March 9 - 11, 2006 - Pushkar
March 9, 2006 - Pushkar (Day 1)
I had breakfast at Castle Bijaipur. My appetite was returning, albeit slowly. I had lost some weight – maybe 10 pounds; I definitely did not want to regain it.
At 8:30 a.m., we took Jeeps to the bus station, about a 45-minute drive. The countryside was beautiful. I sat in the front seat, so I got to see everything. This part of Rajasthan is so clean; no trash anywhere! One of the maharaja's staff was driving my Jeep, and in every village we passed through, people bowed to us. Maharaja Rao Saheb himself was driving the other Jeep, which actually was a mini-van. The countryside was very hilly and rocky with scrub brush and the green trees with the orange berries, though now I believed they were flowers. Whenever we would get near water, the vegetation turned bright green.
We had a 5-hour bus journey to Pushkar with all of the locals. Our gear went on top of the bus, which made me just a little nervous. (I didn’t like to have my stuff out of my sight; I never knew if I would see it again!) I sat with Susan on the bus. The rest of my group was spread out in the bus wherever they could get a seat. The last part of the bus journey took us over Snake Mountain. It was a very slow, steep climb up one side of the mountain and a very fast, steep descent down the other side.
At the Pushkar bus station we again got into Jeeps for the short trip to our hotel – another palace – Jagat Palace. It had been completely restored and was now a Heritage hotel, run and managed by the royal family of Khanpur. It was beautiful, but not rambling and no exploring to be done. As we arrived, we each received a very fragrant pink rose garland. (I slept with mine on the bed headboard because it smelled so sweet.) I had no lunch because: 1) it was after 3 p.m. when we arrived at the hotel, and 2) I finally had a very minor case of Delhi Belly as soon as I got to my hotel room.
At 8:30 a.m., we took Jeeps to the bus station, about a 45-minute drive. The countryside was beautiful. I sat in the front seat, so I got to see everything. This part of Rajasthan is so clean; no trash anywhere! One of the maharaja's staff was driving my Jeep, and in every village we passed through, people bowed to us. Maharaja Rao Saheb himself was driving the other Jeep, which actually was a mini-van. The countryside was very hilly and rocky with scrub brush and the green trees with the orange berries, though now I believed they were flowers. Whenever we would get near water, the vegetation turned bright green.
We had a 5-hour bus journey to Pushkar with all of the locals. Our gear went on top of the bus, which made me just a little nervous. (I didn’t like to have my stuff out of my sight; I never knew if I would see it again!) I sat with Susan on the bus. The rest of my group was spread out in the bus wherever they could get a seat. The last part of the bus journey took us over Snake Mountain. It was a very slow, steep climb up one side of the mountain and a very fast, steep descent down the other side.
At the Pushkar bus station we again got into Jeeps for the short trip to our hotel – another palace – Jagat Palace. It had been completely restored and was now a Heritage hotel, run and managed by the royal family of Khanpur. It was beautiful, but not rambling and no exploring to be done. As we arrived, we each received a very fragrant pink rose garland. (I slept with mine on the bed headboard because it smelled so sweet.) I had no lunch because: 1) it was after 3 p.m. when we arrived at the hotel, and 2) I finally had a very minor case of Delhi Belly as soon as I got to my hotel room.
Pushkar, which means “blue lotus flower,” is one of the five sacred dhams (pilgrimage sites for devout Hindus). Hindus believe that the gods released a swan with a lotus in its beak and let it fall on earth where Brahma would perform a grand sacrifice. The place where the lotus fell was called Pushkar.
One of the oldest cities of India, Pushkar is small and serene. It lies on the shores of Pushkar Lake, which has 52 ghats, a series of steps where pilgrims descend to the lake to bathe in the sacred waters, which are said to have healing powers. The date of Pushkar’s actual origin is not known (though it is purported to date back to the 4th century BC), but legend associates Lord Brahma with its creation. It is mentioned that Brahma performed penance here for 60,000 years to have a glimpse of Vishnu, the Supreme God of Hinduism. Pushkar has many temples, though most of them are not very old since many were destroyed during Muslim conquests in the area. Subsequently, the destroyed temples were rebuilt. The most famous among all is the Brahma Temple built during the 14th century. Very few temples to Lord Brahma exist anywhere in the world.
At 5 p.m., my traveling companions and I all walked into downtown Pushkar. After leaving the Jagat Palace, we walked about 10 minutes down a dusty dirt road, loaded with people, toward the main area of Pushkar. The road turned to the right and it then became paved. Along the left side of the road was a white wall (I don’t know what was behind it), along which sat one sadhu after another. After another 7 or 8 minutes, downtown Pushkar emerged, which was about the coolest place I had ever seen. This was how I thought all of India would look. There were tons of shops, very little traffic (no pollution or blaring horns), wide (compared to the rest of India) winding lanes, no uneven sidewalks (no sidewalks at all) and no open sewers. There were very few hawkers and beggars. The ghats were right behind the main street, and I could catch a glimpse of them often through the openings between shops. There were lots of cows and dogs roaming the main street, but no pigs or goats. It was obvious that Pushkar was quite a tourist town, and there were tons of Westerners, East Asians and – believe it or not – Israelis. Most of them were quite grungy looking – dirty, dreadlocked, dressed in bohemian-type clothing and looking spaced-out. Apparently there was a huge drug market in Pushkar, and I could definitely tell it was true by the people who hung out there.
