Pushkar, the hippie heaven of India and the Ibiza of the 70's

Pushkar is a small magical town on the edge of the desert with about 400 temples around the holy lake and is an important Hindu pilgrimage centre where meat, eggs, alcohol and public displays of affection (holding hands or kissing) are strictly prohibited. For us most importantly, there are no rickshaws allowed and people pretty much leave you in peace.

At last we have found peace and all the stress of the past 2 weeks of travelling and desperately trying to get from one place to another has gone!. This place is sooooooo relaxing and even though we are only here for two days, its enough to recharge our batteries. This is the place to chill in Northern India.

Only a few of the temples are particularly ancient and the most famous is the Brahma (one of the Hindu gods, as the creator of all things) temple, supposedly one of the few such temples in the world. The other most important temple is unfortunately on top of a hill overlooking Pushkar which if you manage to make it to the top (llegar a la cima) offers a spectacular view of the town and the surrounding mountains. We made it... just!

Around the lake there are over 50 bathing ghats were pilgrims bathe in the sacred waters. The three most important being the Brahma ghat (where Brahma bathed), the Vishnu ghat (whereVishnu, another hindu god turned into a boar) and the Gandhi ghat (where Mahatma Gandhi's ashes were spread).

Tomorrow, Sunday, its back on the road and off to the next destination: Amritsar, the capital of the Punjab and centre of the religion Sikhism.