So far, I think Pushkar is my favourite city. There is a buzz about it as well as a smell about it...but I really liked it.
The first day we got there we didn't really do anything... the hostel it an awesome rooftop cafe so we just sat around and enjoyed doing nothing.
The next day however, we decided to go down to Pushkar Lake in the morning and then head back as the Dutch were arriving sometime in the late afternoon.
Pushkar Lake.
One of the three most holiest waters in India. Pilgrims come from all over the country to bathe in the Ghats - holy pools - surrounding the lake. Each Ghat has a name and it is said that some of Ghandi's ashes were spread in one of them. It's not overly breath taking but there is a very nice energy there, quiet and peaceful. It was really nice to just sit there, watching the people bathe, a man yell at tourists to take off their shoes - he also yelled at me because I had put my shoes on the ground beside me where I was sitting. Cows eating garbage - yup even here they throw away their garbage but yet we can't wear our shoes. There are locals scamming tourists with the purchase of flowers and a long winded story with a small ceremony... it was interesting, funny and peaceful all at the same time. You also can't take pictures (sneaky me.)
We wandered the small streets as its not really a city, the town (from my understanding) was built around the lake, but it's busy. Like Rishikesh, the streets are not just busy with people and cows but motorbikes as well. There is a lot of honking and close calls to getting run over, but I managed to survive. Also, just like Rishikesh the streets are lined with shops and cafe's, but they seem to be more colourful, darker but with a warm cozy feeling.
There is a real hippy vibe in Pushkar, shops have crazy fluorescent posters or curtains hanging outside which would give their full effect under a black light, funky clothing (no I didn't buy any), and a cafe (as I only know of one) that sells bung lassi's. A lassi is a curd (yogurt drink) ... I can maybe explain it as a thick Yop type drink. A bung lassi has hash in it. The guys enjoyed theirs, I enjoyed my water lol but we did sit and draw pictures for 2 hours laughing like children.
The next day James, Gareth the Dutch and I went for a walk through the busy streets and headed to the Brahma temple. It's the only one like it in the world and people come from all over to see it. It is a quick visit but it is interesting to see. You get blessed and give offerings and walk down below into a tomb where it is said part of the God Shiva is buried.
I had to work so I headed back before everyone but Gareth joined me as we wanted to book a camel safari tour for the next day.
A two hour camel ride into the desert, sunset, supplied water, a cabin (basically glamping style in the desert), running water, hot showers, a nice meal, bonfire, traditional dancers, breakfast and a two hour camel ride back... "be here for 4 o'clock tomorrow. We were super excited!!!
We met there at 4 and walked over to our camels. My came - Salim - was fantastic...he listened and rode very nicely so I wouldn't fall off. Gareth' however, was not as great. Cobra, kept trying to scratch his legs because he was itchy from the flies, so he would throw up his back leg which made for Gareth's ride a little unstable.
We walked through a gypsy village where I had a guy tell me "nice camel, I like your tattoos," and follow Salim and I for a bit. Our sunset point was also in a gypsy area and we got followed and hounded by them for money... but I got some great photos and the camels were able to rest and take a nap for a little bit.
There were water stops for the camel so they wouldn't dehydrate, Salim slurped it up like loudly, like a child slurping up a bowl of soup. However when I asked for water they said it wasn't included...first red flag.
After awhile the guides got on the camels with us. Just as we hit the "desert" I noticed that the remote for my new selfie stick had fallen out of the bottom of my stick so we had to back track 20 minutes. Not only did we not find it but it set us back 40 minutes so by the time we got back to the "desert" it was dark and Gareth was in pain. "Camels are not fun when you have testicles!" He yelled back at Salim and I. "And my ass is going raw." I won't lie, camel's are not the most comfortable thing to ride, they are awkward, the seats are uncomfortable and the stirrups are rope, so I had that rubbing against my foot. To be honest, I kind of wanted the ride to be done with, I just wanted to get to our campsite, chill with the others from their rides around the campfire, watch the dancers and just relax.
