Quiet Little Pushkar

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We are now as you can tell in Pushkar. It's a little town without autorickshaws or lots of traffic. Ahhhhh. It's been pretty nice and we met a couple on the very hot, rickety, over crowded bus from Asmer to Pushkar. Simon is from England and Coreen (we think that's how you spell her name) from Colorado. We also ended up at the same hostel together so that was cool. Pretty cool people and very easy to get along with. It's been nice to talk and hang out with another couple. Not saying that Chance is getting boring but it's nice to change up the conversation.

When we arrived a few days ago we were walking through the small dirt streets checking out hostels and figuring out which one to lay our head when we heard some commotion down the street. We saw a dog that was tied up and people beating the crap out of it with sticks. Oh that was great. I almost lost it. I had to immediately turn around, close my ears and walk away. Apparently, the dog had been biting people as they walked by and seemed to be rabid. Ok so good reason but doesn't someone have a damn gun? Geez.

We've seen a lot of sad looking animals everywhere. It's heart breaking. However, we've seen some really sad looking people too. It's amazing to see how different people live and really have it slap you in the face. We've gotten pretty used to the fact that electricity just randomly shuts off and on many time during the day. It's all good. It's a different experience and it makes us really appreciate what we have.

We went to the Brahma Temple down the street the other day. You make a small donation to the temple and you receive some flowers wrapped in newspaper. Then you take your bundle to the alter of the temple where a really old Indian dude blesses it and adds sugar to the bundle. Then you are to take the bundle to the ghat (a sacred wading entrance to the holy lake) where a priest goes through a little ritual with you. You end up blessing your family members that you mention and if you're not careful, you're also taken for a ride...again. So we blessed our family members (you're welcome) and then started dodging the "donation" part of the ceremony. We ended up giving a small donation, which is fine because the experience was worth the rupees we gave up and walked away. Oh, that's right. Chance gave for both of us since he was holding the money and they immediately informed us that karma is separate. Um, no it's not and if you want to talk about karma let's talk about the fact that you're "priests" conning people out of their money right here on the steps of the ghat that Ghandi's ashes were deposited. Don't worry, I didn't say that but I came close. We just thanked them and walked away.

There are a few rules here in Pushkar that everyone is asked to abide by:
No meat
No eggs
No public displays of affection
No beer
No flour pills for the fish in the lake (huh?)
No photography of women bathing in the holy lake

So this hasn't been too hard to abide by. It's hard to remember not to hold hands and the rest is easy since we don't have access to it. Oh, and we don't enjoy photographing women bathing. The food is so good that we could easily be vegetarian if we cooked like this. We just don't know how. Maybe we can take a cooking class. Even with that said we really miss Freebirds and Chik fil a...the list can go on but we'll spare you guys.

Alright. I guess I'm done. We are heading to Jaipur tomorrow and we'll be there for 3 days. I can't wait to see a Bollywood film!

We love you guys

Chance and Teresa

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Photos

Hello Pushkar
This is the sacred lake that Pushkar is built around. Ghandi's ashes were thrown here.

Our offering
We went to a Ghat, ceremonial place at the lake, and made an offering for all of you!

Blessed
Here we are after we were blessed.

Buds
Simon and Corrine