Day 8 – Udaipur to Pushkar

We were in the car for a long time today – left Udaipur before 9:00, after breakfast and that great rooftop view.

On the road to Pushkar we saw slab after slab of marble, gathered and resting on its side. Literally went on for miles. We saw an elephant being carved out of marble, too – could see its rough form emerging.

Today we went through a relatively hilly area – lots of trees and stone walls. It again was quite picturesque, and we saw many people working/living in the fields along the road. For lunch we stopped at an Indian restaurant/tourist trap but I must say the vegetable/cheese dish I had was very good, this time more of a tomato/onion/celery stew. Reminded me of mom’s stews.

Along the way we passed a village where a festival in honor of a Hindu God was taking place. People were gathered in ceremony and sweets would be offered (or provided to the audience or both – not exactly sure what Jai was relaying). Looked like most of the town was in attendance.

We also passed a “melee” of animals that had been herded to a central spot from surrounding villages to buy/sell. Their owners walked them to the market, camping en route and during the sale. A few hundred were gathered with tents set up nearby.

Our hotel in Pushkar was the Pushkar Palace, recommended by my guide book. The building – truly a palace – was built by the Maharaja of Jaisalmer in the 15th century and was later presented to the Maharaja of Kishangarh. It sits by Pushkar Lake and has a beautiful courtyard in the middle. When we left our room, locking the door cracked me up; we’d been provided a padlock and key, so we bolted the door shut and slapped it on locker-style.

Pushkar was busy w/ activity when we drove in; Jai was all set to hire a local guide as our “program” didn’t include one but I said no – the sights were all within walking distance of the hotel, the main attraction being the Camel Fair that was going on the week of our visit.

The city is one of Hinduism’s holiest sites, with more than 500 temples. It’s a destination for many worshippers (makes it great for people watching -- all kinds of hippy-looking types wandering through).

Our first stop was the lake, where a Holy man was standing at the steps (the holy bathing ghats). He was leading people to the water to pray and recite a blessing in Sanskrit, paste a dot on the forehead and a string bracelet (denoting a blessing) on the wrist. All for payment of course. Feeling holy enough, kids and I passed.
Into town we headed, spying a big temple to the right – looked lovely. No foreigners allowed though.

Then we wandered through a bustling market that seemed to go on forever. I tried some sweets and snacks on the way through – saw lots of potatoes and other yummy smelling items being fried. Big vats of milk were being boiled and stirred to make sweets, stalks of sugarcane pressed through a cranking machine to render sweet juice for drinks, vendors selling silver (92.5%, 95% -- have never seen such labels), purses, material, clothes, stamps, china, mortar & pestle, pots and pans of all sizes, key chains w/ names inscribed on tiny rice inside, vegetables and fruits resting on cloths on the ground, scarves, camel and horse décor and on and on and on.

As we wandered the never-ending market we rounded a bend and spied THE Temple of Pushkar – Brahma Temple. It is located in the center of town, overlooking the lake. This one we were allowed to enter, without camera/cell phone. A long stairway took us up to the only temple of Brahma, who married the goddess Gayatri (some say she was a milkmaid). Savitri, his wife, cursed him and said he could only be worshipped in Pushkar.

It was an interesting temple to visit, largely because despite all the security and rules about cameras/phones to keep it a prayerful, quiet sanctuary, it was noisy, full of bees (who were after all the candy/flower donations) and beggars.

Past the temple, I kept expecting to get to an area where all the camels, horses and other stock would be gathered for buying and selling. But alas, I was disappointed; apparently the event – like the melee we’d seen on our drive but on a much larger scale – had already taken place. There were still tons of people around and all kinds of activities (carnival, animal rides, extra vendors, etc.) as the days before and after the actual sale comprise the fair.

We wandered through a lot of debris, where animals and owners had been (littering seems to be the norm in India, unfortunately). We did see 50 to 75 horses being taken care of – no horse rides, though, to Claire’s disappointment.

Since we’d already ridden a camel, we sought out a camel cart, bargained with the driver and took a spin. (I guess that might not be the most apt description for the plodding cartride.)

We were perched on a rubber-tired cart with padding and a blanket on top, actually not a bad ride once we got out of the streets. (Far smoother when the camel was pulling us through the sand; road conditions leave a lot to be desired in Pushkar!)
Our driver took us around the back of the fair area, which was quiet and afforded a lovely view of the sunset and mountains, then through a pavilion area where events (i.e. cricket games) are held.

After our ride we wandered back through the market; I got a purse for 100 rupees (I do enjoy the bargaining!). Jai got a banner decoration for his home’s “man entrance” – had no idea there was such a thing. I thought maybe he meant main entrance, but when he said it would make his home auspicious when "mans" come to visit, I took that to mean it’s the male entryway to the house. Maybe the garage?!?

On the subject of Jai, I don’t think he knows what to make of me – I think he was expecting a little lady who needed to be taken care of and who was afraid of her own shadow. A few times I found him trying to check into the hotel for me and making decisions about our itinerary, and every time I tried to converse w/ the driver (who spoke just as good English as Jai) he jumped in, wanting me to ask him the question, then passing my question onto Naresh, and vice versa. Egads. When I pushed back – diplomatically I might add – he’d make some comment like “Madame I am at your disposal” – not sure if that was for my benefit or a reminder to himself.

It was 7:00 by the time we got back from the market so washed off the travel & Pushkar fair dust and had dinner on the roof, with a lovely nighttime view of the lake. I just ordered soup and the waiter warned me it would be spicy – they must be used to gringos who can’t handle “hot.” So far I haven’t encountered anything with too much heat – must be those years in Texas.