Pushkar! Land of camels, monkeys, temples, caves and Sadhus... April 8th Through 11th

Getting from Jaipur to Pushkar (also in Rajasthan) was a royal fiasco: My host at the guest house was unable to help me with the bus booking as his app wasn't working (and I canNOT do ANY bookings myself online; credit cards, though international, have never worked). So...going by the schedule we saw, I had the rickshaw driver take me to the bus station in order to have plenty of time to find--and purchase-- a ticket on the desired bus for Pushkar.

Alas! He tried a short-cut and got lost; he had to stop more than once to ask directions, so that pretty much doubled the time getting there. Then, he stopped on the road NEAR--but not IN--the bus station to inquire about AC buses--none to be had. So...by the time we got inside the station itself, my desired bus had already departed. There then proceeded a major drama--all taking place in Hindi, so I had no clue what was going on-- to get me on a Pushkar bus. What I FINALLY came to understand was that the next one wasn't until several hours later, so my best option at that point was to take a bus to the nearby town of Ajmer, and from there, catch a rickshaw to Pushkar.

As you might imagine, I was NOT a happy camper! I grudgingly got on the bus to Ajmer, which was hot, crowded (despite hosts reassuring me it would NOT be!!!) and long-- it made numerous stops along the way.

The only good outcome of this journey was that my arrival in Ajmer almost exactly coincided with the arrival of the swami and Manakshi, both of whom I had planned to meet in Pushkar. Thus it was that the three of us--plus heaping mound of luggage!-- all piled into a rickshaw together and set out on the 30 minute (most uncomfortable!) ride into Pushkar.

We proceeded to a hotel in town I had pre-booked: rather than taking the nicer room I had planned on, we opted for two bargain basement rooms at 600 rupees each. Not great, but not too terrible, either. After settling in, we set out to explore the town.

My general summary of Pushkar was not much different than Jaipur: it was dirty everywhere (I inadvertently stepped into a gutter containing open sewer water, and had to thoroughly wash my shoes, pants and body...soooo disgusting!!!), touristy and over-priced, and most definitely overrated. It was also pretty hot during the day...hard to be traveling about, though we did it anyway, guzzling gallons of water.

Still, we managed to have some nice excursions, as documented below:

As with most everywhere in India, Pushkar abounds with ancient temples. Here, a couple geezers sit in the cool shade at the magnificent, arched entry way.

A main attraction in this town, Lake Pushkar is completely surrounded by various temples and bathing ghats...considered sacred for cleansing one's body and soul. Not me! This lake and its surrounding area were, not surprisingly, totally trashed. Ironically, because of the lake's sacredness, shoes were not allowed...but lots of cow, dog, monkey poop, trash, bits of food, etc...were! I refused to circumnavigate the lake without shoes, as the other two did...and got yelled at a lot! Didn't care one bit!!

One such lakeside temple, where an impromptu drumming circle took place in the evenings.

One saw lots of these little mini shrines everywhere, tended to lovingly by the presiding priest or saddhu.

Day two, early morn: we go back to the lakeside for meditation and yoga.

Minakshi, a serious yoga master, does impressive asanas on a thin yoga mat.

Beautiful egret keeps an eye out for fish...there were some large ones in the lake!

Lots of geese, too...being fed by lots of people!

On to have a free lunch of rice and dahl at this "Guruwada", a Sikh temple and canteen where poorer people come daily to have their meals. I don't qualify, but sheepishly participated, as Minakshi and the swami are poor, wandering saddhus!

Some amazing blossoms on a tree nearby, the likes of which I had not seen before...

Last event of the day: a visit to a hilltop ashram, overrun by these black-faced Langur monkeys. They were large, leaping everywhere in the trees near us, and VERY aggressive! They stole a banana from Manakshi, and came after my fruit as well! The swami had to fend them off with a big stick!

In the ashram, a natural stone structure was painted and dressed to look like a Devi (goddess)... pretty creative!

Day 3, April 10th: Joined by Matthew, an Italian fellow and friend of the swami's, we take off in the early morn to climb up to a high hill top, site of another temple, of course...and with fabulous vistas of the surrounding mountains and valleys. Great to finally get some serious exercise/hikng in! Hasn't been enough of this on my long excursion around India, to be sure... the temple was rather unremarkable, but the views were great, and we were both amused and annoyed by the hordes of monkeys trying to get at our picnic breakfast! Again, the swami had to fend them off with a stick... (though he also feeds them, so go figure!!)

Large groups of Indians hike or take a cable car to the top... I worried about some of the hikers, who were clearly not dressed appropriately OR in any kind of physical condition for the arduous climb up the hundreds of steps to the top!

Next: a steep but shorter climb up another mountain to a cave where the resident sadhu has lived for the past 15 years or so, by himself, existing solely on milk... no photos of him, as would not have been appropriate. He had very humble digs...

Here, the swami and rickshaw driver prepare makeshift "banana pancakes" over an open fire. They were quite greasy but not too terrible...!

The swami displays the sacred bilva fruit, which he found in our wanderings. Said to be good for digestion... I myself could not "stomach" it! It was stringy and dry... a really awful consistency. Apparently, it is far more palatible if you make juice from it (which you mix with water or milk, since the fruit itself is not "juicy".)

For the ending to the day: visit to a gorgeous temple where we watch a master teacher of classical Indian dance lead her students through a performance practice. The teacher-- an American from California!-- is the wife of Mathew, and has been living and teaching in India for many years. She was truly a master dancer...beautiful to watch.

The gorgeous old temple where she taught her classes.

Day 4, April 11th--final day in Pushkar: A morning camel ride! Short but thrilling! We found a camel handler with two rather mangy-looking camels, but we got a deal on a half-hour ride, and off we went! The first part was along a road...none too pleasant...but the short bit in the desert part was nice (albeit, hot, though still early morn). I had always wanted to ride a camel, so great to fulfill this desire at last! IF I ever come back to India, I would want to return and try a few days' trip, out into the desert. It would be nice to see stars in a night sky and get away from the cities.