Publisearre: 09.01.2017
Hello friends,
The bus ride to Pushkar, as mentioned before, was... let's just say, humble.
Yes, it was pure horror. I was cramped in my capsule all the way in the back, on the top of the bus. I swore to never take a night sleeper bus on India's streets again. Sleep was completely out of the question. The bus itself seemed to be in good shape and relatively clean.
I made myself comfortable and tried to sleep. But as soon as the bus started moving, it was over. I was tossed around for a good 12 hours, incredible but unfortunately true. We finally reached Pushkar at 6 am in the morning. And since it was still before sunrise, I was able to get a few hours of sleep.
When I left the hotel room during the day, it immediately felt like a cozy place. I could breathe and enjoy the peaceful atmosphere. It was very touristy, but still a pleasant atmosphere.
The main happening was in the center of the town, around a lake called "Pushkar Lake". It was surrounded by many large and small temples, supposedly 500 of them, and the ghats (sacred steps), 52 in total, one for each Rajasthani Maharaja.
In the afternoon, I went inside one of the temples. I sat there for an hour with smoking gurus, drank chai, and ate cookies with them. Luckily, they were regular cookies, I was expecting something completely different, but you can't turn down hospitality.
It's a shame that I only spent one day here due to the train mishap.
The next day, I headed straight to Ajmer, a city 12 km away.
Life was playing again here. I got there by bus, but this time it was a local bus that was packed to the brim, magnificent and completely insane. In Ajmer, I took the time for a walk to the "Adhai Din Ka Jhonpra" (Two-and-a-half-day Hut). The 2 km uphill walk was lined with all sorts of stalls, of course, including a few chai wallas (tea sellers).
In the afternoon, I took the train to my next destination... Jaipur, my last stop here in the state of Rajasthan.
Namaste...