My trip onwards from Jodhpur involved a (severely delayed) train ride to Ajmer and then a bus onwards from there to get to Pushkar – potentially the kind of hippie haven I had been looking for. Or potentially just a hippie haven. Because Pushkar is an odd place in that it is holy for Hindus and also has established itself as a hangout for the kind of traveller who is happy to live off ‘porridge from heaven’ and ‘exotic scrambled tofu’. Now, those are some menu items that will really raise my level of cynicism. Alcohol isn’t allowed to be sold in Pushkar but that doesn’t stop waiters from whispering under their breath that beer is available or cafe owners asking if you want get in on the beer-run to the neighbouring town. Contradictions aplenty. 

I had a fun time in Pushkar for sure but it just didn’t click with me properly. It felt slightly too unnatural, too far from ‘real’ India, too traditionally hippie (is that really a realistically possible impression for me??). Because that’s how Pushkar played out for me, and because I was 7 months off the timing for the camel fair, here are my top 5 bits of advice for the place:

1. Borrow (ie. inherit) someone’s string bracelet – the pushy priests on the lake will want to bless you and will pressure you for a donation to guarantee eternal happiness for you and your entire family. Once you have the bracelet, they’ll assume you’ve already donated. Sorry family, it has nothing to do with you or my wish for eternal happiness of each and every one of you, it’s just the fact that I have turned out to have a pretty healthy dose of scepticism. So unless your family expects you to provide their eternal happiness, utilise travellers you meet before getting to Pushkar and accept their bracelet if they are offering it up. It’ll make your time there infinitely easier. And cheaper.
2. Indulge in the chocolate desserts at Funky Monkey with the Israeli backpackers you meet at the bus station. There are menus with some questionable spelling that become infinitely funnier in a Pushkar-state-of-mind.
3. Bargain hard to get the best deals on silver jewellery. Or any other souvenirs, really. There are so many travellers coming through that prices are permanently above-average. So leverage anything you can; if the guy running the jewellery shop tries to get you to accept a date with him to reduce the price, reveal your age. It turns out 30 is so far over the hill to still be single that he will retract the date offer and still reduce the price.
4. Climb the hill to the Savitri Temple. But don’t do it at mid-day in 42 degree heat. You will regret that way before you’re even close to the top. There is very little shade and often said little shade has been occupied by a cow (see proof in the photo below). Oh and don’t wear your Toms; the rocks are slippery and you will slide, trip and bruise your ass and the back of your left thigh so much you’ll be happy there are still two weeks until you hit the beach in Goa and it will probably (hopefully!) be gone by then.
5. Visit the Brahma temple with the Hindu pilgrims and sit by, and take in the view of, the lake (one of the 5 sacred lakes in Hindu theology). Try to put all your scepticism about this town aside and view it as the sacred, spiritual place that it is for Hindus. It will be hard at times (like when you desperately want a dosa for breakfast but can only find ‘deluxe muesli’). But try.

I did find really good coffee in Pushkar and the falafel shop that came recommended was very good but street food was limited and samosas expensive so after a few days, the distinct un-Indian-ness of the place started to get to me a bit. It was time to move on.

Next stop was Bundi. A place recommended by people way back in Kolkata. A straight-forward bus ride away, Bundi had all the qualities to make me really like it – chilled out, friendly locals, a dilapidated palace to wander around, the loveliest little chai shop run by Krishna with colourful paintwork on the walls and messages from travellers from around the world, beautiful blue houses throughout the old town and green hills in the background of every rooftop view. And I did like Bundi, very much in fact, but it was the first place in India where I didn’t immediately have anyone to hang out with which I initially was really unsure how to deal with. I got to Bundi at the end of the season and that was pretty obvious; it was freakishly hot, many restaurants weren’t open and there weren’t many travellers around. So I had to find ways to entertain myself by myself.

