Not sure of the day...

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So I've gotten a little behind on my blog and since I last wrote, some strange and interesting things have happened. Including a night of what felt like hallucinations and very bad sleep, bumping in to three people (separately) that I've met previously on my travels having had no idea that they too were in pushkar, making friends with a local and a fairly comical event involving a busy bazaar and an unfortunate Indian man...





Pushkar has been such a great place to chill out, it's easy to see why some people get stuck here for months at a time. There's really not that much to do apart from the usual tourist attractions like camel safaris, horse riding and yoga but I've done none of that to date. I've not even been to the one and only brahma temple in the world as I'm suffering temple fatigue.



I have a had a full body massage from a young Indian man called Mahaveer at the 'Saloon Massage Parlour' next to the hotel. I was somehow able to switch off from the noise of India's streets right outside and even from the men who sat only a thin brick wall away who proceeded to chat away to Mahaveer in Hindi for the duration of my massage. I was a little dubious at first but found him to be incredibly professional and I felt like I was on cloud nine afterwards. However, it was later that night that that I woke feeling sick and paranoid and was an absolute wreck by morning. I'm not sure if had had something suspect in one of my drinks or if the strange smelling oil had had some affect on me but the sensation wasn't good. I lay awake for what felt like hours staring at the shadows in my room feeling very uncomfortable.



I've found the guests in the hostel here to be quite rude and not very sociable so I've resolved to hang out with myself for a while until Ben gets here. Ben and I met at the friends paying guesthouse in Agra. Three days in and I'm so bored of having no one to talk to so by the time he gets here I'm like a small child, not that I have much to talk about as I've only been sleeping late and shopping since I arrived.



So we're sat in front of the sunset cafe chatting about our lives and I see a familiar face wander across in front of me. I search my head for names and shout out 'Clare!'. A confused face turns to me and even behind the orange and brown frogs I can see the surprise in her face. I met Clare and Rebecca in Mumbai on my very first day in India which, of course, now feels like an eternity ago. She sits with us for a chai and I hang out with the girls for the rest of the day. Ben got bored of the shopping and wandered off. I had told myself no more shopping today but it's a difficult vice to kick when you're in Pushkar where everything is so alluring.



I take the girls to a shop were a local man called Raj works. I had spent an hour or so there the previous day. India is a difficult place to trust as there are people who will lie and cheat to gain from you and as such, I find it hard to believe the words of even the most seemingly sincere people. However, I liked Raj instantly. He showed me the difference between real and fake silk and gave me a very good price for what I bought. It was refreshing having spent the last few days meeting mostly people whose eyes seemed to spin around into dollar signs when glancing in my direction. He ordered masala chai over the phone and a short time later a man arrived with a dulled steel kettle and some tiny plastic cups and we drank chai together. I have since realised that this man makes the best masala chai in all of India. It must be so as it has the perfect blend of spices. Raj promised to get some made for me to take home, so the next day I returned to collect it and gave him some money for it, which he was humble in accepting? Clare and Rebecca also loved his shop and we spent well over an hour with Raj drinking chai and pulling the shop to pieces. It looked like a bomb had exploded at a fabric factory by the end of it. We even played dress up with saris!



There are two very large peaks either side of Pushkar and on each a temple stands. They were built for the two wives of Brahma. One is said to give a wonderful view of the sunrise and the other, of the sunset. Raj offered to take us all up the following morning. He takes an early morning walk up there every day at 4am to practice yoga at the peak. He decided to take a lie in, on this occasion, so he could accompany us at 6am. He picked up Clare and Rebecca on his motorbike and was to meet us at our hotel. However, when Ben and I tried to leave our hotel we saw that the huge oak front door had been double padlocked and there was no other way out. Somehow, out of nowhere, Deepak appeared to open the doors and we were surprised again to find another human being standing on the other side in the darkened street with freezing breath. This was Sam, another guest at the Akash who had foolishly decided to take an early morning bike ride (wearing flip flops). It turned out he had only gone 1km and decided it was way too cold. I asked if he wanted to join us on our early morning adventure and so he tagged along. Sam is 21 and from London. So when Raj arrived with the girls, we headed off.



The streets are quiet and a little eerie at this time but not in the least bit scary. We headed out of town passing a few people who were already starting their day, setting up shops on the side of the road or just standing around in groups chatting, others sat warming themselves by small fires. I tugged my blanket around me for warmth.



