Getting into the Indian ways
Trip Start
Nov 13, 2006
1
41
52
Trip End
May 13, 2007
Pushkar,
India
Monday, April 16, 2007
The next mishap again happened to me and this time I got a blow out on my back tyre and to anybody who does'nt ride a bike I promise its a scarey moment when the back wheel starts to drag you over and back across the road but luckily I managed to get control and pull in and after an hour we were back on the road again and arrived unscathed in Pushkar at about 3pm.
Pushkar is alittle town in a valley surrounded by "Snake mountain" and is a place where many tourists "find themselves"
A Gypsy girls
. Sometimes they stay for months living a "Hippie" lifestyle and if you walk around the tiny streets at night you will find hundreds of people Indian and tourist sitting around in flashy orange and yellow clothes singing or chanting !! Its quite bizarre but dont worry we didnt get hooked by any of that rubbish hahaha.The Ghats area is a sacred holy place where cameras, shoes and bags are forbidden.......... it seems only thing you can/must carry is your wallet as you will recieve hindu blessings for a small donation...........you have to repeat the chant of the "priest" and every now and again part of the chant is "And I donate 1000 rupees" which I found hilarious as one minute you are talking hindi mumbo jumbo and then you are expected not to notice promising the "Gods" a pledge of 1000rs. After saying a "prayer" for all my family the "Holy man" accepted 100rs and I left him to his prayers.
Next people to get me were 2 gypsy girls who were the first Indian girls to talk to either of us in 2 months and surprising me so much that before I knew what was happening I was sitting drinking sugar cane juice allowing them to Henna Tatoo both my hands. They asked for 800rs each and asked me to come to their "village" to watch them dance which I politely declined and gave them 100rs each after listening to stories of how they live under a piece of plastic in the desert !! I told them if their prices were more competitive they could afford an extension onto their plastic houses , to which they didnt seem thrilled !
B Getting ink done
! In the meantime I am scarred for a week to 10 days !!On our 2nd day here I gave in again to one of the many signs offering massages and after a haircut I was given a Head, Face, Neck and Back massage taking a full hour and cost me 5euro approx and was absolute bliss, I felt like I had "Found Myself" like these other tourists but I am leaving in the morning still wearing normal clothes and showering unlike them !!
Sunset on top of one of the surrounding hills made the day pretty good and I even got a great veg korma here too ( Pushkar is a holy place so absolutely no meat or eggs or alchohol are permitted in town although "Bang lassies" are available everywhere......... yoghurt drink containing marijuana, I think thats what gets these tourists !!!)
