After catching our breath at the room we went down to register (something they are very strict about in India!) before heading up to the roof terrace for some food. The views of the surrounding mountains were stunning, and you can also see huge monkeys and many temples. It is much more peaceful here than anywhere else we have been so far. We enjoyed a delicious meal before heading to bed for an early night. I am now absolutely full of a cold and feel rubbish but I think we are going to like Pushkar.

We had a good long lie in under the nice strong fan but I still feel rubbish - maybe even worse than yesterday! We went up to the roof terrace for breakfast and enjoyed the views of Pushkar below. With full tummies we went out in search of the post office and cooking school. We moseyed past all the cows which block the paths and the dogs that lounge about all day. It was a really hot day and we were annoyed not to be able to find the post office but there are hardly any touts or hawkers here so we still enjoyed the stroll.

We eventually found the post office - very visible from one side but nonexistent from the other! Inside we inquired about a train ticket from Ajmer to Jodhpur having decided the bus is not for us. We were given a fairly frosty reception but were handed a form to fill in. Once completed we handed it back and were rewarded with 2 sleeper coach tickets for 10/08/12 as requested all for just a 15 rupee charge - awesome! We were pleased to have this as now all out transport is completely sorted out - such a weight off our minds.

We then found the Lonely Planet recommended cooking school but I didn't get a good feeling about it and the man was not even willing to bargain (in fact he was rather rude!) so we decided to leave it - we can do a cooking course somewhere else hopefully when I feel a bit better. On the way to the cooking school it appeared that the actual proper school had a break and I was grabbed quite forcibly on the arm by one child and shouted at - I had no idea what he was saying and it was a very weird experience for me. Other children said hello and then asked for 10 rupees each which we ignored and other children wanted us to take their photos. I took 2 photos, one of a little girl and one of a boy too. They simply loved seeing themselves on the screen on my camera - so cute. They said thank you and wandered off for the rest of their day as I thanked them too.

We headed back to the room - I was exhausted after the previous antics purely due to feeling ill so I spent the afternoon asleep while Neil researched some travel stuff. I woke up feeling hungry so grabbing the bull by the horns we went out to dinner. We chose a roof top place overlooking the lake. We heard a band playing music, saw people walking around the lake and also saw what we think was a burning ghat. The lake is beautiful and Pushkar is so peaceful compared to other places we have visited in India. We ate our delicious dinner and then headed back to the room - I was again exhausted. Walking back through the bizarre no one pressured us to buy anything - it was lovely - such a relief from the relentless hawking we have been subject to everywhere else. I just want to feel better now so I can enjoy Pushkar to the full!

Another long sleep in for us. The shutters make it so lovely and dark and we have a super powerful ceiling fan so sleep is good! We had a delicious breakfast on the roof terrace again before heading out. We walked down the main Sadar bazaar which is full of colourful bags, shoes, saris, jewellery and food too. We enjoyed having a mooch and my resolve for not buying too much is starting to weaken! There is just so much nice stuff and it's so cheap!

We stopped at a hidden away café - I had a soda with fruit and a coffee for Neil. I am still not feeling 100% and unfortunately Neil isn't feeling too good either. While wandering along with the dogs and cows we also saw camels just sitting around making such a weird environment.

We decided to head down to the lake but were disappointed because it wasn't the peaceful experience we had expected. I was lead one way while some men tried to lead Neil another way but we were not happy about this. Eventually we managed to sit on the steps alone, having left our shoes at the top, and just watched what was going on. There were man and women stripping off and bathing in the holy water. Others were just splashing a little water on themselves and the testosterone fuelled teenage boys were doing back flips into the pools. It felt sad that we were being hassled for money while people were here fulfilling their religious beliefs. I had a hard time marrying the two up here. It is supposed to be such a religious place, but 75% of the people want to rip you off at every turn - what's religious about that?? It makes me sad because it could be a stunning peaceful place but it is ruined by the ones who abuse its beauty and religious meaning.

After a little more time just watching, and sick of being continuously hassled, we went back to the room for an hour or so neither of us feeling 100%. We went out for dinner a while later a fair walk down the main bazaar, it was a really nice quiet place set in a garden and the food was amazing. I even had a banana, cookies and chocolate ice-cream desert called 'Hello to the Queen' No idea why it was called this but it was perfect for my throat! It started to rain as we walked back to the room. The nice thing about Pushkar is that there are no rickshaws and also the shop keepers don't hassle you at all - they have the perfect balance which makes you want to buy from them. Despite feeling ill today has still been a good day.

