The road to Rajesthan
Location: Pushkar
Country: India
Getting to Pushkar was no simple task, it was long and tedious, but no problems on the way.
Headed out from Rishikesh at 06:00 am (!!!), treated myself to a taxi to Haridwar at the crazy price of 400 rupi (which is about 10 USD. But knowing it was going to be a hard day, I decided I deserve a taxi instead of a rickshaw and then a local bus).
Got a train from Haridwar to Delhi that was supposed to take 5.5 hours, and ended up taking almost 7 hours.
In Delhi I had to get to another train station to get my next train. Because of the delay, I made the train with only 10 minutes to spare, a bit too close for my liking.
This train took about 5.5 hours to get to Jaipur.
Arrived at the guesthouse at about 21:00, rather exhausted. Though traveling on the train was quite cool, I took an upper sleeper that was comfortable enough, and the people that go second-class are a bit better than the usual riffraff you encounter here.
The one good thing I can say about Jaipur is that they have meat there; I headed directly to the restaurant and had schnitzel. Seeing as both Rishikesh and Pushkar are vegetarian, it was a very welcome change.
In Jaipur I was reduced to having my first and hopefully (though not likely) my last bucket shower, I wouldn't recommend it.
The next day I was collared by a jewelry shop owner for about an hour, he tried to convince me it would be a great idea for me to bring jewelry for him to Israel (Ilana, this story may sound familiar to you). He explained that he had a limit of tax-free goods he could export and that as a tourist I had a limit I could take. He went on and on about it, and my persistent "no" did not seem to get through to him.
Read the following in an annoying Indian accent:
"Why you not want, is good for you, you get 1000 USD for 3 days work"
"You have queries? You ask me questions, I answer everything. Why you not ask?"
"I want when I come to Israel, I knock on your door, like friend"
"You have criminal record?"
"I show you more shops, I show you factory"
"All legal, no problem, I show you all documents"
"My son have birthday next week, you come"
After an hour, I finally managed to get away from him and continue on my way to Pushkar.
Got a local but that took 3 hours to Ajmer, and from there another half hour bus, and I finally arrived.
Pushkar is very nice, there is a beautiful lake (from which the sunset is amazing), and a big market place with a lot of shopping possibilities.
I am staying at a guesthouse with a swimming pool, which is very nice and quiet.
The only problem is that the locals here are very pushy and constantly begging for something, either money or for you to buy something from them.
I was told before I came that the people up north are much nicer than the people in the rest of India, but the difference in quite unbelievable.
Tomorrow is Rosh Hashana and Beit-Chabad here are supposed to be organizing something, hope it works out ok, as the building is still in the process of being built, but there are so many Israelis here that I'm sure something will be going on.
I bought myself some nice cloths for the occasion - a skirt (!!) and a white top, try and make it feel special.
Chag same'ach and shana-tova to all of you.
16 Comments:
I'm sure you'll have a great rosh hashana there..
Shana Tova! :)
-Amit Cohen.
Next time one of those jewelry guys comes up be real excited about it, wind him up instead of the other around.
Tell him how excited you are at this possibility and how happy you are that you met him because you really need the money seeing that the FBI, CIA, NSA and the Interpol are after you for selling counterfeit diamonds and they think you are the gang leader and although they might notify the Israeli police, you are sure they wont so he should not worry about it.
Some requests:
Take pictures of the market place.
The chabad place.
Your GH.
Sunsets are very nice but we have those here as well.
PS.
And a picture of you in the New Year's costume!
Shana Tova
From everyone at AT&T (5 left and counting..)
Pleased you survived journey to Pushkar. Glad you took no notice of the stupid Jewellery man. Thank goodness you heard Allons Story.You never used to dress up for us in a skirt. Need photo of you now!! Your guest house sounds good. Are there proper showers there? Take good care. Shana Tova we all miss you Erev hag and hag will not be the same without you. love you mummy colexxxxxx
You better send me a picture of you in a skirt!!! my dream has finally come true!!!
Take good care of your self.
shana tova. luv tul
I agree with Shachar, we need more pictures of you and the places you live in, as well as the sunset pics.
Im almost finished a blog for Amit, so youll be able to follow his pictures there.
Hope you have a great Chag, and maybe youll meet a religious poel aravi at the beit chabad, and reallly start fulfilling your dreams.
