5.30 am - Pavan woke up early and I woke up at 6.00 am
To Bikaner - our 28th District.
Today is our last day in Rajasthan. We will go to Bikaner which is 333 kms from Jaisalmer and it would take away most of the day driving there. But we have seen all that we wanted to see in Jaisalmer, so we are ready.
Had some tea, bread and butter. I got ready and then suddenly, the lights went off at 8.00 am, so it is a good thing we had already had a few cups of tea etc. There was no hot water, so we talked with the receptionist. The geyser had been turned on at 7.30 am (the person in charge of that duty was sick hence the delay). The power came back on at about 8.30 am, meanwhile, I finished our packing and Pavan got ready.
9.10 am - Left Hotel Moonlight, after clearing the bill with the hotel manager. Pavan paid here in dollars.
9.40 am - Now we are on NH 15, and Bikaner is 310 kms away from here.
Uneventful journey from Jaisalmer to Bikaner.
Stopped on the way to eat some lunch. As we parked outside a restaurant, there was a table full of some Europeans and a begger with a child sitting outside the restaurant. I made a mental note to give her some money on our way back, because of her baby. We went inside, and ordered some simple food. Meanwhile, we heard a commotion and someone opened a backdoor and took some food out for the same begger woman (with the baby). They had taken a big bowl of vegetables with 5 or 6 tandoori rotis and she was asking for yoghurt. Interesting, we thought maybe the tourists could not stand the sight of a poor woman. We finished our food, which was very good, very dhaba type food, and good hot rotis and the perpetual nice daal and vegetables etc. As we were driving back, Shrawan told us what had actually happened. There was an Indian family and they were distributing bananas to all the poor people in the neighborhood. Meanwhile, they saw this begger and instead of giving her money, paid the restaurant - in front of her - and asked them to feed her. She knew how much was paid to them that is why she was demanding more - like yoghurt etc. God bless that family, they are kind people. We need more families in our country who would not allow hunger to be witnessed like this.
2.54 pm - Reached Bikaner and headed straight for the railway station. Shrawan did not know much about this railway station, and dropped us on the wrong side. We went inside and were directed to actually cross the bridge and go to the opposite side. We decided to buy the platform tickets and then go across. It had taken Shrawan Singh quite some time to come here in the first place. We had gone past the station and on our way back were stuck at the railway crossing for the longest time. So, we decided to tackle our tickets and then return back where he was parked.
3.15 pm - At the railway station, we crossed the bridge and after many queries, finally found the right windows where they sell long distance journey tickets. There were just a few people, but the officials were so sloppy and slow that the line was just not moving. If you have never travelled by train in India, be advised, you will need to fill up a form first and only then stand in the line. So, you need to find out which train number, destination etc, because if you do not, the ticket window personnel would just throw the form back at you to return with all completed information. They DO have the information with them but they are not trained in customer service enough to help you, and find great pleasure in harassing the customers. They actually get some cheap thrills at seeing you upset. It does not matter if you are a woman, handicapped or a senior citizen. So, although there was an overhead message that women, foreigners, senior citizens do not need to stand in a line, it does not matter. So, I barged inside the office from a side door, and demanded to know the reason why was no one being served. The gentleman, who had been joking around with the staff members instead of taking care of the customers, asked me to go and stand in line. I said I would not, not any more.I, being a woman (and a foreigner now) had been waiting in the line and when I finally did make it, the Reservation officer - Mr Singhal at the window, actually threw the form at me when I asked him to confirm if I had the right train number!!!! He asked me to return after filling in the complete, correct information and then stand in line again!!!! This person inside the office finally calmed down and gave me the information I needed and yes, I had to stand in line all over again. We finally got 2 tickets from Bikaner on a waitlist, yes a waitlist. I did not want this person throwing the form at me again while I was deciding, so I accepted to be on the waitlist. I could see we were third and fourth on the waiting list and decided to go to the confirmation desk after eating something and hope for the best. The tickets were for a second class 2 tier AC at the price of Rs 944.00 per person, total Rs 1988.00
Had we not read somewhere that since Lalu Prasad Yadav's presence in the Railways, things have improved?? NOT!
