Smelling still desert we reach our next destination: Pushkar. Usually it happens that a city you like, do not like or indifferent, but during our stay we are between two fires: Pushkar is a bit poop / Pushkar mola mogollón. Let's analyze the situation. We tell you these two perceptions and in passing we tell you what are the Must see and do in Pushkar and a few practical tips at the end of the article.
Tip: nothing better to get to know Pushkar than to take a local hand tour 🙂 This is free (although it is always good to leave a tip).
"Pushkar is a little poop." And we are not talking about cow, goat, dog, pig, monkey, or any animal with 4 or 2 legs. We talk about the guiriland that has been assembled: here we have seen more tourists than in the rest of Rajasthan! There are those who come to look for a haven of peace, who to buy clothes and then sell it in street markets, who has a hippie soul, who is a hippie of slug, who comes to browse, those who seek to find themselves and a long list of etc. ... At the beginning it reminded us a little of Pai, the odd thing is that although the first impression may clash with the idea that you had of this place, as a sacred site of India, you gradually adapt and you are comfortable ... will it be magic Shanti Shanti (peace)?
"Pushkar mola mogollón". We have to admit: the good thing about tourist sites is that everything is easier ... do you want to eat pizza? Take pizza! Do you prefer ravioli? Take Ravioli! Maybe a hummus? Take hummus Here we have re-established the NMOC: the optimal minimum level of carbohydrates, for the happiness of the Italian of the couple (the Spanish is still waiting for the NMOCH: minimum optimal level of chorizo ... and it seems that we will have to wait a lot!) .
But not only carbohydrate man lives, and if apart from the body you want to feed your soul, the options here are not lacking. It is thanks to this that little by little you get the idea that “Pushkar mola mogollón” because it is enough to get away from the street of the bazaar to discover the true atmosphere of one of the oldest and mystical cities in India. The best, no doubt, is your sacred lake, with the 52 ghats (steps down the water) where every day, hundreds of pilgrims bathe and purify their sins.
Pushkar is in fact one of the sacred cities of India, and every faithful has to visit it at least once in a lifetime. The lake is a relaxing place with good energy, the legend says that it was born when a lotus flower fell from the hands of Brahma. The best time to take a walk through its ghats is the sunset, when the sun has already set you can also attend the fire rituals (aarti) which are celebrated every day in several ghats. We went to Varaha Ghat, although you will see that it is done in several.
In the city there are many temples, the most important of all is the Brahma Temple (Jagatpita Brahma Mandir), one of the few dedicated to the god of creation throughout India. You can imagine the constant bustle there is, but it will be worth entering and contemplating the image of Brahma with its four heads. Entering is free, although you will have to leave your shoes at the ticket office before entering. Other interesting temples in Pushkar are the Varaha Temple, Gurudwara Sahib (Sikh temple), or the Naya Rangji Temple.
There are also two mountains where you can make spiritual paths or simply enjoy the views, better at sunset / sunrise. The most accessible is the one that takes you to the Savitri Temple, southwest of Pushkar. Accessible especially because there is a Cableway (ropeway) that takes you to the top (where a small group of good monkeys awaits you), yes, a bereavement. The price of the cable car is about 120R (€ 1.5), although you can also walk up a zigzagging asphalt path.
The other mountain is crowned by the templeGayatri Mata Temple (Pap Mochani), is closer to the center of Pushkar and the height is lower, but certainly the views are also a pass (in this case you will have to kick for 20 minutes of ascent).
There is another much more earthly plan to do in Pushkar, and it is shopping. The whole city is a huge tourist market, where you can find the typical hippie clothes, booklets, colognes, soaps, and a laaaargo etc. After visiting other Indian cities where walking looks like a Russian roulette, at least in Pushkar you can take 4 steps in a row without risking your life. Of course, the cows here still have the preference.
We agree here with the last full moon of the year, and Chinu, the owner of the hostel where we were staying, invited us to have a “spirited” cocktail that he had prepared on the rooftop… come on right by the things to see and do in Pushkar yes or yes!
We were a little cuddly the truth, we saw ourselves throwing ourselves from the roof using the cables like liana, then riding on top of a sacred cow accompanied by Trompi, the pink elephant, and riding along the shore of the lake singing Hare Krishna Oh Hare Krishnaaaa with the monkeys' choirs ... But in the end it turned out to be badam milk, a drink made with milk, almonds, nuts, cashews and saffron: a caloric pump that will have cost us about 2.7 kg each ... and that we drank only two glasses: Chinu and his friends took 7. In the end there were no rare symptoms , and what we had done to the idea of cow-safari! Apparently this drink is typical to take full moon nights to strengthen the body against diseases. We will see…
But something strange happened later ... Rober stayed in the room because he was not quite fine, and swears that he saw how a monkey wanted to enter the room taking advantage of the window was open. They looked at each other for a second, both looking surprised, and the monkey vanished. He assures that the monkey was real, and was not the product of a hallucination produced by this drink. What a way to wake up from a nap!
USEFUL INFO
How to get to Pushkar?It was a little odyssey. From Jaisalmer we catch a night train to Jodhpur (6 hours, 180 INR sleeper). There we wait a couple of hours to catch another one until Ajmer (5 hours, 105 sleeper). There we met Carles and Gil, some very old cousins we had already met and we shared tuctuc to the bus station (45 INR in total) and we took the first bus that left for Pushkar. It takes about 50 minutes and costs 12 INR. The station is very close, no tuctuc is necessary. To return we catch the bus at another stop (I think there are about three scattered around the town, with different buses). The ticket cost less, INR 10 to Rober and INR 7 to Lety, women have a 30% discount on buses.
Where to sleep?We stayed at the Mama Luna Guest House. It is not the best Pushkar accommodation, but with badam milk we do not regret it!
Where to eat?The restaurant of Mama Luna It has Spanish dishes like tortilla or gazpacho. The restaurant Om Shiva It has a wood oven and they make quite good pizzas and pasta. If you want Italian dishes and rich pizza (at a somewhat higher price), this The Pizzaria. And finally, the terrace of Raju Terrace Garden It’s pretty good.