"How you doing up there Gareth?!?" I called. "I'm meditating." "Is it helping?" "Kind of, but not really!"
I was a bit nervous going through the "desert" at night and the back of Gareth and his guide on the camel looked really fucking scary to be honest. It looked like a very tall lank person hunched over walking, swinging it's arms oddly (look up Slender Man, ughh, so creepy) in the middle of the track in this so-called "desert." Desert, the second red flag...it wasn't a desert, it was literally just sand with buildings and some trees. "Come to the desert, they said, it will be fun," Gareth said up ahead of me. "I'm guess your testicles aren't any better?" I called up. "No!"
Then we see some silhouettes of camels, camels every where. They were just standing there eating or doing whatever camels do. My guide hopped off the back of Salim and lead us through the group of camels - I couldn't tell what was a tree or a camel at that point - and to our campsite.
"Good night Salim, get some sleep and I will see you tomorrow," I said as I got off him. It's a little difficult walking after being on a camel for a few hours, it's kind of like having a pickle up your but, or at least that's what Gareth looked like.
We stopped dead in our tracks when we entered the campground.
No more red flags...just you've been scammed flashed across the clear night sky!
There were no cabins just four big tents and a bonfire... if you could call it that. A big piece of a tree with a small fire in the middle of a big group - I think they were from Korea or at least some of them were, the others could've been from Japan. This is based off of one guy having a Korean Red Cross vest on and an Indian kid asking us if we were from Korea or Japan - one of the women laughed at this.
We were shown into our huge tent that was done up with mattresses on the floor with pillows and duvets and they served us some fresh chai masala (bonus.)
We went to join the others outside, however they didn't speak English so it was just us two with our dinner. I didn't eat much of it as I didn't trust the food at this point especially after seeing the so called bathroom... a tarpaulin covering with a toilet inside of it. Yes a real toilet but obviously not flushable, we were in the middle of the "desert" how would it even flush.
We giggled at our dinner and tried to make light of things...it was quite funny but extremely disappointing. We did get traditional dancers however as promised which I think were the best part
of the night. They were beautiful and jingled with every move... however they came around asking for tips when done.
I decided after this to curl up with my book and call it a night... I was getting a cold and due to lack of other's for us to communicate with I wanted to get some sleep. The others however had their own plan, beer and saki they clapped and laughed away and slept under the open sky.
Before getting into bed I asked Gareth to walk over to the so-called toilet with me. As I was about to enter one of the Korean/Japanese men came over and said "no," and pointed. Then I heard "HUHHHHHHHH!" Uh oh, I thought and looked at Gareth, we giggled. Again "HUHHHHHHHHH." Someone's stomach definitely wasn't agreeing with the food. When she walked out and I peaked in...yup...toilet doesn't flush... I peed out behind a bush somewhere. On one foot as I didn't realize down hill was towards my left food.
Grumpy Gareth - as he called himself - was obviously in negative mood as everything bothered him, the music, the sand in the bed, there are burrs on the comforter, "when are you turning the light off?"
I was fine, I fell asleep reading my book thought didn't sleep well but I slept, but we did find hundred's of mice footprints around the bed...at least they didn't crawl in the bed with me....at least I don't think they did.
We woke up at 6:30am ready to leave, Gareth especially. "I'm not riding a camel today I'm walking, I'm in too much pain and...." he continued on. I felt the same, I wanted to leave, my cold was worse, I literally wanted my cat and my laptop and a movie day - a girl can dream.
We walked down to the camels... Salim was eating contently but neither him or Cobra were ready to go. I looked at my phone, 7:02am, we should be leaving already. I walked up to the makeshift kitchen and asked if we could leave..." tea, masala, five minutes." "No thank you, we would like to leave now, we were told we would leave at 7 and be back by 9 and we have to catch a bus." They didn't really like the response but they went down to get the camels ready. "I thought we got breakfast?" I asked "We hab banana?" "No thanks."