(Click on the images below to view.)
One of the oldest cities of India, Pushkar is small and serene. It lies on the shores of Pushkar Lake, which has 52 ghats, a series of steps where pilgrims descend to the lake to bathe in the sacred waters, which are said to have healing powers. The date of Pushkar’s actual origin is not known (though it is purported to date back to the 4th century BC), but legend associates Lord Brahma with its creation. It is mentioned that Brahma performed penance here for 60,000 years to have a glimpse of Vishnu, the Supreme God of Hinduism. Pushkar has many temples, though most of them are not very old since many were destroyed during Muslim conquests in the area. Subsequently, the destroyed temples were rebuilt. The most famous among all is the Brahma Temple built during the 14th century. Very few temples to Lord Brahma exist anywhere in the world.
At 5 p.m., my traveling companions and I all walked into downtown Pushkar. After leaving the Jagat Palace, we walked about 10 minutes down a dusty dirt road, loaded with people, toward the main area of Pushkar. The road turned to the right and it then became paved. Along the left side of the road was a white wall (I don’t know what was behind it), along which sat one sadhu after another. After another 7 or 8 minutes, downtown Pushkar emerged, which was about the coolest place I had ever seen. This was how I thought all of India would look. There were tons of shops, very little traffic (no pollution or blaring horns), wide (compared to the rest of India) winding lanes, no uneven sidewalks (no sidewalks at all) and no open sewers. There were very few hawkers and beggars. The ghats were right behind the main street, and I could catch a glimpse of them often through the openings between shops. There were lots of cows and dogs roaming the main street, but no pigs or goats. It was obvious that Pushkar was quite a tourist town, and there were tons of Westerners, East Asians and – believe it or not – Israelis. Most of them were quite grungy looking – dirty, dreadlocked, dressed in bohemian-type clothing and looking spaced-out. Apparently there was a huge drug market in Pushkar, and I could definitely tell it was true by the people who hung out there.
(Click on the images below to view.)
.
Traveling companion Debbie took this photograph of Puskar Lake at sunset.
After walking around the main part of town for awhile, my fellow travelers and I went to a “ghat-side” café at the Pushkar Palace Hotel – supposedly the best hotel in town, which once belonged to the maharaja of Kishangarh. We sat on the restaurant's terrace for some chai and to take in the stunning sunset over Pushkar Lake. It was beautiful to see the sky change from orange to pink to purple.
(Click on the images below to view.)
(Click on the images below to view.)
After the sun went down, we all went to the trendy Sun-Set Café for dinner. It was apparently “the place to be,” as the café was packed with Westerners. My little group found a nice table out on the terrace, and we ordered our meals. Shortly after our food came, a cow with very large horns thought it might join us for dinner! When the cow finally got too close (within a couple feet!) and started sniffing Susan's hair, one of the waiters grabbed a stick and, beating the cow, chased it away. As expected, Betty had a fit with the cow being hit, and she started yelling at the waiter about animal abuse. The waiter, of course, didn’t understand English well enough to know what she was saying . . . er, yelling, and he probably thought she was applauding his actions. Needless to say, the cow soon returned, but kept a respectable distance. Even though the atmosphere at the Sun-Set Café was fantastically hip, the food was just average. It was obvious that one came here not for the food, but for the ambiance. With the sun down, an assortment of neon lights and fires around the ghats, temples and havelis on the far side of Pushkar Lake added a shimmering backdrop to the scene.
There were also some very cute dogs – two small puppies and one male dog – hanging around the Sun-Set Café. A young man (18 or 20?) was playing with and feeding them. On my trip to the toilet, I stopped to talk with him. He said the older dog’s name was Christmas. When we were leaving the café, Christmas was curled up in one of the restaurant’s chairs and the two puppies were lying curled up at the feet of a couple restaurant patrons.
.
Anyone for a bhang lassi?
One of the most interesting – and annoying – things about Pushkar was that all meat, dairy, eggs and alcohol products were prohibited because Pushkar was considered to be an extremely holy city in the Hindu religion. It is a strictly vegan city. Of course, I was sure that if one looked hard enough or offered enough “baksheesh,” a person could have find a place where any one of these barred items could be had. Drugs, on the other hand, especially ganga (marijuana), were quite easy to come by – even though illegal – and seemed to be tolerated in Pushkar, though I did not – and do not – partake. However, if a person wanted a legal high, one couuld always drink a bhang lassi, a sort-of pot smoothie, at one of the authorized "bhang shops"!
(A “regular” lassi is a traditional chilled beverage from India which is made with yogurt, ice and an assortment of Indian spices. It can be either sweet or salty. Fruit can also be added, and mango lassis are very popular. Personally, I liked the banana lassi the best!)
