Ajmer and Pushkar

It is Thursday and I'm in Pushkar now.  I can't stop taking photos, the colors and scenes are so amazing!  I only know a little about the different religions here, and then there are so many subsects of each.  I can at least tell if someone is Hindi or Muslim, but who knew there were so many ways to wrap a turban!  And the women's clothes are just insanely colorful and elaborate.

I got to Ajmer about 3 am.  Arriving at that hour and alone was a little intimidating.  You know the saying about faking it til you make it, that's what I did.  I had one of those illuminating conversations with the train car attendant, wherein I said as we were standing by the door of the train waiting for it to stop, "taxi?"  He could not understand me and I had given up after trying 3 times to say 'taxi' in some recognizable way when he said all of a sudden "Taxi!"  Sounded the same to me, but apparently not to him.  Anyway he used a few english words and some hand gestures to explain that I should walk to the end of the platform and then go right, up the stairs.  So I walked the guantlet down the platform as if I arrived there all the time and knew what the hell I was doing.  So many people awake at that early hour.  When I got to the top of the stairs, I could see the station building, and that was a relief.  I figured if I had to, I could hang out there for a few hours.  But as I came in the door, a man came up and said "taxi?".  I looked at him and wondered if he would take me to Pushkar or rob me blind.  Turns out he was a good guy and even walked me down the street after the police would not let him drive into town when we got to Pushkar.  As we were walking down the dark street, I could hear praying in a mosque and then praying of another sort in another building, I can only guess it was a Hindi prayer.  There is also a famous Brahmin temple here but I did not know that last night.  As we walked, it occured to me the taxi driver might be thinking he would get a commission from the hotel for bringing me (this is common in many countries).  So I bravely ventured forth on another conversation wherein neither of us understood each other at all.  I gave up, and he ended up stopping as soon as we came in sight of the hotel anyway.  He was just a nice person!  The scene at the hotel was a little different.  The door was slightly ajar, so I stepped in.  It was pretty dark but I could just see 3 separate forms on the floor sleeping.  I also saw steps up to some sort of open air place, so I tiptoed past them and went up the stairs.  There I found it was a sort of courtyard, with the 4 levels of rooms on 3 sides and an open air restaurant on the street side.  There is also a pool in the middle, but not one that I will be swimming in.  However, by the moonlight it all looked very nice, and clean too.  So i found a chair and proceeded to doze off and on for 3 hours.  they never knew I was there.

Keep in mind that at this point I had not had a shower or changed my clothes since Monday and I was pretty ripe by then.  so the first thing I did when I got my room is take a shower and put on some clean clothes.  Not the pants though.  These have so many wonderful pockets, with zippers, and given how dirty I was going to get today, I put the dirty ones back on. 

Then I headed out into stimulation overload.  I struck out in the general direction of the lake, and saw camels all decorated for the festival, many many kinds of clothing, beautiful saris on beautiful women, prayers and music cascading into the streets, beggars, stalls and roadside tables with vendors, and of course, the touts who tried very hard to push flowers into my hands.  I knew if I took the flower they would then try to take me down to the ghats and have me 'bathe' in the lake and then charge me for the experience.  So I refused and kept going.  I did go down to the ghats, but on my own.  And I really didn't want to do the flower thing, as I am woefully ignorant of what it means.  I think I'd just be insulting devout believers.  The people watching was great.  I figured out if I followed a group of women I got hassled less, so when a group went by on their way around the lake, I fell in and followed them.  We ended up in a narrow lane with more exotic sights.  Then I meandered on and came to the market, which was just getting busy.  I had lost track of time, and then again, time is a bit mushy right now anyway, so when i saw a restaurant that looked easy, I went in.  Turned out it was up on the rooftop and I could sit right by the street, under a shade cloth.  it was great for watching and for taking pictures.  There were a couple of different processions that came through as I sat there.  They did not look up and see me so I could stare and snap photos with abandon.  And I ate too...it was only 9am, go figure!

Then I found the camels themselves, and made use of my scarf to shade from the sun.  I forgot my sunscreen!  Yikes, I will have to keep on the lookout for some.  No luck so far.  I hear there were a lot more earlier in the week, but there are still a lot here.  A lot of them have what I'd call tattoos, like the mark of a sun, or other designs.  Some are clearly recalcitrant and have the marks to show it. 

I think a nap is likely for today, I really need to catch up on my sleep!  Besides, it's warm in the sun, and I don't want to turn bright red.  I'm here all day tomorrow and leaving on Saturday.  I have no idea where I'm leaving to though, so I need to do some research.  I'll keep you posted!