Day Seven - Bikaner

Outdoors, seated round the fire at Bikaner

Wish I'd bought this dress printed with gold giraffes for my three year old grandaughter

The landscape changed completely as we drove from Jaipur to Bikaner. It reminded me of my childhood in the middle east - semi-desert scrubland, with its scratchy, dry plants becoming more and more arid until it was just sandy desert. Noticeably hotter too.

We stopped for lunch at a restaurant that had had no electricity for two days. But they still managed to give us a wonderful meal under a bright yellow canopy in the garden. A consomme soup with slivers of fresh vegetables in it followed by a potato cutlet, rice and vegetables, potatoes in caraway seeds and hot naan bread. This is what I had, as nearly every meal was a serve yourself buffet, other people chose different things but I avoided curry when I could. We always drank whatever water in jugs we were given and suffered no ill effects, but it was a treat to have a bottled water called Bismeli - recommended if you ever have a choice.

Strolling round the beautifully kept garden after lunch we noticed a fire burning with a billy can of water on it. The gardener's clothes hung over a fence. He lived in the garden we guessed.

After a long drive we came to the Heritage Resort at Bikaner. This hotel in the middle of the desert has two person bungalows near an open air swimming pool. During the black sky night the temperature plummets and fires are lit outside. It was seriously cold and the little electric bar fire in our bungalow stayed on all night. 

I forgot to mention the dress, pictured above. I loved that dress, seen in Jaipur, but money had become an issue, with every cash machine we spotted being out of action up until now. As India has a 'closed economy' you cannot get rupees until you are actually in India. My bank had persuaded me to use a Barclaycard. Big mistake. Our own sterling currency changed  for rupees locally is the best option.