After a breakfast of fresh fruit, muesli and yoghurt on terrace we set off on the drive to Bagru to visit Dasari Brothers who print for Anoki.
Printing blocks in cardboard boxes. Get some samples and a tablecloth then travel on to Pushkar.
We passed through very flat scrubland.
All the way I loved seeing all the brilliantly decorated lorries.
The driver only nearly hit something once!
On the road towards Pushkar the landscape started to change past sand dunes and villages with straw huts and all the kids walking home from school.
The Pushkar Palace was fine…the room was small but there was a garden. Garden.
Wander around in the heat and go for a drink at Venus restaurant…it felt a bit like an Indian Hebden Bridge!
We sat on the steps and watched the sun set over the lake to the sound of a nearby drum!
We ate dinner at the Moon Dance Restaurant which seemed to be run almost entirely by kids! All the restaurants in Pushkar are entirely meat and egg free and there is no alcohol. Charlie ordered a mushroom burger and I had spinach and mushroom enchiladas.
The place was absolutely full of mosquitoes! 🦟
The next day, we got up early-ish and walked around the lake, popping into a couple of temples along the way. Camels were nibbling on leaves. Later, we watched a band go by, with kids riding on camels.
Breakfast was at Sunset Café, with a lovely breeze drifting across the lake. I had a toasted cheese and garlic sandwich, while Charlie went for the “fix breakfast” – fried potatoes, tomatoes, and green pepper. People were heading down to the ghat below. Long turbans were hanging on a tree to dry. I didn’t realize what they were, and then, suddenly a man started wrapping one around his head – finished in a flash!
We sat in the hotel garden to rethink our plans, borrowing our neighbour’s Rough Guide. Decided to head to Dharamsala instead of Udaipur, hoping to escape the heat.
I bought some malachite beads. Later, we watched the sunset from the steps outside Sunset Café while getting our hands and feet decorated – then had to sit and wait for it to dry!
Dinner was at Venus: ginger soup, a brilliant veggie sizzler, and an awful veggie Spag Bol. Tidied up our rucksacks and had an early night.
Get up early and head out for a walk via the bus station. Venture into a Shiva temple—downstairs, the air is thick with incense, and a corridor is lined with people praying, ringing bells as they enter. In another temple, I find a statue of an old man wearing glasses. I sit and talk with a holy man who bemoans some of the touristy activities happening on the ghats. At one point, someone is brought in to be dusted with vibhuti. In the dark rooms off the corridor, other holy men go about everyday tasks, washing plates and carrying on quietly.
We climb down to a couple of ghats. At another, we watch a group of men struggling into enormous mauve trousers—later, outside the Sunset Café, we realise they are likely jodhpurs.
We look around a few grotty guest rooms, one with a pleasant courtyard, but in the end settle on Pushkar Inn near the Sunset Café—a large room with a lovely garden. We move our things in and sit, watching the world go by with a large pot of ginger and lemon tea.
Random glimpses of life around us…an old beggar on crutches receiving lemons from a taxi driver, a beautiful woman adorned with jewellery walking past, women in pink and orange washing clothes at the lake, and a few men tying turban cloths back on their heads after washing. The café gives the beggar a coffee.
Later, we see bright orange-clad holy men with patterned turbans.
I sit reading in the garden all afternoon while Charlie paints. A wedding procession passes by, with women collecting decorated waterpots from a pottery and a band leading the way.
We walk over the bridge at sunset, then go to the Rainbow rooftop restaurant, a forerunner on the Hummus Trail!
A full moon rises over the lake.
Dinner was an unforgettable moussaka…a tomato and spinach base, deep-fried aubergine, topped with a potato or chickpea mix, finished with cheese sauce and cheese. One of the most delicious meals I have ever eaten.
I’ve been trying to recreate it ever since.
The next day, Charlie is ill. I get up early and walk around the outskirts of town…lush fields of flowers with brightly coloured, sari-clad women picking flower heads…white daisies, yellow blooms, and fields of pale pink roses…against a backdrop of misty mountains in the distance.
In the garden of Pushkar Inns, small red amaryllis and purple tradescantia line the walls. Banana trees stand at the back, while geese and peacocks strut around.
Good music playing all the time!
Later we watch the sunset and then head to Moon Café to see the full moon!
Chilled out most of the time the next day at Moon Café…breakfast and stayed till lunch… aubergine and tomato curry. Talk about life and our futures with Della and Pascal. Della says if in doubt chuck it out.
A Nepalese lad recommended the Green Hotel in Dharamsala…
Cool off in our room in the afternoon then try to sort out our train tickets but no luck so go shopping for bangles and trousers and puppets. A boy takes us into his house with a lovely view over the lake to show us all his stock and we buy three.