(A “regular” lassi is a traditional chilled beverage from India which is made with yogurt, ice and an assortment of Indian spices. It can be either sweet or salty. Fruit can also be added, and mango lassis are very popular. Personally, I liked the banana lassi the best!)
March 10, 2006 - Pushkar (Day 2)
I had a bad night’s sleep on the extremely hard bed. At least I had hot water for my shower. Good water pressure, too.
LouAnn, Betty, Rick and I had breakfast at the chic Moon Dance Restaurant, where we sat on cushions on the floor. I had a chocolate croissant, cinnamon bun and chai. They were all very good. Afterwards, LouAnn and I went to an Internet café to check/send some emails. My dad had sent me an email letting me know that my Uncle Alfred had died. He had advanced liver cancer, so I knew he wasn’t going to live for much longer; thankfully he went during a “good” time in his sleep.
Email
Fom: Dad
To: Janice
Subject: None
Date: Tuesday, March 7, 2006
Janice,
Some bad news. Uncle Alfred passed away last night at home in Kentucky. He passed away in his sleep. It was not unexpected as he was going downhill. No word yet on the funeral arrangements. He had a good life and leaves quite a legacy.
Received your postcard. One of you extolled the virtues of trains in India while telling me of your trip. What about the trains. You sound as if you are busy all the day. I suppose there is nothing like a country so different from western countries.
Other than the news about uncle Alfred there is not much going on here. It got real cold again but is suppose to warm up this weekend____65 degrees.
Love Dad
__________________________________
Email
From: Janice
Subject: Next to Last Update from India
Date: Friday, March 10, 2006
Hi Dennis, Christy and Kevin,
Did you hear That Uncle Alfred died earlier this week? I got an email from my dad/Pop Pop and he said Uncle Alfred died in his sleep. He had advanced liver cancer.
We are in Pushkar. We arrived last night. We are staying in another palace (the third one on this trip), but this one has been turned into a bona fide hotel, and a heritage one at that (!), so the rooms are pretty nice. The bed, however, is hard as a rock, which seems to be typical for India. We arrived last night and did a tour of the city. It is really a very nice place, one of the top 2 or 3 I have been in while here. There are a ton of Westerners here, though most of them look like they could use a good bath and a haircut. (Apparently, Pushkar is a drug haven.) We sat at an outdoor cafe for masala tea along the Pushkar ghats and watched the sun go down. It was a spectacular sunset, changing from yellow to orange to pink to purple. Then we walked a little further to a large outdoor restaurant also along the ghats and had dinner. We had a rogue cow (big thing with a large hump at the neck and horns) that kept inching its way to our table. One of the waiters finally chased it away with a large wooden board, and Betty had a fit yelling and screaming at the guy about animal abuse. Of course Indians don't know English that well, so the waiter probably thought Betty was yelling, "Good job. Get that beast away from us!" About 15 minutes later, however, the cow was back, but he stayed his distance -- about 20 feet away!
We came to Pushkar from Bijaipur, where we staying in another castle, which was the much older type. The king also lives there, and though he is no longer a ruler, he is still considered the king and everyone from miles around still shows respect to him by bowing down to him when he passes. The king spent quite a bit of time with us, picking us up from the train station (only a 3 hour train ride this time), giving us a tour of his "kingdom" (I was not feeling too well, so I bypassed the tour), eating dinner with us, and then driving us to the bus station in the morning (the bus ride, on the other hand, was 5 hours of misery!). His castle was very nice, but he had an absolute gorgeous pool, which those of us who had bathing suits swam in and us others laid around in chaise lounges. It was very hot that day, and several people got sunburned. That afternoon, we celebrated the Hindu festival Holi, which is officially March 14 and 15, but we will all be gone. During the festival, we threw colored powder on each other and then threw water on everyone. By the end, we all looked like sopping wet rainbows. It was loads of fun, but I am not sure my clothes will ever look the same.
In Pushkar it is chilly and very overcast. In fact, it looks like the skies are gonig to open up at any minute. The Indians are saying the monsoon season is going to come early this year, so maybe this is the start of it. I just hope it holds off until after our camel safari this afternoon.
Well, that's it for now. We head back to Delhi by overnight train tomorrow afternoon, and then we leave for home on Monday night, getting into BWI Tuesday. I can't believe it has been almost 5 weeks. Overall, it has been a great trip with a few bumps in the road.
I will send you an email when I get to Delhi to let you know my arrival details in Delhi on Tuesday. Love you all and can't wait to see you and be back in the USA!!!
Love, Janice/Mom
_______________________________________________
I then went shopping among all the wonderful little shops lining the streets of Pushkar. I really wanted to buy a silver necklace, but I was not able to bargain down enough the guy who had the one I wanted. I did, however, finally find something for my niece, Madison, and nephew, Jackson.
LouAnn, Betty, Rick and I had breakfast at the chic Moon Dance Restaurant, where we sat on cushions on the floor. I had a chocolate croissant, cinnamon bun and chai. They were all very good. Afterwards, LouAnn and I went to an Internet café to check/send some emails. My dad had sent me an email letting me know that my Uncle Alfred had died. He had advanced liver cancer, so I knew he wasn’t going to live for much longer; thankfully he went during a “good” time in his sleep.
