

Anyways, after an hour or so, I came out and went to Bikaner. My initial plan was to stay for a day in Bikaner. But as it was only 12:30, I thought to go to Jaisalmer directly. I had a hard time finding the bus, but I got it at 13:15, and this time it was a local bus. But unfortunately, this one, like the one from Pushkar to Jodhpur, went through all local villages and towns and it took me almost 8 hours to reach Jaisalmer. A direct bus would do this in 5-6 hours I believe. So finally I had a total of 13 hours of bus ride in one day! Joy!

So the reason that I went to Jaisalmer was to stay overnight and the day after head to a village nearby called Khuri. Over there I am hoping to have some rest, and maybe do a camel safari. So in Jaisalmer, camel safari is a hot business and there are as many tour organizers as the number of locals! So imagine how hard it is to find a reliable tour organizer.

Thankfully, I had done my research on internet before, and I came upon the name of a guy called “Badal Singh” who is very reputable and recommended by many in different forums and weblogs over internet. I also came to know that he is recommended by the Rough Guide and the Lonely Planet. I got the number from LP (RG didn’t have it!) and called him when I was in Jodhpur and he said he has place. So I will be staying at his place for a night or two, and do camel safari with him.

Finding Accommodation in Jaisalmer

I arrived in Jaisalmer, and as I hadn’t booked a hotel before, I decided to go to the touristic region of Jaisalmer, which is located “inside” the fort of Jaisalmer. I arrived there by a rickshaw and there were again loads of people coming to me and asking me where I stay, and if they can help me! One of them even jumped in the rickshaw and to my anger, started talking with me about his hotel.

My strategy in these situations is to ignore EVERYONE who comes to me, especially if they stick to me. I told this guy off and started walking around, or better say roaming around to find the hotel that I have decided on before. After some time, I found it, and to my amazement, the manager was the same guy that jumped into my rickshaw!!! I quickly knew that this is not a proper place, but as it was mentioned by the Rough Guide, I thought I’d give it a try.

I told him in a dry way why I ignored him before and he agreed with me. He then said he has a room for 300 INR, notwithstanding that in the rickshaw he had said 200! I told him my limit is 200, and after some haggling he agreed. He then asked what am I going to do tomorrow and I said I want to go to Khuri. He said why Khuri, Khuri is dirty and very hot! I’ll take you to a better place which is blah blah… I’m sick of these cheap lies and I just looked at him… and he shut up.

I was so tired and just wanted to take a shower and sleep. Then we went to the room, and upon entry, there was this bad smell in the room, and the guy started to spray the room in front of me! Such a fool! The room was also super small and the light was not working. I said enough is enough, and came out. I got a room in a neighboring hotel also recommended by RG for 300 INR. I went out and had dinner and called Mr. Singh to tell him about my coming the day after. During this 1 hour that I arrived I got told about camel safaris at least 6 times! Thankfully, I had made my mind before!!!

Side Notes

  • Something is bugging me and telling me to buy the 1.4/35! Damn!

  • It’s fun to have a big truck loaded twice as its height and twice as its width in a narrow road in front of you! Quite entertaining!

  • So far, I had avoided street foods and drinks, but today, I had to eat something other than biscuits to survive. I also had a drink of sugar cane, made with an old rusty and greasy manual machine in front of me! So far no problem!

  • I’ve had so much high amplitude vibration for a long time. I’m sure if I measure my Bone Mass Density in a few weeks, it has grown up significantly!