From Jodhpur, we boarded a midday train for the nearly five-hour journey to Bikaner. This historic walled city in Rajasthan sits on the edge of the Thar Desert. For centuries, camels have been central to Bikaner’s culture and in recent decades, overnight camel safaris have become popular.  

We set out from the train station on foot, navigating our way into the historic centre of Bikaner where we would stay the night before our camel safari. After checking in and meeting our hosts, we explored the labyrinth of streets in the old town. Bikaner’s old town didn’t have the same intensity as Jodhpur and we enjoyed our stroll past men on the sidewalk making Ghevar, a traditional Bikaner sweet made in massive pots. We also encountered the occasional goat wearing a sweater. We couldn’t blame them, we were also finding the evening temperatures of Northern India to be colder than expected. There weren’t many restaurants where we were wandering but the one we did find had incredible paneers. 

Overnight Camel Safari

The following morning we got a rickshaw to Vijay’s Guesthouse, the meeting point for our safari with Camel Man Tours.  Hiteshwar, the founder’s son who runs the business alongside his father Mr. Vijay, greeted us at the hotel. Hiteshwar took us by jeep to rendezvous with the camels and their handlers on the outskirts of town. We threw our backpacks into the camel cart, received instructions on how to mount the camels and said goodbye to Hiteshwar as we followed the camel cart down the dirt road. 

Not long after we started, we stopped at the cart driver’s home to let our camels drink water and collect the rest of the supplies we needed. While things got organized, we sipped on chai as the many children at the house and a very enthusiastic dog competed for our attention until it was time to start riding again.

Though Bikaner lies in a desert, agricultural programs have reshaped the landscape. There was plenty of vegetation along the route. While camel riding through endless sand dunes is on our bucket list, the diversity of plants and our encounters with local farming families during the ride kept the ride interesting for us.

By midday, we pulled off the route and dismounted in a wide field. The crew unpacked two cots for us to relax on while they prepared a large lunch of vegetable curry, dal, chapatis, rice, and fruit. We and our camels were well rested by the time we resumed our ride.  It took another two hours to arrive at camp. Camp consisted of two simple structures: a small cookhouse building, and a storehouse (where the crew slept) with a row of washrooms. We were impressed by how many roles of toilet paper had been provided. The company clearly knew how to appeal to foreign tourists. Otherwise the camp consisted of a dining table with chairs, a few lanterns, a fire pit, and our canvas tents. The crew set up our beds and bedding then two of the camel handlers returned home with their camels, leaving us with 3 of the staff, two camels and the cart for the night.

The sun began to set shortly after we arrived and we played a few games of Yahtzee while dinner was being prepared.  We ate by candlelight and enjoyed a few bottles of King Fisher that had stayed impressively cold in the portable cooler. After dinner the campfire was lit and we stargazed under the desert sky. We could hear music in the distance from another nearby camp. Some safari companies include traditional dance performances with the tour; we were relieved this one made the dancer an optional part of the experience. Private desert entertainment isn’t quite our style and would likely have felt rather awkward with just the three of us in the audience. 

The next morning we warmed up with chai and breakfast before departing camp. There was space for two of us in the camel cart and one of us on the second camel. I chose to ride the camel again while Steph and Jon took the cart. This was mainly because I had finally mastered mounting and dismounting the camel and anticipated I would embarrass myself more by attempting to climb in and out of the cart. The second day of riding, however, was noticeably less comfortable than the first, but we only needed to ride for an hour or so to our pick up point where Hiteshwar met us with his jeep to bring us back to the city.

Back in Bikaner, we checked back into our accommodations, cleaned up, and spent the afternoon exploring Junagarh Fort. It was beautiful and easy to lose hours wandering its many rooms, though we skipped hiring a guide since we figured the information would be similar to that of our Jodhpur audio tour. 

Holy Rats!

For our final day in Bikaner we hired a rickshaw to visit attractions outside the city. Pratheeth, a medical student who had travelled to Rajasthan to write his exams, was staying at our hotel and joined us for the day. He was great company, and it was nice having some local perspective on the places we were visiting.

Our first stop was the Karni Mata Temple, often called the “Rat Temple,” where thousands of rats roam freely and are considered sacred. Devotees believe the 14th century mystic Karni Mata and her family were reincarnated as rats, making them symbols of blessing and protection.

The temple had long been on our itinerary, but after watching a National Geographic video we felt a bit apprehensive, especially since shoes are forbidden. I finally found a use for the disposable shower caps I had packed, though I had not anticipated this particular purpose. Steph and Jon opted for plastic baggies, while our travel companion bravely went barefoot. Despite rats darting everywhere, the floors were surprisingly clean. None of us, however, spotted the elusive albino rat.

After carefully discarding our makeshift foot coverings and applying generous amounts of hand sanitizer, we headed to the National Research Centre on Camels There we learned about the history of camels in India, particularly the Bikaner breed and the Bikaner Camel Gaurd, met baby camels, and sampled camel milk chai and ice cream. A brief stop at the royal cenotaphs, built to commemorate Maharajas after cremation, rounded out the afternoon before we called it a day.

On New Year’s Eve morning, we checked out early and walked to the train station. Our next stop was Jaipur and 2026!