Choose another map, showing:

• India
• Asia
• Eurasia
• Eurasia, Africa & Pacific
• The World

Other entries in Agra

Pushkar & Agra with the harem

So off the 5 of us set (me and my Spanish harem of 4) to Pushkar - a spiritual place where Brahma tried to commit self mortification. His wife, Sivitri, found him in the act and got pissed off with him. To spite her he went off and married another Dorris so he now had yet another wife - strange how religion mirrors real life........ Where was I. ...........

Yes so the 5, did I mention I have a Spanish harem - they even call themselves that - I digress again......... So the journey according to Yogi is a 2 leg affair; part 1 a bus to Ajmer then a short hop on another bus to Pushkar. Off we set, my harem and I that is............. The bus to Ajmer was a local bus and only a 5 hour journey - a mere amble for a 26 hour hardened local bus 'expert'. True to form we arrived in Ajmer an hour late and the heat of the day was beginning to raise its head. At the bus station the local throng was in good form and we ( my harem and I that is) found the bus to Pushkar with the help of a local with so much Pan in his mouth his name was probably Peter. It was however full with the next one due in 30 minutes. Alicia was keen to get going and was going to enter the bus when the peter the Pan muncher splurted out ' up, up' and pointed to the roof.

Not being shy and seeking out adventure where ever it raises its head we duly climbed on to the top of the bus - rucksacks and all. The journey out of Ajmer was then a bit of a laugh atop of the bus as the views were great and the sport of mind the tree or you loose your head helped to focus the mind. - very funny. 30 minutes later we arrived in the metropolis that is Pushkar - the place where alcohol, drugs, meat and eggs (yes eggs) are forbidden - why you may ask did I go to such a place. Did I mention I have a harem???

I felt it best that we had some alone time ( the girls actually wanted to go to a relatively swanky place to say whereas I wanted the cheap as chips option). I checked into the extremely clean and nice Whitehouse and from the rooftop restaurant was getting my bearings. I decided to head into town and as I left the harem walked in the front door of the guesthouse - see they are stalking me - I'm irresistible after all, not. A few nervous laughs later and an explanation in Spanish (alright and then in English) to say that the place wasn't great and where I had chosen was better they checked in and I then went to explore after having lunch with the girls which consisted of 5 dishes of different takes on tofu. Oh and a coffee that was so bad I wouldn't use it to tarmac even an Indian road with.

Now explore is a bit too grandiose a word for Pushkar although it is a very pretty place, big it ain’t. The entire place is based around a sacred lake where Brahma  tried the old trick of trying Immortality. Around the lake are several bathing 'ghats', one where Ghadi's ashes were scattered. There are also several temples of different religions including a Hindu Brahma temple which thousands visit on Pilgrimage every year. So all in all a very holly and spiritual place. Due to the sacred nature of the place it has drawn a decent traveler crowd and the inevitable 'Indian business' aka con artists and charlatans.

The bible mentions these fakes and that they will approach and then basically ask for dinero for blessing your family and shit like that. Not that I don't care or love my family but profiting from such a spiritual place is totally unacceptable in my book - and on message for a significant portion of the Indian population - based on my experience thus far. My radar was up and primed for some action with the charlatans.  It wasn't long before I was locked and loaded. I was sat on the waters edge soaking in the environment and thinking about 'stuff' when this real dickhead approached claiming to be from the highest caste, the Brahmin. In hind site I bet he wish he hadn't and he soon started to realise that he had made a mistake and that lying and trying to con someone on the basis of religion or spirituality wasn't necessarily the best way to make a living. He left with his karma well and truly battered. I didn't get any hassle for the rest of the evening.

I decided to get up early to see the Brahma temple before the crowds arrived so got there for 7am. Now I was expecting some form of grand complex for such a revered place. It turned out to be smaller than the LBS quad. - just goes to show that important things don't have to be big in size.........  It was interesting to see the morning pilgrims process around the various shrines, but I didn't get the spark that I was expecting - oh well the breakfast at a restaurant close by did - sugar lemon pancake (don't ask where the contraband eggs came from - it was a good pancake!)

I then went for my second Indian barber shave only to be disappointed by the fact that it cost a whopping 80rp versus the 25 in Jaipur - tourist prices!!!  The rest of the day was meant to be spent meandering and taking it easy (and update my blog). It was rudely interrupted about an hour in by my harem (have I mentioned them before) calling 'guapo' from afar - like I had a clue. We then hung out and wandered around - 2 of the girls sara and eugia got roped into the Brahmin con trick - the rest of us just looked on as the comedy unfolded......... 300 rp each later the sting was complete - another unfortunate 'Brahmin' tried his luck with me and again came out first loser from the bout. When he mentioned ' I don't want money' I went ballistic as to why he put his scared religion and money together - what an own goal.

Anyway....... Later we went to get a late lunch and ended up back where I had my morning nosebag - the fresh pasta this time was amazing as the chef came out to boast how he made fresh pasta and shhhhhh about the eggs. The afternoon was becoming lazy with not a lot to do and for a laugh we decided to try bhang (Patricia being the protagonist). Now Bhang, for those who don't know, is used to make things 'special' or 'happy' - anything from Lassi to pizza and it seemed like a good idea to try special chai. The results were a mixed bag - personally there was no effect, three girls fell asleep later in the afternoon but sara had an 'experience'. Basically she had a massage after drinking the special tea. Post massage she evidently came back euphoric and claimed that it was the best massage ever. All the girls signed up for a massage the following morning. I passed and wrote bhang off.

