26/03/19 Today we are heading to Pushkar to spend a night in the desert.
We dropped our bags and had a chance to have lunch at the hotel but the environment did not really inspired us a clean kitchen so with Sandra and Lana we decided to visit the markets instead. We started to walk and found a ‘French bakery’ on the way. We stopped and found this garden in the backyard of a guesthouse where a bakery is built outside. The cooked viennoiseries were under newspaper sheets, a few dozen flies flying around. But it still looked good so we all got something and the girls also ordered coffee which was apparently very good. We sat on their swings (wide and low on the ground, I am keeping this idea for my future backyard!) and enjoyed the sun while watching horses in the enclosure and the house cow peeing right next to us while licking the oven trays recently washed.
Probably not the cleanest place I have eaten at. But sounded better than the hotel though.
Interesting fact, they grow their own marijuana here and sell special cookies, without telling their customers what they are made of… the people staying at the guesthouse were a bit more relaxed than the usual tourists I have seen around ?.
We made it to the markets afterwards and a local guy dragged us to the lake where a festival was supposedly happening. The girls fell for the trick where locals offer to make a prayer by throwing flowers in the water and they were invited to pay a donation for each family member they have.
Back with the group we drove to an animal hospital nearby, which is pretty much a rescue centre with vets around, where they take care of sick or injured dogs, cats an cows mainly. But you can also find horses, donkeys or camels here, as the centre is trying to help the animals any way possible.
The visit was very difficult. A lot of terribly injured animals, paralysed, wounded with dozens of flies around, missing body parts, poo everywhere. We could see that the staff are doing what they can, but the hygiene conditions were very bad. Multiple dogs in cells, barking a lot when not crying. The friendly ones can run around freely and came to be cuddled as long as they could. Monica from our group fell in love with a particular puppy and is trying to adopt her as I am writing this, hoping to take at least one dog out of this misery.
I could not hold it for too long and I was crying when I went back on the van.
There was also a young camel running around during our visit, his owner could not sell it at the camel market so he tied him up in the jungle, until someone called to rescue him.
We tried to find out how much of our trip is given back to the rescue centres we visit but we could not get an answer, even though they advertise that some of it goes to them.
They welcome animals from the villagers around and offer medical treatment if required. The animals can also be dogsitted for a small daily fee in case the owner has to travel. So far 25000 animals have been treated here, 12-20 a day!
The centre receives about 40 complaints a day about animals who need medical attention. The staff also provides education programmes to schools to avoid rabies.
Afterwards we went back to the hotel and packed our bag for 1 night. Two 4×4 Jeeps came to pick us up and we drove to the desert area where our glamping tents awaited. On the way we saw a lot of camels used for transportation by the locals.
We watched the sunset then walked to the campsite where the hosts welcomed us with chai tea and fried potatoes. Then we had buffet dinner before a nice dance and fire show. It was a little tricky as the power kept cutting down so the dancers had to adjust but their costumes were beautiful (especially the 2 belly dancers) and the entire show was stunning. One of the girls showed her baby to us and begged for money but we already paid in advance for the show and the tips so we let them go. One of us felt a little pushed and bought a bracelet from the dancers.
27/03/19 We left the campsite at 10.30 and dropped out bags at the hotel before going for a bit of shopping. Pushkar is known for silver jewelry and hippie clothes. The atmosphere was a lot more relaxed than the previous cities we visited, and the sellers were not as pushy which was very enjoyable.
We saw many cows on the way.
Later some of us went for a cheap massage and we all met for dinner at the hotel. They made us delicious currys and we offered Jeetu our driver his meal to thank him for his patience and great and very respectful attitude throughout the trip.
28/03/19 Today we have an 8h road trip back to Delhi. Without too much traffic we reached the city before 5pm. I joined Sandra and Lana for a quick last round of market shopping when I found a kurta, typical long shirt I was looking for.
I just had time for a shower before we jumped on tuk tuks for dinner. Unfortunately the drivers dropped us in the wrong place so we had to choose another restaurant nearby. Our guide recommended one based on ratings of her app and it was a great choice, the food was delicious again.
29/03/19 Lexa booked us taxis and the one I took put some luggage on the car’s roof without anything to tie it up. The girls were a little worried we might loose some on the way, but the driver drove very carefully in the turns and didn’t brake suddenly so it worked out fine. We said goodbye to the others, with a few tears and we all split up for our respective gates at the airport. I still had the opportunity to share a burger with the girls before boarding.
This trip exceeded my expectations (not that I really had any) and as the group was great fun I really enjoyed it. We felt safe, had great food, a good mix of activities and a bit of fun everywhere. It was a great place to finish my year of travel, I am now full of memories of beautiful places, great experiences, and most importantly, nice people I met on the way.
Thanks to you if you are reading this and you were part of my travel year, you certainly helped making it quite special for me. Hopefully we will meet again somewhere on this planet one day!
I am now off to Belgium for 2 weeks, where I will celebrate a year of travel before going back to Sydney, relax a little and earn some money, because travelling for a year was not free!
Safe travels everyone!
