Amritsar is a 20-hour journey by night train from Ajmer, the nearest station to our last stop at Pushkar. Undaunted at the prospect we booked tickets in A/C 3 tier. Basically reserved bunks in compartments with 3 tier bunks each side and a double tier along the length of the compartment. There were only 16 tickets left when we booked, but we had the choice of bunks so we opted for the double tier bunk. All the best plans.... as they say.......When we boarded the ...

With train times somewhat inconvenient for the journey to Pushkar we opted for another deluxe bus trip. Clutching our ticket stubs we boarded the bus and found we were in seats 5 & 6 near the front of the bus. We immediately noticed the lack of storage for our backpacks as there were no lower level sleeping areas to stow under, only seats. Groaning at the prospect of having to sit cuddled up to our bags for the seven-hour journey we threw our day packs onto t...

The Blue City turned out to be pretty much the same as any other until that is you climbed up one of the nearby hills to view from above. The town is large and contains a large number of medical colleges and related establishments in the newer parts, but we were based amongst the narrow lanes of the Old Town. Having experienced Diwali eve in Jaisalmer we were expecting a noisy hectic night ahead. Indeed, on stepping into the Sadar bazaar we found the place buzzi...

We arrived here just as dawn was about to break. We'd taken a night bus for the seven-hour journey, so had managed to get a little sleep. The upper berth which we'd been assigned had sliding glass windows on either side which were incredibly effective at reducing the noise, although it did feel a little bit like being in a glass coffin. John was just waiting for the music to kick in and was on constant alert for any smell of burning. As we climbed down from the c...

On Thursday we ventured out from Bikaner for a short train ride to the local town of Deshnok. About an hour away from Bikaner, Desnok is famous for rats. A whole temple full to be exact. Apparently, in the 14th century, the son of Karni Mata drowned. She ordered Yama the God of death to bring him back to life. Yama said he couldn't, but Karni Mata as an incarnation of Durga had the power to restore her son's life. I couldn't figure why she wouldn't have known t...