As we headed further West the terrain started to turn to desert and the camels started to outnumber the cars. Many of the camels were it seemed on auto pilot, their riders fast asleep on the carts they were towing.
Pushkar is a religious town to the South of Jaipur, built around a holy lake. There are 52 ghats here (steps leading down to the lake / river) Here become come to bathe in the holy water, wash their clothes and make a lot of noise. A noise that is only superseded by prayers coming from a loud and out of tune loud speaker. Being such a holy Hindu place no alcohol or meat is allowed. Were only here for a couple of nights so I should be ok.
Arriving at our hotel we found it was still being built, not agreeing the manager that this wouldn't be an issue we set of towards another on the lake shore. After getting past the guard (Above) a quick photo and a few rupees did the trick, we then had to deal with the comedy show that was the reception desk. It literally took about two hours to negotiate the rate, the problem - calculating what the rate plus 8% tax should have been. Even with the help of a calculator and myself trying to explain percentages as though I was talking to a five year old, it was impossible to speed things along. In the end the receptionist came up with a figure he liked and could reproduce more than once on the calculator, told me he had won (what the Mr Idiot contest), shook my hand and we got our room with a lake view.
Above: Our hotel. We settled down just in time on the balcony to enjoy the sunset and to cheer as a power cut took out the loud speaker, ah peace and quiet
Highlights: A stunning view across the lake
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