Pushkar and the drive to Jaiipur

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PUSHKAR & DRIVE TO JAIPUR. Monday 26 March, 2012.

Mr Barun collected us from the hotel at about 9.00 am and we set off in the direction of Jaipur. It was a long drive on bad roads and we passed many camels and witnessed much more of daily life in the rural areas. We passed fields and fields of Khejri trees, which, Mr Barun informed us, are used as camel feed. We bounced along as fast as we could go as we needed to reach Pushkar and pick up our guide before the temple at Pushkar closed at 1.00 pm.

We arrived at about 12.50, collected our guide and after parking and taking our shoes off were inside the temple with 5 minutes to spare. This was long enough for us. We caught a 30 second glance of the statue of Brahma before the curtains were closed. Although Brahma is the creator, and one of the three main men, very few temples are dedicated to him and Pushkar is the main centre for Brahma devotees.

After our visit to the temple we went for lunch at the Sunset Cafe overlooking Pushkar Lake. This is a natural oasis in the middle of semi-desert and you would expect that the water comes from aquifers from the surrounding hills. Of course, the water does not come from here. The truth is Brahma dropped a lotus flower here which turned into 3 lakes in the middle of the desert, the largest of which is Lake Pushkar. The importance of the lake in the Hindu religion is reflected in the fact that some of the ashes of Ghandi and Nehru were scattered in these sacred waters. The lake is almost entirely surrounded by stepped Ghats (banks) so it looks almost like an artificial reservoir although it is totally natural.

We did not know that Pushkar is dry (alcohol free), no meat and no eggs - so we were somewhat restricted with our lunch choices. D had an excellent pizza (one of the best he has eaten for years) which made a change from curry. M was not so lucky! She had suffered a stomach ache all morning and had sat in the front of the car with the seat back for most of the way. She decided she woulld try some vegetarian "French" onion soup. This arrived complete with huge fly floating in it and was a strange milky colour. One taste and she nearly threw up - something she had avoided for the whole journey! A replacement vegetable job was obtained which she managed to eat half of. After lunch we left our guide behind and continued on our way to Jaipur with Mr Barun. M sat in the front again so she could lie down. On our way out of Pushkar we passed the Camel Market Arena. Every year a famous week-long camel fair is held here in November.

On the road into Jaipur we picked up the local agent and were taken to our hotel Narain Niwas Palace, arriving late afternoon. The hotel was, in fact, a palace. It was formerly the country house of a Raja and has been converted into a hotel. Two brothers who are his descendants, live either side in rather flash pads. We were told that there is an ongoing feud between the two of them as to ownership of the hotel. We had a large room with a high ceiling in the main building. The grounds were extensive and well mainicured with peacocks and monkeys roaming freely. There was a large swimming pool, two restaurants (one inside and one in the grounds) and nightly shows of regional dancing and puppets. We ate outside and watched the show. The food was fine.

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Photos

Camel Cart
A camel can pul twice as much weight as an ox!