Camels and Curses.
Trip Start
Mar 06, 2005
1
23
34
Trip End
??? ??, 2006
Pushkar,
India
Friday, June 3, 2005
We spent two nights in Pushkar which is concidered by Hindus to be such a holy place that meat, alcohol and eggs are banned.
Apart from the camel fair which takes place annually (according to the Lunar calendar) when upto 50,000 camels arrive along with some 200,000 people, Pushkars only other 'claim to fame' is its 'Brahma' temple, one of the only places in the world where brahma can be worshipped!(Hindus beleive that he played a major role in creating the Universe)
Our hotel was pleasant if basic, situated on the edge of town at the foot of the nearby hills which seperate pushkar from Ajmer (a nearby town and a major pilgrimage site for Muslims).
Pushkar 01
Pushkar has a reputation for being a very laid back place (a bit of a 'hippy' hang out) and one which attracts a lot of pilgrims who want to bathe in the Holy Lake (said to have appeared when Brahma dropped a lotus flower). Hence the large amount of Sadhus'(holy men) that we saw wandering around, complete with 'painted heads', gnarled walking sticks and begging bowls. Some were genuine, but some were just there to extract cash from tourists by posing for photos or glorified begging....one such chap got upset (very upset) when I refused to 'cough up' some rupees to aid his mystical journey.The other scam is to offer you a flower (free of charge?) to cast into the holy lake (for a blessing / good luck) the catch is that the act of throwing it into the lake is what you are charged for! We were warned about this by our driver, 'Happy', so I suppose we remain 'Unlucky' but wealthier. And I hope the disgruntled 'Sadhus' curse dosen't come true or some pretty nasty things are going to happen to me in the next few days or the next life, I couldn't quite understand exactly what he was threatening me with.
The towns centre consists of bright white houses and shops which surround 3/4 of the lake and back onto it, a network of other 'residential' streets radiate from this crescent. Passages lead between some of the houses which form the cresent onto the bathing ghats made up from steps leading down to the waters edge
Pushkar 02
. We saw a steady stream of people arrivng to bathe and in the evenings it became much busier with numerous childern playing in the seperate 'tank' attached to the lake and cattle wandering along the sacred Ghats, stepping on the piles of clothing left by the bathers, much to their annoyance.We arrived quite late on the first day so we spent it just soaking up the towns atmosphere and wandering around the Brahma temple, the bathing ghats and outlying streets. Jane decided to sleep in the late afternoon so I went to explore the footpaths that ran along the bottom of the nearby hill, only to be confronted by a troop of BIG monkeys who appeared from the trees surrounding a large well. I thought that just by approaching them they would flee! (as the ones in Ranakpur had) how wrong was I! They got very agitated and some of the larger males started to make agressive 'runs' towards me accompanied by loud whooping noises. At first I stood my ground, waving my arms and shouting back at them...to little effect, I decided that "discretion was the better part of valour" and backed away (quickly) only to be followed by six or seven of them, whooping loudly... By now I was a 'little worried' by their agressive behaviour (did I mention that they were BIG MONKEYS) and retreated at a brisk pace. They eventually ran past me and disappeared up the hillside, much to my relief. I told Jane about them on my return ...she couldn't stop laughing because I had been 'frightened' by some cuddly monkeys
Pushkar 04
.The following day Jane mentioned to Happy my 'cowardice' in the face of a 'furry foe', he nodded earnestly then told us that the monkeys had attacked some local children recently, seriously injuring one of them! I couldn't say 'I told you so' quick enough!
Jane was still feeling unwell (but recovering) so we opted to take it easy in the morning at the hotel and just ventured out in the afternoon where we sat overlooking the lake chatting to some curious locals and a few other foreign visitors. We sat relaxing until the sunset, it was spectacular, one of the best we saw in India. Unfortunately our photos couldn't do it justice.
Limited by Janes health and mine too, as I had started to feel a bit 'rough' over the last couple of days (the last thing you want to do if your feeling 'fragile' is to wander around in 48 degrees for any length of time).
We didn't do much in Pushkar but then again there isn't much to do there, apart from 'chill out'. We could have visited nearby Ajmer but thought it better that Jane recovers fully to see some of the 'bigger' attractions to come in the next few days....ie the Taj Mahal.
Post again soon ...Love Aubrey and Jane.
