Royal Tales of Rajasthan – A Woman’s Solo Travel

To Jaipur, the Pink City.

One thing that is more difficult than conquering your fear of travelling alone is penning down the experiences. It is almost one month after I embarked on my solo travel to Rajasthan and every time I want to write about it, I feel at a loss for words. For someone who is not very articulate, this becomes a herculean task and a test of perseverance. So here begins my humble attempt to pen down the experiences.

These days everyone asks me what is the fun in travelling alone. Let me tell you, it is not fun at all. I traveled alone because it was I who fell in love with the picture of Pushkar and wanted to experience it alone. So I set out for the journey on 16th of October 2015. I can’t even tell you how jittery and paranoid I was feeling that day.

Flight journey is boring. Period. While waiting for my connection flight to Jaipur, I was thinking about how much fun I could have had if I chose to travel by train. Suddenly it hits me that no matter how far I go in my life, things that are close to my heart will always remain so. It is for this self realization that one should travel alone.

Around 8.30 in the night, I saw the fully lit up view of The Pink City from the flight and instantly fell in love. Since I already booked my accommodation at Treebo Signature Inn, I decided to hire a taxi. That was the mistake number #1. I saw a meter taxi counter, but the queue was long. So decided to head for another counter. I paid around 300 Rs and when I got into the taxi, the driver said that the hotel was very nearby and I should have gone for a meter taxi. There goes my budget traveling plans. The driver’s name was Lakshman Singh and asked me if I want a cab to see around the places. He even offered me a VIP entrance to Dargah Sharif in Ajmer. As I was on a budget, I was planning to travel in local buses and tuk-tuk (I just love using that instead of boring rickshaw).

The room was very comfortable and even luxurious to my taste. The joy of finding kettle and tea bags in the room was indescribable. However, I decided to head for the roof top restaurant and asked the waiter “Chai milega kya?” at 10 in the night. He immediately replied “Abhi is waqt chai nahi hai. phir bhi aap bole toh ho jayega”. Isn’t he a charmer? I had my dinner quietly and kept on reminding myself that I am more than 2000 km away from home and don’t even have a familiar face to look upon.

They had this small, star like lights in room and I was not able to find the switch for that. I spent more than one hour looking for it. Somehow I didn’t feel like calling the room service to fix that at that hour. Sleepless in Pink City – That was my situation. I was not expecting that the coming days would teach me how little comfort and luxury one needs for sleeping.

To Pushkar, The Blue Lotus Flower

I spent the whole night counting the seconds, minutes and hours. When it was 6.30 in the morning, I decided to get up from the bed. I made myself a tea and looked outside the window. Jaipur was still sleeping.

I didn’t have much clue on how to get to Pushkar from there. I asked the waiter from where I could catch a bus to Pushkar. He told me that first I need to catch a bus to Sindhi Camp and then get into a bus which goes via Ajmer since Pushkar buses are not that frequent. He also said that there is a nearby bus stop from where I can catch the Sindhi camp bus.

I checked out from the hotel around 8.30 and started waiting at the bus stop. After waiting for a long time, I saw a bus coming. Since I couldn’t see the bus number, I thought it is better to ask the conductor if it goes to Sindhi Camp. But the bus went past without even slowing near the bus stop. Then I learned that I should have waved my hand and I am not in Kerala. Bus will not stop at every corner. After 15 minutes , I saw another bus approaching and I didn’t want to make another mistake. So I waved my hands frantically and got into the bus. I was actually feeling proud of catching a bus.

When I was about to settle down, the conductor came to me and asked rather rudely where I want to go. I replied that I want to go to Bus Stand. To my disappointment, he said that the bus will not go there. The bus reached the next main stop and he asked me to get down there and catch another bus. If you know my sense of direction, you would get a fair idea about how lost I felt that moment. I was scratching my head and looking here and there. Just then the conductor from the same bus came running towards me and pointed out the exact place from where I will get the bus. Sometimes those who are rude to us have our best intentions at heart.

Somehow I crossed the road and started waiting for bus again. That was a major junction and every bus was crowded. With my back pack, I was running behind every bus. No one had the time to answer my query. People were eyeing me curiously. After many successful attempts, I got into a bus. The Sindhi Camp was more than half an hour from there.

