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Published: November 6th 2009
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Photo 7
Pilgrims climb to the monkey temple at Galta We knew that the famous camel fair at Pushkar was to start sometime around the end of October/beginning of November, but weren't sure that we'd be in Jaipur at the right time. Luckily, we found out that we would be around for the pre-meet, in advance of the madding crowds, so booked a trip to Pushkar on our last day. Before that, however, we had one more day in Jaipur, so decided to head for the hills again, but this time to the east rather than the north.
Our main destination was Galta, within a small valley directly east of Jaipur itself. In the bottom of the valley are a series of cascading tanks, providing fresh water from underground springs. Because we timed our visit to Galta during the holy month of Kartika, it was swarming with thousands of pilgrims, who came to bathe in the holy tanks and make the short trek up the hill to a temple dedicated to the monkey god Hanuman at the top. We made our way cautiously through the crowds, being careful to avoid taking photos of anything that might generate a call for baksheesh (which covers just about everything!). Past the deformed cows
Photo 9
The garden at Sisodia's palace (a difficult sight) and monkey food stalls we walked, up the hill towards the temple, stopping off at the top for a brief chat to the park ranger. The temple itself isn't particularly impressive, but its location overlooking Jaipur is, and the area's resident monkey population (which have earned it the nickname of 'monkey temple') add a bit of interest. Once inside the temple, Mum and I succumbed to an offer from the resident family to give us henna tattoos, so Mum had a traditional hand design and I went for a Sun God pattern on my arm... very pleased with that one!
On our way out of Galta, we stopped off briefly at Sisodia's palace, which was built by the Maharajah of Jaipur (who else) for one of his queen's, who wasn't keen on sharing her pad with the other queens at Nahargarh. The palace is only small, but its cascading terraced gardens provided a welcome oasis in the dry valley, and a nice respite after the noise and bustle of Galta. The final stop on our tour of Jaipur was the mausoleum housing the tombs of the various Maharajas, a collection of beautiful marble and stone buildings
Photo 14
Cows patiently wait to be traded at Pushkar set curiously out of the way at the foot of the hill below Nahargarh Fort.
With Jaipur comprehensively covered, we headed off to nearby Pushkar for the day. For most of the year, Pushkar is a small town with a population of a little over 10,000, but once each year it swells with a throng of 200,000 pilgrims and farmers for the Pushkar Camel Fair. We were in Pushkar the day before the official opening of the fair, a time when the serious animal trading is supposed to take place. The town was busy, and beside the main arena, hundreds of farmers had made camp with their livestock - camels, cows and horses, all neatly sub-divided. It was stinking hot, and after half an hour wandering round the animals in the full sun, we headed towards the ghats and temples, Pushkar's other draw. At the centre of Pushkar is a lake, edged by ghats used for bathing and devotion, but sadly at the time of our visit there was very little water, owing to a poor monsoon and works being done to the lake. Some aggressive men brought us down to the ghats and tried to extract a hefty
Photo 16
Passing time at the fair sum for the privilege of blessing our families and having rice and flowers pressed onto our forehead, so we retreated to the peace and quite of a garden restaurant.
The rest of Pushkar, away from the ghats and camel trading, is a colourful and bustling place, but very touristy, with one main drag running alongside the lake. We'd had enough of the hassle and heat, so headed back to our taxi and on to Jaipur. Thankfully, our next destination would remove us even further from the hot plains, as we were heading to Shimla, in the foothills of the Himalayas.
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scottandanny
Scott Tyrrell
Pictures
Gorgeous pictures, very evocative. Made me smile, made me remember, made me jealous and proud. One day. One day very soon