Hotel White House Pushkar

... our well being. We move to the terrace and sit and watch the sun set over Pushkar to the sounds of a hundred drums chants and records, lovely. Our karma restored we order dinner. Being a Hindu holy place there is strict vegetarianism, no eggs, but dairy products are allowed, but the chefs of Pushkar have explored the cuisine of the world in order to make the best of the limited ingredients. Pizza, pasta, Israeli food including falafels ...

... exhausted from my long journey, I decided to stay there and after an early dinner, I went to bed early.<br><br>As the hotel was on a busy street, there was lots of noise throughout the night and I woke up many times. But due to my exhaustion I was able to fall back asleep. By the time morning came, I had slept long and well. But I was concerned about whether I'd be able to sleep as well again ...

Each morning we would walk out to the desert surrounding the city of Pushkar, and watch the herders camped with their animals. Owners of cos, horses and camels come here to buy, sell and trade their stock. In many ways it is not unlike a county fair back home. They did have some unique events like the longest moustache contest, the fastest turban tying contest, and one of my favorites, how ...

... cost hardly anything and was a pretty interesting experience.<br><br><br><br>Karma and pujas aside the rest of Pushkar was fairly uneventful. I think it would have been a nice place to chill out if there had been a few more tourists around and the place wasn't so deserted. As it was we decided to move down to Udaipur (where they filmed part of Octopussy) and upgrade our acommodation from the slime to the sublime. It was time for a bit of luxury, pampering and dear God some booze!!!!<br ...

... another whole flight and it was in a secluded section of the haveli. I called it the 'leper's wing' because it just seemed like a place where you would stuff guests you didn't want other people knowing you had at your hotel. The room was quite nice though and I wanted to go and get our stuff and move to Seventh Heaven. Yaarit however did not want to repack her bags and refused to change to the hotel even though it was a million times better than ours. That annoyed me a bit because this ...

... to wash and get blessed and there is constantly music going on and priests trying to bless you. It has been good to relax and even visited a reflexology man who specialises in inflicting severe pain to your foot and then charging you for it. May pop back again this afternoon. Off to Jaisalmer, the desert city, on a night train tonight.

... us how to sing it. He informs us that now he, Shamji, is our guru and we can no longer allow anyone else in town to do puja for us. We then enjoy "prasad", blessed food, that consists of a kind of uncooked sweet pastry and cold pakora. Tara is nervous about eating it and hides some in her pocket! I fully indulge though; surely blessed food won't make me sick? Shamji then takes us up the mountain to reflect on our prayer while gazing over ...

... dancing behind and shoving money into the musicians mouths as they play to make them play louder and faster to let everyone know yet another wedding is happening. One time Dooga the milkman's daughter was up for 24 hours gluing beads onto and painting the decorative pots that the women carried on their heads for the neighbours wedding. Some bright spark had the idea of everybody in the parade carrying fully lit lamps that are designed to be used inside your house, not on ...