March 31, 2015 (Bikiner, India)

This morning we pulled into Bikaner on the train. We ate breakfast on the train and then had a guide drive us to the Rat Temple. The Rat Temple is several kilometers outside Bikaner. The Rat Temple is one of the significant Hindu Temples in India. At the temple they worship a goddess named Karni Mata. They believe that the goddess made the water clean in this area by just touching it. The rats are sacred there because they believe the rats are the descendants of Karni Mata. They feed the rats sweets like coconut and coconut milk. There were hundreds of them in holes, on the railings, on the ledges, in the corners,… Before we left our guide found the “white rat.” They say if you see the white rat it is good luck. There are three or four white rats in the temple. I had barely ever seen barely 10 rats in my life and now I have seen hundreds.  

After the Rat Temple we drove to a textile shop where mom bought some placemats that were made out of old saris which were patched together. We drove back to the train after and ate lunch. 

This time in the afternoon we drove with everyone else to another fort. Walking into the fort it looked quite similar to the first fort we saw in Agra, but this fort had spiky front doors. Inside the fort one of the rooms we saw was the rain room. In this room it would simulate the sound of rain by when twisting a knob water would flow out and hit the stone floor. Then they would play music with the sound of rain in the background. 

After the fort we drove the coach over to a hotel which in the past a hunting palace and grounds. Inside the hotel near the front entrance we sat in a courtyard and drank juice. While we were sitting down we could look up at the parakeets, crow and owl in the trees above us. We strolled through the property seeing birds as we walked alongside the lake. 

Before the sunset all of us took camel carts to the sand dunes where we would eat dinner. During our ride we saw a camel’s tongue. When we saw the camel’s tongue it looked like an organ coming out of it’s mouth. It was big! On the dunes we had music and a show as we ate dinner after the sunset. We also danced with the two Indian dancers who wore black/ multicolor dresses. Walking back to the coach after dinner I liked running and jumping on the sand dunes.