Pushkar, India

JAIPUR TO PUSHKAR
Pushkar is only about 120km further east from Jaipur but to get there you have to catch a bus to Ajmer, which I did, then find the bus stand for the local bus between there and Pushkar. Pushkar is only 11km from Ajmer but separated from it by Snake Mountain. It's an enchanting little town clinging to the side of Pushkar Lake with its many bathing ghats and temples. On the bus I met a young chap whose friend ran a guesthouse in Pushkar. Now it wasn't the first time I had heard this story before but the way he delivered it was very reserved. He didn't even tell me the name of the guesthouse until I asked. I found it in the Lonely Planet and it looked like a good location so I told him I would check it out. He walked with me around the lake offering some good advice along the way like 'Don't take flowers when so called 'priests' offer them'. After they give you a flower they tell you to throw it into the lake for good luck and then hit you up for cash for the privilege. Not 10 seconds after he told me then two of these 'priests' emerged with their small baskets of flowers. It warned about them in the Lonely Planet as well but it was nice to hear it from a local as well.

I ended up staying at his friends' guesthouse, Hotel Kandhaia, because the owner was really friendly when I turned up. The rooms were okay and it was set back from the lake a little bit so hopefully there wouldn't be too many mosquito's. I put up my mosquito net over the bed just in case.

THE TRANQUILITY OF SOLITUDE
Surrounded by one billion Indians there are not many moments when I can enjoy the tranquility of solitude. I like talking with local people about the state of the country or about cricket as long as they aren't trying to sell me something but it's the moments I have to myself that I really value. The few hours I had at the Taj Mahal were magical and again today I escaped the town and walked up to the Savitri Temple on the hilltop overlooking Pushkar. I really should have gone early in the morning instead of during the heat of the noonday sun but the walk was interesting and the views of the town were perfect. I sat in a secluded shady spot for a few hours and just gazed out over the town and the desert trailing off into the distance. The birds and an occasional monkey kept me company but apart from that I was completely alone for the rest of the afternoon.

I had another day in Pushkar because I found a hotel with a swimming pool that the general public could use for Rs50 a day. The pool was welcome relief from the heat and the quiet garden was welcome relief from the busy street so I spent the day acting as a translator between the Irish and Israeli contingent - neither of which could understand the others accents. There were a lot of Israeli's in town and many of them were organising celebrations for Passover, which was two days away.