Pushkar

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Hello from Pushkar.

Pushkar is famous for an annual camel fair every November, which I am clearly missing. I thought this was the point of the town, as there is no fort, temple, etc.. of note to visit - but the guide book gave it a good write up. It is a great place. Very very backpacker friendly and tourist geared up, so a lot less hassle and being stared at. I ditched Deepak and headed out on my own yesterday which was lovely. It is a holy town, so no booze gets sold here, and no meat either - so completely vegetarian. Deepak, obviously, bought some contraband whisky and smuggled it into the hotel and looked fairly put out when I said no. Honestly, total peer pressure. But I didnt budge, and left him and Tappa, the Nepalese guide, to get pissed and play cards.

There are enough clothes and jewellery on sale here for pennies (100 rupees a garment - which is just over a quid) that I am tempted to put a stop to the Top Shop World Tour, and kit myself out with whole new crusty wardrobe. Low crotch trousers, head scarfs, anklets - I think I might go for it. Photos to follow. Am sort of tanned on face and arms and hair is not jet black anymmore sadly, so am starting to look more traveller (ish). Still not tempted by a tattoo though - henna or permanent.

As this is a holy town I went down to the lake and was accosted by a priest who blessed me and my entire family and coated my forehead in tikka (red coloured powder) for the bargain price of 200 rupees. They are pretty aggressive priests really, but everyone gets up to it. And you watch all the pilgrims (they come from all over india) bathing in the lake. I couldve joined in, but thought better of it.

On the drive from Udaipur (which took 6 hours), I drank loads of water so kept asking to stop for "rest" breaks. This started to worry old Deepak who was convinced i had "loose motions" and wouldnt believe me when i said otherwise. I had actually read this in a book last week about people being so open about these things, but thought the author was exaggerating. Not at all. Not believing me, Deepak then told Tappa and the two French girls that I had "loose motions"and at one point rubbed my stomach.. hmmm. Very amusing, but really not what you need.

When I hit the open road, I decided to treat myself to a "special" lassi - ie thick milkshake. The special thing about it is that is laced with hash. So I drank away, quite the thing and headed back to my hotel. I think I got more stoned than I ever have in my entire life. It completely blew my head off. I tried to meet the others for food in a restaurant, but my hearing was so out of control that the fans sounded like helicopters and I was convinced everyone else was whispering and every word I said was coming out at 200 decibels. This was making me piss myself laughing and I had to leave with no food and lock myself in my room. Cue Deepak coming to the door, still convinced I had "loose motions" (despute the fact I was clearly out my tree and had eyes like Garfield, all red rimmed) and then, bless him, suggested that I have some hashish - to make things smoother for my stomach. I politely declined, fearing an overdose, and laying cracking up to a terrible film called Outside Providence. Not even sure if it was a comedy or not.

Got up this morning feeling human again, at 5:30 and did an hour long trek up the (steep) mountain side to watch the sunrise which was beautiful - if tough going. me and the french girls were knackered and rosy faced, but then on the way down we met loads of indians, barefoot and all over 60, marching up the thing as if it were flat, wearing saris and all sorts. They must think we are a bunch of losers - they really must.

No more lassis for me I think - not for a while - or until I ditch Deepak and his loose motion talk.

I do love Deepak though, especially when he took me aside in Udaipur and told me not to have sex with Lauren - a swiss german who was laying it on pretty thick, but I had no interest in - as he had had sex with Miriam, the miserable german who is still having a bad time, the night before and bragged about it to all the indian guides. I thought it was very sweet of him. He said I could if I wanted, but he just wanted to let me know that Lauren would probably brag about it. Very sweet and protective of him..

1 more day in Pushkar and then off to tiger safari.

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