Fom: Dad
To: Janice
Subject: None
Date: Tuesday, March 7, 2006
Janice,
Some bad news. Uncle Alfred passed away last night at home in Kentucky. He passed away in his sleep. It was not unexpected as he was going downhill. No word yet on the funeral arrangements. He had a good life and leaves quite a legacy.
Received your postcard. One of you extolled the virtues of trains in India while telling me of your trip. What about the trains. You sound as if you are busy all the day. I suppose there is nothing like a country so different from western countries.
Other than the news about uncle Alfred there is not much going on here. It got real cold again but is suppose to warm up this weekend____65 degrees.
Love Dad
__________________________________
From: Janice
Subject: Next to Last Update from India
Date: Friday, March 10, 2006
Hi Dennis, Christy and Kevin,
Did you hear That Uncle Alfred died earlier this week? I got an email from my dad/Pop Pop and he said Uncle Alfred died in his sleep. He had advanced liver cancer.
We are in Pushkar. We arrived last night. We are staying in another palace (the third one on this trip), but this one has been turned into a bona fide hotel, and a heritage one at that (!), so the rooms are pretty nice. The bed, however, is hard as a rock, which seems to be typical for India. We arrived last night and did a tour of the city. It is really a very nice place, one of the top 2 or 3 I have been in while here. There are a ton of Westerners here, though most of them look like they could use a good bath and a haircut. (Apparently, Pushkar is a drug haven.) We sat at an outdoor cafe for masala tea along the Pushkar ghats and watched the sun go down. It was a spectacular sunset, changing from yellow to orange to pink to purple. Then we walked a little further to a large outdoor restaurant also along the ghats and had dinner. We had a rogue cow (big thing with a large hump at the neck and horns) that kept inching its way to our table. One of the waiters finally chased it away with a large wooden board, and Betty had a fit yelling and screaming at the guy about animal abuse. Of course Indians don't know English that well, so the waiter probably thought Betty was yelling, "Good job. Get that beast away from us!" About 15 minutes later, however, the cow was back, but he stayed his distance -- about 20 feet away!
We came to Pushkar from Bijaipur, where we staying in another castle, which was the much older type. The king also lives there, and though he is no longer a ruler, he is still considered the king and everyone from miles around still shows respect to him by bowing down to him when he passes. The king spent quite a bit of time with us, picking us up from the train station (only a 3 hour train ride this time), giving us a tour of his "kingdom" (I was not feeling too well, so I bypassed the tour), eating dinner with us, and then driving us to the bus station in the morning (the bus ride, on the other hand, was 5 hours of misery!). His castle was very nice, but he had an absolute gorgeous pool, which those of us who had bathing suits swam in and us others laid around in chaise lounges. It was very hot that day, and several people got sunburned. That afternoon, we celebrated the Hindu festival Holi, which is officially March 14 and 15, but we will all be gone. During the festival, we threw colored powder on each other and then threw water on everyone. By the end, we all looked like sopping wet rainbows. It was loads of fun, but I am not sure my clothes will ever look the same.
In Pushkar it is chilly and very overcast. In fact, it looks like the skies are gonig to open up at any minute. The Indians are saying the monsoon season is going to come early this year, so maybe this is the start of it. I just hope it holds off until after our camel safari this afternoon.
Well, that's it for now. We head back to Delhi by overnight train tomorrow afternoon, and then we leave for home on Monday night, getting into BWI Tuesday. I can't believe it has been almost 5 weeks. Overall, it has been a great trip with a few bumps in the road.
I will send you an email when I get to Delhi to let you know my arrival details in Delhi on Tuesday. Love you all and can't wait to see you and be back in the USA!!!
Love, Janice/Mom
_______________________________________________
I then went shopping among all the wonderful little shops lining the streets of Pushkar. I really wanted to buy a silver necklace, but I was not able to bargain down enough the guy who had the one I wanted. I did, however, finally find something for my niece, Madison, and nephew, Jackson.
Back at the Sun-Set Cafe
LouAnn, Betty, Rick and I went back to the Sun-Set Café for lunch, where we ran into Susan and Debbie. They told us that they had checked out a restaurant called the Pink Floyd Café for breakfast and said that it was a major hippie-hangout with a very undesirable clientele. However, being that Susan is extremely straight-laced and a super conformist (in most regards, that it), the restaurant was probably not nearly as bad as she made it out to be. (I’m not sure if they actually stayed for breakfast or left.)
We sat inside at the Sun-Set Café and had an excellent lunch. Since we only had a few days left in India, we reminisced about the time we had spent in the country so far! It had been wonderful, but we all were ready to go home. As we were leaving, we found our traveling companions Paul and Angela sitting outside the Sun-Set and the two cute puppies from the night before were now at their feet.
(Click on the photos below to view.)
We sat inside at the Sun-Set Café and had an excellent lunch. Since we only had a few days left in India, we reminisced about the time we had spent in the country so far! It had been wonderful, but we all were ready to go home. As we were leaving, we found our traveling companions Paul and Angela sitting outside the Sun-Set and the two cute puppies from the night before were now at their feet.