There was a big fuss when we were getting on our camels. Gareth wanted to sit in the second seat as it was more comfortable for his testicles. "Okay, you and her, one camel okay?" "No!" I said harshly. "We paid for two camels, we are each getting one. What is the big deal? He can sit in whatever seat he want's." At this point Grumpy Gareth started walking (a little bit over-reacting in my opinion), but finally after calling him back he got on the camel.
When we got to the road he got off and started walking still grumpy..."I haven't showered since yesterday morning!" he says.... "ummm, neither have I." Geez it's only 24 hours...relax dude, it's not the end of the world. I get it...he was set off when we got to the campsite so everything was bothering him, but I was sick plus hungover the day before and I didn't complain as much as him...he would've hated the camper van trip I did in New Zealand, we barely got to shower hahaha.
When we got back to the the guides asked for tips! Gareth gave them a tip... I wasn't obliged.
"That was horrendous!" Gareth said when we were walking back to our hostels. "Dude, that was not horrendous. It wasn't what we paid for but it wasn't horrendous...and I definitely have a good blog to write about it." "It was horrendous." It definitely wasn't the best thing I have experienced or the greatest tour I have gone on but it definitely wasn't the worst either, I find it kind of funny to be honest.
Later that day Gareth went to the guy and complained. He was in complete denial of ever saying any of the sales pitch he gave us. When he complained about no water their response "there was water in the toilet." Hahahahaha.
I ended up going in as well when I was looking for a bank. The man didn't say much to me...he just looked at him and kept saying "okay." Some young guy tried telling me another guy sold me the trip but I laughed at him. "All those pictures you showed us saying you personally took them on one of the trips. Look at the cabins with running water? Why don't you show me those pictures on your phone again and I will show you mine and we can compare." "I'm not a cheat." He said very quietly. "Hahhaha, you scam tourist's and you have probably already done it again today and will do it again tomorrow. Your not a very nice person, your an asshole." I left, and I felt better.
We were supposed to grab a bus to Jodhpur that day but James wanted to wait till the next day...thank goodness. I was tired and not feeling well from my cold so I didn't want to go anywhere. I relaxed, read my book and went to sleep.
We grabbed a bus yesterday to Jodhpur and had an awesome night at the hostel with the Dutch and some new friends playing cards.
James and the Dutch went to walk around the city. I stayed back to write this and I also work in 30 minutes...but I am still fighting my cold so I really don't mind having a day to myself.
So with that, I am going to say until next time. I hope you enjoyed my desert story... and remember, beware of Desert Safari's lol they will tell you they are fun.
- My Beautiful Life -
The first day we got there we didn't really do anything... the hostel it an awesome rooftop cafe so we just sat around and enjoyed doing nothing.
The next day however, we decided to go down to Pushkar Lake in the morning and then head back as the Dutch were arriving sometime in the late afternoon.
Pushkar Lake.
We wandered the small streets as its not really a city, the town (from my understanding) was built around the lake, but it's busy. Like Rishikesh, the streets are not just busy with people and cows but motorbikes as well. There is a lot of honking and close calls to getting run over, but I managed to survive. Also, just like Rishikesh the streets are lined with shops and cafe's, but they seem to be more colourful, darker but with a warm cozy feeling.
There is a real hippy vibe in Pushkar, shops have crazy fluorescent posters or curtains hanging outside which would give their full effect under a black light, funky clothing (no I didn't buy any), and a cafe (as I only know of one) that sells bung lassi's. A lassi is a curd (yogurt drink) ... I can maybe explain it as a thick Yop type drink. A bung lassi has hash in it. The guys enjoyed theirs, I enjoyed my water lol but we did sit and draw pictures for 2 hours laughing like children.
The next day James, Gareth the Dutch and I went for a walk through the busy streets and headed to the Brahma temple. It's the only one like it in the world and people come from all over to see it. It is a quick visit but it is interesting to see. You get blessed and give offerings and walk down below into a tomb where it is said part of the God Shiva is buried.
I had to work so I headed back before everyone but Gareth joined me as we wanted to book a camel safari tour for the next day.
