Going to the Pushkar Camel Fair

Journey to Pushkar

My solo adventure starts today with a long train ride from Delhi to Pushkar for its famous Camel Fair.  With my Ajmer Shatabdi train departing at 0610, it was an early check-out from my Paharganj hotel.

At 0530, walking to New Delhi Railway Station, I expected the streets to be deserted.  But I was so wrong.  It was bustling.

I found the platform fairly easily and the train arrived shortly after.  The Executive coach was the last one and was configured with four seats across rather than five.

We left on time and my electronic ticket which I had purchased online from the railways website was accepted without a hitch.  I was given a large bottle of water by the crew.  Later, breakfast was served with a jug of tea, followed by cornflakes and milk and then a choice of omelette or vegetable samosas.  More tea followed.  I was happy.  A few hours, we were offered pineapple or mango juice.

Stopping at Jaipur about 5h later many passengers disembarked.  It was another two hours to my stop Ajmer.  Tea and biscuits were offered.

At Ajmer, I tried to share a taxi with other foreigners to the bus station.  That wasn’t successful so I ended up on a rickshaw to take me over the hill to Pushkar.

To Chacha’s Garden

At Pushkar bus station, I had to take a trolley (a platform with four wheels) to get to my accommodation, Chacha’s Garden.  It wasn’t so much that I couldn’t handle my backpack.  It was so as I wouldn’t have to wander around trying to find the place.  The simple solution cost me INR10.  I strongly recommended it to the other backpackers but they didn’t seem to get the beauty of my idea.

Chacha’s Garden was run by Mukesh (Chacha) and Rani (Brigit).  The latter is from England.  Rani told me she normally pays INR20 for the trolley ride from the bus station despite being an honorary local.

My simple room had a 6ft x 8 ft bed that was big enough for four people.  The bathroom was equipped with hot and cold water and toilet but no basin, which was fine for me.  The nice sandy courtyard (surrounded by cheerful blue walls) and a thatched porch outside the guesthouse were good places for socialisation.

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I was pleased with my choice of cheap accommodation booked online at hostelbookers.com.  Rani said I was their first online customer.  She spends part of the year back in the UK doing office work to supplement the business income here.  She laughed saying the income from several rooms, with all the cleaning and linen changes is less than what she earns in an hour back in the UK!

I didn’t feel like venturing far after the early start and took a simple lunch of fried noodles made by Rani.  It was OK.

Finding the camel fair

After having been fed, watered and rested I was ready to take on Pushkar.  Walking through town I dodged the pooja brigade offering foreigners a marigold and then dragging them to the water and making a prayer.  I learnt that it typically costs INR100 per relative that one makes a prayer for.  There are many Israelis in Pushkar and naturally some of them fell into the pooja trap.

I continued to what I thought was the fair area.  I was disappointed to see ferris wheels and games stalls but no camels.   It was more of an amusement park kind of fair rather than the camel fair.

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Heading in the opposite direction I found camels “for Africa”.  There were more camels than I had ever seen before.  Even more than the Imbaba Camel Market in Cairo in back in 1992.  Some were dressed up for tourist rides but most were in the raw for the local trade.  Apart from camels, there were many camel accessories for sale, eg. saddles, bridles, blankets, decor etc.  It was a very colourful place.

Walking back to the guesthouse I cooled off with an ice-cream.  It looked like it had melted and had been re-frozen.  I felt a bit queasy with the thought that I may get a stomach bug from it.

I took dinner at Raju’s restaurant which had a nice garden terrace and views of the Pushkar Lake.  Unfortunately, I couldn’t get a seat with a view, so I ate up and retired early around 2030.