Blogs from Pushkar, Rajasthan, India, Asia - page 7

A cold day dawns in the Aravalli mountains at the Ananta Spa Resort. After a stressfulnight deciding between seat belts and a super driver, seat belts win. Mr Mukesh drives us into Pushkar, parking in the Camel fair stadium and escorts us into town, fending off guides Brahmin, Camel ride touts and Indian musicians. Pushkar is a peaceful Hindu Mecca with a lake surrounded by temples and ghats where one can create good karma for oneself, ones friends, ones family and one’s nation for a few hundred Rupee. We return to the bazar, with red dotted foreheads, rice bespeckled hair and a karma band around our wrists, so we are sorted ;). Mukesh introduces us to street cha a delicious mix of tea, milk and fresh ginger. For a few hundred rupee the three of ... read more

Geo: 26.5, 74.55Dec 27 Bundi – PushkarDay of travel….and HAND!!!Greetings from Richard,The B team is writing, Carole has an infected finger, lingering from a Mesa cactus thorn she picked up at the end of October. It seemingly was better, but had flair up here in India. We made a trip to the local hospital, Mittel located in Ajmer, about an 11 kilometer drive from Pushkar. Annan, our car driver for this section of out travels, suggested this location. With a bit of trepidation, we agreed to give it a try.Everything at the hospital went smoothly. Carole had a doctor consultation, followed by a thorough lancing and draining of the infected finger, wound care and a prescription for pain and antibiotic, grand total of 1,250 rupees, the outrageous sum of $22!!Carole is sitting next to me as ... read more

Last you heard I was on my way to Pushkar, to the camel fair. I took a night sleeper bus, which was a new experience for me and it was a little dodgy. The bus terminal area was pretty chaotic, with lot's of little urchins running around begging. That was the first real begging I saw. The bus was well worn and the sleeper compartment reminded me of a coffin. Instead of a curtain, there was a sliding aluminum door, I guess to keep you from falling out as they careened down the road. I took a Valium and slept so well, that they had to wake me up on arrival. I arrived in Ajmer, the next town down the road from Pushkar at 5am in the pitch dark. I was the last one off the ... read more

So Pushkar came and went, i ended up meeting a group of spanish girls on the bus from jaipur to Pushkar on the 25th. Ended up sharing rooms at a guesthouse with them for 3 nights which was cool, just hung out and enjoyed the street markets, bought a few gifts and caught up with friendss on skype etc. Managed to watched several lovely sunsets from different angles overlooking the lake and the town of pushkar. The town itslef was "quite relaxed but saying that sunday was very busy throught the narrow streets as there were thousands of pilgrimigers walking through the town all barefoot on their way to jaieslamer, a journey which would take them days. The general atmosphere was nice, people were friendly and listening to drums playing at night whilst watching the locals ... read more

Pushkar is a sleepy little town next to a lake that is a major pilgrimage site for both Hindus and backpackers. The lake was created when Brahma (god of creation) dropped a lotus flower to Earth. Pushker literally means "flower hand." The lake is surrounded by dozens of bathing ghats where people go to wash in the holy water. Ghandi's ashes were spread in the lake at what is now known as Ghandi Ghat. Pushkar is also famous for the throngs of hippies that got stuck here in the 60's. We saw quite a few baby boomers with dreadlocks that got lost in Pushkar 40+ years ago. The city is really just a few labyrinth-like lanes along the lake crammed with guest houses and rooftop restaurants serving traveler fare such as banana pancakes, pasta, and basic ... read more