We’ve been taking buses everywhere in Rajasthan. As it’s such a large state, most of these have been over six hours. To break it up a bit we treated ourselves to a car from Jaisalmer to Pushkar. The journey took nine hours, mostly very comfortable.
According to legend, Pushkar was created when Lord Brahma dropped a lotus flower from his hand; the three spots where the petals landed magically creating lakes of water in the barren desert. The largest of the lakes is today surrounded by bathing ghat fronted temples and considered to be one of the holiest Hindu sites in India. Pushkar is also known for hosting (annually) the largest camel market in the world, and for being a hippy trail mainstay. We were using Pushkar mainly as a stepping-stone to Jaipur.
We spent a half-day exploring the town, visiting firstly the lake area for a view of the ghats. I managed to snap this pic before noticing a sign prohibiting photography - whoops.
The pictures in the guide book make Pushkar look a whole lot nicer than it actually is. The lake is filled with smelly brown water. The ghats themselves are pretty rough also, giving it a Varanasi vibe, albeit without the busyness and vibrancy. Throw in the hippies, hippy cafes, tacky tourist shops, and crazy heat (38) – Pushkar wasn’t really our kind of place. Perhaps the lake isn’t at its best this time of year....
After walking around the lake we visited the Brahma temple, each going separately because the shoe wallah was eyeing a large tip, explaining to me that he was a ‘business man’.
The highlight of the short visit to Pushkar was the hotel. The two young brothers who ran the place were super friendly; we even received hugs after checkout!
