Twilight Zone or Rajasthan....You Decide!

Andrea, Denise (her sister), and I left Mumbai Friday afternoon and headed to Jaipur in Rajasthan (north India). After a three hour delay, we finally touched down about 9pm. We decided to go ahead a hire a car to make the three hour drive to Pushkar. The road was empty, save for a few large trucks, and it was a little bit chilly outside, which marks the first time I have been remotely cold since I arrived in India, unless you count the shower which is NEVER hot. Anyway, after passing through Anjar we started to wind up into the hills, Nag Pahar (Snake Mountain) to be exact. As we approached the town of Pushkar around midnight, we were met with a barricade and a couple of random young men. Apparently Pushkar was "closed!" Huh?? But alas, 15 rupees later and we "got in!" Go figure. It just got more bizarre as we went. I will try my best to relay this experience.
Let me start with a little history. Ok, so here is what I do know..... according to Hindu mythology, Brahma dropped a lotus flower and the town of Pushkar floated to the surface. Pushkar is a popular Hindu pilgrimage location. The town is home to one of the few Brahma temples in the world. The town surrounds a small "magical" lake on the edge of the desert. There is no booze, meat, eggs, or kissing allowed, though I did see someone drinking a beer. That is the backstory. In my opinion, there is no other place like it on earth. Back to my adventure....
We had used our trusty "Lonely Planet" guide to call some hotels from the road. We had secured a room at the ever-famous Pink Floyd Cafe & Hotel (yes, each room is named after a different album, "Dark Side of the Moon" for us, please) and also at the Bharatpur Palace. Upon arrival, we decided that Pink Floyd was too far away and found the "Palace." Our room was on the roof (really, it was, and looked somewhat like an orphanage with metal beds lined up along the wall) overlooking the lake and the ghats. There was also a temple next door and it seemed that the Hare Krishnas were celebrating all night. We crashed, they didn't.
As we woke the next morning, we were lured out on the roof by music. What we saw was intense. The entire lake is surrounded by small temple-like buildings and there were so many people on the ghats, bathing in the lake water, cows meandering around, and people just streaming to this lake in mass. I cannot do this site justice, I really can't. You had to see it. It was truly the first time I felt like I was in some sort of National Geographic special.
We got dressed and headed out to eat. We found an amzing little joint, only three tables, and had the best chai and sugar-lemon pancakes I have ever tasted. From there, we just roamed. The whole place was SO intense. There were many "babas" or sort of holy men walking around with dread locks, women with very large nose piercings, young children with kohl rimmed eyes (not sure the significance of that), snake charmers (yep, a cobra), the most sacred cows that I have seen in one place, and a handful of Europeans. I found the whole thing so completely overwhelming that I spent the rest of the day shopping for the most amazing silver jewelry ever. We ended up staying in Pushkar again that night. The aura there was just too surreal to leave.
Reluctantly, we got up super-early the next morning and had to leave. We had hired a car the night before and decided to head to Bundi. Collectively, we thought we would head to a non-tourist town to see another side of India. Bundi is a small town with a large castle looming just above on the side of a mountain. We arrived about 1pm and found a haveli, or guesthouse, near the town center. A haveli is a lot like staying at a friend's house as you are in constant contact with the family. We spent the rest of the day exploring. During the late afternoon, we decided to make the trek up to the palace to explore. The palace is overrun with monkeys, so we were advised to take a stick to sort of shew them away....uh ok....oh, and we were advised to be back before the sun went down as the sky aroubd the palace would fill with bats.....uh ok, again! Sure enough, we were outnumbered by monkeys 20 to 1, especially by one very large monkey who would not let us come back down the trail....and it was getting dark, and the bats were indeed flooding the sky. National Geographic moment #2. We did make it down without any sort of physical injury, but I am still a little mentally scarred by the monkey conspiracy that I am certain was brewing.
The next morning (Monday) we left Bundi and headed to Jaipur. We decided to take the bus instead of hiring a car. We made it to the bus station and hopped on for the ride of our lives. There aren't so many American girls on a rural Indian bus, fyi. It was an adventure, but what a way to experience India. National Geographic moment #3....as we rolled through the desert, we saw camels pulling carts, elephants pulling carts, goat herders, children strapped to their mother's backs as oxen were being tended to. Each mile told a story all it's own. I had to keep reminding myself that I wasn't watching a television show, nor was I on some simulated Disneyland ride. This was real India, real life, and I was watching it all around me. So intense.
We finally pulled in Jaipur, or the "pink city" as it is known, and spent the rest of the day touring around there. It is now midnight and we are leaving to catch the 2am overnight train to Agra to see the Taj Mahal at last. Today is also the first day of Diwali, or the festival of lights. The city sparkles and fireworks are exploding all around us. The embassy has warned us to use precaution while traveling as this is a volatile time. With that, Happy Diwali to all....I will update you on the next leg of this amazing journey!