Rajasthan
WESTERN
R AJASTHAN
Rajasthan
GETT iNG T HERE
& A WAY
Rajasthan
Bi KANER
Arjun ̈Family ̈ GUESTHOUSE $
(%274132; [email protected]; per
person incl full board huts/r ₹150/200) A couple
of doors from Badal House, this is another
family offering clean budget lodgings and
camel rides, although they tout the buses to
get you here.Hotel ̈Pansari ̈Palace ̈ HOTEl $$$
(%9784480781; http://www.hotelpansaripalace.com;
r ₹2500) Opposite Badal House, this new
two-storey heritage-style hotel is an eyesore
in the village, but has comfortable air-con
rooms with hot-water showers.8 Getting ̈There ̈& ̈Away
You can catch local buses from Jaisalmer to
Khuri (₹30, one hour) from a road just off Gadi
Sagar Rd. Walking from Jaisalmer Fort towards
the train station, take the second right after the
tourist office, then wait by the tree on the left,
with the small shrine beside it. Buses pass here
at around 10am, 11.30am, 3.30pm and 4pm.
Return buses from Khuri to Jaisalmer leave
roughly at 8am, 9am, 10.30am, 11.30am and
2.30pm.Bikaner
% 0151 / POP 530,000
Bikaner is a vibrant, dust-swirling desert
town with a fabulous fort and an energising
outpost feel. It’s less dominated by tourism
than many other Rajasthan cities, though it
has plenty of hotels and a busy camel-safari
scene, which attracts travellers looking to
avoid the Jaisalmer hustle.
Around the full moon in January or very
late December, Bikaner celebrates its three-
day Camel ̈Festival, with one day of events
at the Karni Singh Stadium and two days
out at Ladera, 45km northeast of the city.History
The city was founded in 1488 by Rao Bika, a
son of Rao Jodha, Jodhpur’s founder, though
the two Rathore ruling houses later had a
serious falling out over who had the right
to keep the family heirlooms. Bikaner grew
quickly as a staging post on the great cara-
van trade routes from the late 16th century
onwards, and flourished under a friendly
relationship with the Mughals, but declined
as the Mughals did in the 18th century. By
the 19th century the area was markedly
backward, but managed to turn its fortunes
around by hiring out camels to the Britishduring the Afghan War. In 1886 it was the
first desert princely state to install electricity.1 ̈Sights
Junagarh ̈ FORT
(indian/foreigner ₹30/200, video ₹100, audio guide
incl camera ₹250; h10am-5.30pm, last entry
4.30pm) This most impressive fort was con-
structed between 1589 and 1593 by Raja Rai
Singh, ruler of Bikaner and a general in the
army of the Mughal Emperor Akbar. You en-
ter through the Karan ̈Prole gate on the east
side and pass through three more gates be-
fore the ticket office for the palace-museum.
The admission price includes a group
tour in Hindi and/or English with an official
guide. The one-hour tours leave every 15 to
20 minutes. The audio guide (requiring an
identity document as a deposit), is available
in English, French, German and Hindi, is
very informative and allows you to visit at a
more leisurely pace.
The beautifully decorated Karan ̈Mahal
was the palace’s Diwan-i-Am (Hall of Pub-
lic Audience), built in the 17th and 18th
centuries. Anup ̈Mahal ̈Chowk has lovely
carved jarokhas (balcony-windows) and
jali screens, and was commissioned in the
late 17th century by Maharaja Anup Ma-
hal. Rooms off here include the sumptuous
Anup ̈Mahal, a hall of private audience with
walls lacquered in red and gold, and the
Badal ̈Mahal (Cloud Palace), whose walls
are beautifully painted with blue cloud mo-
tifs and red and gold lightning.
The Gaj ̈Mandir, the suite of Maharaja Gaj
Singh (r 1745–87) and his two top wives, is a
fantastic symphony of gold paint, colourful
murals, sandalwood, ivory, mirrors, niches
and stained glass. From here you head up to
the palace roof to enjoy the views and then
down eventually to the superb Ganga ̈Dur-
bar ̈Hall of 1896, with its pink stone walls
covered in fascinating relief carvings. You
then move into Maharaja ̈Ganga ̈Singh’s ̈
office and finally the Vikram ̈Vilas ̈Durbar ̈
Hall, where pride of place goes to a WWI De
Havilland DH-9 biplane bomber.Old ̈City ̈ AREA
The old city still has a medieval feel despite
the motorbikes and autorickshaws. A laby-
rinth of narrow, winding streets, it conceals a
number of fine havelis, some up to 300 years
old. The best known are the Rampuria ̈Hav-
elis, owned by the same family and scattered
around the lanes, although the carvings and
frescoes on the hard-to-find Poonam ̈Chand ̈