Pushkar

Caught a bus to Ajmeer. Splashed out on an overpriced auto-rickshaw to Pushkar. (I met an Australian, Josh, who was here for a month and he flew to most places and couldn't haggle and just generally spent a lot of money. He was a single white male software engineer.)

We picked up a usual tout along the way who desperately - and toward the end quite unbecomingly - tried to get us to stay at his "parents" place.

Pushkar is in the desert around a small lake. It is a very holy place, and full of Israelis. The main road contains the ubiquitous hippie gear clothing shops, pancake shops, fruit juice stalls, music fusion shops, Internet Cafes, gambio cambios, and tour bus booking offices. And just generally a lot of heat, and no place to swim.

Took a horse out of town with an Englishman named Ruben. He was a bit heavy for his horse, and as he galloped along the jeep tracks he reminded me a bit of a fat version of Lucky Luke. The night was quite exotic, with the full moon, and the temples and Indian music shimmering across the lake.

Took a night bus - another sleeper bus - to Agra. On my way out of Pushkar I bought a CD of - what I am hoping to be - quite exotic and hypnotic music. The softfocus cover, though, seems to suggest that it is some syrupy shmaltz.