It is home to one of the most holy lakes in India, which has sadly
been drained for cleaning and now the rains haven't returned to refill
it! There seems to be issues with lack of rain here that seem to be
causing problems across the country.
Pushkar is also home to the world famous Camel Fair. Here tens to
hundred of thousands camels are traded over a week and they also put
on special events for the tourists including camel races, Indian
dancing and much more. Unfortunately however this means the
gustehouses and hotels often put their prices up by 5 times normal
prices!
We arrived 5 days before the festival and decided it would be worth
staying for the first 2 days. Unfortunately someone had told us it
would be starting on 25th Oct only to find out on arrival that it was
the 26th! Still Pushkar is a nice place to chill out and seems v
tourist orientated, which after the rest of India can be a nice break
from the full on cities of India (which I personally don't rate much
and would far prefer heading straight away to the towns and villages.)
Our home, Hotel Kuhinoor (owned by White House Guest House) we were
lucky to find. It would charge us it's normal rates for all our stay
including the first night of the camel fair. This was a lucky break as
most hostels we went to asked at least 3 times their normal rate! So
we managed to get an ensuite room which was clean and tidy with fan
for again 100 rupees with some negotiation (as always!)
The first morning of the camel fair we were greeted with some eternal
racket / drone of some religious chant over loud speakers that goes on
forever starting at 630am! What a greeting to wake you up with! I
think I'm glad we're only staying for 1 day of the fair!
This early morning wake up can be quite common in India as a
significant number of people are Muslim and so are called to prayer in
the early morning from the mosques. Always make sure you don't stay
near these unless you want to not sleep from 530am onwards! We have
hear some that have had to put up with this. (This goes too for Hindu
temples during religious festivals!)
We met a great pair of Aussie lads and a Chinese girl whilst were in
Pushkar, and enjoyed our relaxed time in this place away from the
noise of the city!
Next stop Jodhpur by train, a SUPPOSED 6 hr journey (trains in India
are the best way to travel for comfort but are frequently hours late!)
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