We had to withdraw some Rupees in order to pay Shrawan Singh (Taxi charge for Hotel Arya Niwas - for the balance of last 7 days). We were not able to use an ATM machine for some reason, also at the Syndicate Bank, they do not have foreign exchange facility yet, but Shrawan Singh also wanted us to see Junagadh Fort before they closed. So, we went to the Fort, and noticed a Thomas Cook Foreign Exchange counter. We exchaned $300 at the rate of Rs 43 per dollar and got Rs 12900.00
Headed to the Fort ticket window and were told we had less than an hour to see the Fort. There was a guide to show the last group around, so we hurried after all the others. At some point, the guide realized that we were very interested in photography and were taking a bit longer and became extremely patient, actually giving us extra five minutes here and there so we could follow him at leisure. The Fort, as all others, is phenomenal and well preserved. Again, wished we had more time in Bikaner. So, we left the Fort feeling good about Bikaner finally. It is a Fort worth seeing.
The public restrooms at the Fort need a lot of help!!
We still had plenty of time, so we returned to the station from where we would be boarding later, and immediately got our confirmations. The ticket window attendant was very curteous and within a few minutes we were off to get some food before boarding the train in about an hour.
Shrawan insisted that we eat something before we board the train, and took us to a restaurant close by, Sagar Hotel. We had some soup, sandwich and pizza there. Two performers came and sat on a carpeted floor and started singing songs, but they sounded a bit loud in a closed room, these performances are excellent in open areas, anyways, since not many people were listening to them they stopped after 2 songs and waited. When we left, Pavan gave Rs 20 to each just to show our appreciation. That brought smiles to their faces.
We met with Shrawan Singh outside and he told us he would be staying there at night. This would have been a great hotel to stay if we were spending the night in Bikaner.
We gave Rs 8750 to Shrawan Singh for 7 additional days taxi service charge. Pavan had been tipping him Rs 100 everyday. We also knew he was getting his daugher married in February, so I gave him an additional Rs 1000. I do not think he was expecting anything from me, and was very touched. It was a very small gift considering how much care he had taken of us through out our month long trip with him. Pavan and I both felt that had it not been for Shrawan Singh's curteous and personal service, we would not have been able to visit 28 districts in 30 days. He took care of us at every step of the way, did not take us to places that he felt would not suit us and generally looked after our welfare. I would highly recommend anyone who visits Jaipur to hire their (Hotel Arya Niwas) travel services in and around Rajasthan. We were happy, I am sure you will be too. Rs 1250 a day includes all gas/petrol bills, toll taxes and you do not have to pay for the driver's food or lodge. We did that because we wanted to make sure he too was comfortable, after all, if your driver is tired or not well fed, he cannot give you good service. Besides, after a month, he had become like a family member.
7.30 pm - We boarded the train. Shrawan Singh brought our luggage inside the train. Thank God, it was at platform # 1 - so we did not have to cross the bridge. Once we had brought the luggage inside, we went out to bid him goodbye and thank him. He became quite emotional and touched our feet and I felt his eyes quite misty. He is a good man.
7.40 pm - The train left on time, and immediately stopped while still at the platform - and finally left at 7.58 pm.
Our seats were very comfortable, we had the 2 lower births, these were quite wide, with blue leatherlike covers, blue curtains and there were only 2 more passengers with us and they both had the upper births.
One of the gentlemen was Mr A K Sharma and he is a Wg Cdr with Indian Air Force and the other guy was Lokesh Bajaj with NIIT, Rajendra Pawar's company. My God, that takes us back to late 70's when he used to climb our 5th floor office at Kumud House at Flora Fountain. We had a Graphic Design Studio and a Silk Screen Printing unit, and he used to come to us and get some local stationary printed and always bargained and got the best job done. He always had an eye for good design. He has come a long way since then. Good for him, we are happy for him.
We ordered one dinner, just in case we felt hungry at night, the food was quite bad, we had a few bites and let it go. After quite a long chat with our co-passengers, we finally decided to go to sleep. It was very comfortable, but I felt there were a lot mosquitoes. I got the spray from our carryon bag and after I sprayed the area around us, I was finally able to get some sleep. Actually, it was so comfortable with all the bedding they give you (sheets, pillows blankets etc- nice and fresh laundered) that we actually slept all night.
Next morning, actually on December 12th, the train reached Old Delhi Station late, instead of arriving at 7.30 am, it finally arrived at 9.30 am. We hired the services of a coolie, and booked a taxi to Meerut for Rs 1000 upto home. But before we left, I went and got some food packed from a nice take out joint right at the Old Delhi Station. We had Puri Subji, Gobi Parathas with yoghurt and a gulab jamun, and a bottle of mineral water. We had plenty of napkins to be able to eat in the Maruti van taxi. The driver had a bit of hard time finding our house, we cannot recognize the roads in Meerut any longer, so after a few wrong turns, we finally landed home!
Home sweet home!
