Out of Jaipur I made very good time. The road was good and it wasn't too hot. Although I am slower than with Dan whilst actually driving, I make less stops, so probably about the same over a long distance.
On the way from Delhi, the landscape changed from fields and farmlands, getting slowly dryer and browner. On from Jaipur, it got slowly more scrubby. I rounded a bend, and the scent of warm lemon hit me n the face like a warm and soft kiss. In general, India does not seem to smell the same, or as much, of natural scents as Europe. When I was a child, we went on caravanning holidays in France. My memories of this are vague, but the smells of pine and lemon and sea salt are vivid still. Rounding that bend was just like that.
CLose by was a white mud shack, so I pulled over and had a cup of chai. A group of tribesmen were there with there camels, probably going back into the desert. This was the start of my desert adventure.
About 5km short of Pushkar I was flagged over at a Police Check point. Normally they just wave me through, but this time I thought they might want to check my documents. But no, a policeman wanted a lift into town.
Found the hotel with no problems this time, dumped my stuff and headed into town.
My first stop was the lake. This is a very holy place for Hindu's. Brahma, the Father of the Gods, the Alpha and the Omega, the unknowable and perhaps unobtainable bliss, one ness of spirit and enlightenment is quite a difficult God to worship, and therefore not obviously popular. The Lake at Pushkar is where he dropped a Lotus Leaf, and there is one of the very few Temples to him here. There is no meat in the city, and leather (the Cow being sacred to Brahma), is also not much in evidence.
So I sat by the Lake for a while, and watched the devout bathe, make offerings and purify themselves. I think at the very least those waters would mean a nasty case of the trots for me, so I didn't join them, but in my own way prayed for those I love.
If Jaipur is Paris, then Pushkar reminds me of a Greek fishing village. Narrow streets and white houses. A laid back openness to the people. I have unusually for me come at a very good time, the famous Camel Fair. I don't know what the place is normally like like, but the little streets were thronged with traders and tourists from near and far.
The colours people dress is what stood out for me today. The rich colours and fabrics on a large percentage of the people are just astonishing - whatever their age, economic or social standing in life.
The men look wonderful in their plain white clothes with multi coloured and sometimes luminescent turbans, but today has been all the `about the girls. The colours of their clothes; Oranges, Saffrons, Greens, Blues, the fabrics, from diaphanous to heavily sequinned and embroidered, the jewellery adorning wrists, ankles and faces is utterly captivating.
In Pushkar Camel Fair, its all about the girls.
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