(Click on the photos below to view.)
Freakin' Crazy Cow and Brahma Temple
After lunch, Susan, Debbie, Betty, Rick, LouAnn and I explored Pushkar. At one point, we wandered down an extremely narrow lane to one of the ghats. On the way back to the main road, a huge cow was stopped in the middle of the lane, blocking it completely. It was obvious that it was very sick as brown, watery muck streamed from its rear end and thick, slobbering mucus snorted and hung from its nostrils. Not only that, but the cow appeared very disoriented and was acting somewhat crazed . . . I immediately thought of Mad Cow disease. My fellow traveling companions had already passed the cow when it appeared, but I was stuck behind it. Every time I tried to squeeze past it, it started acting even more demented. I was really scared of it – that it would either gore me with one of its horns or that I would catch whatever it had. I finally climbed halfway up a spiral staircase and waited for it to pass me (it was headed to the ghats). I then climbed down the staircase and quickly hurried out of the lane.
We walked around to the other side of Lake Pushkar and visited the Brahma Temple, Jagatpita Brahma Mandir, one of only a few existing temples dedicated to the Hindu creator-god Brahama and the most prominent among them. Pushkar is said to have over 500 temples (80 are large and the rest are small); of these, many are old that were destroyed or desecrated by Muslim depredations during Mughal emperor Aurangzeb’s rule (1658-1701), but were subsequently rebuilt. The most important temple is the Brahma Temple. Although the present temple structure dates to the 14th century, the temple itself is believed to be 2,000 years old. The temple is visited by pilgrims and also by the holy men and sages after taking a ceremonial sacred bath in Pushkar Lake.
We walked around to the other side of Lake Pushkar and visited the Brahma Temple, Jagatpita Brahma Mandir, one of only a few existing temples dedicated to the Hindu creator-god Brahama and the most prominent among them. Pushkar is said to have over 500 temples (80 are large and the rest are small); of these, many are old that were destroyed or desecrated by Muslim depredations during Mughal emperor Aurangzeb’s rule (1658-1701), but were subsequently rebuilt. The most important temple is the Brahma Temple. Although the present temple structure dates to the 14th century, the temple itself is believed to be 2,000 years old. The temple is visited by pilgrims and also by the holy men and sages after taking a ceremonial sacred bath in Pushkar Lake.
The Brahma Temple was the last temple I was to visit in India before my journey home to the U.S. While I am a devout born again Christian, I loved visiting the places of worship of other religions while in India. Not only were the buildings beautiful and, many times, quite impressive, the followers’ commitment to their respective faiths was always very stirring for me. I was often humbled by their devotion, which most of the time seemed genuine. Seeing their deep faith, my own Christian faith was strengthened during my time in India.
Camel Safari
Hello!
After traveling through some of the most spectacular areas of India I was now on the last leg of my incredible five-week journey through India. In Pushkar - camel capital of Asia and home of the famous annual Pushkar Camel Fair - I was going on my very first camel "safari," and this was to be the highlight of my trip.
The overcast day had turned into a beautiful, sunny afternoon when 13 camels arrived at my hotel to pick up their human cargo: me, my traveling companions, and our guide, Chandra. However, my camel-riding excitement quickly turned to apprehension when I saw the monstrous size of those beasts. I decided on the smallest camel, a dark, chocolate brown "cutie" with a colorful pompom through her nose. After a quick show-and-tell lesson on how to get on and get off of a camel, which looked quite terrifying in itself, it was time for me to board this formidable creature.
On command, Cutie lowered herself onto all fours, with her front legs tucked under her and her backside resting on her knees. Even in this position, her hump, onto which I was to sit, was chest-high. I grabbed onto the saddle - a term I use loosely since it consisted mostly of a heap of blankets secured with a couple straps - and swung my right leg over Cutie's hump. As I attempted to hoist myself onto Cutie, she unexpectedly stood up! First lifting her back side, then her front, I tried desperately to hold on. With only one leg over Cutie and the rest of me clinging onto her side for dear life, I was completely off balance six feet in the air.
I could hold on no longer. On the way down, I could only say a quick prayer for fear that death by trampling camel hoofs was imminent. I landed on my back, and despite instantaneous intense pain and getting the wind knocked out of me, I attempted to scramble to safety as 13 camel drivers jostled to drag me out from underneath the looming belly of that camel. As I gasped for breath, Chandra, in his sing-song Indian accent, urged me, "Try again. Just like when one falls off a horse, you must get right back on." Well, there was no way I was going to attempt to get on that she-devil again. I resigned myself to ride in the camel cart, an excruciatingly bumpy ride behind a foul-smelling dromedary with a severe case of gas. Meanwhile, Chandra got out the first-aid kit for some pain relief cream. He presented me with calamine lotion, an anti-itch remedy for poison ivy! Lo, there was nothing in that first-aid kit to treat the aches and pains from a camel fall. So I just "grinned and bared it" for the rest of my much-anticipated camel safari.**
We rode out to the Thar Desert. It got quite chilly out there, but the sand dunes were like talcum powder. After about 90 minutes, we stopped for cookies and chai among the dunes. Shortly, a gypsy man approached us and started playing some kind of home-made instrument and singing. I wanted to get some photographs of him, so I paid him 5 rupees (about US 10 cents) for the pleasure. I was in excrutiating pain from my fall of the camel, but at the time it was worth putting up with to get the photographs. (Unfortunately, my desert gypsy photos did not turn out as good as I had hoped.)
