11.23.12 - Pushkar

I took a 3 hour bus from Jaipur to Ajmer, where I was to change buses and travel the rest of the way to Pushkar.  I purchased my bus ticket and miraculously found my train in time and got on to sit in my assigned seat.  I don't understand though, how anything actually happens in India.  I mean, how anything can function.  Everyone has a completely different answer for everything, each person answering with such conviction, sounding so factual.  "The bus to Ajmer leaves every hour."  "There is not a bus for 3 more hours, wait here."  You must purchase your tickets at counter #2."  "This counter is closed.  You wait."  "The bus leaves in five minutes."  In the end, only one person can be right.  But which one?!?!?! is the guessing game I love to play.  So after boarding the bus, I am told approximately 5 times to move, but I refuse since I have an assigned seat.  The bus worker tells me to move and I show him my ticket. I think he tells me to move still, but I don't.  It is a seat in the very front, which I think is a good thing in the beginning, until I have at least 2 old women sitting ON my feet, putting them to sleep.  And I know I sound cruel for letting 2 old women sit on the ground, but let me share some wisdom with you.  I have been told that Indians prefer to sit on the ground, and even the rich will pretend to like sitting in chairs, but will always choose the floor first.  With each stop people get on and people get off, and the bus slowly screeches away, threatening to leave the last passengers and the ticket collector every time, with them scrambling to make the bus.  At one point I am convinced that some young boys had taken my backpack that was above on the luggage rack since I can no longer see it, but realize if that is the case, there is nothing I can do about it anyway.  My passport and my credit cards are always on me, and I have come to terms with the fact that is a great possibility that something along the way will get lost or stolen, and that everything else I can live without.  Of course I would rather make it to my destination with everything I have packed and I can take the most care possible.  But at some point I need to be able to let go of my possessions.

After arriving in Ajmer, I have decided I have had enough buses for the day, and I would rather take a taxi for the 30 minute ride.  More expensive of course, but it seems worth it to me.  First I find a toilet, that I had been dreaming about ever since the moment I set foot on the first bus.  I was told the train would leave in 5 minutes, so without risking missing it, I got on when in reality it didn't leave for 30 minutes and I had plenty of time.  Lesson to be learned:  don't miss opportunities (I could have gone at the hotel).  Anyway, I find a toilet where I literally want to cry at how disgusting it is.  In general in India, I have to coach myself into using the toilet, every time.  I have to tell myself there is no alternative, and to make it quick!  Then I am bombarded with taxi drivers.  I bargain and come to an agreed price, but this man is so pushy.  I tell him that I need a minute.  He says no, come now.  I hate this feeling of being rushed all the time.  I demand he wait, or I can find someone else, I don't care.

I finally arrive in Pushkar, at the hotel recommended by a friend of a guy that works at the hotel.  I should have known better than to trust anyone else, and I should have listened to the reviews on TripAdvisor.  They don't lie.  But I decided I would at least take a look and then decide.  I see 2 rooms, and they are filthy.  The manager is a little demanding and I tell him that I am going to look around and might come back.  Without wanting to start a fight, I don't tell him his rooms are disgusting, I just say that I want to see what else is available.  He clearly thinks there is nothing wrong with his rooms.  Plus, it seems to be a bit away from the town center.  He tells me that he has given me such a good rate and he saved the room for me and now he cannot rent it, and he is getting rude by this point.  I should have walked out the door, but I was afraid I wouldn't be able to find another room since the fair was in town, and many other places I had called were full.  In the end I took the room for 2 days, and I am embarrassed that his rude Indian tactics worked on me.  We agreed on a slightly cleaner room on the ground floor.  Fuck this place.  Another lesson to be learned:  Never pre-book hotels.  There will always be another one.  And don't rely on an Indian's advice, of course they will just take you to their brother's friend's mother's cousin's place, no matter what you ask for.  And never pay for more than one night.  You can always stay longer, but once you pay you are stuck. Even their tea ended up being awful, which I didn't know was possible.  It had a slight taste of garbage to it.  Yuck!  Hotel Oasis.

By this time it is early evening, so I wander around the town and make my way to Pushkar Lake, where I find myself at Sunset Cafe, where I had eaten the time before in Pushkar.  It is a friendly place with a variety of foods, but has gorgeous views of the lake.  I eat dinner and make my way to the fairgrounds.  Along the way a young man starts walking with me.  I am pretty skeptical by this point, and answer his questions very vaguely.  Every once in a while he tells me something about Pushkar or the fair.  I politely listen but really just want to be left alone.  At the stadium I watch Rajasthani music and dance and start heading back to the hotel.  The boy says he is leaving and he needs me to give him money.  I ask him for what?  He says because he walked with me.  I said no, I did not ask him to walk with me.  And I wouldn't even talk to him.  Politely, I absolutely refuse.  I hate these ways people here think they are sneaky,  I did not ask him to be my guide and he gave me no useful knowledge.  But mostly it is based on principle.  Everyone wants something here, and it is a shame because there is no trust anywhere.  I hate the feeling that I can't even have a conversation with someone without having the feeling I am about to be taken advantage of.  And it sets the mood for all future interactions.  I walk back to my hotel.  It is so early, like 8:00!  I sit in the dark for some time so I don't have to see how gross this place is and finally get some rest.  

Sunset views of Pushkar Lake