Next on the travel agenda was Pushkar, the legend of the town is that Brahma (the 4 headed Hindu god) laid a lotus flower and the surrounding land evolved into a lake. The result is that Pushkar is the pilgrimage place for devout Hindus, a bit like Mecca.

Pushkar lake has 52 ghats where they can bathe in the 'holy' water and we saw loads of families with disabled people going to bathe. On the bus from Ajmer we met a family with an elderly deaf man who couldn't 'speak' and they were going to Puskhar to pray for his hearing. They did ask if we were going to pray for our hearing but we resorted to signing 'heart good, brain good, both happy' and they just didn't understand how we could be happy. They were also surprised to find out that we could read and write.....

Obviously, we weren't going to Pushkar to pray but to witness the extraordinary swirl of colour, sound and movement that the annual camel fair creates. This also ties in with the full moon (Kartik Purnima) which attracts the crowds and it was jam packed on our last night when the Hindus washed away their sins in the holy lake.

On our arrival at Pushkar we immediately had a problem, we caught a auto rickshaw to our hotel but there was either a breakdown in communication or the driver was trying to con us. When we caught the rickshaw we agreed on a price of 20 rupees which was a fair price for the 1-2 km distance but when we arrived he was adamant that we had agreed on 200 rupees. Obviously we refused to pay and this caused a scene attracting a crowd until a angel came along and rescued us shooing everyone away and having a go at the driver for exploiting us, embarrassing the driver in the process. The driver then let us go!

After checking into our hotel, which was basic and charging an extortionate price for the camel fair we had a browse hrough the numerous bazaars on offer due to the annual camel fair. Both of us loved all the stalls and what they had to offer, this gave us the oomph we need to carry on with our Christmas shopping. Whilst walking down the main bazaar we came across a parade who roped us in to dancing with them, and we were the centre of attention as we were the only white people in the parade. We found this bizarre, there will be a little video clip which will go up at a later date.

The evening was spent at the funfair, and we went on some rides. Helen was a little scared as it was evident there were no health and safety regulations. We went on a ferris wheel which went at a super fast speed and there was no bars to keep us in the cars. Helen clinged on for her dear life! We also went to the 'Indian Circus' which is full of a miserable crew and some shocking outfits, see photos!

After a good nights sleep we spent the next day wandering around shopping and sightseeing before having some street food for lunch. We only had street food as it was packed and popular with both the locals and westerners. Best decision ever, our food was truly scrumptious. We then went to the camel fair in attempt to watch some Rajasthani culture but we gave up after listening to an hour of music with no dancing whatsoever and went for dinner.

We ate at Om Baba which had a very chilled out atmosphere and it was the only place in town that served beer and all dairy products. We felt very naughty as Pushkar is a holy town where both are banned. How Om Baba got permission to serve both, we will never know.

During our time in Pushkar we had a few confrontations when people tried to touch, pickpocket or make fun of us. We are not going to label religion but the people in Pushkar are supposed to be spiritual but we met some of the most rudest people ever during our time in Pushkar (however in addition, we did also meet some of the nicest).

We were advised to stay another night in Pushkar by our hotel (a ploy to get more money we think) as apparently hordes were leaving Pushkar that our journey to Jaipur would be a nightmare. It was the opposite, while we had a 30 min walk to the bus stand we managed to get a seat to Ajmer and a luxury bus from Ajmer to Jaipur, the capital of Rajasthan.