We woke up today to pouring rain and a poorly Neil - now neither of us were feeling goodL. We got dressed and went upstairs but due to the rain it was full so we decided to grab our rain coats and look for somewhere else. We walked the short distance to the main bazaar and to a café overlooking the lake which was empty. We enjoyed a nice relaxed breakfast. Weird beans on toast for me, and delicious hash brown potatoes for Neil (I was jealous!). We both ate a fair amount trying to keep our strength up.

As we were both feeling unwell we decided to have a duvet day, the rain giving us the perfect opportunity not to feel guilty!

There is a little store front just around the corner from our hotel and every time we leave the woman shouts 'Namaste' to me - it's like a show off thing to the women who sit around there I think and its now just like we are old friends. These are the nice experiences you get from staying in a place a little longer than most tourists.

At about 3pm I decided to have a nice long shower and wash my hair. Not as relaxing as it sounds in the cold water but at least I felt lovely and clean afterwards. At about 6pm with grumbling tummies we went out for dinner. The rain had stopped now and the streets were lots busier. There is so much pretty stuff to buy here. I am still considering buying a lot of stuff and posting it home!

We had a yummy meal and a good chat about life before heading back via a stall for some long awaited chocolate. I was so happy to see snickers and a twix so treated myself to both and they were yummy! Fingers crossed we will both be feeling better tomorrow so we can enjoy our last day in Pushkar.

We both woke up feeling a bit better today - thank goodness. As we went upstairs for breakfast we realised it was raining but thankfully it had subsided by the time we went out. We walked to the Brahma Temple which is said to be one of the few such temples in the world. It was really busy and we questioned if it was a special day. We still don't know and think it may have just been many pilgrims. We took our shoes off and left them in the rack, also being given some flowers, and when I asked how much we were told to give as we wish when we came out. We also had to put our bags in a locker as we couldn't take them inside the temple. It was all such a rigmarole but we wanted to go in so we just got on with it.

As soon as we got up the top of the steps we were accosted by a Brahma 'volunteer', not a guide he said and that we didn't have to pay him. We tried to politely decline his services as we wanted to have a look around by ourselves, but he kept following us and talking at us - at this point we rather impolitely just ignored him. We wanted to look around the temples and watch what was going on alone, not be ushered around. We saw 2 other western couples just sitting alone watching the surroundings and not for the first time we asked why it was us being picked on??

The temples looked pretty nice from what we saw, there were many marble stones laid out for people and as people walked in they rang a bell - no idea why. We sadly felt really uncomfortable with the aggressive guide so decided to leave. He was still following us trying to tell us where to go to the lake when we collected our shoes. I handed over all the change in my purse which wasn't enough for the shoe watcher who sneered at the amount. The cheek of it!! I was fuming but at least we had managed to shake off the guide, opps sorry Brahma volunteer!

Deciding to give the whole situation the benefit of the doubt we headed down to the lake to say a pray and release our flowers. It was all a rather weird experience as the 'priest' clutched our hands together, washed them with lake water, filled them with flower petals, red powder and a coconut as he chanted and made us join in. We had no problem doing all of this but we felt slightly threatened by the group of Indian men gathering to watch. The 'priest' then started chanting about a donation asking how much we would give and in which currency but I dodged giving an answer at this time, not quite believing that a religious prayer was being intercepted by this!

We threw our flowers in the lake, were given red dots on our heads and bands around our wrists. I handed over 100 rupees for both Neil and I which I thought was generous enough but the man taking the cash (not the priest) starting shouting at me demanding 100 rupees each. I said no - it was a donation! How dare he shout at me, and for all the true Hindus out there how dare he use his religion to extract extra cash out of me! In my mind a donation is a donation and what we gave was good enough. I was so upset to have been treated so aggressively twice in such a short space of time in what is said to be a special, spiritual and holy place - not for me but for them. Surely this aggression doesn't hold good karma?