Cant beleive how much we miss you...it just doesnt make sense
Duv
dearest sis, and all the rest of the readers-
shana tova to you all, hag sameach, and may this be a year full of smiles :)
sis miss you sooooooooooooooo much, take care and a big kiss to pushkar from me!
yul
i hope you have a good time, and when you come i'll show you bugs bunny and teach you how to play. i hope it'll be nice, and now it's tom's turn.
all my love
ben
i hope you'll be happy and that you'll have a lot of "caif" and enjoy yourself, and that you'll be happy to see us.
and that you want us to help you with tigger.
and that you'll habve a lot of "chayim" and "caif" and that you want to see us, and have a lot of "caif".
and that you have a shana tova and metuka.
all my love
Tom
aba abaaaa, daddaaa, bbbbaa,
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh
bababa, ppppppp
to my dearest wife-in-law
miss you a lot
especialy- calming your sister...
shana tova, carry on enjoying yourself, and having a great time.
can't wait to see you in the skirt..
love
Shay.
It is really great reading about your adventures.
Please keep on writing :)
Have a very happy new year, may it be a year of happiness joy and good fortune
Gur
My dear Norm, I had a lot of catching up to do; from Kaza right through to Rishikesh - amazing! Last time we spoke, around 2 1/2 weeks ago, you said that you were going to see the Taj Mahal. What happened? The odd pictures are great, giving us a better insight as to what you are seeing, and helping us understand what you are talking about. What about a cow walking through the streets next time you come across one? Rosh Hashana wasn't the same without you but at least we were able to have the mazgan on. The weather here is still hot in spite of the fact that it's the 4th October. The twins and Bar came into Shool today, a real pleasure for their Papa, and they even stayed long enough to hear the Shofar. Had a lovely weekend with Shmuel & Shula in the US. They made me very welcome and refused to allow me to pay for anything. They are really looking forward to coming here in December, for Daniel's Barmitzvah, in case you've forgotten. ON Erev Hag Shai had arranged for Dave, Arieh and myself to go with him to that special, ancient synagogue but at 20.30 it was cancelled for security reasons. Hopefully we'll be able to try again in a few weeks. Bar is crawling all over the place and has a smile which lights up the world. His mother is still running around like a meshugganah, so as you can see nothing has changed here. Amit hasa got considerably bigger and even gave us a smile last night. He seems to be a very easy baby these days and even created a new world record for sleeping last night; 4 hours, before eventually having to be woken up by his disbelieving parents. Seems that his Nana & Papa's environment suits him. Your little sister's running as usual - we'll probably see her for a few minutes tomorrow evening as she "pops" in to grab a shower and then disappears with her army clothes to go to Tal's so that the next morning she can get back to her base easier. Your car sends its regards and says that its new minders are doing a good job. Your trips sound fascinating although it takes so long to get from one place to the next. Did you know, by the way that The Himalayas are 2600 miles long with the highest peak being Mount Everest around 9000m. When you climb it put an Israeli flag at the top and leave a plaque saying "Norm was here." Lovely hearing your voice yesterday and hope that whatever you did at the Beit Chabad was enjoyable. Lots of love, Pops. xxxxxxxx
Shana Tova Naomi. The tradition continues despite the time & distance
/B
Dear Norm, I already typed a message for you but for some stupid reason, it got rubbed off after it reached what I now know is the end. I wanted to tell you that I have been thinking of you all day and I want to wish you a very Happy Birthday. I am beginning to miss you as it's been a long time now. I am so pleased to have access to the Net as I have updated myself with your blog and now have the chance to write you a few words. The blog was great and I was almost physically sick when I saw that bleedin' tattoo but was so relieved that it was only one that rubbed off. The photos were great and it was particularly good to see one of the 2 of you. No doubt you'll miss Paula for a couple of days but you'll soon get over it. How's the gay guy - is he also going to Thailand? Fort Cochin sounded absolutely wonderful - why couldn't you stay longer? I'd better go now as I am in a hotel in the US. It's Friday night at 21.00, although difficult to imagine, and I have to get a bite to eat, start to pack, take a shower and hopefully get a good night's sleep. Lots of love and have a good trip to Thailand. Pops. xxxxxxxx
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