Pushkar

We grabbed a morning bus from Jaipur to the small, very religious lake town of Pushkar. Unfortunately, the bus was not one which I could ride on the roof so I made do with reading the local newspaper and chatting with two Isreali girls.

Upon arriving in Pushkar, we were unable to find a suitable guest house. So Natalie and I set out on a whirlwind tour of Pushkar's muddy streets in search of a good guest house (we left Ollie and Nadia to look after our backpacks). After an hour and a half, we stumbled upon Hill View Guest House (which was recommended to me by other travelers in Varanasi). As we entered the guest house, I was greeted by my Brazilian and Spanish friends from Jaipur whom I seen off to Pushkar the day before.

I had been feeling a bit queasy the last two days and at dinner, it finally hit me. I spent that evening and most of the following morning and early afternoon laying around and eating bland toast and drinking black tea. But, thanks to Ciproflaxin, I bounced back quickly to enjoy an afternoon dip in the pool before seeing my Spanish friends off to Udaipur.

Then next day, I set off early by myself to take in the sights, sounds, smells and tastes of Pushkar. A small, dirt road town with narrow streets, Pushkar is a favorite among Israeli's mainly due to its inexpensive accomodations/food and easy accessiblity to hash and marajuana. I met no less than 15 Israeli travelers during the day. But, back to my story of the day. I had a quiet breakfast at Raju Garden Terrace and chatted with a French couple about the beauty of Pushkar Lake. I then meandered through the windy, crowded streets answering the non-stop calls of "hello" by the shopkeepers. At the end of town is Brahma Temple, one of the holiest in the town (see my photo of temple for more info). I then took off for the climb to Savitri Temple for great views of the town.

The climb up to Savitri is all steps, at times very steep. About halfway up, a large group of 30 or more grey and black moneys make their home. They move quickly through the trees and across the steps but never came within five feet of me. They did seem faintly interested in my actions but then went back to scratching their butts and eating from the trees. At the top of the hill, the Savitri Temple is not much to look at but the views of Pushkar are fantastic. I sat cross-legged and inhaled the view for almost an hour. The hot sun, the light breeze and the clear air made for a spiritual moment. Upon my decent, one of the monkeys, a rather large one, followed me for about 100 meters but gave up when he realized I had no food.

After coming down the hill, the walk back to town is about 10 minutes. Along the way, I came across a group of kids dressed in brilliant colors. I took their picture and then decided to give them some money. A bit of a mistake. Them moment I unzipped my pocket to retrieve some Rupees, the kids went crazy much like a group of piranha when a cow is lowered into their tank (bad analogy for India, eh??). The tiny brown hand of the 15 or so kids were quicky raised towards my face as they all began to shout "rupee, rupee, rupee". I tried valiantly to restore order by it was no good. I then tried to put rupees into their hands but that did not work either as they would grab at each other. So, I decided to toss the coins and paper money into the air. As the kids's gaze shifted from me to the flying money, I quietly took a few steps back and began walking away. A few of the kids noticed my departure and followed me but only for a few meters.

As I returned to town, I was lucky to bypass the monsoon which erupted out of nowhere. I ducked into a roadside tea stand and enjoyed the milky, sweet Chai with locals as the heavy rain pounded down and flooded the streets. When it passed, I reluctantly waded through the dirty water that was sometimes calf-high (a nice mixture of dirt, animal crap, garbage and rain water) and came across a shaving stand. I really enjoy the shaves in India. Some quick interneting and I found myself back at the guest house as my friends returned from their day. After a shower, the rain returned and prevented us from heading to town for dinner. Instead, we played cards and ate at our guest house. I decided that evening to head off to Jodpur the next morning, leaving Ollie and the girls in Pushkar. Mathiu, our new German friend, was also going to Jodpur the following day.

Hope everyone back home is good.

Larry

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