This is a pleasant place to stay for a few days and relax. My room has it's own balcony which gets the sun up to about 3 pm each day and from there I can do up onto the roof to continue with the sun until 6pm. But it's not all been loafing about and sunning myself.
I booked a trek in the countryside which turned out well. They picked me up from my guesthouse and took me to a beautiful house in the countryside. It's a hotel run by an English guy and looks expensive. They gave me a guide and we set off on paths across fields, through woods and tracks to small villages. The hills around the town are fertile and contain hidden lakes and streams even at this dry time of year. I came across my first holy man who lived in a tent next to a cave. I wanted to ask him if I could take his picture but he was too busy talking on his mobile so I missed my chance. The walk lasted about four hours and ended back at the house for delicious lunch of mushroom soup, salad and toasted sandwiches. These people eat vast amounts but this food was delicious so I ate it all. Finally they took me home on the back of a motorbike.
I took a boat ride cross the lake to one of the fancy island hotels. Once there I realised their attraction. They are quiet and free from the ever present tang of urine which has come to characterise India to me. The great smell of Cow shit and urine. The hotel had laid out tables in the sun for lunch. I didn't get to see the menu. Every menu I have seen consists almost entirely of potatoes. Potatoes with cheese, potatoes with tomatoes, potatoes with mixed veg. It doesn't seem to matter what the menu says, you get potatoes.
These are my last few hours in the city. I have a sleeper bus leaving at 4:30 for Agra and from there on to Delhi and the plane home. I am pining for a bowl of Vietnamese noodle soup and a menu that has no potatoes on it.
13 Feb 2012
8 Feb 2012
By car to Udiapur
Sometimes a bit of luxury is called for. The bus ride back to Johdpur was cramped, dirty and slow and it was great to be back in the Yogi guesthouse where the owner had arranged a lovely room for the night and a car to take me to Udaipur the next day. The Yogi guesthouse is the nicest place I've stayed on this trip. Hot water, soft beds and pretty antiques.
My driver, Ganesh, and I left Johdpur at nine the next day and headed for Udaipur via the temple complex of Ranapur midway between the two cities. I'd heard a lot of bad things about Indian roads and Indian drivers but they have proved to be untrue so far. Ganesh seamed to enjoy overtaking everything in his path but he did it safely and the little Indian designed and manufactured car was fine. When will we see them on British roads I wonder? They have one that costs £2000. I've seen a few, they look ok.
It took two hours or so to get to the temples. They are Jain temples and as far as I can understand the Jains are the Indian equivalent of the Free Masons in that they have a lot of business interests and a lot of money. A lot of that money went on the beautifully carved temple complex. It's a bit like a small version of Ankor in Cambodia. The same carving style has been used but this time in white marble rather than the brown sandstone of Ankor.
The rest of the drive went smoothly and Ganesh delivered me to my hotel in Udaipur, another pretty one but sadly only room for me for one night. The next day my flirtation with luxury came to an end and I found myself a budget place but I have a private balcony overlooking part of Udaipur's famous lake and a TV so it's not all hardship.
My driver, Ganesh, and I left Johdpur at nine the next day and headed for Udaipur via the temple complex of Ranapur midway between the two cities. I'd heard a lot of bad things about Indian roads and Indian drivers but they have proved to be untrue so far. Ganesh seamed to enjoy overtaking everything in his path but he did it safely and the little Indian designed and manufactured car was fine. When will we see them on British roads I wonder? They have one that costs £2000. I've seen a few, they look ok.
It took two hours or so to get to the temples. They are Jain temples and as far as I can understand the Jains are the Indian equivalent of the Free Masons in that they have a lot of business interests and a lot of money. A lot of that money went on the beautifully carved temple complex. It's a bit like a small version of Ankor in Cambodia. The same carving style has been used but this time in white marble rather than the brown sandstone of Ankor.
The rest of the drive went smoothly and Ganesh delivered me to my hotel in Udaipur, another pretty one but sadly only room for me for one night. The next day my flirtation with luxury came to an end and I found myself a budget place but I have a private balcony overlooking part of Udaipur's famous lake and a TV so it's not all hardship.
6 Feb 2012
Camel Safaris
The safari is over but the pain continues.
I finally achieved my goal of going on a proper camel safari. Three days balancing precariously on top of a camel just in front of its hump and bouncing across the desert. It was an experience not to be missed and probably not to be repeated.
