Travelling tales...

Pushkar

The 6.5 hour trip(!) to Pushkar passed without incident but my God, the driving! Trucks travelling at 40km/h and everything else doing its damndest to stay at 60km/h. Three cars overtaking at once, why not throw in a motorbike between two of the cars as well? No problem. The road to Pushkar has it all!

Arrived at the Hotel New Park which has a swimming pool. Hurrah! Checked into the hotel and looked out over the balcony. As I was going back in I heard my name being shouted. Who should be in the room next to me but Michael, who I met at the airport in Delhi. W-e-i-r-d! He'd apparently set off on the same tour of Rajasthan after hearing his brother wouldn't be able to make it for a month. Spent the afternoon swapping experiences (mostly the same) then went into town.

Pushkar is a touristy little town built around a lake. The lake is said to be holy because Brahma dropped three lotus flowers and one landed here in the lake. As it is a holy city, no meat or alcohol is allowed and it is full of Israeli hippies for some reason. From the off I didn't like this place. The meat/alcohol issue I can respect, but if it is so holy then why the thousands of shops and touts and the general dirt? The touts aren't as much of an issue as the beggars. There are two types:-

• "Legitimate" ones - These are Sadhus who have devoted themselves to God and have no possessions and rely on handouts for food (nice choice guys!).
• The rest - Putting the "push" into Pushkar, these brats/children make your life a misery. I mean OK, giving out money by wealthy tourists is very painless and OK thing to do (and in some cases a big sorry on our part for previous generations!) but do they have to bother you every second of every day? No kid just said "Hi", it was "Hi" followed by asking for money or folding their fingers and just made you hate everybody.Grrrr!

Went to the Third Eye restaurant and headed straight for the big no-no, the "Special Lassi". This is a normal lassi (yoghurt drink with salt/sugar put in) with a whole load of Bhang (the local Cannabis derivative). Sol d very openly here so Michael and I shared one and had our own meals. Met an Irishman called Pascal who was on his own and managed to find a place for 50R a night. Not bad when you consider that's 80pence!!! The lassi kicked in after a while and I was glad I shared. This stuff is lethal and deserves its reputation! Giggled and joked around a bit and off to my deluxe pad with pool.... Managed to get lost on the way back and couldn't remember the name of the hotel, let alone the street. Luck/reason came good eventually!