I started relaxing and half an hour gone by. I forgot to ask the conductor to inform me when the bus reaches Sindhi Camp. I had this nagging feeling that something is not right. Then someone told me that the bus just passed through Sindhi Camp. Somehow I pushed people and was able to get down before the next stop. So much adventure for the first day itself. Sigh!

I started walking and started pondering over what to do next. Then I saw a bus with Jodhpur board. With all the courage, waved my hands and made the bus stop. I asked the driver if it goes via Ajmer. He said yes and I got into the bus. Then the conductor came and said it goes through Ajmer bypass. I didn’t quite understand its significance until late.

I got a window seat and settled down. It was a private bus and the conductor collected 100 Rs as the fare. The bus had sleeper compartments also and an entire family was sitting in the compartment above me. One thing about Rajasthan is that the roads are wide and well maintained. Since I was coming from Kerala, I could easily recognize the difference. So traveling by bus was not much of an issue, apart the dusty winds.

More than two hours went by and the bus stopped only at one stop in between. The conductor called me when the bus was about to reach Ajmer. Then he told that they are going to drop us near the bypass and we had to catch a tuk-tuk to go into the city which will cost only 10 rupees. As this didn’t sound as a challenge, I agreed and got down there. The next moment we were surrounded by a bunch of men who were offering us to take to good hotels, special entry to Dargah and what not. There was a couple with me who were locals and were just passing through Ajmer. I closely stalked them and got into a shared tuk-tuk. One of the men from that gang had a word with the driver and the driver told us to go with the man. He asked us where we want to go. The couple was going to railway station and I was heading for bus stand. He understood that he is not going to get anything from us. So he left us there in the middle of the road and walked away. Somehow we got another tuk-tuk and squeezed ourselves into the remaining seats.

It was fun traveling in that tuk-tuk. People were getting out and getting into that at every stop, just like bus. The couple with me was getting down at a stop. I thought it was Bus Stand and decided to get down. Then the driver said “Aap ko toh bus stand jaana hai na. Yeh railway station hai” . So again I got back. The same thing happened many times and the driver asked me “pehle tuk-tuk me safar nahi kiya kya, Bus stand aate samay me bata doonga.”. With a sheepish grin, I sat down again. Actually bus stand was the last stop. The fare was just 20 Rs. When I gave the money, the driver asked where I am going to. When I said I was going to Pushkar, he said “Kya beti. Aap yeh pehle kyun nahi bataya ? Mein to pushkar bus rok deta raaste mein”. I smiled and thanked that gentle man. He asked the two boys who got down with me to show the place where Pushkar bus stops.

I got into the bus and had to wait for some 15 minutes for the bus to start. I watched how the Aravalli mountains line up around the Ajmer city and the bus slowly climbed up to the road to Pushkar. It was almost one hour journey to Pushkar. When I got down at Pushkar, there were none to surround me with the offer of nice accommodation , taxi etc. I saw a man sleeping in a tuk-tuk and a boy standing nearby. I talked to the boy and he said that the fare is 80 Rs. Since I didn’t see any other option there, I readily agreed for the offer. The driver then lazily got up and started the tuk-tuk. He dropped me at Zostel Pushkar and after taking the money, left without a word. I was quite used to the chatty drivers and this one was an exception.

The manager was quite surprised to find that I am coming from Kerala. After a quick chat with the people there, I went to my room. I was really tired after the journey. So decided to take a nap in the afternoon and roam around be evening.

Roaming Around..

I woke up around 4 in the evening and decided to go for a walk. Pushkar being a small town, one can see around the places just by walking. The plan was to visit the Brahma Temple first. With google map as my guide, I started exploring the place. One thing that distinguishes Pushkar from any other spot in Rajasthan is that the way local people treats the travelers. They are quite bored by the travelers and didn’t even bother to give a second glance.  I think that is one of the reason why the foreigners always prefer to stay here for months (apart from Pushkar being a smoker’s paradise of course ). The coming days in other places taught me that nothing can match the peacefulness Pushkar offers.

Google showed me the way to Temple through Pushkar Bazaar. Anything , literally anything can be found in this Bazaar. Since I was not in a mood to shop, I just eyed the things as I walked past. After some 25 minutes of walking, I saw the entrance of Brahma Temple. I was a bit apprehensive about leaving my shoes there. Since there was no other go, I left my shoes near the guard and entered the temple. Nothing magical about this place. It is a small temple and you can watch the sunset from behind the temple.

