Monday, 9 February 2009
Up and at breakfast earlier, even having our bags packed and in reception by 0930. We checked out and got a tuk-tuk (they all seem to be putting their prices up each day) into Hawa Mahal.
They have a new audioguide so we got one to share and wandered through the building. It was like being in a three legged sack race as the headset cables weren’t very long, so you had to be aware you weren’t pulling each others head off. The audioguide was good explaining the history and the symbols of the Hawa Mahal. This monument is also under restoration and the building will certainly look good when it is finished. We finally handed in our audioguide set and headed outside to get some pictures.
Being invited to a rooftop by a gentleman who, yep you guessed it, owned a little shop that he would love us to visit. The photos taken and Kathy having purchased something from the shop we headed out along Tripoli Bazaar, pricing some tiffin containers, eventually I bought an unusually patterned one for home. We caught a tuk-tuk to the hotel and had a small chill out before we headed to the bus station.
The bus is certainly not “deluxe” but it is a sleeper and there is nobody booked in the sleeper compartments, so we could bring all our bags on the bus and put them above us. The bus left on time at a rapid rate of knots. The journey was meant to take about 4 hours, but we were early. The driver didn’t hang around doing the usual manic overtaking tactics – which scared the absolute pants off Kathy who refuses to take any more buses. So back to trains we go. I suppose I have caught buses before and even though it still is scarey, there is sometimes no other way to get to where you want to go.
At Pushkar we got a tuk tuk to the Peacock Holiday Resort (swmming pool and all). We have a 2 roomed apartment which is clean and quiet, although there is no sign of any lakes. After a drink, we dropped off our bags and decided to walk to Pushkar lake which is in the centre of town and a 5-10 minute walk. After walking about 1 minute, we gave up and headed back to the hotel and dosed up on DEET, there are a million gnats around and you are worried to even breath. We then retraced our steps, finding that the DEET had no impact whatsoever. We found Pushkar Lake and walked around towards the Ghat but there is some sort of festival where you need to take off your shoes and as I only have one pair, not keen on the look of the guy who is meant to look after them, so we decided to walk around the road and duck down one of the other alleys to the ghats.
The town is surprisingly quiet and chilled out. Everyone keeps telling your how you will be hassled, but we certainly aren’t. The big plus for Pushkar there are hardly any cars and only a few motorbikes which adds to the relaxed feel.
There is quite a range of shopping and unbelievably quite a lot of things we haven’t seen so far. The shopkeepers aren’t pushy either and tell you whether it is fixed price – what a pleasant change.
We walked half way around the lake and settled on dinner at Raju’s Rooftop Restaurant for night views of the lake (this restaurant is recommended in the Lonely Planet). The lake is having some serious groundworks and it looks like something is being built in the middle of the lake. I wonder if they are going to also clean the lake which is putrid and obviously a breeding ground for gnats – of course the truckloads of pooing cows doesn’t help. As the restaurant was on the rooftop, there was a nice breeze which kept the bugs at bay and we had a nice meal looking at the reflections on Pushkar Lake. We left the restaurant and wandered back to the hotel nice and leisurely, picking up a few souvenirs along the way.
We headed back the hotel for hot showers and to do some clothes washing. We both really like Pushkar, there seems to be lots ot see and the feel of the place is really relaxed – fairly similar to Hampi for me.