We left Pushkar and rode 100 miles northeast to Jaipur, “The Pink City”.

Whenever we stopped for gas, a small crowd always formed around Scott. I don’t think a lot of New Zealanders frequent these gas stations.

Red eyes, full hearts, can’t drink the water.

Hawa Mahal, built in 1779.

It was built for Rajput women (a social class that adopted the custom of “purdah”, the practice of female seclusion). The women were not allowed to appear in public places but could hang out in the fort be able to watch the royal processions and see what’s going on in the city from the windows and small balconies. It was said to give the women a sense of freedom, without appearing in public.

The city was painted pink in 1876 for the arrival of the Price of Wales, who later became the Emperor of India.

I think it’s actually more of a “terra cotta” but what a welcome.

Pushkar is a pilgrimage site for Hindus and Sikhs (along with being a major destination for the Holi Festival) and is also well known for the Pushkar Camel Fair which brings over 50,000 camels from distant places to be bought and sold.

Bordering the desert, it’s a dusty place and has a holier vibe than anywhere else I visited in India with it’s temples around every corner, ghats for pilgrims to bathe in and the sacred Pushkar Lake glistening beneath the hills.

My favorite moments from Pushkar include:

emerging from the darkness of our hostel room after 12 hours of throwing up to be greeted by hordes of stoned Israeli’s, covered in rainbow paint
hearing a vehicle approaching from behind and turning around to see a giant camel cart being driven by a 7 year old
the bull and monkey duo hanging out near our hostel
discussing app development and startup ideas with Kapil and Sunil, 2 young students from Jaipur we shared momos and fried rice with at the local Tibetan Restaurant
realizing an elaborate, multi-person effort to get us to pay to put flowers in Pushkar Lake was pretty much just a well organized sales funnel
thinking that this dusty little town was cited in the Mahabharata (a 2000 year old text that I read in Asian Studies class in high school) as the oldest religious hub in India… and here I was rolling through it’s purple stained alleyways on the back of a motorcycle in 2018.

PUSHKAR TO JAIPUR

PUSHKAR, INDIA