Pushkar

I didn’t get much sleep last night, it was very cold and I was unprepared for that and the India guys who had the beds around us were (of course) loud and obnoxious throughout the night. However, the train got to Ajmer 35 minutes early (without any notification). It was the classic case of get off then figure it out. We’d heard about a bus to Pushkar but had no idea where it went from. With various Tuktuk drivers offering us lifts costing the equivalent of two nights’ accommodation, we decided to walk the 2km to the bus station - quite nice after being cooped up on the train for 6 hours. We got to the bus station and asked where the bus to Pushkar was, one person told us it was the one leaving right now but we didn’t trust it so I went to the station master and asked...bus 22 it was then. We got on and waited for a driver to turn up. Meanwhile we tried to listen in on conversations to confirm of this was to Pushkar. After I demolished half my Oreos which I hadn’t eaten as I felt awful the previous night, we were on our way.

The bus journey was only 14km and only cost us the equivalent of 16pence each and it seemed to stop for people wherever they wanted which was perfect as our hostel was a little walk from the Pushkar bus station. I got up and motioned to the conductor that we wanted to get off, after a while she blew her whistle and we were dropped just 500m from the hostel...result! We got there, groggy and in desperate need of sleep and as it was only 07:30 and check in was at 13:00 we headed to the rooftop in search of a makeshift bed for a few hours. In truth, we both slept until midday and we only woke because the sun started to bear down on us! We got up, checked in and then set out to have a look at Pushkar. I was still feeling pretty terrible with very frequent trips to the toilet, so we packed the loo roll just in case - the joys of India. On the way to town was a thali place we’d been recommended, only 50 rupees. Tom grabbed one and I just had our bottle of water. It was a massive thali, and obviously amazing value. I grabbed some bananas for the walk round town and we made our way to Pushkar Lake, or the holy lake.

Pushkar is a prominent pilgrimage town where devout Hindus should visit at least once in their lifetime. We were both pleasantly surprised by this place, with a population of only 21,000 it was by far the smallest place we’d been in India, and it was refreshingly quiet and lacked the constant hassling we got in Mumbai and Udaipur. We chilled round the lake, which is a strict no shoes or socks zone - although cows can walk around all day and shit where they like. The town of Pushkar curls around the holy lake, which was said to have appeared when Brahma dropped a lotus flower...not sure if we believed that but it was pretty nonetheless. We found a shaded spot where there were a few pool with kids playing and the locals having their daily rituals. We had a few people come up to us and try some sort of scam where they give you a petal and then ask for money, and we also had a guy who started saying over and over “I am Indian” and then he stood right in front of me and blocked my view. Even though the town was clean for India, we still watched in awe as people came down to the lake, had a bath and then filled up their water bottles for later. From where we were sat we could see that the water wasn’t clear...these guys must have stomachs of steel!! After a while we went for a little walk and checked out some of the market street and a few other places we’d been recommended including a pizzeria and a falafel place. After seeing the pizza place, we’d decided there and then that we’d treat ourselves tonight and go for it! As we were both up for taking it easy, we headed back to the hostel as we knew they had hot water showers - a rarity in all of India it seems.

On the way back the sudden urge to go to the toilet hit me in the worst way...I took a gamble on a fart and realised I needed to get to a western toilet in the next two minutes or I’d have to resort to the street! I grabbed the bag off Tom, which had to loo roll in, and ran back to the hostel and made it just in time. We showered and watched the sunset from our roof terrace and then headed back into town for our first western meal since leaving home. The pizza place was a little haven from the craziness of India...no roadside eating tonight, it was a beautiful courtyard with mellow music and a cool buzz about it. We ordered a good old margarita and a pepper onion pizza. We were even more excited when the table next to us had a pizza arrive...it looked bloody good. Ours arrived and we halved both to make two 50:50 pizzas and we savoured every mouthful...not much more can be said about this except that we splashed out and it only cost £3 each! Being very satisfied, we ambled back to the hostel, me stepping in a huge cow poo on the way back, chilled on the rooftop listening to music and writing the blog before hitting the extremely comfy beds for a well deserved rest, provided the Indian wedding happening nearby didn’t keep us up.Read more