Today we survived the drive to Pushcar, a town I looked forward to the most. It holds one of the few Brahma Temples in the world and the lake is surrounded by 52 bathing ghats with 400 temples. The locals don’t want your driver to take you to the Temples because it’s their way to make money so my driver let me out into the crowd and pointed towards the market. Oh God, here I go and I am hoping I won’t get lost. I was quickly befriended by a local and we walked through the crowded market straight to the Temple. I was grateful to have someone guiding me…shoes off…walking through the crowd to the stairs across puddles, trash and dirt. Brahma will keep me healthy, won’t he? I muddled through the tour not understanding him and then quickly deserted him for a walk around the lake.
I shot pictures, donated to the Temple, tipped my local guide and found my driver. I read in the Lonely Planet that several restaurants served Banana Pancakes and had my heart set on some…they arrived very thin and with chocolate. I told him we’d call these crepes. Delicious.
Off we went towards Jodhpur and despite my seemingly calm appearance, I realized my jaws were clenched for most of the drive. It’s truly miraculous when you arrive. Knowing you’ll get seven years in jail for hitting a cow, one would think you’d be a bit more cautious. We found ourselves in a small town with semi sized trucks trying to get through a single lane dirt road. Because we were chatting we missed a turn and were lost, really lost and toured through many villages between Pushcar and Jodhpur. No GPS here. It was wonderful and actually quite peaceful. The countryside was calm and in every village we would get a different set of directions to Jodhpur. He was upset and I was very happy. At one point we stopped for a train crossing in the middle of the countryside. A small bus with about four kids stopped and we had a great visit, sharing my iphone pictures that I had taken of them and waiting for the train to show up. It was okay that it took 5 1/2 hours. I enjoyed every minute and he discovered a new, more scenic approach.
The hotel is amazing. My room looks out onto the Mehrangarh Fort and a mosque. The prayers are the usual five times a day and earplugs are available, but it’s really beautiful listening. Fireworks are happening in anticipation of an upcoming festival. I think I’ve finally arrived.
