The Jain Temple

The temple of Bhandasar was started at the end of the 15th century and finished in 1517. Since water was so rare in this arid region, 14 tons of clarified butter (ghee) were used for the foundations! I visited it alone, with the pandit who was a friend of Natasha's. He took me upstairs where I was rewarded (after walking barefoot up three flights of stairs covered with pigeon droppings!) with a fantastic view of the sunset and the old town.

AFEV

My Camel Safari

And it's off for a day of adventure in the Thar Desert, which in my opinion, doesn't look anything like a desert after three months of monsoon. The desert was green, there were small flowering shrubs and lots of animals, including sheep, goats, camels, cows... I did see a few antilope, but they ran away as soon as I took out my camera. My young guide was called Hanuman; he did all the work, even the cooking. The older man, his uncle spoke only one word of English: "camel', but he was the owner of the dromedaries, so the boss. We stopped for lunch in the shade of a tree, under which were several dried-up camel turds, that Hanuman brushed away with a stick before placing a rug on the sand for me to rest on. He then proceeded to make a fire with brushwood between two stones and blew on the sticks to fan the flames. It was so peaceful there that I actually fell asleep while he was preparing a delicious curry of potatoes, tomatoes and onions. Natasha had provided all the food. We stopped to get goat's milk for the chai (sort of sweet , spicy tea that you drink several times a day in India.) And I will remember for a long time to come the taste of that meal, alone on my rug in the desert, surrounded by birds and humming insects.

Land of freedom; motorcycles have rarely less than three people on them, sometimes more and who needs a helmet? These two children were staring at me in my auto-rickshaw, on my way back to the hotel. Indian children have the sweetest smiles! They also have beautiful teeth and big brown eyes that just make you melt!

Earlier that day I had visited Natasha Gallisot, a French woman who started an NGO in Bikaner and runs an orphanage in Bikaner for children abandoned by their parents. She has 15 children in all, aged from 5 to 12 years old. She is a very active, very dedicated woman who is involved in many local projects that she has initiated, including a bird hospital, recyling plastic and a knitting group where several local woman come to the headquarters of her association (which is also her house!) to knit every morning. The articles are then sold to tourists and profits go to help run the orphanage.

Natasha was so friendly and helpful and I met her at the right time when I was feeling a bit blue and more than a little fed up with life in India; she became an instant friend, invited me to dinner, made me my first real expresso since I came here, and even to stay at her place. So the next morning I checked out of my hotel and had breakfast with her. She also arranged for a camel safari: a whole day on camelback into the desert with a guide and a camel driver. I felt like a queen!

Phul Mahal

More pictures of the Flower Palace in the middle of a desert where little rain falls and flowers are so rare they have to be painted. The Queen of flowers herself wishes you all a Happy Diwali tomorrow. Wish you could be here to hear the firecrackers and see the lights.

This is the temple of clouds inside the fort at Bikaner. It shows you how important rainfall was / is for this desert region. The colours are fantastic and the the little orange squiggles represent bolts of lightening, ready to bring the lovely,  long-desired rain. All the paintings are done by hand and Bikaner is famous for its school of painting. More examples to follow.

The guide took this picture inside the Phul Mahal or Flower Palace which was one of the most beautiful things I've seen so far in India: a palace for the princesses, particularly enchanting by moonlight, the walls of which are covered with flowers and fine miniature paintings. To enter this palace, you need to purchase an extra ticket and very few people are willing to pay the extra 100 rupees, so I was alone with the guide who explained as well as he could with his limited English and was kind enough to preserve this photo for posterity.

Junagarh Fort in Bikaner

The Junagarh fort is not situated at the top of a mountain, but in a vast plain on the edge of the Thar desert.
Inside, there are several magnificent palaces where the maharaja of Bikaner and his family lived as well as a number of museums.
I spent several hours inside and enjoyed every minute of it. Apart from a group of Germans and a French couple, there were only Indian visitors to the site.
Built of finely carved red sandstone, the fort is a treasurehouse of surprises. More pictures are coming soon.

The first person to identify this plane correctly wins a free present from India!

Seventh Heaven

A wonderful place to stay in Pushkar is the Seventh Heaven Inn. I had lunch in the restaurant on the sixth floor, called the "Sixth Sense". This is another haveli, but with no paintings; the walls are all white, broken only by green plants everywhere.
A great (vegetarian) lunch with a great view. If I ever go back to Pushkar, this is where I will stay.
But my thoughts now are turning more towards Bikaner, the "pearl of the desert" and my next destination.
Just one more day of work and I will be off on a new adventure. Unfortunately, I haven't forgotten how awful the government buses are and I am NOT looking forward to the bus part of the trip. With a little luck, I will manage to catch a train back to Fatehpur.
Started the weekend well with mojitos up on the roof after a particularly nice sunset. Then watched a film with Camille called Neverland. Otherwise a perfectly quiet day and still very, very hot in the Shekhawati region. I long for winter when I can complain about the cold for a change!

Monkey Temple

On every mountain top around Pushkar, there is a temple. I went for a walk one morning towards a small temple to the east, and as I was walking up the stony path, dozens of monkeys came to greet me. People feed the monkeys and most of these fellows lived up at the top, near the temple. I met a baba there who told me to take my shoes off, but that I could stay as long as I wanted. It was an interesting walk and for once, I was alone except for the monkeys. That afternoon I went for a horse ride an hour before sunset and crossed through small villages, passed by fields of marigolds, saw some men out picking jasmin flowers off the trees for the local perfume market. What a shame I had forgotten my camera. Lots of pictures and fond memories of Pushkar in my heart though. It was a pleasant change from Fatehpur where you can't go out without being taunted and stared at. One gets used to it however. It will feel very strange when I go home and no-one casts a second glance. Unless I buy a sari and kill two birds with one stone: maybe people will stop looking at me here as if I were a Martian, and for sure in Cherbourg, I should be able to turn a head or two.