In this paper we report on the fabrication and characterization of an all-solid photonic band gap fiber with high contrast and low index core. The fiber cladding is composed of high index lead-silicate rods while borosilicate NC21 glass is used as a background glass. A 70 nm wide photonic band gap at 875 nm central wavelength is experimentally identified and compared with a numerical model. We also present a novel method for photonic band gap measurement using a femtosecond pulsed laser. The method is verified against standard one and discussed.