Rajasthan- Day 7- Ajmer to Pushkar

We had an early departure, and needed to leave the guest house by 6 am. We were told that someone would be up at 5:30 to prepare our breakfast and check us out. By 6:10 we finally had to wake someone up so we could give them our money and get to the train station. Apparently our haste was for naught because we arrived to the train station to find our train delayed by 45 minutes.

As with most train stations here in India, they are not among the loveliest of places, in fact they usually smell (even worse than the streets) and are very crowded. We also usually draw a lot of unwanted attention so the fact that we had to stand track side for an extra hour was not so appealing. Alas, we finally boarded the train and had almost an empty car which was a relief. This time we were booked in 3AC and I determined the difference between 2AC (our trip from Mumbai to Ahemedebad) and 3AC is the lack of privacy curtains and the infestation of mosquitoes. As I killed one, two appeared, as I killed two, three appear. I jokingly said to one of my travelmates that we had to kill all three to advance to the next level where we would be faced with four. As I walked down the corridor to check for the conductor, I determined there would be no end in sight as there were at least 50 mosquitoes, with new ones boarding at every stop.

We finally arrived to Ajmer, only 25 minutes late, and Ajmer seemed to be the dirtiest spot yet. This is when it started to feel like I was emerging from under the overpass as my Mom so eloquently put. We had a huge hassle with the rickshaw drivers, as we were told on the inside that the rickshaw to the bus station should only cost Rs.10. We wound up paying Rs. 20 after bargaining down from 100. We just kept going from rickshaw driver to rickshaw driver until the initial suitors eventually determined we weren't giving up. We got to the bus station and literally caught a bus pulling out of the station heading to Pushkar. It was a government bus that was old, rickety, and very smelly. I guess you get what you pay for, because our bus trip to Pushkar only cost Rs. 8 which is about $0.20. But the ride was hot, sticky, and I had about 25 pairs of eyes glued to me. Not so desirable.

We arrived in Pushkar to once again be hassled by people trying to get us to stay at their guest house. We thought the guest house was within walking distance so set off down the road. After realizing the guest house was not where we thought it was, we managed to flag down a hotel taxi to take us to our guest house. We checked into the Navratan Hotel and ordered some food since we were all exhausted and starving. We ordered room service, and were told it would take 10 minutes, after 45 minutes, Stella went down to check and we were told they were "understaffed" so they were having some problems filling the order. They asked Stella to write down and number the order. So she wrote "1- Baked Potato with Cheese, 2- A Fanta, 3- A Sprit, 4- Spaghetti." As she was told to number the order. Well, I was talking to my Mom downstairs in the garden and discovered "understaffed" was in fact, not true at all, as there were 7 people in the kitchen, sitting idle. But then the waiter passed by with a baked potato, 2 fantas, and 3 sprites. We corrected him and said one of each, "ek" which means one. He didn't seem to understand, but finally took back one fanta and two of the sprites. Then 15 minutes later I saw him walk by with 4 plates of spaghetti. I said "No, ONE." He gave me a bewildered look, walked back to the kitchen, then turned around and walked by me again with the same tray. Finally after 10 minutes of confusion, Stella got her one plate of spaghetti.

I took a nice shower that evening (after two days of showering with buckets of cold water) and settled in for the evening. Since it was the Diwali festival there was an abundance of activity in the street and I have an aversion to Indian festivals. But as I tried to get to sleep, I now know how it must feel to live in a war zone. Granted, I was not in imminent danger, but the noises outside sounded as if they were right off the soundtrack of an old war time movie. It was the loudest explosions I have ever heard! There were firecrackers being set off in the middle of the street right outside the window. The worst past is, most of the people setting them off were small children. I can only imagine how many die each year from these celebrations. The explosions shook the entire building and created a pounding in my heart. I was finally able to fall asleep and awoke to the same deafening noises.

It would be another early morning, with a 7 am departure to climb to the top of a nearby mountain and visit the Sharavi Temple.