Pushkar

We took a bus in the daytime heat to ajmer and pushkar, a holy city with 200 temples and a huge bathing lake but also a back packers mecca. Close to the lake the city has tiny cute little streets all connecting to a main bazaar in the north side. We walked over to a hotel recommended by the guide over on the west side and got settled.

We ventured out onto the streets and were rapidly overwhelmed by tat, hassle, wannabe hippees and incessant staring from the locals. After such a great time in the south and now wanting something new it felt like rajasthan had become a more aggressive and touristy version of the same old shit. The crazy local parades kept things interesting though. Made up of a bloke at the front playing one of two casio mini synthesisers hooked up to three megaphones glued onto a cart and followed by a brass band and some holy blokes carrying a throne for shiva. The music was played constantly all day and all night with the same song over and over. It almost became hypnotic.

The next day we were feeling a bit down on it all so decided the best thing to do would be to have a bhang lassi and laugh it off. We took to a rooftoop restaurant and guzzled down the finest pushkar had to offer in whacky milkshakes. We took our time with them and werent particularly convinced by the potency until we had to negotiate a seemingly endless set of stairs to the next rooftop restaurant where we attempted to eat dinner without drawing to much attention to ourselves. I wolfed down my thali like it was my last meal on death row, not because i was hungry but because it was the only thing i could do to stop thinking about how stoned i was. Niki couldnt do the same as she was overwhelmed by the spice, even though we had the same meal again two nights later and it was bland as hell. Each minute passed ratcheting up the intensity, niki tried to keep things back on this planet by constantly talking at me whereas i was trying to stop myself from sliding off the edge of my seat which my body seemed to do of its own volition. The giggles soon came and we had tears streaming out of our eyes as we laughed about the waiters who were laughing about us. We paid up and made our way home, taking it steady down the stairs so as not to fly off the edge and into the open gutters 30ft below. Back at the hotel we giggled some more about uncontrollably zonked we were and how much of a set of lightweights we must now be. Sleep was hard to come by, it felt like the parade and band were playing on our roof. Literally the same tune for hours without a break. I heard a huge thud which resonated through the room and shot me bolt upright in raw paranoia. It was a big monkey deciding to take a sleep on the air con unit bolted to our window.

The next day we were still a little bit pissed off with the place so we checked into a seriously nice boutique hotel called seventh heaven. We ended up staying there three nights just relaxing, staying away from the hassle and doing some thinking about our business idea for when we get back. We took time out for some retail therapy and sent the lot back via the trusty india post. Fingers crossed it gets back.