The trip started with a jeep ride out into the desert to meet the camels and the camel men. I joined a group of two Danes, two Frenchmen and two Dutch people for the adventure. We rode through the day and slept under the stars at night. The days were burning hot and the nights cold but, with enough blankets over me and my wooly hat clamped firmly on my head I survived. At night after the moon disappeared the stars shone so brightly. The trip was worth it just for that.
Camels are strange creatures. They have long articulated legs that fold completely flat. You climb on their backs and they launch you ten feet into the air as they unfold first their back legs and then their front. You are thrown forwards then backwards before being perched above the rocky desert with nothing much to hang onto as they set off. hours. They regurgitate their food and chew it over and over again all day and smell bad. My inner thighs are still sore with the stretching that they recvieved but on the plus side I can now sit cross legged for hours.
The desert was harshly beautiful. A fragile landscape of tough bushes and clumps of indestructible grass. Somehow birds, foxes and antelopes live wild out there surviving on the leathery foliage and the little water that falls during the monsoon season. Farmers make some sort of living off goats and sheep but fewer do now than before. The camel men said that it rains less and less these days and that wells have to be sunk 600 meters into the ground before water can be found. In the hot season the temperature rises above 40 degrees, no tourists venture out then.
Our camel men fed us well on chapattis and vegetables and eggs and we chatted amongst ourselves swapping traveller stories whilst not being bounced about on top of a camel. It was nice to back amongst Europeans after so long.
After three days we returned to Jaisalmer tired but happy and for me at least with a resolve not to go near another camel again. Well not for a while anyway.
I finally achieved my goal of going on a proper camel safari. Three days balancing precariously on top of a camel just in front of its hump and bouncing across the desert. It was an experience not to be missed and probably not to be repeated.
The trip started with a jeep ride out into the desert to meet the camels and the camel men. I joined a group of two Danes, two Frenchmen and two Dutch people for the adventure. We rode through the day and slept under the stars at night. The days were burning hot and the nights cold but, with enough blankets over me and my wooly hat clamped firmly on my head I survived. At night after the moon disappeared the stars shone so brightly. The trip was worth it just for that.
Camels are strange creatures. They have long articulated legs that fold completely flat. You climb on their backs and they launch you ten feet into the air as they unfold first their back legs and then their front. You are thrown forwards then backwards before being perched above the rocky desert with nothing much to hang onto as they set off. hours. They regurgitate their food and chew it over and over again all day and smell bad. My inner thighs are still sore with the stretching that they recvieved but on the plus side I can now sit cross legged for hours.
The desert was harshly beautiful. A fragile landscape of tough bushes and clumps of indestructible grass. Somehow birds, foxes and antelopes live wild out there surviving on the leathery foliage and the little water that falls during the monsoon season. Farmers make some sort of living off goats and sheep but fewer do now than before. The camel men said that it rains less and less these days and that wells have to be sunk 600 meters into the ground before water can be found. In the hot season the temperature rises above 40 degrees, no tourists venture out then.
Our camel men fed us well on chapattis and vegetables and eggs and we chatted amongst ourselves swapping traveller stories whilst not being bounced about on top of a camel. It was nice to back amongst Europeans after so long.
After three days we returned to Jaisalmer tired but happy and for me at least with a resolve not to go near another camel again. Well not for a while anyway.
1 Feb 2012
Jaisalmer
I hate getting up in the morning but the trains around here are infrequent and early so I dragged myself out of my bed at 4am to meet the train. I'd been wait listed by the super efficient Indian train service and my confirmation had come through. The train arrived on time and I crawled into the recently vacated and still warm sleeper berth and started towards my new destination, the desert city of Jaisalmer. That's the best thing about sleeper trains. You can lie there and watch the world go by in great comfort.
I and a Japanses girl were met by a driver at the station and taken to the Hotel Tokyo, modern, functional but a little away from the main sites.
Ive booked the canal safari and the evenings are beginning to get a little warmer so hopefully it will work out well and I'll have a great time. I've done too much site seeing and need some activity.
Today I'm doing the city. The fort is impressive, it's almost the only thing here. People live in it still and it has a beautiful palace, a labyrinth of tiny rooms designed to keep cool and catch any available breeze. It would have been the place to stay and I will after my safari is complete. The lanes are narrow, just wide enough for a motorbike or a cow and the walls and windows are delicately carved from the local yellow stone. There is an old bit of town too which I'll explore after sipping a lemon juice on the roof of one of the many fort restaurants. Oh yes, and I found the Bhang shop.
