Pushkar and the pink one, Jaipur

Pushkar

Pushkar is a very holy place for Hindus, having the most prominent Brahma Temple in the world, Jagatpita Brahma Mandir. 

Jagatpita Brahma Mandir

This also meant that meat and alcohol are prohibited, although outside of the city limits we were able to get a beer in one of those English wine shops. 

Gurudwara in Pushkar

We walked through the town, stopping off to see the Gurudwara (Sikh Temple), then on through the market which catered pretty much solely for tourists, round the lake and took the cable car up the mountain to Savitri Temple. This was terrifying as the cable car looked about 500 years old and it stopped halfway for 5 minutes for no apparent reason, leaving us swaying in the wind. When we reached the top we found that the temple was actually closed. It would have been helpful if there had been a sign at the bottom saying that, or if someone at the ticket counter had told us, but if there’s money involved that’s usually all that counts.

Pushkar lake - ghat

On our way back, we spoke to a shop owner who recommended that we hire a scooter and drive out to see Aloo Baba, a sadhu (holy man) who lived about 10km from the city, in the forest. We met another couple, Ivan and Larisa on the way with the same idea as us, only they had actually done some research and had a bunch of bananas and a bag of potatoes with them because Aloo Baba only eats potatoes. (The word aloo is Hindi for potato, hence the nickname Aloo Baba).

Aloo Baba

When we arrived, Aloo Baba was very welcoming and we sat with him asking him questions about his life. He passed round the bananas, and seemed over the moon with the bag of potatoes. 

Aloo Baba told us in broken English how he had left his family home which was more than 1000km from Pushkar, around 55 years ago, to live a simple, meditative life. He had been living in the forest for 18 years, surviving only on spuds, talking to visitors occasionally and meditating for 5 hours a day. He told us that the only important things were the universe, controlling his own human behaviour and impulses, and self-discipline - by doing without life’s comforts such as his family and different food etc. All very deep, until he pulled out a packet of beedi (cheap cigarettes). So much for control and discipline! I suppose he is only human and we all need some sort of vice or release.

Artwork by a visitor

Aloo Baba showed us around the small white temple he lived next to, where visitors had painted murals representing control. The best thing about this temple however, was that it had a slide!

Temple slide

That evening we met up with Ivan and Larisa for a drink. Ivan had asked us if he could interview us for his podcast series that he’d been doing throughout his travels. That was fun but we were a bit unprepared and of course Baby D had no filter as ever! Not sure Ivan will be able to use much of it as we were offending everyone with our tales and opinions!

Aloo Baba's Temple

There wasn’t loads to do in Pushkar. I quite liked it although it was chockablock full of tourists; many of them what we are calling ‘ethnics’ – western tourists that go all out embracing the culture, wearing the typical traveller clothing (what they perceive to be local or traditional dress, even though the locals are in jeans and t-shirts), usually barefoot, dripping with beads, often sporting dreadlocks and sometimes carrying or playing a guitar or drums. 

For want of anything to do, we hired a scooter on the second day. Within 15 minutes, we had a flat tyre. We called the shop which was a stupid thing to do actually, as they charged us 400 rs to change it. Twenty minutes later, we got another flat tyre. Bearing in mind the whole tyre had been changed rather than just repaired after the first flat, we were pretty annoyed. As luck would have it the second breakdown was outside a mechanics, and the repair cost us 50rs. We returned the scooter to the shop and demanded some of our money back, which we got given - reluctantly. 

We stopped in town for lunch for some great paneer and pizza (is this veggie lifestyle growing on me?!) The owner was a crazy guy called Mango that supplied us with beer, but disguised in a teapot with 2 mugs. 

Nice refreshing cuppa

We stayed at his bar for most of the afternoon and staggered back to the hotel to watch a folk dance that a Dutch couple with more money than sense had booked. We had a drink and a chat with Heather and Gavin, a couple in their late 40s who had quit their jobs to go travelling. They are doing a lot of the same trip as us and they are keeping us updated through a Facebook blog, although they seem to be having a better time than us (or they’re glossing over the bad bits!) Saying that, Heather did fall off a cliff in Kerala. Turned out to be 2 foot high though.  

Later on we went back to Mango’s bar for more drinks and food and we finally got to try the famous dessert, ‘Hello to the Queen’, which is about a million calories and consists of vanilla ice-cream, crushed chocolate biscuits, fresh banana, and caramel sauce or hot fudge.

Away to Jaipur!

Jaipur

Jaipur is the capital of the state of Rajasthan and I for one had been looking forward to coming here. It’s the pink city, and specialises in gems so it is right up my street. It was huge, sprawling, quite dirty, busy and had a main road which seemed to cut right through the centre of our part of the city. It also wasn’t as pink as we thought it would be. Maybe we’ve been spoilt by starting in Udaipur and having done the smaller, quainter cities first. Jaipur was okay but perhaps our expectations were too high. I would go back one day if only to see the sights that we missed as I was sick on the second day.

City Palace

Our miniature painting

On day 1, we spent a couple of hours in the City Palace which was lovely; full of art and history. We got to meet an artist specialising in miniature paintings. His creations were fantastic and had we not been travelling we would have bought a couple. As it was, he drew us a picture so we have that memory (for free) instead.

After City Palace (sounds like a football fixture) we went to Jantar Mantar which is where there is a huge collection of massive sundials, astronomical and astrological instruments. India is really big on myth, legend, lore, and the cosmos, so these instruments have always been very important. Many Hindu families get the astrological charts of their newborn babies drawn up, and they are often used in arranging marriages to check compatibility.

Jantar Mantar

We climbed Isarlat Victory Tower, and visited Hawa Mahal which is a gorgeous palace from afar. Up close it is more of a building façade as the actual building is so narrow.

Hawa Mahal

We then went to the beautiful Nahagarh Fort to watch the famous sunset over Jaipur. It was a shame about the haze over the city though, which was probably pollution. Baby D had been leaning on a railing while I took a selfie of us and the whole set of railings fell over with an almighty crash. He panicked as he thought he was falling over the edge of the fort. Everyone was in stitches laughing at him.

Part of Nahagarh Fort

Galta

The next day, I was feeling less than great but we decided to go to the Sisodia Rani Bagh, some pretty gardens. Bobby then took us to Galta Temple where we saw a 6 legged cow. This was a site with some beautiful old buildings and temples. After that we headed over to Vidhyadhar Bagh which is a lovely garden built in memory of Jaipur’s main architect.

Vidhyadhar Bagh

I soon needed to get back to the hotel because I felt so ill and that was it for the rest of the day. We missed the Amer, or Amber Fort which is one of Jaipur’s main attractions, but we got a photo the next morning before leaving for Ranthambore. Who needs to see another fort anyway?!

6 legged cow

 So far the trip has been amazing and fitting in work has been easy enough, especially through Rajasthan where we’ve travelled huge distances in the car with plenty of downtime to work. I can’t believe we have been away for 2 months already, it has flown by, although we are missing friends and family. Baby D might actually be worse than me, because he has nothing to keep his mind occupied. I am working and writing this blog so I am keeping busy.

Ranthambore

Deer in the national park

Ranthambore is best known for its national park and tiger safaris. We went on the jeep safari with 4 others, and we allegedly spotted a leopard, sightings of which are rarer than tigers. I may have seen its tail, but it might have been a stick. We definitely didn’t see a tiger and I am not convinced there are any in there! 

Ranthambore Fort

Other than the national park, which was huge and very beautiful, there wasn’t much else in Ranthambore, apart from a 13^th century fort. (Of course there was a fort!)

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