A two hour camel ride into the desert, sunset, supplied water, a cabin (basically glamping style in the desert), running water, hot showers, a nice meal, bonfire, traditional dancers, breakfast and a two hour camel ride back... "be here for 4 o'clock tomorrow. We were super excited!!!
We met there at 4 and walked over to our camels. My came - Salim - was fantastic...he listened and rode very nicely so I wouldn't fall off. Gareth' however, was not as great. Cobra, kept trying to scratch his legs because he was itchy from the flies, so he would throw up his back leg which made for Gareth's ride a little unstable.
We walked through a gypsy village where I had a guy tell me "nice camel, I like your tattoos," and follow Salim and I for a bit. Our sunset point was also in a gypsy area and we got followed and hounded by them for money... but I got some great photos and the camels were able to rest and take a nap for a little bit.
There were water stops for the camel so they wouldn't dehydrate, Salim slurped it up like loudly, like a child slurping up a bowl of soup. However when I asked for water they said it wasn't included...first red flag.
After awhile the guides got on the camels with us. Just as we hit the "desert" I noticed that the remote for my new selfie stick had fallen out of the bottom of my stick so we had to back track 20 minutes. Not only did we not find it but it set us back 40 minutes so by the time we got back to the "desert" it was dark and Gareth was in pain. "Camels are not fun when you have testicles!" He yelled back at Salim and I. "And my ass is going raw." I won't lie, camel's are not the most comfortable thing to ride, they are awkward, the seats are uncomfortable and the stirrups are rope, so I had that rubbing against my foot. To be honest, I kind of wanted the ride to be done with, I just wanted to get to our campsite, chill with the others from their rides around the campfire, watch the dancers and just relax.
"How you doing up there Gareth?!?" I called. "I'm meditating." "Is it helping?" "Kind of, but not really!"
I was a bit nervous going through the "desert" at night and the back of Gareth and his guide on the camel looked really fucking scary to be honest. It looked like a very tall lank person hunched over walking, swinging it's arms oddly (look up Slender Man, ughh, so creepy) in the middle of the track in this so-called "desert." Desert, the second red flag...it wasn't a desert, it was literally just sand with buildings and some trees. "Come to the desert, they said, it will be fun," Gareth said up ahead of me. "I'm guess your testicles aren't any better?" I called up. "No!"
Then we see some silhouettes of camels, camels every where. They were just standing there eating or doing whatever camels do. My guide hopped off the back of Salim and lead us through the group of camels - I couldn't tell what was a tree or a camel at that point - and to our campsite.
"Good night Salim, get some sleep and I will see you tomorrow," I said as I got off him. It's a little difficult walking after being on a camel for a few hours, it's kind of like having a pickle up your but, or at least that's what Gareth looked like.
We stopped dead in our tracks when we entered the campground.
No more red flags...just you've been scammed flashed across the clear night sky!
There were no cabins just four big tents and a bonfire... if you could call it that. A big piece of a tree with a small fire in the middle of a big group - I think they were from Korea or at least some of them were, the others could've been from Japan. This is based off of one guy having a Korean Red Cross vest on and an Indian kid asking us if we were from Korea or Japan - one of the women laughed at this.
We were shown into our huge tent that was done up with mattresses on the floor with pillows and duvets and they served us some fresh chai masala (bonus.)
We went to join the others outside, however they didn't speak English so it was just us two with our dinner. I didn't eat much of it as I didn't trust the food at this point especially after seeing the so called bathroom... a tarpaulin covering with a toilet inside of it. Yes a real toilet but obviously not flushable, we were in the middle of the "desert" how would it even flush.
We giggled at our dinner and tried to make light of things...it was quite funny but extremely disappointing. We did get traditional dancers however as promised which I think were the best part
of the night. They were beautiful and jingled with every move... however they came around asking for tips when done.
I decided after this to curl up with my book and call it a night... I was getting a cold and due to lack of other's for us to communicate with I wanted to get some sleep. The others however had their own plan, beer and saki they clapped and laughed away and slept under the open sky.
