We decided to visit North India first as we had been told by travellers to India that it was the most difficult part to travel through so we thought we would get the “ hard “ part over! It is proving not to be as difficult as we thought.
We left our lovely homestay in Jaipur for our next stop which is Pushkar about 3 hours drive by car. Because this area is more rural we upped our transportation budget and booked a private car which proved to be a wise choice as it delivered us door to door. It didn’t break the bank either!
It was interesting to pass through the countryside...
Some roadside scenes...
Tea time...
Waiting to cross the road...
In Pushkar our first homestay was with Shivani and her husband. She runs cooking classes and her husband has a shop as well as being head over the local camel society. This picture was taken from her brochure as I forgot to take a picture of them...
We met a wonderful young Indian couple who were also guests at the house and shared a meal together...
The meal was delicious as most of our food has been...
Pushkar is a town bordering the Thar Desert, in the northeastern Indian state of Rajasthan. It's set on Pushkar Lake, a sacred Hindu site with 52 ghats (stone staircases) where pilgrims bathe. The town has hundreds of temples, including 14th-century Jagatpita Brahma Mandir, dedicated to the god of creation. It is considered one of the five holy cities in India.
One day Ashok brought us for a short tour to the older section of town...
The Village well where people bathe and do laundry...
Since Pushkar is on the edge of the desert it is very dry so there is a large reservoir that fills up during the rainy season...
Gypsy camp at the edge of town...
There are many overnight camel trips that can be taken from Pushkar...
A group selfie...
We also went to the main temple in town which is one of the very few existing temples dedicated to the Hindu creator god Brahma and remains the most important.
We had to remove our shoes, wash our hands and buy an offering to take with us...
We entered the temple with our friends who were very respectful of their surroundings and accompanied them to the different altars to give thanks and offerings from our bowl to the Gods. It was a very interesting visit as our guides explained what was happening. Unfortunately no pictures allowed only on the steps...
Some scenes around the temple...
A government food truck that provides nutritional meals for only a few rupees...
Since Pushkar is a holy city there is no meat, eggs or liquor allowed there. However there are a few restaurants that serve beer though it is not advertised, it is also very expensive. We found one on a rooftop overlooking the lake...
Don’t know if Don disturbed the gods or not because the next day he spent in bed not feeling too well! One thing we expected is to have stomach problems in India so this was our first test, however a day of rest and some lemon ginger honey tea did the trick!
In the 1960s and 70s, Pushkar was known as a haven for hippies and it still retains that type of vibe in parts of the town, lots of crafts abound...
India’s Picasso...
Our last couple of days we had to move since the homestay was booked so we ended up in a 20 dollar room on top of an old hotel right in the middle of town. Our view was the rooftop where people came to do yoga in the mornings as well as a nice rooftop restaurant...
The hotel was very artsy as well...
Fresh flowers every morning as an offering to the gods...
We had to walk through the alleyways to get there and that was an adventure in itself!
Cows on every turn...
A cow jam, the streets are so narrow...
Some pictures from our walks...
This tailor was always working as we passed by...
Always someone cooking...
This holy man even had orange sneakers to match his outfit...
To be continued in Part 2
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