The big trip – part 3 Pushkar

Pushkar is a very beautiful place of pilgrimage for Hindus. It lies on a lake where holy ablutions take place. In front of it are the so-called holy steps.

Young men usually wait at these steps for tourists (in India it's rather hard to blend in), and even if you only want to look, they talk at you pretty insistently.
One man talked me into coming down to the water with him to bless my relatives with flowers. I didn't want any of it from the start, but let myself be persuaded, and in the end he was really angry and pushy because I didn't give him the expected €20 but only about €4. Well, I still feel a bit ripped off, but he really did a good job.

Besides the lake and what feels like 1,000 temples, Pushkar also has a great hill that's really worth hiking up. Of course we did that too. The climb was hard going; none of us was 100% fit: I had only just got over my illness, and Viefke was just starting to feel unwell. But never mind, the hill had to be climbed. At the top there's a lovely little temple and a very beautiful view of the lake and the town. There are also lots of cheeky monkeys up there, which are fed by the pilgrims and are very tame.