Travelher
Bikaner Bytes
Long weekends are an important time to unplug from the day-to-day hustle. For Amrita Das and her friends, it was time to explore the princely state of Bikaner, which is known for its gastronomic delights.
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ometimes, it’s the destinations that make a trip memorable. Other times, it is the company that makes all the difference. If we’re lucky, we get the best of both. My happy trip to Rajasthan’s historic city of Bikaner was the latter. A few months ago, my friends and I decided to take this journey from New Delhi. Everything just fell into place - there was a long weekend coming up, we had saved up some money and the train journey from New Delhi was comfortably short. Being a foodie, I was keen to try out the delicacies available in the nooks and crannies of Bikaner. This trip was also a good way to break away from the monotony of household chores and work, and rekindle our bond. Over group chats and conference calls, we unanimously agreed on a place to stay and booked our accommodation and train tickets. We took an overnight train from New Delhi to Bikaner. The seven-
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hour journey passed by quite quickly. We chatted through the night, reminiscing the old days and making plans for our holiday. The lack of sleep finally caught up with us, so once we reached Bikaner, we decided to rest for a few hours. A Taste of the Town Our hotel was centrally located on Station Road. We did not have an itinerary as such, choosing instead to rely on the locals to tell us which places to explore. This turned out to be the best part. Much to our delight, the neighbourhood of our hotel was the hub of the famous Bikaneri bhujia (crispy fried snack made of lentils and gram flour). It reinforced the fact that unplanned trips, sometimes, work out to be the
Street food stalls are a commonplace in Bikaner selling fried snacks and savoury items like mathri (deep fried biscuit made from flour, water, and cumin seeds), kachori (a spicy snack with a filling of lentils), etc.
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