After spending an hour or so eating, drinking and resting in the desert, those who were able climbed back onto their camels and those of us who were not climbed back into the camel cart for the return ride to Pushkar. By the time we got back into town, the sun was down and it was getting dark. I was hurting terribly, especially when I breathed in. But at least I did not get stepped on by a camel and I had a super fun time with Chandra in the camel cart.
(Click on the images below to view.)
The overcast day had turned into a beautiful, sunny afternoon when 13 camels arrived at my hotel to pick up their human cargo: me, my traveling companions, and our guide, Chandra. However, my camel-riding excitement quickly turned to apprehension when I saw the monstrous size of those beasts. I decided on the smallest camel, a dark, chocolate brown "cutie" with a colorful pompom through her nose. After a quick show-and-tell lesson on how to get on and get off of a camel, which looked quite terrifying in itself, it was time for me to board this formidable creature.
On command, Cutie lowered herself onto all fours, with her front legs tucked under her and her backside resting on her knees. Even in this position, her hump, onto which I was to sit, was chest-high. I grabbed onto the saddle - a term I use loosely since it consisted mostly of a heap of blankets secured with a couple straps - and swung my right leg over Cutie's hump. As I attempted to hoist myself onto Cutie, she unexpectedly stood up! First lifting her back side, then her front, I tried desperately to hold on. With only one leg over Cutie and the rest of me clinging onto her side for dear life, I was completely off balance six feet in the air.
I could hold on no longer. On the way down, I could only say a quick prayer for fear that death by trampling camel hoofs was imminent. I landed on my back, and despite instantaneous intense pain and getting the wind knocked out of me, I attempted to scramble to safety as 13 camel drivers jostled to drag me out from underneath the looming belly of that camel. As I gasped for breath, Chandra, in his sing-song Indian accent, urged me, "Try again. Just like when one falls off a horse, you must get right back on." Well, there was no way I was going to attempt to get on that she-devil again. I resigned myself to ride in the camel cart, an excruciatingly bumpy ride behind a foul-smelling dromedary with a severe case of gas. Meanwhile, Chandra got out the first-aid kit for some pain relief cream. He presented me with calamine lotion, an anti-itch remedy for poison ivy! Lo, there was nothing in that first-aid kit to treat the aches and pains from a camel fall. So I just "grinned and bared it" for the rest of my much-anticipated camel safari.**
We rode out to the Thar Desert. It got quite chilly out there, but the sand dunes were like talcum powder. After about 90 minutes, we stopped for cookies and chai among the dunes. Shortly, a gypsy man approached us and started playing some kind of home-made instrument and singing. I wanted to get some photographs of him, so I paid him 5 rupees (about US 10 cents) for the pleasure. I was in excrutiating pain from my fall of the camel, but at the time it was worth putting up with to get the photographs. (Unfortunately, my desert gypsy photos did not turn out as good as I had hoped.)
After spending an hour or so eating, drinking and resting in the desert, those who were able climbed back onto their camels and those of us who were not climbed back into the camel cart for the return ride to Pushkar. By the time we got back into town, the sun was down and it was getting dark. I was hurting terribly, especially when I breathed in. But at least I did not get stepped on by a camel and I had a super fun time with Chandra in the camel cart.
(Click on the images below to view.)
Farewell Dinner
After returning to our hotel and freshening up, we had our farewell dinner in the hotel’s restaurant. It was a buffet with wonderful Indian food, which I especially enjoyed now that my tummy had finally settled. Chandra gave each of us a Taj Mahal snow globe, exactly what I was looking for in Agra but couldn’t find! We then went around the table and shared a little about our experience in India. Afterwards, Susan and Rick read “Ode to Chandra,” which was not only very good, but extremely funny. We were all laughing our heads off! (It hurt to laugh, but I couldn’t stop myself.) Chandra’s eyes got red and a little moist; he was really touched by the poem. We then gave him 6,000 rupees (500 each). It was a bittersweet dinner.
March 11, 2006 - Pushkar (Day 3)
Feeling extremely sore but wanting to do some exploring, I set out for "downtown" Pushkar with Betty and Rick. As I swung my daypack over my shoulder, I heard "CRACK" and then felt searing pain in my chest like I had never before experienced. I knew right then that I had broken a rib in my fall off of that dang camel. It was amazing that right at that exact moment I also happened to be standing next to an open door with a sign that read "HOSPITAL." After peering through the open door into what Pushkar calls a "hospital" - a term I use loosely here - I decided that I would put up with the pain and wait until I got back to the United States in 4 days to visit a real hospital.
