Once upon a time, I was something important in the UK travel industry, where I spent more than 35 years of my working life roaming the globe at someone else's expense. So, if you dream of living overseas on less than 10 Dollars a day, be warned: I'm an experienced, mature traveller - not a backpacker. You won't find stories here about me thumbing my way across the Sahara, slumming it in cockroach-infested hostels, or sharing a room with giant mosquitoes!
Oh, and I'm British - so you can expect a stiff upper lip in times of adversity and a sense of humour that's often not understood by other... full info
Nice remembrance! It was nice to read about the trip which reminds me about the life of South Asian people. I'm from Bangladesh and used to face similar kind of experiences regarding their beliefs & religion. I think not only Muslims pilgrims are become commercialized, happening with others as well. Last year, I have visited "Kamakhya Temple" of Assam which is a renowned temple in India. It was widely known & popular due to black magic. However, that seemed very typical & commercial to me. And truly, i didn't feel any excitement rather that experience broken the images of my mind that I kept for for long time!!!
Anyway, you explored a lot about India, unfortunately that I couldn't even my country was neighbor. Great! Keep going ... :)
Thanks Arif. Good to hear from you.
It's a pity, but inevitable, that most pilgrimage places do eventually become a source of income for so many of their inhabitants. Commercialism in Pushkar certainly spoiled the spiritual experience for me.
BTW are you still in Bangladesh or following your dreams elsewhere?
Hello! Hi Mike! Yes, its good to be here & reading your blogs :) However, yes i have moved to Adelaide (South Australia) couple of months ago! Do you have any plan to visit? If so than it would be nice indeed! Take care
No plans to visit Oz unfortunately, but I hope you are happily settled there and that you may find time to blog from your new home territory! Keep smiling!
As a woman of a "certain age"... I, too, remember the Flower Power days, the smell of patchouli oil always brings it back. But it doesn't feel very charming now, and I can do without all the souvenir shops all selling the same tat.
Really enjoy your writing and your pictures. I look forward to the next installment.
Patchouli Yes, Karen, patchouli masked certain weed-like scents of those days!
Alas, my travels around India for this year are about to come to an end - just one more blog to go. But, I plan to be back there in 2017 with the Grey Haired Nomads on a spiritual and wildlife quest that will take us from the source of the Ganges in the very north right down to its delta in the Bay of Bengal. Watch this space - oh, and keep smiling!
Trying to love Pushkar Your blog made me laugh. Some want to go back in time to experience something that passed them by before they were born and they'll never have it. In our travels we have found some towns just don't interest us as much as others and often times the ones we expect to like. Glad you are blogging again.
We had exactly the same reaction when we went to Pushkar! To add to your list of dislikes - all the cafes selling falafel (which I have nothing against in the right place) and badly cooked Western food. We had at least smuggled some gin and tonic in. And we did have a good laugh at the two transvestites who go round bribing people to stop them making a scene at weddings.
I knew I'd forgotten something... ...the G&T kit, dammit!
The hijra (transgender/transvestites) are a well-known 'third gender' throughout India and their antics aren't confined to weddings. I've encountered one on a train! They'd never get away with it in the UK, would they?!
We loved the food, drinks, views and doggies at the Sunset Cafe :) I couldn't believe the number of tourists (predominantly men) who were blatantly disregarding the 'no photos' signs at the ghats. Yes most of the women were fully clothed, but that's not really the point is it? The hippy culture is more alive and well in Pushkar than any other hippy place I've seen. We stayed in a hotel that was a 20 minute walk from the lake, so could get away from the tacky markets and kale smoothie joints, and experience a slightly more local culture. I know lots of people really love Pushkar, but I think once was definitely enough for us too.
Arif Zaman
Rolling stone
Nice remembrance!
It was nice to read about the trip which reminds me about the life of South Asian people. I'm from Bangladesh and used to face similar kind of experiences regarding their beliefs & religion. I think not only Muslims pilgrims are become commercialized, happening with others as well. Last year, I have visited "Kamakhya Temple" of Assam which is a renowned temple in India. It was widely known & popular due to black magic. However, that seemed very typical & commercial to me. And truly, i didn't feel any excitement rather that experience broken the images of my mind that I kept for for long time!!! Anyway, you explored a lot about India, unfortunately that I couldn't even my country was neighbor. Great! Keep going ... :)