Pushkar is a holy Hindu pilgrimage town, which is special because it is home to one of very few Brahma temples in the world. Infact, we were told, the name Pushkar means lotus flower, which Brahma is said to have dropped, creating the holy Pushkar lake. This sacred lake houses several bathing ghats and is surrounded by temples.

Relaxation. That is what we experienced from Pushkar. Unculturally, despite what I have mentioned above about the spiritual importance of this sleepy little town, we didn’t go to any temples or any landmarks apart from the holy lake. We were a little templed-and-forted-and-palaced-out and we already knew we were going to spend a few days in a hotel with a pool, recommended by our friends Luke and Winnie (Navaratan Hotel).

Due to its holiness, alcohol, meats and EGGS are basically illegal here and impossible to find, though Bang Lassis are everywhere… Of course, we had one, but it had no effect. It was pretty weak, which was confusing as the waiter was really giggly and warned us to be careful…

We spent most of our 5 days wandering around the shops, sitting by the pool making friends with the hotel’s wandering tortoises, eating at various restaurants and walking around the beautiful lake. Prices in the shops were really cheap, that I barely attempted to barter as it just wasn’t worth it, though this again is probably due to the fact that it’s low season and there are hardly any tourists. Brendan also got his hair cut which took no time at all, was dirt cheap and surprisingly looked alright! Despite how hot it was, when we were sitting by the pool, I couldn’t bring myself to go for a swim – the pool was so dirty I don’t think it had been cleaned in months!! White chunks of MOULD were floating at the top of the pool, I couldn’t see past the surface of the water and there was a murky greenish-yellowish tinge. Brendan was brave, he said it was gross but nice to cool down. I stayed on my lounger. The room was pretty cool though which was nice at night. We paid 600Rs per night, and had hot showers.

Pushkar was lovely and just the kind of chilled out place we wanted to visit.