Pushkar – Like Heaven on Earth

Legend has it that Brahma dropped a lotus flower onto Earth and Pushkar rose to the surface. Pushkar is a small town surrounding a small lake lined with bathing ghats. Many pilgrims come here in the same way that pilgrims go to Varanasi to bath and to offer holy water to Shiva. The lake itself is fed entirely by rain so there have been periods when the lake is completely dry. Shoes and photography are prohibited while standing on the ghats, however photos can be taken from anywhere else. The other main attraction here is the Brahma Temple – one of the few that exist in the world. Walking around the lake and visiting the Brahma temple took less than 2 hours. There’s not much else to do in Pushkar so I just relaxed.

My journey to Pushkar however was not so relaxing. I royally screwed up how I would get there. I could’ve taken a direct overnight bus from Jaisalmer for a mere 350 rupees but I didn’t know this bus existed till the last minute and after I had already booked a train ticket to Jaipur for over 900. The first half of the train journey I had to share a bed with a guy who worked for the Indian Border Patrol but finally I got my own bed at some point. I still couldn’t sleep well though because my arrival time in Jaipur was 04:50 and I didn’t want to miss my stop.

Upon arrival in Jaipur I debated whether to go directly to the bus stand to catch the 3 hour bus to Ajmer or go somewhere to eat and poop. My body won out and after some professional bargaining I got a rickshaw for 35 to the Hotel Pearl Palace (the prepaid stand tried to charge me 90!), which I knew would have free wifi, good food, and was close to the bus stand. After a lazy breakfast I rode the local bus to Ajmer on a very good highway. At the Ajmer bus stand a smooth talking hotel tout tried to dissuade me from taking the bus and instead getting a “free” ride to his hotel.

He made up this whole story about how he was studying in Ajmer and lived in Pushkar. All bullshit of course.

I really don’t like the touts who pretend to want to be friends; just get straight to the point, don’t waste my time. The local bus to Pushkar from Ajmer was cheap, quick, and hassle free. In the end I was glad to have stopped off at Jaipur because I was able to catch my parents on Skype.

Have you been to India? Did you make it over to Pushkar?