Sareeta and I ride a camel at the Pushkar Camel FairThree weeks ago Sareeta, Sophie (PiA bridge year girl--she's between high school and college), and I went to Agra and Pushkar. We went to Agra for the Taj Mahal (duh) and Pushkar for the annual Pushkar Camel Fair, where 50,000 camels plus thousands of horses and cattle are traded. Because Sareeta and I were taking Sophie, PiA completely paid for the trip!
This was my second time to the Taj, and it was MUCH more successful than my first time. This is best demonstrated with pictures:
First visit, December 2007
This visit, October 2009, soon after sunrise
This visit, October 2009, 9:30ish with SareetaAfter visiting the Taj, we had planned to go to Agra Fort. Unfortunately, Sophie got sick and we had to cancel those plans (I've been there before and Sareeta is going back to Agra when her parents visit, so neither of us were particularly disappointed).
Due to some circumstances I still don't really understand, we ended up going to a marble shop (though we were told we were going to this guy's house). I was really annoyed because I thought the driver was doing that whole commission thing. Well, it turned out to be one of the highlights of the trip. The most amazing thing happened!
I said something in Hindi, and then the salesman said that another white girl from California (I said I studied in California) visited his shop the previous week and was learning Hindi in Rishikesh, which is where he had lived. Sareeta then exclaimed that her family was from near Rishikesh, in Dehradun. This man said that he too was from Dehradun! After some name-dropping, it turned out that this man had grown up in the same housing compound as Sareeta's mother and was her uncle's best friend!! Sareeta recognized his name (she heard his name in a bunch of her mother's and uncle's childhood stories). This man had lost touch with Sareeta's family when they moved to the US, and he had been trying to reconnect with them for over 30 years. And now they are reconnected, because we walked into the right marble shop, one of dozens in Agra. Even in a country of over a billion people, it's a small world. Unbelievable.
After this astounding coincidence, we headed to Pushkar, where we met up with Katrina and Kris (Katrina also works at TERI, and Kris is her fiance). On the way we saw many camels on the road, presumably also going to the camel fair:
Camels take the highway to Pushkar, apparently. (blurry because I was in a moving car)
Due to some circumstances I still don't really understand, we ended up going to a marble shop (though we were told we were going to this guy's house). I was really annoyed because I thought the driver was doing that whole commission thing. Well, it turned out to be one of the highlights of the trip. The most amazing thing happened!
I said something in Hindi, and then the salesman said that another white girl from California (I said I studied in California) visited his shop the previous week and was learning Hindi in Rishikesh, which is where he had lived. Sareeta then exclaimed that her family was from near Rishikesh, in Dehradun. This man said that he too was from Dehradun! After some name-dropping, it turned out that this man had grown up in the same housing compound as Sareeta's mother and was her uncle's best friend!! Sareeta recognized his name (she heard his name in a bunch of her mother's and uncle's childhood stories). This man had lost touch with Sareeta's family when they moved to the US, and he had been trying to reconnect with them for over 30 years. And now they are reconnected, because we walked into the right marble shop, one of dozens in Agra. Even in a country of over a billion people, it's a small world. Unbelievable.
After this astounding coincidence, we headed to Pushkar, where we met up with Katrina and Kris (Katrina also works at TERI, and Kris is her fiance). On the way we saw many camels on the road, presumably also going to the camel fair:
Camels take the highway to Pushkar, apparently. (blurry because I was in a moving car)This was my first time to Rajasthan, which I had skipped during my backpacking trip two years ago. Even though I didn't go to any major sights (Rajasthan is famous for its forts and palaces), I can see why it is so firmly on the tourist track. Despite the desert backdrop, Rajasthan is insanely colorful. Women's saris, salwar kameezes, and traditional Rajasthani dresses are extremely vibrant, more than most other places in India, and the men wear vivid turbans--I swear I even saw highlighter yellow!
Rajasthani women in bright clothingPushkar has a lake that is considered sacred by Hindus, and on the last day of the camel fair hundreds of thousands of Hindu pilgrims take a dip (we went on the first day of the fair, because we had heard that there is a huge increase in tourists toward the end and by then most of the camel traders and their livestock leave). Well, we didn't get to see this holy lake, because it was drained for a construction project only a few days earlier. They (not clear who "they" are) set up a swimming pool for daily bathing and the festival immersion. Why they didn't wait ten days until the festival was over is beyond my comprehension. ...Lots of things in India are beyond my comprehension.
drained Pushkar lake--notice the swimming pool in the lower left cornerWe spent most our time walking around the fairgrounds, but we also rode in a camel-pulled cart and on camel humps (see first picture, above)! Here are pictures:
the fairgrounds with camels as far as the eye can see
butthead!
Camel traders chill under their camel carts. They all did this, and I thought it was a brilliant idea. Note the curious camel face on the left.
A lot of the camels had messages and Hindu symbols shaved into their fur. Many also had flowers on their noses.
A Rajasthani camel trader leads his proud camels. Check out his wicked 'stache.
Camel accessories
Did I mention there were 50,000 camels?And now I will end this post with a WTF?! picture, or as John Stewart would call it, "your moment of Zen":
old white women wearing Rajasthani men's turbans
old white women wearing Rajasthani men's turbans
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