Diary: Friday 10 March 2000

Friday 10 March 2000

Back on the road again. Travelled half a day into the desert to the small town of Pushkar, famous for its annual camel fair. For the remainder of the year, when camel trading isn’t at the forefront of the populations mind, the town is famous for its ‘holy tank’ and many temples, which attract pilgrims from all over India. However, this is obviously not the peak season and the majority of people wandering round town were Western tourists! In fact the town was very much geared to cater for their needs, so I guess this is the norm.

The town’s religious men certainly thrive on Western tourists. We had barely walked 100 yards into town when we were approached by a guy who handed us each a rose and suggested that we go down to the ghats (steps down to the ‘tank’) and perform the ceremony. We replied that we actually wanted to explore the town and continued. He approached us again as we we passed the next path to the tank. We explained that it wasn’t our religion and we would feel out of place and continued walking. Eventually, we gave in to his pestering. One has to admire a religion that is so adept at extracting money from any creed or denomination. They even had the cheek to request a ‘donation’ of £20 each! As Fred said, that would have been a payment not a donation. They didn’t seem to happy with 50 rupees! Anyhow, once the ceremony was complete and we had our ‘Pushkar passport’ firmly tied around our wrists we were free to wander without hassle. The Pushkar passport (a term coined by the Rough Guide) is a yellow and brown piece of cotton that indicates you’ve paid your dues.

Oh yes, I forgot to mention the flies and the dust!