In the end, I cut my time in Bundi short by a day. And of course I then met an awesome Italian girl and got chatting to a few of the French guys working on an awesome addition to Krishna’s wall art on the last day. But I’d seen the in-town sights, I’d sat chilling out by the little man-made lake, at the palace, at rooftop restaurants. I’d asked Krishna from which country the person who’d painted every single one of the images on his walls was from, I’d gotten dangerously addicted to his masala-infused black coffee, I’d seen the newest artwork addition progress significantly and I’d made friends with Romeo from Romeo’s Corner who’d helped me double my Hindi vocab from 1 to 2 words (fluency is imminent). So when I booked my train ticket I was sure I was ready to see what Udaipur had in store.

Unfortunately, my transport planning hadn’t been in use since Jaisalmer so had clearly become a bit rusty and it turns out that the 2009 Lonely Planet has some very incorrect information about buses in these parts of Rajasthan so I ended up having to pay double the normal price for a train to get out. I could have taken that as a sign to stick around longer. But I didn’t.

Unfortunately the train departing Bundi wasn’t till 2am and the rickshaws started disappearing from the streets around 10pm so I ended up having to kill three hours at the station which was a breeding ground for mosquitoes. If I end up catching malaria, all statistical logic will legitimise that I’m holding Bundi train station responsible.

On arrival at Udaipur train station the next morning, I headed straight to the reservation office to get my Mumbai-Goa ticket sorted. Several of the trains were already sold out and didn’t have a tourist quota so I needed to get my hands on a ticket asap. But obviously India had to throw a new bureaucratic curve-ball at me and the guy wouldn’t sell me the ticket without a photocopy of my visa which I did not have. So I had to go to the hotel across the road to be completely overcharged (I stared at the woman in disbelief when she said it cost 50 Rs. Her reasoning? ‘We’re a hotel ma’am, not a shop’. I was not happy). But I got a ticket. And subsequently had an awesome time in Udaipur which again made me question why I needed to leave at all.

When I got to the hostel (recommended by multiple travellers), I ran into the German girl and the Kiwis from my camel safari in Jaisalmer and it was lovely hanging out with them again, even if it was just for one day (they were off to Bundi) and not everyone was 100% well. Some of the people I’d hung out with in Jodhpur had just arrived too and it was pretty much full occupation at the hostel by the end of the first day and it was such a fun crew of people that just made the time I spent there. We hung out on the roof terrace at sunset when loads of giant bats come out and fly across the lake, drank coffee during the day and kingfisher and gin (not together, I should emphasise) at night, went shopping (I have a serious ring- and pendant collection now to prove it), explored the palace, watched Rajasthani folk dancers perform and spent an ace afternoon swimming at Tiger Lake just outside town. Awesome days in awesome company.

My last day in Udaipur was spent doing last minute shopping, getting henna and having a horse and my name painted on my nail (I’m serious. It was so freakin’ impressive. Proof in the photo below) by a lovely friendly artist and shop-owner who didn’t mind taking 30min out of his day to do that and have a chai and a chat with a random tourist without expecting anything in return.

So after a lovely time with the loveliest people in beautiful Rajasthan, it is time to head south. I don’t know if I just feel exhausted in the heat (it has been extreme) courtesy of the pretty serious dehydration in preparation for the bus ride but I am feeling sad to be leaving Rajasthan. It has felt special, given me some of my best experiences in India so far this time around and has been a daily parade of bright colours, intricate beading and the most beautiful embroidered textiles in all shades of vivid red and orange and yellow and purple and blue and green. But I want to finish this trip on a beach so I’ve booked my flight home to London from Goa and since the date of that flight is now fast approaching (noooooo! I don’t wanna go home already!!!) I need to get a move on (and obviously explains the rush to leave Bundi and, consequently, Udaipur but leaves me with the feeling that noooooo! I don’t wanna go home already!!!). So this afternoon I’m getting on an overnight bus to Mumbai. 15 hours on an Indian bus – it had to be done (and also, the train gets into Mumbai too late in the afternoon so it’s actually most time-efficient. And I like time-efficiency). I’m not expecting much from Mumbai on account of it being a big city and I don’t really like big cities but Delhi surprised me so maybe Mumbai will too? Let’s see.

Today I’m listening to: Shapeshifter – ‘One’