Trying trains, havelis and Shiva festival.

As Hollie’s Mum, Gill,  is only staying with us on our journey until the fourth of August we have been city hopping to make sure she gets to experience as much of this varied country as possible in the three weeks she is here. So commencing our departure of Nukkad Guesthouse in Udaipur, we boarded a second class train to Pushkar.

I’ve just got to add something in here, I LOVE TRAINS. I bloody love ’em. I don’t know why, but something about a good old train journey just fills my heart with happiness. Especially in another country, the intrigue and difference just simply makes me childishly joyful. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a train geek, a bridge dwelling camera wielder or any of that but I really enjoy them.

And this one, was as great as the rest, unfortunately Rob managed to doze through the whole thing but there was singers, drummers, hawkers and I got to dangle my feet out the edge of the door while we crossed a huge viaduct.

Pushkar is a small town, bordering the Thar desert, it  is one of the five sacred dhams (pilgrimage site) for devout Hindus and has a theological connection with Lord Shiva. Shiva is one of three gods who are responsible for the creation, upkeep and destruction of the world. The other two gods are Brahma and Vishnu.

It is a holy town, alcohol, drugs and meat are strictly prohibited and you are encouraged to dress respectfully.  Pushkar lake, which the town centres around is used for many holy ceremonies and while we were there we had the fortune to be there during Shiva Festival. Meaning the streets were filled with people partying, dancing, chanting and blasting hardcore Indian techno music until the early hours.

We stayed at Sai Baba Haveli on recomendation from a friend, and we were not disappointed. Haveli translates in English as mansion, or town house. Our guesthouse was a multi storey, white washed building with cascading green plants filled with birds, an impressive rooftop terrace overlooking the city. And last but most definitely not least, a gorgeous one year old German Shepherd called Rasta. Our room was simple, and incredibly cheap, coming in at a tremendous six pounds, for three people!

After spending one day accustomising to the winding streets and gawping in awe at the incredibly good value gold and silver jewellery, silks, paisley hareems and raw gemstones and found a barber to get Rob a begrudging hair chop.

The following day we decided to embroil ourselves in the celebrations of Shiva festival and make our way up the arduous serpentine steps of Savitri Mata Temple, a good thousand or so steps later. As well as a million and one stops for selfies we ascended the hilltop to take in the breathtaking expanse over Pushkar.