There are houses around the Pushkar Lake. Mostly the priests and their families live there. There are many ghats where you can go near the lake to offer prayers. Since the place from where you will get the best sunset view was crowded, I decided to go near a deserted ghat. I sat there for a long time watching the sun setting, forgetting that I am in an unknown land and being thankful for everything I have. The calmness I felt thereafter is inexplicable. It is for that experience I crossed all these miles. It is not every day that you feel content with everything you have in your life. It was such a day to me.

It was getting dark and decided to walk back to the hotel. On my way back, I saw a restaurant named Mango Tree and quite liked the ambiance. So I decided to have dinner from there. Some slow French song was playing and I had my dinner quietly. I stayed there for almost an hour, enjoying the music. Food was not great though. I was thinking I know the way back. But unfortunately my direction sense again failed me. I ended up in some dark lanes and didn’t know where to go. A man came that way and I asked him about the hotel rather nonchalantly. He said that I am standing right behind the hotel and showed me  a small road to reach hotel. Since it was Dusserah time, loud music was playing somewhere. To be honest, I was really afraid. Somehow I had the courage to go by that road and fortunately ended up right  in front of Zostel.

I wanted to visit Savitri Temple  the next morning. I have read that it is quite a steep climb and one should do it in the early morning. So decided to go to bed early. There was another girl from England who was sharing the dorm with me. Since she was not in the room , I switched off the light and slept. I woke up soon by some noise in  room. There was a dozen people in that room and at first I didn’t quite understand what was happening. Then the manager came  and said sorry for disturbing me. He said that my roommate had a blackout after having a second shot of bhang and the other foreigners were being paranoid about that incident. Somehow he convinced them that she would be fine after a good night’s sleep. A man asked me if I would be comfortable if he could sit beside her for some time. He said it was he who encouraged her to take a second shot and he wanted to make sure that she is fine. I said it is alright and went to sleep saying good night to him.

Although the day ended a bit dramatically, I slept really well.

Morning Hike to Savitri Temple

The day’s plan was to wake up early and watch the sunrise from Savitri temple. In all the excitement and trying to make the most out of the precious holidays, we take it for granted that our body will also follow the same path. Because of the tiredness, I couldn’t lift myself off from the bed before sunrise. I woke up around 7 and soon started off to Savitri Temple with the help of google map. It seemed to me as though the villagers were already half way through their day.  I was the only one who were walking towards the temple.

As usual I lost my way in between and reached a dead end. There were some stray dogs and they surrounded me and started barking at me. As I had faced such situations before, I knew that I shouldn’t run. The only thing I could do then was to wait. After a lot of barking and sniffing around me, the dogs got bored. At that time a woman came from behind the wall and saved myself from the dogs. I asked her about the temple and she showed me the way. I resumed my walking towards the temple.

It is not a good idea to start walking on an empty stomach.  I saw the stairs leading to Savitri Temple and my stomach started growling. As there were no shops nearby, I started walking quickly hoping that I will find something on top of the hill. It was getting hotter and I was getting more  tired. I saw some foreigners coming back with their unwavering enthusiasm and acknowledged their high pitched namaste with bright smile.Whenever I stopped somewhere to rest, some one will come to me and say “Just a bit more. Keep going”. Somehow that kept me going.

Finally after a long while, I reached on top of the Savitri Hill and just sat there exhausted.

This is the view of Pushkar Lake from on to of Savitri Hill.

As there were not many visitors at that time, I enjoyed the peacefulness. But it broke my heart to see that construction work was going on there and a rope way is being built. I knew that once the place becomes easily accessible, the pilgrims and tourists will ruin the place. After relaxing a bit, I walked around and went inside the temple. There is a family living there who take care of the temple. The place was getting hotter and I decided to leave after having a cup of tea from there.

I decided to make the return journey through the Pushkar Bazaar and spent quite a long time gawking at the things I would never buy and a lot more time getting lost and finding my way back. On losing the way again, I stumbled into this place.

This is what I love about being lost and being a person with negative direction sense.

..to be continued.

*****

Contributed by Priyanka Sasankan