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5Holy Cow!!!
We've finally arrived in Pushkar, the city so holy that no alcohol, meat or eggs are allowed within the city walls, but not before a very interesting bus journey.We headed off on the 'local' bus, this basically means the cheapest way to travel, about 10 - 20 RPS for a short journey, with every seat full, bags on the roof we headed off thinking that we wouldn't let anyone else on....how wrong we were!!Within an hour there were people sat with the driver in his cab, riding in the door way, down the aisles and an old lady even took up residence on poor Ella's lap for a good hour!!With sweaty crotches in our faces, elbows in the backs of our heads and of course the usual stares we slowed meandered our way through the Rajistan countryside.
Our first impressions of Pushkar were not good, no real roads just dirt tracks, rubbish (as always) thrown around and the crazy pushy Indians who meet the bus trying to sell accommodation, taxis and so forth....this impression was soon rid when we arrived out our accommodation.The lovely hotel had its own pool and we were staying in the pool side cottages....bliss!!!The main bazzare, temples, resturnats are all waling distance to.Our stay also coinsides with Diwali, the Hindu celesbration of the full moon which marks their new year so Pushkar is extra special.Priests walk around offering Pujah, a ceremony where they bathe you in the holy water from the ghats, ridding your soul of sins and preparing you for the next life.They walk around with the cows which are so holy dressed up specially for Diwali with coloured horns, tinsel and body paint.
There's a real travellers vibe here with loads of hostels and long stay rentals, its quiet common for travellers to end up staying a few months as its so cheap for food and accommodation with a really nice chilled out vibe about it.
On the day of Diwali we got up at 4:30am to hike our way up 1080 steps to see the sun rise over Pushkar and the lake.At the top of this huge hill is Savitri temple, at little disappointed in the temple but the views were amazing!Also felt good to be sweaty and out of breath after not having my exercise fix for nearly 2 weeks.As we sat and took in the view we could see a couple of monkeys in the trees.....the idiot in the shop decided that he would feed them........bad move!!The couple soon became a couple of dozen...all leaping around us grabbing at bags and literally stalking us back down the mountain!!Maybe I should have had that Rabies jab?!
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