Pushkar, Rajasthan – ‘The Holy Lake’

Mandy: 11th – 14th February 2015

Pushkar is a cross between what I imagine Afghanistan to be like, a Greek hillside village and a Longleat drive through enclosure.

We saw the most tourists and white people there than anywhere else in India so far. The place had a hippy vibe with lots of people who looked like they’d just arrived from Glastonbury. Our hotel certainly echoed that; I think I was the only female guest wearing a bra.

‘The town is built around Pushkar Lake which is considered sacred like the Mansarovar Lake in Tibet. Pushkar has become a place of Hindu pilgrimage because of this holy lake. Legend has it that this lake was consecrated to Lord Brahma, the creator of the universe when a lotus dropped from his hand into the vale and a lake emerged in that place.’

Pushkar was very different to Jaipur even though it was just a two hour train journey away. The terrain was arid, the landscape hilly and desert like. There were camels, pigs or what looked like wild boar actually and the usual cows everywhere. The Monkeys there were a different breed and bigger!

We had a forty minute taxi journey through Ajmer, where the train stopped, to our hotel in Pushkar. As always not a minute of it was wasted. The local scene viewed from the window of the taxi was full of things for me to photograph and get irritated by (wink) The taxi slowed down to squeeze past cows and camels and then suddenly four men carrying a wooden stretcher above their heads appeared with what I assumed was a body covered in flower petals. Glen confirmed it was in fact a body when he saw the head of a man with grey hair, uncovered and sticking out from the ‘blanket’ of petals over him. We also saw hundreds of Pelicans flying over and landing on the Anasagar Lake. The Aravalli range are the oldest fold mountains in India and made for a lovely back drop to the lake.

We made our way over the short Mountian pass, mainly on the wrong side of the road, and were dropped at the end of a narrow alley where we walked up to the hotel with our bags and backpacks. We squeezed past a cow and it started to nudge Glen with his head. (chuckle) luckily it only had small horns.

The hotel had a very good feel to it and we decided to grab some lunch there before exploring. We sat in the roof top restaurant which gets a very good rating on trip advisor and it had lovely views of the desert hills around Pushkar. There was an extensive menu and it boasted about an hygienic kitchen and food preparation practices. We thought It would be perfect for us to use for breakfast and also evening meals if we did not want to venture out in the dark through the narrow alleys late at night. We sat and watched the four tortoises slowly wandering around as we waited for our meal to arrive. We watched as Monkeys jumped from building to building and ran noisily across the tin roofs.

We both ordered coconut lassis, everything was calm and lovely sat in the sun admiring the view. However after a few sips I used my straw to pick out what I thought were bits of hairy coconut husk. What I found was in fact a huge cricket type creature with big eyes looking at me. I then dragged out a huge beetle thing! I looked back into the glass and saw long thin random legs stuck to the side! So the diet started there and then! I cancelled my food order and instead ordered a bottle of water, nice clear water so I could see what I was drinking!

We have read that you should not show affection in public in India, you are not even supposed to hold hands. So how come the men can hold hands? everywhere! Not because they are partners but because they just hold each other’s hand. (In the same way men do in Egypt actually)

We saw men sat around grinding green chillis or herbs on the stones next to the vegetables they were selling. The stones where people sit, where we have seen cows rubbing their necks (presumably as they have an itch) and where we have seen flee ridden dogs asleep! I think I am glad that I am sticking to water and homemade chips where no insects can hide. I don’t fancy a green spinach or herb sauce now!

In Delhi people threw their rubbish right out in front of their shop, when I asked one of them where a rubbish bin was they said “throw it on the floor” it was the same in Jaipur, they have coffee in very small plastic or paper cups (which seems the norm) and then just drop them on the floor in the street or by their shop or stall. They have no respect even for their own bit of the pavement. Pushkar was a lot cleaner.

Pushkar was much quieter and much more colourful. There were a few more women around for one thing and then there were the ‘Holy Men’ dressed in white and orange, and although they were grubby they added a bit of colour and interest to every alleyway. (smile)

Sadly, although Pushkar Is known as a Holy place it is full of people trying to scam the religious people and tourists. The Holy Men are not very Holy and are just trying to get you to part with your rupees for prayers or blessings down by the Holy Lake. It’s such a shame. It’s one thing for the travel agents to try to rip you off and the taxi drivers and men in the Bazaars, all quoting five to ten times the amount than you should pay, but surely whatever your chosen religion, that should be scam free. A young girl we met in Bangkok who was travelling on her own had been charged £100 for a palm reading by some mystic man. I hope she does not end up in Pushkar as she will be left penniless.

We saw Peacocks there, hardly surprising in India I suppose, they really are beautiful birds. I think I tend to take them for granted at home seeing as we saw so many growing up, on our trips to Rode Bird Gardens. (smile) I guess the people in Asia get used to seeing the colourful Parakeets flying around in the same way too. I could fill this Pushkar blog with photos of animals but I am saving them for the animal and insect blog at the end of our trip. I also have a very good photo which I took at the Taj Mahal that I can’t wait to share too!

Although I would not be giving a true representation of Pushkar without putting at least a few in, so here goes.

This poor old chap walked around the place very slowly as if he had the kind of hip pain I have been experiencing (chuckle) and he had the worst cough. They are not allowed to kill cows so you see a lot of old ones around the place as well as the little calves. I have no idea how they manage to live that long amongst the dangerous drivers though. It makes me believe in miracles. (wink)

Our walk up the hill to see the view

Over laden lorries at dawn

So, enough of homemade chips, Holy Men and Hippies, It’s time to make our way back through the hills to the Ajmer station to catch a train bound for Udaipur.