It's my birthday and I'll eat if I want to in Pushkar, Jaipur . . .!

---

Namaste

So early Sunday morning of 20th Jan, our driver picked the girls up from the hotel and then picked me up from my aunts house at 6.30am. Rather early I must say but we had to cover some serious mileage!!! The drive was cool even the traffic became bearable!

We arrived at our first stop 7 hours later, in Pushkar. The history behind this place is that people say Brahma dropped a lotus flower on the earth - and Pushkar floated to the surface. Pushkar is a Hindu pilgramiage town and so unbelievably peaceful compared to Delhi and the surrounding areas. There is a huge lake in the middle of Pushkar where there are various bathing ghats.

The driver took us to a guesthouse called Raghav Resort - far from a resort but the guesthouse was amidst some lovely greenary which kinda made you feel that you were away from an city! The room was large but oh so very cold! The temperatures have dropped to around 8C when the sun goes down.

After settling into the hotel we decides to go an discover Pushkar . . walked around the lake, sat in a cafe by the lake and had masala tea ( a must in India!). There are a myriad of steets lines with market stalls seeling handicraft , shawls and food! Suprisingly, there were a lot of travellers here, most of whom looked like they had been living here for years!

In the evening we decided to go to Lake View Restaurant that had a rooftop terrace and the best food ! The views were amazing at sunset, filled ouselves up on Daal and roti then proceeded to head back tot he hotel as we were under strict instruction to come back to th hotel as soon as it gets dark! Understandable as 4 girls should not be alone at night in Pushkar!

21st JAn - MY BRTHDAY!!!! In the morning, we had a camal safari for an hour - great way to spend ure birthday! - it was hiliarious - there was a lot of screaming from us girls when th camal lifted us up and sat us down! This was a superb experience - the camal ride took us into the Pushkar desert and on the mini sand dunes. The guide with the camal was a right laugh , calling our 2 camals John and Jonny. There was some slow walking, sone galloping and some giggling!! All in all a great experience!


Getting back in the car, we started our journey to Jaipur - Heritage Pink City. We all fell asleep for about 4 hours of the journey.

After arriving in Jaipur, we were taken to our gusthouse recommended by the driver at 600 rupees per room for 2 nights. Fair price I thought!

We went walking around Jaipur City which was a complete scary experience - worse than Delhi I though as we did not know where we were heading. Managed to get a cycle rickshaw to MI Road, the main road woth shops but still had a local atmosphere!

We found a restaruant that sold beer and hade my birthday celebrations with beer and lots of food. The girls did try and surprise me with a birthday cake but was told that they ran out!!! We bough some alcohol and went back to the hotel having rum and coke in bed and a good ol'natter!

This was th first time I really missed my family and freinds - spending my birthday in a different country with people I have jus met was odd but cool. But it made me very homesick!

22nd Jan- today we spent the day sighseeing with our driver. Went to Hawa Mahal, Amger Fort ) saw a cultural performance of Kathak dancing and music - it was awsome!), Jaigarh fort ( boring - not much to see), Janta Mantar ( rememebr that Preeya???) ( observatory outside) and City Palace. A lot of sighseeing done today , now just gonna relax back at the guesthouse.

These internet places are so hard to find here and also difficult to upload pics using my card reaser. So apologies - I will get some photos up!

Tomorrow we are starting off early to drive to Agra and see the Taj at sunrise on Wednesday!

Bye!

Dee

---

Photos

SI850946
Scenery on the way to Jaipur

SI850953
Cutie pie monkeys at Pushkar by the Ghats

SI850959
Puskar by the lake

SI850967
Sunset view from Lake view Resatuant where I had the best Daal ever!

SI850969
Our room at Pushkar

Comments

[larry76]

The perfect place for a birthday!
The memories of Pushkar are flooding back! I remember drinking chai, chatting to all the friendly smiling people, and learning to tell the time with the sun, with a cool saddhu, sat on the lake. I've never owned a watch since! Hope you have had a great birthday, i envy you right now :) x

[Jmania]

Something to do :)
Cool, have been enjoying reading about your travels. Keeping me entertained whilst I have my leg up! Look forward to reading more soon. Keep smiling and having fun :) Jas

[Preeya]

Dee's singing!
Ha ha ha yes i remember Jantar Mantar!!! Did you sing the song..... Did you stay on your feet unlike me.....????!!!