THE BLUE LOTUS FLOWER. PUSHKAR.

The view of Pushkar and beyond. The little streets in Pushkar. A good coffee at The Blue Sky Cafe. And a pizza, because it's what I felt like eating. I'm not sure what this building was but I called it Monkey Palace. Sending postcards. Another snap of the street. Sitting in an internet cafe watching the world go by on the street outside. And then this guy walks past. A guy walks out into the road with a ladder. And starts wiring a string of lights. Oh the life of a backpacker - packing again. Chillin. The market in Pushkar. Reading the paper. We stayed here and it was literally a family's house with a spare few rooms.

 

We'd spent the best part of two days traveling, sleeping first on a bus and the next night on a train, and by the time we hopped off the train in Ajmer we were two weary travelers. We went from the train station to the bus station and just managed to squeeze ourselves on the local bus to Pushkar. I plonked myself down on the floor and cried. I was exhausted. I was tired. I was ready to go home. It was only a quick bus ride to Pushkar, and once we once again set off in search of a place to stay. A tout handed us a card as we were walking down the street and quite happily we wandered down the street to check out the guesthouse. One of the most challenging things about backpacking (to me) is finding a place to stay when you arrive in a new destination. You're fighting exhaustion and hunger, it's usually very early in the morning, your clothes are dirty, and your backpack starts to feel like it's full of bricks. Towards the end of the trip it became easier to navigate new places, chat to touts and find a place to stay without having a meltdown.

We had a wander around Pushkar that afternoon, stopping to browse the market stalls and look for postcards. We didn't actually go into the temple because we couldn't be bothered (and didn't really trust leaving our belongings with a local guy on the street) with it and because we'd heard lots of things about scams. For the same reason we avoided the ghats and the lake and stuck to wandering through the markets and eating our way through every potato dish (my comfort food!) in Pushkar. 

We only had around ten days left of our trip left at this stage and we really wanted to make the most of it so decided we'd give up the luxury of a bed and hop straight onto an overnight bus to Jaisalmer. We didn't know it at the time, but we'd booked a private bus and private buses are the worst buses in Rajasthan. We were in for a very bumpy, loud, and restless night.

Rebecca.