Monday, December 02, 2013

India Trip 2013 - Part 5 (To Bikaner)

The consensus the previous night was that the Monday morning, 6:30AM start time, was unrealistic and we would be lucky if we started before 8:00AM. The kids totally surprised us. Almost all of us were downstairs with all our bags at 6:30. The hotel staff had packed us an assortment of sandwiches; butter, jam, and omelet to go with Diet Coke. We were all ready and on the road sharp at 6:45AM! We bid farewell to Devi Niketan and the Admiral, wanting to come back for more.

There were four goals for the day; eat at Gallops, visit the Junagarh Palace, spend time at a Camel Breeding Farm, and end our day at the Gajner Palace. Again note that the number 1 item on our agenda. "Eat"; not just anywhere, but at a specific place researched ahead of time. Some people just live to eat!

The sky was clear and blue; the crowd fun loving, and the driver safe and steady. After a while we ate the breakfast and heard some Bollywood music from my IPod. After several hours, we took a break to stretch our legs at a small road side hotel and also to purchase water. The adults insisted that the children use the bathrooms. I asked Jan how clean the bathrooms were. She responded by wrinkling her nose and shrugging her shoulders. Harsha says, I was on my way to the bathroom and on seeing her response, I recoiling like a man shot and turned back!

The roads were good for most parts but there were parts that where still under construction and the vehicle ate up the miles at a steady rather than speedy pace. With nothing much to do but stare at the rather featureless desert vista the group was getting bored. So we then played a round of Antakshari. With the diverse linguistic background, this was music of the most eclectic variety; Bollywood songs, Kannada movie songs, Tamil movie songs, and Carnatic music competed with each other to be heard. When Vee was stumped for a song, she composed one on the fly!

Trouble always rears its head when the sky is blue and everyone is happy. I was reminded of the Carpenters song "... not a cloud in the sky, got the sun in my eyes, and I won't be surprised if it 's a dream  ..."

Jannavi suddenly realized that we did not have our passports with us! If you were tracking you would remember we deposited it in a safe in Devi Niketan. In our desire to be on time, we forgot to clean out the safe. I tried to point out the silver lining; if the passports are misplaced, how much more secure can they be than at a Admiral's place or residence. I failed; I have only two tasks on this trip, breathe and hold on the passports! The choices were; drive back immediately to Jaipur and get the passports; request the Admiral to send it to our next stop, Jaisalmer, request the Admiral to send it to New Delhi, and lastly, drive back at the end of the trip to Jaipur, pick up the passport, and continue to New Delhi. We decided on the last; it was a small change to our itinerary but the cost was steep; well one must pay for ones mistakes! With that decision behind us, we overcame our heart burns and enjoyed the rest of the trip really well.

At one of the gates of Junagarh fort
Our lunch was not a lot of fun; we were worried about our passports and our friends were worried about our passports. Under different circumstance we would have enjoyed it a lot more. After late lunch we walked to Junagarh fort. I explained to Sam what a moat is and this fort has a wide moat, though I wonder where they would have found the water in a desert to fill it. The fort contains many palaces and we all wished we had allocated more than the 45 minutes we had set aside. Although the consensus was that we could have spent more time in each city we visited, I felt we treated Bikaner more cavalierly than it deserved. Do not worry, Bikaner, we will come back.

We then drove to the National Research Center on Camel or NRCC.We had our first experience getting
on a Camel. Siri insisted that she would not get on a camel. Before she could run away, I picked her up and put her in front of her mom. For the next two days, she kept negotiating with Raji not to allow athimber (me) to put her on a camel the next time! But two days later when I caught her again and put her on top of one for the second time, she was so proud of herself, she reassured her athai (Jan) not to be afraid.

Kalbelia
Maa joins the Kalbelia
Most of us were very tired by the time we got on the bus for our final destination, Gajner Palace. Situated 30 miles from Bikaner, this was once upon a time, the hunting resort for the Raja of Bikaner and the palace was decorated with hundreds of pictures of hunted tigers. An artificial lake behind the palace made a natural watering hole for the wild animals and bird.  A few decades ago this palace had been converted into a hotel. As we got out of our vehicle we were welcomed royally by several members of the hotel staff and garlanded. We could see a Kalbelia performance going in the courtyard behind the main entrance. We really liked this particular show, in particular an 8 year old child belonging to this troupe was absolutely stunning dancer. Maa tried to join them for a song but could not get in tune with them. We were all tired and wanted to get up very early to be by the lake in time for the sunrise. So after a quick dinner, we called it a night.




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