Bikaner

Bikaner has one of the most interesting layouts of any of the towns we've been in.  The old city, enclosed in high fort like walls, probably looks exactly as it did 200 years ago with little change to architecture.  Internally all the buildings have been modernized, but it's still amazing to wander down the tiny winding roads and look up at the old detailed stone carvings on the face of each building.  We started the day with a huge breakfast made by Manisha and her mother-in-law.  Thin, crispy, aloo parathas were the highlight-- some of the best we've had so far.  Nandhu popped up in the middle of the meal with samosas (committed to feed us as many as possible because we mentioned liking them) which we had to pack to go because we were too full.  We maneuvered our way out of the center of old city and headed to the Junagarh fort.  We bought our tickets (separately as usual-- I generally try for the Indian ticket prices but ticket offices are more reluctant when we buy together) and climbed the ramp to the fort.  Although smaller than the other forts we've explored in India (and there have been a lot..) the Junagarh fort was much more detailed, and was really well preserved.  The work put into each room was stunning, and the museum attached was quirky and random but really well maintained.  We left the fort and headed over to a smaller city museum which was even more random featuring everything from stuffed lions and tigers to bits of weaponry and armor here and there. It was 3 adjoining rooms that emptied out visitors into a courtyard, somewhat confused.

Junagarh Fort entrance

View from the highest point in the fort

We then talked to Nandhu, convinced him that we'd really rather walk and that he should come with us so we left the car outside of the old city walls.  There was a huge Jain Temple that we wanted to visit and it was definitely good we went by foot.  The city was much busier than usual with the 9 day Jain festival that was wrapping up the the next day, and lots of decorations had been put up in celebration.  We wandered down the streets with Nandhu leading the way.  It's been really nice getting to know Nandhu more-- I think he's warmed up to us a bit more and has been a little less shy.  He had gotten into the habit of calling us every morning to confirm our plans for the day and every night to say goodnight.  He's also started joking around with us and telling us funny and cute stories about his two young kids-- over all just a really nice guy.  We reached one very narrow path and heard drums coming our way so we ducked into a couple doorways to get out of the way.

Our ride

Side streets of Bikaner Old City

Walking through the market

Look VERY closely

HEEEEEEEEY.

Love the impromptu parades here. Also, the cows that seems to LOVE Elliot.  We arrived at the temple which was an incredible white marble structure.  There were two parts, a smaller part filled with people in the middle of a service and a larger part that was fairly empty.  Inside the larger building was three separate floors that reached a peak at the top, each with interiors decorated with amazing colorful detailed murals.  The inside of this temple was definitely one of the most ornate we've ever been inside and the priest very kindly allowed us to take a couple pictures.

Entrance to the larger side of the temple

Inside the first floor

View from the second floor

Second floor ceiling

Snack shop--- found some delicious namkin in Bikaner

After leaving the temple and a snack break, we walked back to the guest house and said goodbye to Nandhu for the day.  We spent the afternoon hanging out with the family which was really fun.  We helped Manisha set up a trip-advisor page online and played with little Tanisha outside, Elliot inventing fun games that involved her whacking him on the head with a water bottle.  Before dinner we sat down and had a beer on the patio with Anil (Manisha's husband), who told us about growing up in Bombay.  When we told him we would be ending our time in India there he very kindly offered to let us stay with his family, or if we wanted to stay closer to the center of the city he would ask his brother to find us a reasonably priced and safe guest house.  We had another delicious vegetarian dinner, though at this point we've gone about a week without eating meat (with Pushkar being a very religious town and the holiday going on in Bikaner requiring people to eat vegetarian) so we would like to find some soon! We had some amazing potatoes that I'd like to try to replicate once we have access to a kitchen again, and some light and fluffy lemon rice.  We went for another after dinner walk with Anil, who was again very insistent on us having paan (though neither of us particularly enjoyed it..) and showed us a couple of his favorite buildings nearby.  When we got back to the house, we went up to pack-- we wish we had more time in this beautiful little town, but Jaisalmer tomorrow!

Unwanted paan

City from the roof