Wednesday 9 April 2014

Pushkar- Rooftops and Religion

Pushkar is one of those destinations that was by no means forgettable but struggles to leave a lasting memory. It was a pleasant few days full of exploring bazars, chilling on rooftops, walking and delightfully little else. We stayed in our cheapest room so far 350 rupees so £3.50, bargain! (But the cheapest of India was yet to come) the place was called Atithi gueshouse, a tall white building with a great rooftop cafe. The owner, Pappu was super friendly, and seemed to run the whole gueshouse himself with a bit of help from his wife and kids. This was where we first experienced the delicious puddings that is 'hello to the queen' which he made for us. A combination of banana, Ice cream, broken biscuits and warm chocolate sauce. Sold at most cheap restaurants in India, a nice change from the traditional Indian sweets.

Pushkar basically exists because of the holy lake and surrounding bathing ghats at the heart of the town. It's particularly important in relation to the ouch less followed Brahma (the creator who also created the lake by dropping petals of the lotus on the barren desert land) God of the holy trinity. The story goes that Brahamas two wives basically fought over him, and after he married the wrong one first the other wife cursed Brahma to only be worshipped at Pushkar. There holds the places significance and thousands flock to the temples Gayitri and Savitri (the names of his 2 wives) to worship. This means the town is full of the colour and aroma of the offerings of rose petals and incense. The towns religious significance means it's meat free and alcohol free.

We went up the hill one evening to check out the view. We were going to wait for the sunset but it was a hazy evening so decided it wasn't worth the wait. Still a pretty view though. We had a good chat with an old Canadian couple where we exchanged tips and recommendations of where to go.

Pushkar really did lie right on the edge of the desert region and the green lush hills that run south in Rajasthan to Udaipur.

The shopping in Pushkar was very good, and now wish I bought some more stuff whilst we were there as it was full of great handicrafts, weaving and silver jewellery. Olly bought me a ring and some earrings as an early birthday present though, ta very much :)

We went to a great restaurant called the Sixth Sense which served some delicious Western Indian fusion food. The hotel it was in was stunning as well, but unfortunately out of our price range!

There wasn't that much to do apart from mooch around the town or go up the hills but it was nice to experience a different and calmer side to Rajasthan.

I don't know what the pigs were used for because it was a meat and alcohol free town due to its religious significance.

We went to a salon/locals front room for haircuts, and whilst I was there thought I might as well go for a facial, and get my eyebrows threaded and my legs waxed and then my haircut, which all came to £7.50... Bargain! Olly also got a haircut and a close shave for a nifty 100 rupees.

We'd enjoyed the down time and the book shops (our bags became a little heavier) but our time in Pushkar came to an end and our journey to the much more memorable and romantic Udaipur began.

 

 

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