Joe Camel
Brahma Temple, Pushkar
Pushkar town scene
Makeshift bathing pools at ghats. Note dry lake in background.
Nimaj Palace Hotel, NimajWoke up shivering and decided to do quickie sponge baths to minimize the agony of bathing in the bitter cold. We were excited to finally visit the Pushkar fair and knew it was important to get going early due to the extreme mid-day heat. We'd been told to return to the hotel at noon to rest for for a few hours and then return to the fair in late afternoon.
Fair events didn't begin until 10, so our early morning destination was the famous Brahma Temple located in the heart of town. Getting there wasn’t easy. Vijay couldn’t drive the van very far into town so we had to walk along the hot streets and alleys. Pushkar attracts religious pilgrims to bathe in its holy lake (which has been drained this year so unfortunately is currently a big muddy pit) and many tourists at this time of year so streets were jammed.
When we finally reached the Brahma Temple we were told to leave our handbags, cameras and shoes before entering. Ferris and I went inside first and left our personal items with Cliff and Cathy. Somehow a young man took befriended us and took us on a whirlwind tour of the temple. We were given flowers and stood in line to have them blessed by a priest. Then we were told to take the flowers we’d been given to the holy lake and throw them in.
A funny thing about the holy lake in Pushkar. Somehow the lake was drained for cleaning but not refilled again in time for the pilgrimages that coincide with the Pushkar camel fair. So this year's pilgrims have to bathe in makeshift pools set up along the edges of the dry lake.
We were escorted to the ghats (stairs leading down to the holy water) and then divided up. The person assigned to me recited various incantations and instructed me to repeat them. After several rounds of blessings to me and my family he had me to toss the flowers. It was when my presumably holy Hindu got upset that I wasn’t willing to contribute the offering he'd suggested that the red flags went up and I began I suspect that our nice pilgrimage experience was a fraud. Later I found that we'd each had the same experience and each had the same sudden realization that we'd be had.
Eager to escape, we headed to the fair ground for camel watching. We’d picked up the event brochure and were disappointed that most of the really interesting competitions seemed to have occurred earlier in the week. We stayed in the amphitheater until the heat became overwhelming and little shadow remained. By lunchtime we agreed that we weren’t sure what we were going to do in Pushkar for two more days.
We were escorted to the ghats (stairs leading down to the holy water) and then divided up. The person assigned to me recited various incantations and instructed me to repeat them. After several rounds of blessings to me and my family he had me to toss the flowers. It was when my presumably holy Hindu got upset that I wasn’t willing to contribute the offering he'd suggested that the red flags went up and I began I suspect that our nice pilgrimage experience was a fraud. Later I found that we'd each had the same experience and each had the same sudden realization that we'd be had.
Eager to escape, we headed to the fair ground for camel watching. We’d picked up the event brochure and were disappointed that most of the really interesting competitions seemed to have occurred earlier in the week. We stayed in the amphitheater until the heat became overwhelming and little shadow remained. By lunchtime we agreed that we weren’t sure what we were going to do in Pushkar for two more days.
While Cliff and Cathy enjoyed a massage in the spa tent, Ferris and I spoke to Ahmit about what to do. We decided to depart for Jodhpur in the late afternoon. But since it was too far to travel the entire distance Ahmit recommended we stop midway at a hotel called the Nimaj Palace in the town of Nimaj. We studied our maps but couldn’t find Nimaj anywhere and were a bit concerned but decided to carry on anyway.
We checked out of camp at 4pm and drove through magnificent desert with jagged red mountains. We passed men wearing lime green and bright orange turbans, women in fuchsia and yellow sarees, many of whom were veiled. I love the shops with strings of little packets of soaps and coffee hanging down, barbershops, and men sitting together drinking tea. Ox and camel carts. Trucks laden with huge bundles of cotton and grains. We rode over a large mountain and saw black-faced monkeys on the side of the road. On the other side we suddenly arrived at a beautiful lakeside town named Ajmer which had elegant houses, lush flowering trees. It looked like a Mediterranean town and stood in stark contrast to the sandy desert of Pushkar.
It was just after Ajmer that our late afternoon departure began to look ill-conceived. We got stuck in the worst traffic jam I’ve ever experienced and the kind that only India can create. There were literally miles of “goods carrier” trucks stopped on the road. Other vehicles were going around them creating third and even fourth lanes in a roadway space suitable for only two lanes. Vijay somehow managed to ride along on the edge of the road, dodging cows, dogs and people to bypass the long lines of trucks. As it got dark this kind of driving became more and more frightening. In India the rule is to constantly overtake. In darkness you watch the headlights of the oncoming car headed for you and you never know at what point the driver is going to pull back into the correct lane. For two hours I rode with my scarf over my face so I couldn’t see.
Fortunately as we got closer to Nimaj we turned off the congested crazy road and got onto a smaller two lane local road. We wound up the mountain and finally at 8pm reached our destination. Checked in exhausted and splashed water on our faces and went straight to the dining room. While the hotel was expecting 40 guests the next night, tonight it is just the four of us. The staff waited on us hand and foot. The hotel is owned by the 32nd descendant of the Tharkur of Mawar and it was he who welcomed us to dinner. Our dinner was prepared by women from the local village and was served family style. We had bowls of spinach, cauliflower, five-day dal, rice, and tomato soup. A delightful dinner and hotel.
We checked out of camp at 4pm and drove through magnificent desert with jagged red mountains. We passed men wearing lime green and bright orange turbans, women in fuchsia and yellow sarees, many of whom were veiled. I love the shops with strings of little packets of soaps and coffee hanging down, barbershops, and men sitting together drinking tea. Ox and camel carts. Trucks laden with huge bundles of cotton and grains. We rode over a large mountain and saw black-faced monkeys on the side of the road. On the other side we suddenly arrived at a beautiful lakeside town named Ajmer which had elegant houses, lush flowering trees. It looked like a Mediterranean town and stood in stark contrast to the sandy desert of Pushkar.
It was just after Ajmer that our late afternoon departure began to look ill-conceived. We got stuck in the worst traffic jam I’ve ever experienced and the kind that only India can create. There were literally miles of “goods carrier” trucks stopped on the road. Other vehicles were going around them creating third and even fourth lanes in a roadway space suitable for only two lanes. Vijay somehow managed to ride along on the edge of the road, dodging cows, dogs and people to bypass the long lines of trucks. As it got dark this kind of driving became more and more frightening. In India the rule is to constantly overtake. In darkness you watch the headlights of the oncoming car headed for you and you never know at what point the driver is going to pull back into the correct lane. For two hours I rode with my scarf over my face so I couldn’t see.
Fortunately as we got closer to Nimaj we turned off the congested crazy road and got onto a smaller two lane local road. We wound up the mountain and finally at 8pm reached our destination. Checked in exhausted and splashed water on our faces and went straight to the dining room. While the hotel was expecting 40 guests the next night, tonight it is just the four of us. The staff waited on us hand and foot. The hotel is owned by the 32nd descendant of the Tharkur of Mawar and it was he who welcomed us to dinner. Our dinner was prepared by women from the local village and was served family style. We had bowls of spinach, cauliflower, five-day dal, rice, and tomato soup. A delightful dinner and hotel.
