Travel Guide Bikaner

Founded in the fifteenth century, this city neglected by tourists is nevertheless characteristic of Marwar, with its Junagarh fort, its Lalgarh palace, its havelis, its old town or its camel carriages. Once a commercial center of the caravan routes and an important trading post on the Silk Road, Bikaner has remained much more authentic than the famous Jaisalmer, the other great city of the Thar Desert. Also known for producing the best camels in India, it organizes a fair every year in January. Despite the presence of some good hotels, tourism is not very developed. You will not find any souvenir stores, but quiet streets that evoke an affable and unconcerned India. The city's craftsmen have built up a solid reputation in fields as varied as goldsmithing, perfumery, textiles, leather goods and above all in the delicate art of miniatures. Contacts are easy and the traveler will quickly become familiar with the surrounding nonchalance. Bikaner is a city of 800,000 inhabitants, and is an ideal base to discover the desert and traditional villages, away from the camel safaris a little too "factory" of Jaisalmer.