Another anecdote from that evening I was offered ' hash, bhang, coke' which is the norm on the streets but the funniest thing was that the usual whispering tirade was completed with '...... Eggs...' - hilarious.

Now getting phone calls from your family when you are away is very nice, especially when it is your sister who is on the other side of the planet to you. What is not so nice is when there is a hint of terror in her voice....... ' Chris you're not in Jaipur are you?' Is a bit of an obscure question to answer, especially at 4.31 am.  6 of 8 bombs had gone off in the main area of Jaipur killing 60 people and injuring 150 the previous evening at 7.30. This was the first that I knew about it although Jaipur was only 15 miles away. Its amazing how close the world is as well as so far away at the same time. A few reassuring moments later we said our goodbyes and I called the folks ' erm, just to let you know - I'm not dead.....' Was how it started.


The slightly disturbing thing is that in my original plans  prior to speaking to Yogi and meeting my harem I would have been in Jaipur and it would be highly probable that I would have been in the exact place where the bombs went off - scary stuff and home felt like a long way away. Call it fate, whatever - I'm just thankful I wasn't there. Thanks for your support (you know who you are) it made a real difference

The following morning I woke with the need to burn off some energy after sitting around for the last few days, my intention was to do a lap around the lake via the Jain temple that I hadn't seen yet. It turned into, after only one wrong turn, a hike up a hillside (500 metre above the lake) to the Sivitri temple ( Brahma’s missus'). Once at the top I reaffirmed my thoughts about the sweatiness of pedophiles in nurseries - with no wind to cool until at the top of the hill I was d-ripping. However Sivitri did pick a good spot and the view of the town was impressive and worth the lost of bodily fluid as well as a good form of exercise.

The rest of the day passed off pretty uneventful save for meeting an English guy who was in Jaipur when the bombs went off. The afternoon was awash with slight hesitation due to the fact that we, my harem and I, were taking the nightbus to Agra, via Jaipur where the curfew was still in place and to be honest the police still don't have a Scooby about who or really why.

The journey started off as comical as the rattle trap hit every bump and shook us to bits. The humour soon wore off as the lack of sleep and jolting of the bus took over. The bus was due to arrive in Agra at 6am - we got there at 4am due to the 'skill' / stupidity of the driver.......

So we are in the middle of nowhere at 4am. The masterplan was to use the bag drop at the Taj Mahal to store our bags and from there get the train in the evening (which I had already booked) to Varanasi. A. Military precision plan that was well thought out - getting there 2 hours only was only a minor hitch.

The wheels fell off the autoricksaw when the autoricksaw driver at the random bus station said 'no Taj Mahal closed today - Friday closed'. Now I was still feeling shaken not stirred and not in the best of moods - he was also trying to charge a fortune to get to the Taj.  My first reaction was to ask the guy which of his legs he would like me to break, left or right ( well at least I gave him a choice). Then my second was to check the bible for the validity of his claim - and shit me the first thing in India to close on any day thus far was the Taj Mahal on Fridays. Oh bollocks.

With the wind truly knocked out of the sails we checked for accommodation near the Taj that we could just crash and regroup. Fortunately there was a place with a roof top restaurant view of the Taj with rooms available we checked in and watched the sunrise over the Taj which was amazing as the colour of the marble changed as the suns rays started to illuminate the shrine of a amour.

Post breakfast the fact that I wouldn't get into the grounds had sunk in and to be honest I wasn't and still am not that fussed - think you need to be there with 'someone special' to get the full experience. I'm happy to have seen the architectural beauty of this wonder of the modern world and will save all the gush for next time.

I walked around the walls with Alicia as the others were power napping as only the Spanish know how. We tried to sweet talk / quasi bribe the guards at the main entrance (which is basically down a side street - not a grandiose entrance as was expected for such a significant place, but I am now getting used to the Indian way ) no baksheesh was on offer so the chance of getting in finally slipped away

Now also in Agra is the fort (of course there is) which I thought in the rest of the day I must explore something before boarding the train to Varanasi. Turns out the fort is quite interesting and has a bollywood style history. The best part being the following........

The Taj Mahal was built by Emperor Shah Jahan as a memorial to his missus who died giving birth to their 14th child (wincing from all the females I know). Anyway, the building of the Taj basically bankrupt the family but Shah Jahan had the genius ideal to build a similar thing for his own enshrinement. Aurangzeb, son and heir apparent, got a bit pissed off that his dad was spending his inheritance by pissing it up against the proverbial marble wall and overthrew his own father - better than a script on 'Enders.

Aurangzeb was a bit of a mean mofo throughout his rule but was kind enough to lock his father up in the fort at Agra with a view of the Taj, which he got to admire from afar before he too carked it.

That in a nutshell is my Agra experience - closed on Fridays.

Add to del.icio.us Add to reddit