I and a Japanses girl were met by a driver at the station and taken to the Hotel Tokyo, modern, functional but a little away from the main sites.
Ive booked the canal safari and the evenings are beginning to get a little warmer so hopefully it will work out well and I'll have a great time. I've done too much site seeing and need some activity.
Today I'm doing the city. The fort is impressive, it's almost the only thing here. People live in it still and it has a beautiful palace, a labyrinth of tiny rooms designed to keep cool and catch any available breeze. It would have been the place to stay and I will after my safari is complete. The lanes are narrow, just wide enough for a motorbike or a cow and the walls and windows are delicately carved from the local yellow stone. There is an old bit of town too which I'll explore after sipping a lemon juice on the roof of one of the many fort restaurants. Oh yes, and I found the Bhang shop.
30 Jan 2012
Johdpur
After four days of loafing about it was finally time to go. I dragged myself out of my very uncomfortable bed at 8am, threw my few possessions into my bag and went. It is always cold at that time of day but I was lucky to get a bus out of town straight away. It was full locals on their way to Ajmer, the nearest large town. It was a bone shaking 30minutes but the sun was getting stronger.
From Ajmer there was another bone shaking wreck of a bus to Jodhpur. The five hours being bounced about passed, the bus was warm and not too crowded. It even stopped for lunch. We haven't reached the desert yet. The landscape is still scrubby fields and small trees. It's all quite brown after the end of the rainy season and the air is very dry. I feel like the moisture is being sucked out of my body and I can never drink enough to replace it.
The bus arrived in Johdpur at around 3pm and for once there was no trouble from auto-rickshaw drivers. I had booked this lovely old guesthouse just underneath the fort and the driver just took me there for the agreed sum of 50 rupees, about 60p. This new place is beautifully furnished with wall hangings and antique furniture. It's set around a central courtyard with three floors of rooms overlooking it. I have a room with a view of the old city and it's elaborate clock tower. From the roof top restaurant you can look up to the fort which grows out of the cliff side. The outside is bare and rugged but the inside is a beautiful palace with cool marble interiors and delicately carved sandstone windows.
The city is quieter than the others and I would have stayed but my train ticket to Jaisalmer has been confirmed for 5:05 tomorrow morning so I'll be leaving without really experiencing the city. One thing though, they still have horse drawn carriages as a form of public transport!
From Ajmer there was another bone shaking wreck of a bus to Jodhpur. The five hours being bounced about passed, the bus was warm and not too crowded. It even stopped for lunch. We haven't reached the desert yet. The landscape is still scrubby fields and small trees. It's all quite brown after the end of the rainy season and the air is very dry. I feel like the moisture is being sucked out of my body and I can never drink enough to replace it.
The bus arrived in Johdpur at around 3pm and for once there was no trouble from auto-rickshaw drivers. I had booked this lovely old guesthouse just underneath the fort and the driver just took me there for the agreed sum of 50 rupees, about 60p. This new place is beautifully furnished with wall hangings and antique furniture. It's set around a central courtyard with three floors of rooms overlooking it. I have a room with a view of the old city and it's elaborate clock tower. From the roof top restaurant you can look up to the fort which grows out of the cliff side. The outside is bare and rugged but the inside is a beautiful palace with cool marble interiors and delicately carved sandstone windows.
The city is quieter than the others and I would have stayed but my train ticket to Jaisalmer has been confirmed for 5:05 tomorrow morning so I'll be leaving without really experiencing the city. One thing though, they still have horse drawn carriages as a form of public transport!
28 Jan 2012
Fourth day in Pushkar
Today is my fourth day in this strange little town. I was going to leave today but felt like a longer rest. I spend my mornings wandering by the lake looking for the sun. I have located a network of little rooftop cafes with wi-fi so I can do a bit of surfing and hotel booking. Yesterday I made the major decision to book my hotel in Johdpur, thereby forcing myself to move on. This place is getting to be addictive.
I did the one day camel safari as a taster for a longer trip next week. They picked me up, took me for a wander through the surrounding fields and orchards and on to a village. All very pleasant with the camel gently swaying along. At the village I got the sales pitch for longer trips, up to six days if you want but I declined. It would have been just me and a camel driver stuck in the desert alone for six days. What would we talk about? I'll try to fix up a shorter one with other people.
I went up the local hill with a temple on top and got a good if hazy view of the town, it's lake and the surrounding countryside. And I've read another book. Sitting on the roof of my little hotel in the afternoon with it on my lap, dozing off from time to time. And that's all.