We made our way back to the hotel feeling extremely low and deflated. I do not understand why some of the people have to be so rude and treat us like walking wallets. We are people with feelings too. We spent the rest of the afternoon updating the blog and chilling out. When our tummies gave hunger cries we went out for some food but I was still struggling to shake off my mood. After dinner we went to a second hand book shop to get me a book as it seems all the ones in the hotel are foreign. I picked 2 books and attempted to barter with the shop owner but I was again spoken to rudely. He wasn't willing to budge on the price so I begrudgingly bought one book and left. Feeling even lower than before we trudged back to the hotel, finished packing our bags ready to move tomorrow and shut out the world. I really hope we have a better day tomorrow.

I had a really good night's sleep and woke up feeling loads better. We ate our breakfast on the terrace and settled our bill before making the short walk to the bus station. We milled around aimlessly for 5 minutes or so until we heard 'Ajmer, Ajmer, Ajmer, Ajmer' being shouted over and over again by a man leaning out of a small bus. Our big bags were put in the hold (thank goodness!) and we climbed onto the already full bus. There were about 16-20 seats on the bus but by the time we left Pushkar there were about 40 people squashed onto it. I couldn't believe that they kept letting more and more people on, but they did and I kept hitting the man sitting down in front of me with my day bag but he just brushed it off - obviously an everyday occurrence on these buses! I was even more surprised when the conductor made his rounds for payment squeezing into the non-existent gaps to ask for the cash - we paid 40 rupees for us and our bags; bargain!

We were so pleased it was only a short 30 minute journey as we got off in Ajmer, although not at the train station as we had hoped but we hopped straight into a waiting tuk-tuk. We got to the station with no problem and waited in the waiting room for an hour and a half before heading to the platform. I sat on the bags on the platform while Neil got us some snacks. As he stood up eating a samosa he was spoken to by a young local of about 20 years old - this wasn't a problem at all. The problem came when there were suddenly about 20 of them all standing around staring at us. I felt especially threatened and intimidated as I was the only girl and I was sitting down. Eventually as it all got too much for me, I picked up my bags and moved away. Neil did a great job at defusing the situation by offering to shake hands with all the young men. Another western couple also on the platform (although again not being hassled like us!) told us that this was our train so I happily grabbed my bags and got on.

We easily found our seats/berths and stowed our bags ready for the 5 hour journey. We were sharing our section with 3 men and a lady as well as two women on the side berths. They smiled and returned our Namaste when we got on so we were happy. A little while into the journey one of the men explained that the lady was his wife of 40 years. They had been married when she was 15 and he was 18. He asked how long we had been married and was genuinely interested. When the ladies on the side berths got off they both said goodbye to me which was nice. This seat was left empty for a while so we spread out a little. Two of the men also in our birth were travelling with some family and the children were so intrigued by us.

I was later approached by a young girl of 16 years who asked me lots of questions and answered mine in return. She stated that she wanted to visit England because it was her dream country. The hardest question she asked was what the culture was like in England. I responded by saying we ate fish and chips a lot and that the cows were kept in the fields not on the roads - I had no idea what to say - do we have a culture??? It was lovely to have a chat and be in an atmosphere where the only thing people want from you is your story.

A little further along the man who had spoken to us earlier passed his wife some pakoras through the window from the platform. Even though the lady spoke no English she insisted that Neil and I have a pakora! So sweet! A few moments later she packed her bags and got off shaking my hand and smiling as she went and the man said goodbye through the window. We had no idea why they got off so suddenly. At the next station 2 women, 2 men and 2 boys got on to take the side berths. The boys sat between Neil and the man we had been on with since the start. We were offered food by the ladies and the boys were really intrigued by us watching our every move.

For a while we had this area to ourselves with the other 2 men. It was nice having them with us, I felt like they were watching over us and making sure we were ok. A short while later a man with an 18 month old baby got on and they sat next to me. The baby was so cute so I spent the rest of the journey playing with him and talking to his dad who was in the military. We were offered some more food by the man who had been with us for the whole journey and he wouldn't take no for an answer.

We had such a lovely journey mixing with all the kind locals. It was soon time to get off so we said our goodbyes and made our way out of the station.

We hope you are still enjoying reading out our adventures especially the ups and downs of our Indian adventure! Lots of love xxxxxxxxx