ROYAL EINFIELD IN RAJASTAN (10-16/09)

The time spent in Pushkar included some visits to some very interesting Hindu Temples and their ‘Babas’.
It all started with a motorbike: The Royal Enfield, the Indian Harley Davidson, highly recommended by a good friend and many others.

Mukesh' workshop, THE place to get a RE

If soemone want's an Einfield Mukesh can refurbish on of these for 1.000 EUR!

Finally we had the freedom to go wherever the road would take us.....

Swords??? Yep, they're still used in India. Some farmers save money for long time to get a good handmade sword to take care of it's cattle....

Some stops along the road, a "TV tent".

Amazing roads and always a shepherd walking the cattle...

During several days we got on the bike and explored the area around Pushkar, this is how we found the gorgeous temples.

The first one we run into was a small temple where we met ‘Alu Baba’. Alu means ‘potato’ in Hindu, this Baba was named like that because potatoes is all he’s been eating for the past 25 years! "and Chai tea and sometimes banana!", as he said. He resigned everything, family, house, material stuff, to devote himself to meditation and connection with his spiritual life.

We understood that he just eat potato not because it´s healthy (actually it´s not) but to show that we can be above that, food was not what fed him...
He kindly opened the doors of the temple and offered us a cup of Chai tea while sharing an interesting chat about his life decisions and some daily stuff about the world. It´s impressive to find someone who never went out of India and walked the road for years that can talk to you in english and spanish! He even knew about the existence Brussels as the capital of Belgium, Antwerp as an important port and diamonds market and Buenos Aires. Un grande!

Continuing on the road you bump into the Shiva Temple, an amazing temple located in a naturally beautiful place next to a river. We expend long time contemplating what was going on around this magical place. First monkeys came and play around for more than an hour. Then goats came and walked on the narrow walls and for sunset peacocks show their feathers, beautiful. Nowadays the temple is empty, but you can always find a Baba that´s read to share an interesting story or just hear what you have to say.

Thanks Chorch for giving us the advise of renting this bike, it might be not as good as cycling but the feeling of the place is much stronger when you're on a pair of wheels!

PUSHKAR (10-16/09)

Another holy town? Yes, this is India!

Pushkar is another sacred place that receives many visitors from all around to take a bath in its holy lake, which is most part of the year empty!, receive some ‘puya’, blessing by a Brahman, and visit its temples.

One would ask, what is different in a holy place? In this case restrictions are clear: no alcohol is allowed in the area, no meat, no chicken and not even eggs can be found there! Despite this the restaurants offer a wide range of veggie specialities that make you forget about meat!

Another element of a holy place is that there are many more cows hanging around the streets, this makes traffic really complicated, as many visitors, pilgrims, motorbikes and cows transit the main street!

Its architecture is very attractive, many colours and detailed carvings in old wooden doors surprise you in every corner.

Since it’s a transited place many manufacturers and craftsmen are established in this charming village, so if you pass by Pushkar remember to buy the presents there!

We arrived with our new friend Noa from Israel who, following a recommendation, took us to ‘Doctor Alone’ Guesthouse, what a good choice! Good location, decoration, food and great view! Doctor Alone was the character to meet, a well-known local ‘Brahman’ that will share with you lots of funny stories to understand a bit more about the Hindu culture.

Lore & Noa

Dinner on the terrace of Doctor Alone

Doctor Alone's kitchen

The afternoon in Pushkar is monkey time. Monkeys from the surroundings come to town looking for food. Watching them is great entertainment, how they try to snick into the houses, opening windows and running away with a cake in their hands!

We also met Jose in Pushkar, Tere’s cousin, the one we met in BKK. Great person, we had more time to share great talks about several topics and he showed us some secret corners in town, where you can find great food and less people than on the touristic rout.

Jose combines his spiritual path with shipping Indian clothes to Argentina, so he showed us a bit of that interesting world of Indian clothes. We made a fun tour to the factories and met many of the players of this famous market, Lore played the model role!

Thanks Jose for the shared moments in Pushkar, for your clothes tour and the advices, we hope to see you soon, either in India or in San Juan!!!

MUCHO METTA PARA JOSEBABA!