Before getting into bed I asked Gareth to walk over to the so-called toilet with me. As I was about to enter one of the Korean/Japanese men came over and said "no," and pointed. Then I heard "HUHHHHHHHH!" Uh oh, I thought and looked at Gareth, we giggled. Again "HUHHHHHHHHH." Someone's stomach definitely wasn't agreeing with the food. When she walked out and I peaked in...yup...toilet doesn't flush... I peed out behind a bush somewhere. On one foot as I didn't realize down hill was towards my left food.
Grumpy Gareth - as he called himself - was obviously in negative mood as everything bothered him, the music, the sand in the bed, there are burrs on the comforter, "when are you turning the light off?"
I was fine, I fell asleep reading my book thought didn't sleep well but I slept, but we did find hundred's of mice footprints around the bed...at least they didn't crawl in the bed with me....at least I don't think they did.
We woke up at 6:30am ready to leave, Gareth especially. "I'm not riding a camel today I'm walking, I'm in too much pain and...." he continued on. I felt the same, I wanted to leave, my cold was worse, I literally wanted my cat and my laptop and a movie day - a girl can dream.
We walked down to the camels... Salim was eating contently but neither him or Cobra were ready to go. I looked at my phone, 7:02am, we should be leaving already. I walked up to the makeshift kitchen and asked if we could leave..." tea, masala, five minutes." "No thank you, we would like to leave now, we were told we would leave at 7 and be back by 9 and we have to catch a bus." They didn't really like the response but they went down to get the camels ready. "I thought we got breakfast?" I asked "We hab banana?" "No thanks."
There was a big fuss when we were getting on our camels. Gareth wanted to sit in the second seat as it was more comfortable for his testicles. "Okay, you and her, one camel okay?" "No!" I said harshly. "We paid for two camels, we are each getting one. What is the big deal? He can sit in whatever seat he want's." At this point Grumpy Gareth started walking (a little bit over-reacting in my opinion), but finally after calling him back he got on the camel.
When we got to the road he got off and started walking still grumpy..."I haven't showered since yesterday morning!" he says.... "ummm, neither have I." Geez it's only 24 hours...relax dude, it's not the end of the world. I get it...he was set off when we got to the campsite so everything was bothering him, but I was sick plus hungover the day before and I didn't complain as much as him...he would've hated the camper van trip I did in New Zealand, we barely got to shower hahaha.
When we got back to the the guides asked for tips! Gareth gave them a tip... I wasn't obliged.
"That was horrendous!" Gareth said when we were walking back to our hostels. "Dude, that was not horrendous. It wasn't what we paid for but it wasn't horrendous...and I definitely have a good blog to write about it." "It was horrendous." It definitely wasn't the best thing I have experienced or the greatest tour I have gone on but it definitely wasn't the worst either, I find it kind of funny to be honest.
Later that day Gareth went to the guy and complained. He was in complete denial of ever saying any of the sales pitch he gave us. When he complained about no water their response "there was water in the toilet." Hahahahaha.
I ended up going in as well when I was looking for a bank. The man didn't say much to me...he just looked at him and kept saying "okay." Some young guy tried telling me another guy sold me the trip but I laughed at him. "All those pictures you showed us saying you personally took them on one of the trips. Look at the cabins with running water? Why don't you show me those pictures on your phone again and I will show you mine and we can compare." "I'm not a cheat." He said very quietly. "Hahhaha, you scam tourist's and you have probably already done it again today and will do it again tomorrow. Your not a very nice person, your an asshole." I left, and I felt better.
We were supposed to grab a bus to Jodhpur that day but James wanted to wait till the next day...thank goodness. I was tired and not feeling well from my cold so I didn't want to go anywhere. I relaxed, read my book and went to sleep.
We grabbed a bus yesterday to Jodhpur and had an awesome night at the hostel with the Dutch and some new friends playing cards.
James and the Dutch went to walk around the city. I stayed back to write this and I also work in 30 minutes...but I am still fighting my cold so I really don't mind having a day to myself.
So with that, I am going to say until next time. I hope you enjoyed my desert story... and remember, beware of Desert Safari's lol they will tell you they are fun.
- My Beautiful Life -
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