Travelling through India , with a big backpack and small pocket: Rajasthan

If this is the trouble of your life ... this gets solved in Pushkar for sure ..

The beautiful and mesmerizing sound of tumbi or ektara follows you everywhere through the streets.

Indian Musicians at the Pushkar Lake

There is the sound of small bells trickling in the small shops.

Rajasthani Hangings

Traditional Hangings

The temple bell rings thorough out the whole town every once in a while.

One of the many temples at Pushkar (Old Rangji Temple)

The sun goes down like a super star every day, with musicians from different countries playing at the ghat horizon.

Western hippie music during sundown at Pushkar Ghat

And if there are any gaps left, it gets filled by speakers put in the streets by the cafe/ restaurant owners.

The small temple town in Rajasthan has now become a must visit on the list of western tourists and hippies. The town has become world famous due to its Camel Fair but remains high on tourist/ traveler rush all round the year. For us Indians it is a double deal too : Old world charm, good exotic food to eat, good on pocket and some god visiting too :)

Old Magic - Pushkar

Pushkar has many ancient stories to its credit. some more historical, some more spiritual. The one which struck me and thus stuck with me goes like ...Lord Shiva cried on losing his wife and thus the Pushkar Lake was formed ( Always the one for love stories). The lake by the way is an artificial lake.

Stay:
For the shoestring traveler one of the best options is Atithi Guest House. Very small but clean rooms. It is on the outskirt of the main market. Just the right amount of walk to main market and a peaceful picturesque view from the rooftop.

Atithi Guest House - Pushkar

The way to the guest house

We bargained it to Rs. 300 a day on arriving. Ground floor rooms are cheaper than the upper floors. The view from the rooftop cafe is to die for (No direct view of the lake, but nothing to complain... just the barren hills and the city a little far)

Pushkar - From the Atithi Guest House

View from the Rasta Cafe at the guest house

The place is run by a character called Paapu, helpful and talkative. My love for the trip was this tortoise. Mainly because we had this common laziness between us.

The lovely tortoise at Atithi Guest House

If you got some more money than us, one place to stay would be Seventh Heaven. So damn beautiful that I just wouldn't get out of the damn haveli only !!

Eat:

The place is full of good spots to eat. Two places I loved were La Pizzeria and Out of the Blue.

At La Pizzeria, the Cannelloni (white sauce) was so good that we just forgot to click any pictures at all ! The next day too the Al Forno pasta (I am a sucker for white sauce) was like heaven in my mouth. It was so good that I could cry. Best spent 160 rupees on food. Ever. The lop side is the look of the place. It could have "looked" better. The outside garden has no view, walls around.. and I donot like low sitting during proper meals. Thus the best place to sit in is the dining hall.

Out of the Blue is right in the main market, pretty decent tasting food, interesting beverages (I hear mint shake is great but couldn't taste due to bad throat but apple cinnamon tea was good) ...with good view (Lake n the hills)

Out of the Blue - pushkar

Out of the Blue - Pushkar

Pushkar - From the Out of the Blue

Others also liked this place 'Honey and Spice' which serves healthy food .. All I had there was some coffee and yummy apple crumble. Go there if you love healthy food. The place closes down at 6:00 pm.

Honey and Spice - In Pushkar

Apple Crumble and Coffee

pssstttt : There IS an Indian wine shop at 5 to 6 kms from the market, just in case you happen to be there on Christmas... like us !
So some really nice people at the guest house made some real good Glue Wine (warm red wine, cinnamon and some more spices, sugar, fruits ...) the German style, to beat the cold and to celebrate the festival.

Preparing the Glue wine in the cafe kitchen, My only contribution was not getting in the way

Cookies, Chocolates and Glue wine - Christmas at Pushkar

Also, the world famous ( I am not so sure since the source was the shopkeeper only) Malpua (Indian Pancakes dipped in Sugar syrup ??). Tasty they were ... try at least once.

Malpua - Right outside Bhrama Temple

What else to do than eat ?

Pushkar lake - The small lake has 52 ghats. The sunset is beautiful. I have seen some decent numbers of sunsets (Goa, Diu, Hampi, Shimla, Delhi :p etc) ... This one was the most beautiful so far (Maybe because of the background music). It is like you are sitting just a little before the horizon and if you could run till the other side, and peep, you can actually see where the sun is going.

Sunset at Pushkar

Sunset at Pushkar - Lost in the time

Sunset - Pushkar - Wish could fly too

I hear the sunrise is great too, from the hill top , but one has to get up early .. and it was vacation time ... and Christmas ... and I have a Job... and I am getting old ... so ..... I just went for Sunset for three days :)

Bhrama Temple - The only Bhrama Temple in the world. This is big since he is pretty famous devata among us Hindus. The story goes that Lord Bhrama's first wife cursed him when he got married the second time (or when he preferred the second wife during a traditional ceremony than the first wife, she got jealous). The curse was that he will not be prayed outside Pushkar ever. The temple is full of Indian crowd all the time. When we went there was this mini stampede happening in front of the main shrine. We had to almost throw our offering flowers at the main shrine.

Either Savitri Temple or Gayatri Temple ... Since both are on the top of a hill one gets a good view of the city. We went to the secluded one.. I guess it was Gayatri Temple.

Pushkar from a Hill Top

Pushkar from a hill top

Enjoy some Gypsy Music

Indian Gypsy Dance - Kalbelia

Indian Fire Dance

Look out for these performances at the guest houses, ask local cafe owners for this, better ask the guy at Funky Monkey cafe, he knows a lot about small local happenings.

Enjoy the streets and shop a little