An 18 hour train ride, 5 hour bus ride, a rickshaw and another bus later we finally arrived in Pushkar. Train ride was OK, squishy beds, but our fellow train buddies were nice buying us Chai and attempting to talk to us, but alas, we do not speak Hindi. Finally arrived tired and hungry to Pushkar. Rushed out to eat the moment we arrived and ate something nasty. Was up the first night vommiting etc, which wasn't nice. 24 hrs later I was fine again. Got some Ayurvedic medecine from the doctor (herbal stuff) and it helped. So was feeling pretty fragile the next day but managed to walk around the town and explore a bit anyway. The town is sweet - white washed buildings surround a lake, and the ghats (bathing place for Indians in the sacred water) are filled with people and colour washing, splashing and blessing themselves with holy water, while monkeys (different, more attractive, and less anoying type from Shimla), lazily look on while sitting on the walls eating snacks and bananas. Checked out the camel grounds - 1000s of camels litter the sandy dunes on the opposite end of town, they are for sale along with cows, horses and cattle. Quite a site. Owners dress up the camels, paint them and adorn them with jewellery. They're super cute and you want to hug them apart from they'd probably bite you with their large teeth. THe city is supposed to be the holiest in India with over 200 temples. It is a special place. We decide to hike up a hill overlooking the town to a temple which perches on top, the Savitri temple. The walk in the 35c heat just about killed me and I sweated buckets, getting to the top looking more like a red balloon than a woman. Women on the way up talked to us and sang songs and gave blessings. They're crazy obsessed with foreigners, especially the women and the young girls stare at me and adopt me as their new friend and an hour later, they're still walking with me and staring and asking questions. Its sweet, but can get a little annoying at times. Views from the top were worth it though. I shall post some pics soon. MAde our way down after it all, passing a dog with 10 puppies in a hole, several cows eating plastic bags and the guesthouse resident turtle (its special and waddles around the courtyard doing its thing). Gave our laundry to the guesthouse yesterday and awoke to my underwear strewn over the lawn. Wasnt too impressed but when they saw me they quickly picked it up and took it away. I managed to rescue some stuff and hang it in our room. I hope the other stuff has just been taken away to dry somewhere! Today is the full moon bathing in the lake and tonight everyone whos anyone will jump in the lake on this holy day. Apart from the foreigners probably. It should be a special occasion. The town has become overbearingly crowded today because of this and its a nightmare just to walk through town to the post office (sorry guys, you'll all have to wait for your postcards). As I'm writing this 3 small boys are staring at me from across the counter and have been for the past 10 mins. Although i'm quite olive and even more brown since i've been on holiday, i'm still pale by their standards and they can't seem to get over anyone with skin that isn't as dark as theirs. While walking through the markets today, at a rate of 2 inches per minute, we saw the most amazing thing I've seen so far - 2 little girls dressed up as hindu godesses - painted blue from head to toe and made up. The festival attracts all sorts, from all castes and parts of India. Finally got myself some typical INdian bangles which are quite pretty, red with Little mirrors on them. To escape the madness we've been sitting on the rooftop terrace restaurants with views over the lake and eating and drinking. Many Israeli travellers here, so they tend to do food like hummus and pita, which is a nice change from constant curry. The fair has been awesome and words cant really explain it, although I try. Tomorrow we head off to Jodphur (yep thats where those pants got their name from), its supposed to be small and relaxed, and because no fair, it should be reasonably peaceful too.
Thanks again for the messages all - love hearing from you.
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