Pushkar
In the morning we were allowed a late start 10am!! Although we had awoken earlier – first to the call to prayer at 5am then to our own alarm we had forgotten to turn off at 7am and finally at 8am to the sound of a cat been castrated – well that's what the 'music' sounded like. Apparently it was a party political address as local elections are taking place soon. Breakfast was again being served in the main hall and then we went out to meet the Jeeps to take us to Pushkar about a 2 hour drive on varying roads from good tarmac to sand to gravel. Before we left we had a walk around the grounds which had been transformed overnight of a wedding which was to take place that day. Over 1000 people we due to arrive to take part in the celebrations and a number had arrived already, food was being served and we were offered some of the sweet sugary toffee and a spicy ball people were eating, I declined it as it looked very rich and I though not a good idea just before 2 hours of bouncing around in a jeep.
We arrived a Pushkar around 12:30 and dropped our bags in the hotel in a single room before going out to explore the town. It seems to be a single street town packed full of traders and shops which cater to the tourist trade. Pushkar exists because of the 'lake' on which it sits which is considered to be on of the most holy places in India, there is less of a begging culture here which is nice but this is the first place we have seen so many western tourists especially a large number of Israeli visitors with many signs in Hebrew, Hindi and English. On the road into the town from the hotel we passed the Jewish House which had an Army emplacement with guns behind sandbags around it. I assume an unfortunate result of the Mumbai Bombings last year. After a visit to the only ATM in town we split up and a couple of us went for Lunch in a roof top restaurant then headed back to the hotel to get ready for the Camel Ride.
We left our main bags at the hotel and just took a day sack out to the front to meet our steeds for the night; 7 camels, one of which pulled a cart for our bags. We climbed aboard and set off through the town and down past the 'lake'. Because of the shortage of rains over the last couple of years the lake is actually a small pond at the bottom of a large bowel and did not resemble anything too great but is revered by many. On through the town and my camel (Johny) decided he needed a drink before we continued and stopped at one of the many water troughs around the town. 3 times the guy tried to move him on but the camel stayed to drink his fill. This now meant we had to catch up with the others so he set off at a quick trot up the main drag me bouncing around on the top at the same time trying to duck under the various wires, ropes and sheets covering the main street. Finally we left to town and headed out over open land which was littered with rubbish, this area was the land used by the Pushkar Camel Fair which we had missed by about a couple of weeks (apparently a good job as prices go up 10 fold for everything!). We carried on for another half a mile or so then stopped for chai and biscuits (brought by a man on a motorbike) Then continued through onto an open plain to watch the sunset. Off again for about another 40 minutes and we stopped at our 'camp' 4 over sized Niger tents had been erected complete with beds, although that was it; it seems we had beat the tractor that was bringing the bedding, sheets and toilet tent, eventually they came and a fire was lit and we waited for dinner, and waited, and waited, after what seemed like ages and as it got colder and colder, very cold! the food finally arrived – apparently the truck got stuck in the sand. So after eating the meal we all retired to bed at 8, there was little wood left and the cold was biting. I slept ok – I had my Sleeping blanket and a thick blanket they provided and we were up at about 7.45. A quick breakfast of toast jam, chai and fruit and we remounted the camels for the ride back to the hotel, which is where we are staying the night before returning to Delhi tomorrow.
We arrived a Pushkar around 12:30 and dropped our bags in the hotel in a single room before going out to explore the town. It seems to be a single street town packed full of traders and shops which cater to the tourist trade. Pushkar exists because of the 'lake' on which it sits which is considered to be on of the most holy places in India, there is less of a begging culture here which is nice but this is the first place we have seen so many western tourists especially a large number of Israeli visitors with many signs in Hebrew, Hindi and English. On the road into the town from the hotel we passed the Jewish House which had an Army emplacement with guns behind sandbags around it. I assume an unfortunate result of the Mumbai Bombings last year. After a visit to the only ATM in town we split up and a couple of us went for Lunch in a roof top restaurant then headed back to the hotel to get ready for the Camel Ride.
We left our main bags at the hotel and just took a day sack out to the front to meet our steeds for the night; 7 camels, one of which pulled a cart for our bags. We climbed aboard and set off through the town and down past the 'lake'. Because of the shortage of rains over the last couple of years the lake is actually a small pond at the bottom of a large bowel and did not resemble anything too great but is revered by many. On through the town and my camel (Johny) decided he needed a drink before we continued and stopped at one of the many water troughs around the town. 3 times the guy tried to move him on but the camel stayed to drink his fill. This now meant we had to catch up with the others so he set off at a quick trot up the main drag me bouncing around on the top at the same time trying to duck under the various wires, ropes and sheets covering the main street. Finally we left to town and headed out over open land which was littered with rubbish, this area was the land used by the Pushkar Camel Fair which we had missed by about a couple of weeks (apparently a good job as prices go up 10 fold for everything!). We carried on for another half a mile or so then stopped for chai and biscuits (brought by a man on a motorbike) Then continued through onto an open plain to watch the sunset. Off again for about another 40 minutes and we stopped at our 'camp' 4 over sized Niger tents had been erected complete with beds, although that was it; it seems we had beat the tractor that was bringing the bedding, sheets and toilet tent, eventually they came and a fire was lit and we waited for dinner, and waited, and waited, after what seemed like ages and as it got colder and colder, very cold! the food finally arrived – apparently the truck got stuck in the sand. So after eating the meal we all retired to bed at 8, there was little wood left and the cold was biting. I slept ok – I had my Sleeping blanket and a thick blanket they provided and we were up at about 7.45. A quick breakfast of toast jam, chai and fruit and we remounted the camels for the ride back to the hotel, which is where we are staying the night before returning to Delhi tomorrow.
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