Betty, Rick and I ate the buffet breakfast at the Shiva Cafe. It was awful!! Thank goodness it only cost 50 rupees. We then met up with Chandra, LouAnn, Susan, Debbie, Ben and Emma, and walked down to the ghats. Oh the way, we saw another funeral procession going through town; I wanted to take a photo, but I thought I had better not.
After removing our shoes, we walked down the steps into the Pushkar ghats. Even though I had been to them once before, I felt more comfortable there with Chandra with me since he was an Indian and knew "ghat protocol." There were lots of Hindu devotees, mostly men, praying and bathing. Debbie and Betty each did a puja, a religious ritual in which prayers and an offering is made by a person, in this case facilitated by a Hindu priest, to a Hindu diety. At Debbie's and Betty's pujas, they offered flowers and coconuts by placing them in the waters of Lake Pushkar. Debbie prayed for her family and Betty prayed for her Indian friend, Priddy. Afterwards, the priest approached me and gave me his blessing by putting a tikka on my forehead and tying a string around my wrist. I really didn't want either because I didn't believe in the Hindu religion, but I let the priest do it anyway out of respect. I then, however, promptly wiped the tikka off of my forehead and removed the string.
The tikka is a red dot of vermilion paste applied on the forehead, between the eyebrows. In the Hindu religion, this spot is considered the center of latent wisdom and concentration. It is also the spot where the third, or spiritual, eye is said to reside. All actions and thoughts are said to be governed by this spot, and the act of putting the tikka signifies the desire to open the third eye. All Hindu religious functions begin with the application of the tikka, which may be embellished with a few grains of rice. While the normal tikka is but a small dot on the forehead, certain sects of Hindus cover their entire forehead with the tikka. And besides vermilion, the tikka can be made of sandalwood paste, ash or even clay. For instance, the devotees of Lord Shiva use ash and draw their tikka as three horizontal lines across their forehead. Indian women belonging to certain sects wear the tikka as a sign of marriage. In fact, it is considered improper for them to appear in public without the tikka.
(Click on the images below to view.)
Betty, Rick and I ate the buffet breakfast at the Shiva Cafe. It was awful!! Thank goodness it only cost 50 rupees. We then met up with Chandra, LouAnn, Susan, Debbie, Ben and Emma, and walked down to the ghats. Oh the way, we saw another funeral procession going through town; I wanted to take a photo, but I thought I had better not.
After removing our shoes, we walked down the steps into the Pushkar ghats. Even though I had been to them once before, I felt more comfortable there with Chandra with me since he was an Indian and knew "ghat protocol." There were lots of Hindu devotees, mostly men, praying and bathing. Debbie and Betty each did a puja, a religious ritual in which prayers and an offering is made by a person, in this case facilitated by a Hindu priest, to a Hindu diety. At Debbie's and Betty's pujas, they offered flowers and coconuts by placing them in the waters of Lake Pushkar. Debbie prayed for her family and Betty prayed for her Indian friend, Priddy. Afterwards, the priest approached me and gave me his blessing by putting a tikka on my forehead and tying a string around my wrist. I really didn't want either because I didn't believe in the Hindu religion, but I let the priest do it anyway out of respect. I then, however, promptly wiped the tikka off of my forehead and removed the string.
The tikka is a red dot of vermilion paste applied on the forehead, between the eyebrows. In the Hindu religion, this spot is considered the center of latent wisdom and concentration. It is also the spot where the third, or spiritual, eye is said to reside. All actions and thoughts are said to be governed by this spot, and the act of putting the tikka signifies the desire to open the third eye. All Hindu religious functions begin with the application of the tikka, which may be embellished with a few grains of rice. While the normal tikka is but a small dot on the forehead, certain sects of Hindus cover their entire forehead with the tikka. And besides vermilion, the tikka can be made of sandalwood paste, ash or even clay. For instance, the devotees of Lord Shiva use ash and draw their tikka as three horizontal lines across their forehead. Indian women belonging to certain sects wear the tikka as a sign of marriage. In fact, it is considered improper for them to appear in public without the tikka.
(Click on the images below to view.)
I took my last photograph in Pushkar; I was now completely out of film.
We needed to check out of the hotel at noon, but we weren't due to leave Pushkar until 7 p.m. I brought my backpack and other gear down to the hotel lobby, and I stowed it with everyone else's gear behind an unused reception desk. Since I was in so much pain, I decided to remain at the hotel and read my book, Holy Cow (by Sarah MacDonald), which I hoped to finish before the day was over. As the hours ticked by, my pain became more intense and I wanted to consult Chandra about whether I should be seen by a doctor before we left Pushkar. However, Chandra was nowhere to be found. Evidently, he skipped town for a little afternoon tête-à-tête with a female friend; there was no way to get in touch with him and no one knew when he would be back. Needless to say, I was more than a little annoyed that he would just disappear like that without any way for any of us to contact him. (I was probably over-reacting a little since I was definitely more angry than I would have been if I hadn't been in such extreme pain.)