I did the one day camel safari as a taster for a longer trip next week. They picked me up, took me for a wander through the surrounding fields and orchards and on to a village. All very pleasant with the camel gently swaying along. At the village I got the sales pitch for longer trips, up to six days if you want but I declined. It would have been just me and a camel driver stuck in the desert alone for six days. What would we talk about? I'll try to fix up a shorter one with other people.
I went up the local hill with a temple on top and got a good if hazy view of the town, it's lake and the surrounding countryside. And I've read another book. Sitting on the roof of my little hotel in the afternoon with it on my lap, dozing off from time to time. And that's all.
27 Jan 2012
My plans for the lake
The roads surrounding the lake are packed with shops making money out of the tourists who flock here in their thousands. The shops sell all the usual stuff that you can buy in Camden Market just at a slightly lower price. The town is strictly vegetarian and non-alcoholic but their vegetarianism, like most people's stops at leather belts, shoes and handbags. This supposed to be a holy place but it's been almost completely handed over to tourism and money making. I counted about six collection boxes on one set of steps down to the lake and everywhere you go someone wants to "give" you some holy flowers or put a blob of colour on your forhead. This should come as no surprise really, this combination of religion and commerce. Think of the Vatican bank and all it's scandals, American mega-churches and the Church of England's vast estates not to mention the entrance charges to their popular buildings.
But the lanes are crowded and the ghats empty so I have a vision for a more economically viable Pushkar Lake where the Hindus can get in on the act too.
BEACH BARS
Think Goa, the beach capital of India. The steps down to the lake make for perfect settings for a few umbrellas and reclining chairs. Sand could be imported from the surrounding desert to give the place a more authentic look. Ok, there is an alcohol ban but that could be lifted just for tourists. A lot of the popular cafes are run by Israelis and they could buy the beach bar franchises. The pilgrims would still have part of the lake for their rituals, say the west bank. During the popular camel fair the Israelis might have to set up extra bars in the area but that is just good business sense not an intrusion into someone else's space.
BOATING
Clearly boats on the lake would be a terrible affront to the visiting pilgrims. Tasteful peddellos however might be acceptable. Peddellos in the shape of holy cows might be fun.
PHOTOGRAPHY
There is a photography ban around the lake. Why not sell permits to those tourists with long lenses? They could then photography the pilgrims at their rituals without causing offence. After all these activities take place in the public realm and we have the right to know what goes on. It's in the public interest after all. Any money raised by selling pictures to tour companies and the like could be given to charity after all.
CONCERTS
They have them on a lake on Hampstead Heath and the atmosphere is lovely. The audience bring picnics and sit out on the grass and listen. It's quite respectful and civilised. They might even play a bit of Indian classical music. Ravi Shankar is a Hindu, he might like to come.
These are just a few ideas to create a Hindu Enterprise Zone in line with current Neo Liberal thinking so let's give it a go.
But the lanes are crowded and the ghats empty so I have a vision for a more economically viable Pushkar Lake where the Hindus can get in on the act too.
BEACH BARS
Think Goa, the beach capital of India. The steps down to the lake make for perfect settings for a few umbrellas and reclining chairs. Sand could be imported from the surrounding desert to give the place a more authentic look. Ok, there is an alcohol ban but that could be lifted just for tourists. A lot of the popular cafes are run by Israelis and they could buy the beach bar franchises. The pilgrims would still have part of the lake for their rituals, say the west bank. During the popular camel fair the Israelis might have to set up extra bars in the area but that is just good business sense not an intrusion into someone else's space.
BOATING
Clearly boats on the lake would be a terrible affront to the visiting pilgrims. Tasteful peddellos however might be acceptable. Peddellos in the shape of holy cows might be fun.
PHOTOGRAPHY
There is a photography ban around the lake. Why not sell permits to those tourists with long lenses? They could then photography the pilgrims at their rituals without causing offence. After all these activities take place in the public realm and we have the right to know what goes on. It's in the public interest after all. Any money raised by selling pictures to tour companies and the like could be given to charity after all.
CONCERTS
They have them on a lake on Hampstead Heath and the atmosphere is lovely. The audience bring picnics and sit out on the grass and listen. It's quite respectful and civilised. They might even play a bit of Indian classical music. Ravi Shankar is a Hindu, he might like to come.
These are just a few ideas to create a Hindu Enterprise Zone in line with current Neo Liberal thinking so let's give it a go.
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