Pushkar Things to Do

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If you are around Pushkar late in the year you must attend the Camel Fair which will be held 24th to 27th November this year (2012). I attended it many years ago and it was an exciting experience seeing the 1000s of camels just outside the town. In the olden days people would come as far as Afghanistan to trade their camels Be careful of the beasts as they can give you a nasty bite, many of the handlers have scars to prove it.

It is said to be built by the Pandav Brothers, so the idol and five water reservoirs are around 5,000 years old. It is said taking a bath in it will immune you from the poison of snake bites.
It is 2.5km from the pond through a sometimes dusty track. The way to it starts from the Ajmer Bus stand, and if you are not in the mood to walk you can rent bicycle, motorcycle, or scooter from near the bus stand.

I'm not sure if it is entirely worth it. Instead you might try the Chamunda temple or Gayatri temple, for which I did not have enough time.

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The less-than-one hour ascent up to Savitri Temple is worth it. The steps get ridiculous halfway through but that's part of the fun. Unlike LP's recommendation, you cannot make this climb before dawn because the steps are too precarious even with a little torch.

Think of the legend as you climb and enjoy the breeze and view once you arrive. Open all day until sunset. Two trails to it start from Brahma temple. Take the one used by cars because it is less dusty.

There are two Rangji temples. The "old one," is 150 years old, houses idols of Krishna, Rukmani, and Satyabhama. The "new one," is 90 years old and houses Vishnu, Mahalaxmi, and Bhulaxmi. The holy water of each place is quite aromatic because I think it is infused with large cardamom and tulsi.

The crazy rule both these temples have is that "no foreigners allowed inside". What they mean is, no white people. If you're tanned enough, whether you're an Indian citizen or not, you can go inside. In all my travel this is the only place in India that did this. Mad.

On the other hand (and the reason why I put it in Things To Do) the Brahma temple, the real star attraction of Pushkar, allows everyone inside. So it turns out that the creator of the world loves All its inhabitants. :)

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You could join one of the daily evening prayers on the ghats. Everyone is welcome here.

Varaah Ghat: At around 6:45pm. Less people there. It has a corner view of the pond.
Gau Ghat: At around 6pm. Bit more people. Center view of the pond.

In the day at Varaah ghat pay Rs10 to a little stall on the steps and get a plate of grain that you can toss to the pungry pungry pigeons. Pery fun.

It's nice to stroll around in the streets of Pushkar, looking at temples, bying some clothes or souveniers and relax at one of the cafes and restaurants.

But you can also do some hiking to the nearest hills.
The most popular is the one hour hike up Ratnagiri Hill to Savitri Temple.

Or you can just have a nice view of the hills from one of the roof-tops.

My husband and I have shared many daring ventures together, but this was something really special. What I loved about this ride was the fact that it was both peaceful and exhilarating at the same time.
We took this ride with Skywaltz Hot Air Ballooning Company. Their Balloon ride Captain was really good. He calmly explained how hot-air balloons function, the safety measures and our probable flight path that morning. I guess that meant it depended on the current wind direction. He aptly told us "Hot air from this propane fuelled burner in the basket fills the balloon, (they call it 'the envelope'). And as everyone knows, hot air rises." Then I saw the giant balloon fill up and we were invited to climb in the basket. With a roar from the burner, and a gentle creaking of the wicker basket we were lifted into air. We went up softly and gently from the ground.
We saw the first rays of sunlight spread across the fields below. As we began to rise, we seemed to leave our stress and worries behind. It was really exciting. I peered down at the spectacular landscape and felt like floating in a magic carpet. I would say “wow”! Though no words can really describe the feeling we felt. They really made us feel like royalty.

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So Pushkar is home to the a massive camel fair and the place can get pretty crowded. It is worth a shot to ask around and see about getting a good deal on the camel rides. Our two hour sunset camel tour cost 100 rupes. I tipped my camel drive about that, he was a small kid around 12 years old. My camel's name was Ronney. And he was a very naughty camel but I had fun! And the sunset was beautiful. But it did get really cold once the sun goes down.