Chandra finally showed back up at the hotel around 6:50 p.m., ten minutes before we were to leave for the 30 minute drive to the train station in Ajmer. We were taking taxis to Ajmer, and they arrived promptly at 7. The cab drivers grabbed everyone's luggage from the hotel lobby and loaded everything into their cabs while Chandra supervised. I got into one of the cabs with my camera bag and tote bag, relieved to be on my way back to Delhi, where I would be making my way home in a couple days. After Chandra made one last check that all of our gear had been removed from the hotel, we were on our way.
We arrived at the train station in Ajmer and started unloadiing everyone's gear from the taxis. I kept watching for my backpack, but it never materialized. After talking with Chandra about the situation, we decided that he would need to go back to the hotel in Pushkar to see if it had been left behind. I was pretty perturbed about the whole state of affairs, especially since Chandra made me give him 500 rupees for cab fare. I didn't care about the money (it was only a little over US $11), but I felt Chandra was totally out of line making me pay for his cab since he had been the one responsible for ensuring everyone's luggage was transported to Ajmer. However, I was in too much pain to argue with him, so I gave him the 500 rupees. An hour later he arrived back at the train station with my backpack. Jerk!
The Ajmer train station was insane; so many people. My traveling companions and I had all of our stuff piled into a huge heap, and we were guarding it very closely as to ensure that none of it disappeared. As the train arrived, we grabbed our stuff and boarded the train. Thankfully we were in first class as it was going to be an 8-hour overnight trip to Delhi. I knew it was going to be a loooonnng night, especially being in as much pain as I was.
**(After an overnight train ride from Pushkar (via Ajmer) to Delhi, two days in Delhi and a 16-hour plane ride back to America, I went immediately to the hospital for an x-ray. It was confirmed: I did have a broken rib. But, that's not the end of the story. Having made it through 5 weeks in India without even a symptom of tummy trouble - unheard of for Westerners - on my second day home I got a severe case of Delhi-Belly and ended up being diagnosed with a wicked E. coli bacterial infection. I am now completely recovered and can laugh at the misfortune that befell me at the end of my trip. However, I would recommend to anyone going to India to stay away from camels; take the bus instead!)
We needed to check out of the hotel at noon, but we weren't due to leave Pushkar until 7 p.m. I brought my backpack and other gear down to the hotel lobby, and I stowed it with everyone else's gear behind an unused reception desk. Since I was in so much pain, I decided to remain at the hotel and read my book, Holy Cow (by Sarah MacDonald), which I hoped to finish before the day was over. As the hours ticked by, my pain became more intense and I wanted to consult Chandra about whether I should be seen by a doctor before we left Pushkar. However, Chandra was nowhere to be found. Evidently, he skipped town for a little afternoon tête-à-tête with a female friend; there was no way to get in touch with him and no one knew when he would be back. Needless to say, I was more than a little annoyed that he would just disappear like that without any way for any of us to contact him. (I was probably over-reacting a little since I was definitely more angry than I would have been if I hadn't been in such extreme pain.)
Chandra finally showed back up at the hotel around 6:50 p.m., ten minutes before we were to leave for the 30 minute drive to the train station in Ajmer. We were taking taxis to Ajmer, and they arrived promptly at 7. The cab drivers grabbed everyone's luggage from the hotel lobby and loaded everything into their cabs while Chandra supervised. I got into one of the cabs with my camera bag and tote bag, relieved to be on my way back to Delhi, where I would be making my way home in a couple days. After Chandra made one last check that all of our gear had been removed from the hotel, we were on our way.
We arrived at the train station in Ajmer and started unloadiing everyone's gear from the taxis. I kept watching for my backpack, but it never materialized. After talking with Chandra about the situation, we decided that he would need to go back to the hotel in Pushkar to see if it had been left behind. I was pretty perturbed about the whole state of affairs, especially since Chandra made me give him 500 rupees for cab fare. I didn't care about the money (it was only a little over US $11), but I felt Chandra was totally out of line making me pay for his cab since he had been the one responsible for ensuring everyone's luggage was transported to Ajmer. However, I was in too much pain to argue with him, so I gave him the 500 rupees. An hour later he arrived back at the train station with my backpack. Jerk!
The Ajmer train station was insane; so many people. My traveling companions and I had all of our stuff piled into a huge heap, and we were guarding it very closely as to ensure that none of it disappeared. As the train arrived, we grabbed our stuff and boarded the train. Thankfully we were in first class as it was going to be an 8-hour overnight trip to Delhi. I knew it was going to be a loooonnng night, especially being in as much pain as I was.
**(After an overnight train ride from Pushkar (via Ajmer) to Delhi, two days in Delhi and a 16-hour plane ride back to America, I went immediately to the hospital for an x-ray. It was confirmed: I did have a broken rib. But, that's not the end of the story. Having made it through 5 weeks in India without even a symptom of tummy trouble - unheard of for Westerners - on my second day home I got a severe case of Delhi-Belly and ended up being diagnosed with a wicked E. coli bacterial infection. I am now completely recovered and can laugh at the misfortune that befell me at the end of my trip. However, I would recommend to anyone going to India to stay away from camels; take the bus instead!)