Samrat Ajmer

... full of milk, cheese and vegetables we started the ascent. Slowly slowly. We stopped at the first Shiva temple, a small crude orange thing that looks like the product of a playschool childs monster art project. Ren and Bhai still stooperd to touch their hands to its base, then their heads, whispering mantras. Their devotion always suprises aqnd pleases me. Faith is something I admire and love, but only in other people. I envy such devotion, what that my scepticism does ...

... upon this earth, one that he wouldn't and couldn't understand. Much as Idon't understand how these Westernised young men agree to arranged marriages through family pressures, have children yet go on to have a string of Western girlfriends alongside. Ren for example has a child, product of a short affair, in Israel.I feel awful for the wives, yet maybe that feeling is misplaced, maybe thats just my western judgments. Maybe I should see a strong family unit made up of ...

... and then walked some distance to find the Tourist Reservation Centre to discuss many of our concerns and ask if one particular safari tour was any good. Then I moved on to Godi Sagar – a lake on the outskirts of the city, once the town’s water supply. It’s a pretty area with small shrines, temples and bathing ghat areas, with boats available for trips around the lake. Many water buffalo were certainly enjoying it, bathing and cooling themselves over ...

... photography is no longer permitted. The usual Diwan-i-Am and Diwan-i-Khas audience buildings held manuscript collections and 2 colossal silver containers respectively. Madho Singh II, being a devout Hindu, unbelievably had them made to contain Ganges holy water, to accompany him while he was in England. They’re supposedly the largest such objects in the world!

Pretty gates (under restoration) reflecting the 4 seasons, could be found in the Pitam ...

... it's sacred waters. The ghats, or steps, that lead down to the lake's edge are an impressive sight and the white buildings that have sprung up around the lake add to it's serenity. Unfortunately though, Pushkar has all the same trappings that befall most of India's tourist hot spots and if anything they are more evident here, due to the number of visitors it receives that seek a spiritual path. There is no better example of this ...

Pushkar, India       Two weeks on a nice quiet farm just 3 km outside of Pushkar was very pleasant.  It was a nice change from the loud cities because it wasn't as crazy.       We did an overnight camel safari which is going to be a one in a life time experience for me.  It is really neat watching the massive camel get up and go down so you're able to get on.   I've been reading about peoples experiences on camel safaris and I feel really bad for most of them especially the lady who ...

... so it was goodbye Jaipur. The pink colour seems to represent the colour of the 50 Rupee note rather than hospitality, but then again, the same seems to be true of the sprouting 'New India'. The question is, is this a better or a worse India? Nonetheless we left all behind in search of the peace offered by Brahma's lotus. Legend says that Pushkar was created because Brahma dropped a lotus on the earth and the lake was formed. And indeed in a place like this a story ...

... the four poles supporting this `chaparkhat', there is silver `katehra' (railing) with an arch towards the south. There is another outer silver katehra running around the tomb at a distance of about 2 feet. The devotees are led into this space to offer flowers and prayers over the tomb. The ceiling of the dome is covered by a costly velvet chatgiri. A peculiar kind of fascinating ...

... thank god for the help on a relatively tight timeline... and then he's going to accompany me to the airport.. On the way is the toilet museum- apparently there's toilet history there dating to 2500BC. I just can't miss it. Could you? I am flying to Trivandrum tonight where hopefully I'll get a room before I start the crawl up the southwestern coast. If I'm lucky, I'll have internet tonight when I land and I'll upload some photos... Bye for now!

... easily. The Nasiyan Jain Temple was our first destination and we had almost given up on using the small LP map to locate it when we came upon a striking red structure with a walled courtyard. We peeked in and figured it was worth asking about and checking out while we were exploring the city. The woman at the ticket counter gestured for us to go through a doorway that was opposite the courtyard of the temple complex and Erin and I exchanged puzzled ...