Pushkar

Leaving the Vipassana centre, my intended destination was Ajmer, although I had considered a side-trip to Pushkar. As it turned out, when I saw the small side road leading to Pushkar just before Ajmer, something made me take it and I enjoyed being on a small rural road without much traffic, winding through the desert hills.

So, arriving in Pushkar I was pleasantly surprised to find the hotels were cheap. I opted for the Tulsi Palace hotel and got a nice room at a good price.

I instantly felt a 'good vibe' from this small town, which is famous for being host to the only temple in the world devoted to the Hindu god Brahma, creator of this planet. Being on the backpacker trail it is fairly touristy, but to my surprise I loved the place and felt like spending a good bit of time here.

The town's main streets are so narrow that cars simply don't use them for the most part (motorcycles do, however). And meat, alcohol, other intoxicants and public smoking are also banned - perhaps these stipulations play a part in the peace this place somehow radiates.

The next day, inspired from reading the ebook of Mindfulness in Plain English, I meditated for a couple of hours before strolling around fairly aimlessly as is my wont. Someone I bumped into noted the peace I was exuding, so I must have been doing something right. I was pleased to stumble upon an all you can eat rooftop restaurant, named Om Shiva, which afforded great views over the lake and town. Kites overflew the town, and in fact did for all of my time here, providing cheap entertainment for the children who may have been practising for the big kite day on January 14th.

So many restaurants to try, and all vegetarian!

Before long I started to bump into people who were on the Vipassana course, and I think ended up meeting 4 of them again. Yuji, from Japan and the most chilled and friendly guy ever, drummed at sunset (check attached video!) and meditated with locals, and had in fact inspired my visit by emailing me when he'd arrived. I also met up with Natascha from the Netherlands again, with whom I finally set set foot on the ghats, which surround the lake on all sides. These stone steps descend into the water, for worship and ceremonial reasons; it is supposed to bring good karma to wash in the murky water of the lake, and many do there every day.

We were with Yuji, and in search of chai, but unable to find it anywhere. Natascha mentioned that was how many things are, it's everywhere until you're really looking for it and then it is gone haha! Once she'd mentioned that, I noticed a few other examples of this phenomenon during my stay, too.

I noticed many Sadhus - wandering monks - roaming the streets, carrying their water carriers and walking sticks, which in most cases is probably all they own besides the clothes they wear. Few asked for donations, although I'm sure some would accept alms if offered.

I took a free day to climb up to the Pap Mochani Mataji temple, which sits on a small hill just north of the town. I spent some time resting in the shade watching over the desert landscape. Emptiness. Then I sat in front of the temple and was met by Alain, from France and who had been cycling around India decades ago! Alain lives on a small farm in the south of France, and his description more or less matched my ideal place to live. Some other tourists overheard us speaking French and joined our chat, being French themselves. They were good to chat to, and I loved having the opportunity to speak French again, although had to search for elusive words often.

Descending from the hill with Alain, we went to his hotel room and he gave me a big bag of spirulina, which he'd picked up very cheap (he had bought an enormous carton of the stuff!). Then he showed me to a small restaurant (Venkatesh) where a thali of 3 veg dishes, rice and chapatis, and with unlimited refills cost a mere 40 rupees (80 US cents). I ate alone before being spotted by Yuji and another Vipassana girl from Israel. The wallah was mesmerising to watch as he prepared the food, although the fumes from the wood fire made me a bit hoarse.

Mysteriously, my Indian Vodafone SIM started to sputter and then stopped working (I suspect they cut me as I spent too much time roaming, but I'm paranoid like that).

The next day, with some important business to attend to - delivery of bicycle parts to my friend down the line in Ahmedabad - I decided to get myself to the nearest Vodafone shop in Ajmer and try to find out what was going on and get a replacement. I could have spent a lot longer in this great place, but perhaps it was for the best that I get moving again...