Hey Everyone,
I am catching up on my blog and wanted to tell you about my weekend trip to Pushkar. I have been a little out of sorts this week because I have gotten a cold that has taken a while to go away but decided to write anyway!
Pushkar is a small mountain town on the edge of the Great Thar Desert in Rajasthan. It is an old holy Hindi town that is surrounded by a lake and has a famous Ganesh Temple in the middle. Hindi people come from all over India to pray in the Temple and bathe in the famous water baths. It is a beautiful place and significantly calmer then Jaipur. Another great thing about Pushkar is that there is not nearly as much jeering and begging, perhaps because so many western people frequent the town.
Our weekend began on Friday night at around 1:30Am when we left the house to catch our train to Pushkar at 2:30 AM. We took a Tuk Tuk to the train station and managed to get there within plenty of time! We arrived at the station and were slightly confused about where to go. There were people sleeping on every square inch of the floor and there was no main board telling us when the train was coming. After wandering around for a little while, we found a managers office and asked about our train. What we found out was that our train was 7.5 hours late and would not leave until 10:00 AM. Now what you have to realize about trains in India, is that they are very easy to travel on and cheap, so because of this they are not particularly nice. There are four different classes one can take on a train: 1) General Admission-no set seats just as many people as can fit on the train, 2) Sleeper Seating-where there are bunks on top of each other, 3) Second class-where you have cushioned benches to sit on, 4) AC Sleeper, which has bunks but actual windows and they give you blankets! We had been booked on a sleeper train which cost $4.00 one way. However, instead of waiting at the station we opted to get on an earlier train with General Admission tickets. This of course was a bad idea, as my friend Sarah would tell me when I told her about my weekend! We got on the track to wait for our train and as it pulled in, people started to crowd around and jump on the train. It had not even stopped before the pushing and shoving began. Not only that but there was not one woman, Indian or Foreign, in the crowd except for us. Now I am not claustrophobic, but I refused to get on that train for fear of being squished. Even an Indian man told us to just hop on the sleeper part and see what happens. Thus, we ran to the front of the trains and after being moved from car to car for a while, we manged to get on the sleeper part train. It was still kind of dirty but we each had our own bunk!
Finally around 6:30 AM we arrived in Ajmer, the town adjacent to Pushkar and took a bus through the mountains to arrive at Pushkar by 8:00AM. Once we arrived in the town we had some breakfast and did a little shopping, The town was beautiful and other then a couple Poojas, Hindi holy men, trying to get us to give them money, it was pretty calm. The food was good and everything was soo cheap. At around 3:00PM, we headed to a guest house to meet the camel people and start our trek into the desert. The trek took about 2 hours each way and was rather uncomfortable. Now, a Camel moves very similar to a horse but because of the size, it is a lot clunkier and more uncomfortable. After being on the Camel for two hours I was so excited to get to the camp, which had cots set up for us! The view was beautiful and I think I had the best nights sleep so far in that desert cot. The food they cooked for us was great and then they played some music and we danced into the night. It was funny to imagine our camp with a table and cots set up in the middle of the desert, it was extremely touristy, but for a city girl it was perfect! The next day we started the 2 hour trek back, extremely sore, and headed home. All in all it was a fabulous weekend that I would not have wanted to miss, except maybe the train part haha!
This weekend I am staying in town and doing some tourist things in Jaipur. My cold has finally started to go away and I am extremely excited about this. Apparently, everyone gets it when they come to India because of all the pollution! Any who, I hope all of you are well and staying warm. Heard New York got slammed with yet another snow storm, apparently I picked the right winter to be in India!
Love and Miss you all,
Alyssa
PS: The connector for my camera should be coming in a package my parents sent soon so hopefully I will be able to post some pictures of my crazy adventures!
I am catching up on my blog and wanted to tell you about my weekend trip to Pushkar. I have been a little out of sorts this week because I have gotten a cold that has taken a while to go away but decided to write anyway!
Pushkar is a small mountain town on the edge of the Great Thar Desert in Rajasthan. It is an old holy Hindi town that is surrounded by a lake and has a famous Ganesh Temple in the middle. Hindi people come from all over India to pray in the Temple and bathe in the famous water baths. It is a beautiful place and significantly calmer then Jaipur. Another great thing about Pushkar is that there is not nearly as much jeering and begging, perhaps because so many western people frequent the town.
Our weekend began on Friday night at around 1:30Am when we left the house to catch our train to Pushkar at 2:30 AM. We took a Tuk Tuk to the train station and managed to get there within plenty of time! We arrived at the station and were slightly confused about where to go. There were people sleeping on every square inch of the floor and there was no main board telling us when the train was coming. After wandering around for a little while, we found a managers office and asked about our train. What we found out was that our train was 7.5 hours late and would not leave until 10:00 AM. Now what you have to realize about trains in India, is that they are very easy to travel on and cheap, so because of this they are not particularly nice. There are four different classes one can take on a train: 1) General Admission-no set seats just as many people as can fit on the train, 2) Sleeper Seating-where there are bunks on top of each other, 3) Second class-where you have cushioned benches to sit on, 4) AC Sleeper, which has bunks but actual windows and they give you blankets! We had been booked on a sleeper train which cost $4.00 one way. However, instead of waiting at the station we opted to get on an earlier train with General Admission tickets. This of course was a bad idea, as my friend Sarah would tell me when I told her about my weekend! We got on the track to wait for our train and as it pulled in, people started to crowd around and jump on the train. It had not even stopped before the pushing and shoving began. Not only that but there was not one woman, Indian or Foreign, in the crowd except for us. Now I am not claustrophobic, but I refused to get on that train for fear of being squished. Even an Indian man told us to just hop on the sleeper part and see what happens. Thus, we ran to the front of the trains and after being moved from car to car for a while, we manged to get on the sleeper part train. It was still kind of dirty but we each had our own bunk!
Finally around 6:30 AM we arrived in Ajmer, the town adjacent to Pushkar and took a bus through the mountains to arrive at Pushkar by 8:00AM. Once we arrived in the town we had some breakfast and did a little shopping, The town was beautiful and other then a couple Poojas, Hindi holy men, trying to get us to give them money, it was pretty calm. The food was good and everything was soo cheap. At around 3:00PM, we headed to a guest house to meet the camel people and start our trek into the desert. The trek took about 2 hours each way and was rather uncomfortable. Now, a Camel moves very similar to a horse but because of the size, it is a lot clunkier and more uncomfortable. After being on the Camel for two hours I was so excited to get to the camp, which had cots set up for us! The view was beautiful and I think I had the best nights sleep so far in that desert cot. The food they cooked for us was great and then they played some music and we danced into the night. It was funny to imagine our camp with a table and cots set up in the middle of the desert, it was extremely touristy, but for a city girl it was perfect! The next day we started the 2 hour trek back, extremely sore, and headed home. All in all it was a fabulous weekend that I would not have wanted to miss, except maybe the train part haha!
This weekend I am staying in town and doing some tourist things in Jaipur. My cold has finally started to go away and I am extremely excited about this. Apparently, everyone gets it when they come to India because of all the pollution! Any who, I hope all of you are well and staying warm. Heard New York got slammed with yet another snow storm, apparently I picked the right winter to be in India!
Love and Miss you all,
Alyssa
PS: The connector for my camera should be coming in a package my parents sent soon so hopefully I will be able to post some pictures of my crazy adventures!
Your trip to Pushkar sounds so amazing, it makes me want to take a trip out there to see you more and more!! I'm so glad you have gotten some sleep and are feeling better. Keep traveling, exploring, and sharing with the rest of us. Much love from the States!
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