My next destination was a town called Pushkar which had a reputation for being much less manic than the bigger towns and cities I'd been in recently. This is mainly because there are no rickshaws here, and therefore no pushy rickshaw drivers, but also because it is a holy town and residents and visitors must abide by certain rules: no alcohol, eggs or meat, a curfew of 11pm and everyone must dress modestly. Doesn't sound very fun does it? I went with Hetty and Sam (the English couple that I'd spent time with in the past two cities) and we soon found out that none of these rules apply if you have enough money to pay people off; "anything possible in Pushkar" we were told by one particularly smug bar owner. When we arrived we found a guesthouse at a price that is an all time record for me so far-my room for that night was £1.50 (however I did have to share a vile bathroom)! Pushkar, like many Indian towns, is full off tourist hippies and is yet another place that has been partially colonised by young Israeli tourists; Israelis often travel before they begin uni (which is after their mandatory army service) and India is a very popular destination amongst them.
Pushkar is in the state of Rajasthan and it's located within the Thar desert; it is flanked on all sides by small, tree-covered mountains and has a holy lake in the middle around which the town is centred. We went down to the lake and were accosted by three Brahmin; these holy men are members of the highest caste in Hinduism and traditionally act as spiritual guides, teaching other castes about the holy books. Although we protested they forced us to sit by the lake and perform a lengthy puja (prayer); this involved throwing flowers, spices and rice ceremonially into the water and strangely enough I was asked to cradle a coconut whilst chanting out loud about good health for my family - squatting at the banks of the lake at sunset whilst singing the names of my entire family next to a Brahmin in a white dress was one of the most surreal moments of my life. The Brahmin then smeared a curry powder bindi on me and stuck rice onto my forehead. After the fifteen minute coconut-curry powder-puja he demanded a steep donation and blocked my path until I relented and gave him a small amount of money in exchange for my freedom; he then wrapped a red and yellow string around my wrist to let others know I had donated.
The next morning we hired small motor bikes/scooters and went exploring; considering I've never driven anything before it was terrifying on the Indian roads at first especially since everyone overtakes each other, there are often no road markings or lanes, people beep their horns constantly right in your ear and there are massive potholes everywhere that you have to swerve to miss (combine this with someone overtaking you and it's a recipe for disaster!). Probably the biggest danger though was the myriad animals that would run in front of me or sit in the middle of the road: dogs, pigs, monkeys, goats, horses, camels, peacocks and of course cows - at one point we had to navigate our way through a mass cow orgy that was getting aggressive!
We biked up the sides of mountains and on to another town where we had lunch in a cafe full of local people. The sun was shining and the Indian countryside was stunning; I now completely understand the fascination with biking - the views were amazing and it was really fun going as fast as possible once I'd got used to the bike. Villagers we passed would all shout "hello!" and children would hold out their hands so we could give them high fives as we drove past; I had to take my hand off the break to do this and I was very close to running one of them over at one point! Men on bikes would try and talk to us while we were driving and on one occasion two men on a passing moped slapped my arm so hard that it caused my bike to swerve and I very nearly fell off!
There's a restaurant on the roof of our hotel and in it lives a family of tortoises that roam free.
Pushkar is in the state of Rajasthan and it's located within the Thar desert; it is flanked on all sides by small, tree-covered mountains and has a holy lake in the middle around which the town is centred. We went down to the lake and were accosted by three Brahmin; these holy men are members of the highest caste in Hinduism and traditionally act as spiritual guides, teaching other castes about the holy books. Although we protested they forced us to sit by the lake and perform a lengthy puja (prayer); this involved throwing flowers, spices and rice ceremonially into the water and strangely enough I was asked to cradle a coconut whilst chanting out loud about good health for my family - squatting at the banks of the lake at sunset whilst singing the names of my entire family next to a Brahmin in a white dress was one of the most surreal moments of my life. The Brahmin then smeared a curry powder bindi on me and stuck rice onto my forehead. After the fifteen minute coconut-curry powder-puja he demanded a steep donation and blocked my path until I relented and gave him a small amount of money in exchange for my freedom; he then wrapped a red and yellow string around my wrist to let others know I had donated.
We weren't happy about being forced to give the men money but we couldn't stay unhappy for long in such a beautiful place!
Nine out of every ten photos taken in India contain a cow: FACT!
(ok, I may have made that up but it seems pretty plausible to me).
The next morning we hired small motor bikes/scooters and went exploring; considering I've never driven anything before it was terrifying on the Indian roads at first especially since everyone overtakes each other, there are often no road markings or lanes, people beep their horns constantly right in your ear and there are massive potholes everywhere that you have to swerve to miss (combine this with someone overtaking you and it's a recipe for disaster!). Probably the biggest danger though was the myriad animals that would run in front of me or sit in the middle of the road: dogs, pigs, monkeys, goats, horses, camels, peacocks and of course cows - at one point we had to navigate our way through a mass cow orgy that was getting aggressive!
My 'beast' of a bike.
We biked up the sides of mountains and on to another town where we had lunch in a cafe full of local people. The sun was shining and the Indian countryside was stunning; I now completely understand the fascination with biking - the views were amazing and it was really fun going as fast as possible once I'd got used to the bike. Villagers we passed would all shout "hello!" and children would hold out their hands so we could give them high fives as we drove past; I had to take my hand off the break to do this and I was very close to running one of them over at one point! Men on bikes would try and talk to us while we were driving and on one occasion two men on a passing moped slapped my arm so hard that it caused my bike to swerve and I very nearly fell off!
The Indian countryside.
Waving!
Local woman carrying supplies.
View from rooftop terrace restaurant - Pushkar is fast becoming one of my favourite places in India so far.
That looks much nicer and calmer Jennifer! Countryside looks very lush despite the heat......x
ReplyDelete