We reach the steps at the base of the mountain. The mountain path is illuminated along the way with intermittent bright lights and as we had approached they appeared like a constellation in the darkness. We meet a small group of people at the base from Calcutta who seem afraid to go on. They are relieved to meet Raj, a local man, and they join us for the walk up. We finally reach the top as the light gathers at the horizon. Pinks, oranges and blues grow in vivacity over the mountain from where we expect to see the sun rise. Rebecca shares some bananas and as if from nowhere a black faced monkey appears. Raj assures us that these monkeys are friendly, or at least friendlier than the red faced monkeys in Varanasi. He often finds that when he opens his eyes after yoga that he is surrounded by monkeys, patiently waiting for him to finish. He always brings a packet of biscuits with him and so they wait and gently take what they are offered. We finish our bananas and the monkey seems happy to chomp away on the skins. The sun breaks over the mountain ridge and it is as beautiful as we all imagined but are all too cold to appreciate it for long before seeking out the chai shop as Raj announces that it is now open. There's a chai shop up here?? I query. Yes, it turns out there is and a CD shop too!! Weird! We drink a huge mug of masala chai wrapped up warm on the side of a mountain. Many more monkeys arrive and so Clare pulls out a bag of green beans and hands some out. I offer them to one of the monkeys who's a little skittish at first but eventually takes the bean. I hold some out in my flat palm and the monkey takes my hand in his and with his free hand carefully takes one bean at a time. It was a sweet memory.



I had planned to hire a scooter at some point whist in Pushkar but so far had found no one to join me and as I was a little perturbed at the idea of doing it alone it seemed I would not get the chance. However, one night at the sunset cafe I met Scott, who Ben met whist in Jaipur. He and his friend Kim travel together since they met one month ago in Calcutta. He asks if anyone will join him for a scooter ride the following day and I jump at the chance. Kim has dance class all day and Ben is too scared having had a handful of fairly dangerous experiences on bikes and scooters. This doesn't deter me, so the next morning I meet Scott and the Lake View hotel and we head over on his rented bicycle to pick up the scooters. It's the first time in what feels like forever since I've had a backie on a bike, in fact it may be the first time ever. It makes me feel like a small child again and it's hilarious to see the faces of the locals as we pass them by. We pick up the bIkes and for 150Rs (about £1.90) a day, it's a steal. We pay for a couple of liters ofpetrol, Scott shows me how to work the thing and we're off. Now I'm not going to prevent that riding a scooter for the first time ever in India isn't dangerous and terrifying because it is both of those things but I have never had so much fun! We travelled up through the mountain pass to Ajmer. Through hair pin bends and crazy Indian drivers who seem to struggle to determine which side of the road they should be driving on. Motorcyclists, taxis, buses and trucks veer over to my side of the road and overtake at the most inconceivably dangerous points. It's exhilarating but I'm struggling to control the scooter and find it almost impossible to to turn right. It takes a while but I eventually figure out that you juts sort of lean into the corners which is quite an uncomfortable action to begin with. We travelthrough semi desert and reach Ajmer where the real test begins. We decide to ride up through the main bazaar that is literally rammed with people. I embrace the Indian horn culture but my pathetic little beep is ignored on the most art as people pass in front of me and Scott disappears into the crowd. I eventually catch him up to see that has found a smatur side street on which we can park. I pull hard to the left but the scooter runs away from me and a ram straight into the back of a poor unsuspecting Indian man who's just trying to get some breakfast. I apologies profusely and he seems somewhat tickled by the experience. However, the bike has been stopped on a hill and with me still straddling it begins to roll backwards. I grab hold of the handles to stop it but instead push the accelerator onto full forcing the bike into the hot cooking pans of the market stall in front. It was excruciatingly painfully embarrassing as I looked up to see around 30indian men's faces in a cirle smiling and laughing at me. No one is hurt and nothing is broken, except my pride and a man appears from nowhere, jumps on the bike and drives it away. I panic and assume he is stealing it. I feel instantly I terrible at my assumption when he pulls it up the hill a little way to safety and let's us leave our bikes there for the day. The whole incident is one I won't forget, least of the all the warmth and forgiveness of those involved. What wonderful people...except of course for the random guy who copped a cheeky feel of my boob as the chaos was in full swing then disappeared into the crowd! Truthfully though, I was just glad he hadn't gone for my purse!



Scott and I wandered up the main bazaar which was fantastic. We were the only Non-Indians and so we gathered a lot of attention, all of it good. Curious faces peered out from market stalls, groups of men came and asked our names and just chatted for a while. We were offered crackers to share with others and the whole experience whilst pretty full on was wonderful. The we're children selling strangely hairy, yellow sweets that tasted like candy floss, ancient wooden stalls where meat was being hacked and hung in the warmth of the day and so many stands selling sparkly things.



Last night (Thursday 19th Jan) I was heading down to the sunset cafe to meet with Ben, Scott and Kim and I see someone with blonde hair and a smile walking towards me. I assume it's Kim so I smile back but when I get closer I find it's Tessa!!! We met on the stray bus in New Zealand. I had no idea she would be in Pushkar but it's such a nice surprise. She has hooked up with some actors from London who head to Ranthambore National Park tomorrow so she is just here on a day trip. Tess joins us as the others make the most of the shopping. It's great to catch up but I'm sad to hear that she has had one or two not so nice experiences in India. I realised I've been quite lucky to have avoided this so far.

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