Travel to Pushkar Mela Festival : camel market
- Traveling by public transport from Ajmer to Pushkar (Rajasthan) : the rickshaw drivers in Ajmer get totally wild when they see a possible customer and are willing to take you the whole way to Pushkar. The problem is that they don't get over the mountain (and they know that) and then you stand there half way between Ajmer and Pushkar and don't know what to do. There are many busses for 5 rupees traveling between the two cities or take a taxi for 75 rupees. - On the Pushkar Mela the "camel market of Pushkar" yearly about 200.000 people come for the 15.000 camels, 2000 horses and 1000 cows that are sold on the Pushkar market.
- exchanging money in Pushkar : the travel agencies in Pushkar are not problematic about exchanging cash or travelers cheques, there is not cash machine / ATM in Pushkar.
- The Pushkar festival : during the Diwali festival (a fire festival in the period of no moon in about half November, 2 weeks before the end of the Pushkar festival during full moon) arrives all the camels on the fields. This is the most interesting period if you mainly come to see the camels. The fields are full of camels and the tour groups have not yet arrived so the hotel prices still stay low. A week later begins the real Pushkar Mela, what is actually more of a loud tivoli and art market. On that moment the authorities gives the order that the camels that have been sold must leave the fields to leave place in between the camels, mud and scrap for the tourists to run around and take photos. Most of the tourists stay in the big tent camps (125 dollar per night) but all hotel prices suddenly fly sky high and the absolute budget accommodation starts from 500 rupees per night. The two last days of the Pushkar camel festival the masses of visitors reaches the maximum of what the town can handle and people have to squeeze themselves along the streets. The camel races and rope pulling competitions during the last days of the festival are not really worth the effort. On the last day all the Indian visitors take a swim in the lake, which you best watch from one of the hotels with a view on the lake.- Sights during the Pushkar Mela : the amateur circus is a lot of fun to visit and watch. The knife act was very exciting and also the wild motorbike rider that almost made the whole tent fall down after having driven into into one of the bearing poles really created a lot of ambiance! The two hills overlooking the village is a great place to watch the sun rise or set.
- buying books in Pushkar : there are about 10 good shops of literature in english in Pushkar, you can find all the Lonely Planet, Footprint and Rough Guide guide books to India together with other books, mainly about India, hinduism and meditation.
- internet cafes : the internet connection in Pushkar is terribly slow, surfing costs 20 rupees per hour.
- budget hotels and cheap accommodation in Pushkar : a simple double room with bathroom cost during the Pushkar camel market about 1000-1500 rupees, budget rooms cost 500 rupees. If you want cheaper accommodation during the Pushkar Mela you can move over to the close by village of Ajamer (5 rupees by bus, 75 rupees by taxi, the rickshaws can't get there). Another possibility is to stay in a 2 person tent on the roof of hotel Shree Palace (200 rupees, phone 772633). Or you can of course do what thousands of Indians do, get a blanket and sleep in the open air on the camel fields but don't forget that it gets terribly cold during the night. During the day the temperature stays around a pleasant 25°C but drops abruptly during the night, sometimes down to the freezing point.
- Traveling by public transport from Pushkar to Bikaner : The travel agencies organize night busses at 22:00. It is also possible to travel by train, get one of the local busses that leave every hour to Merta (2 hours), from Merta-city a bus will take you to Mertaroad (20 minutes), and from Mertaroad one train leaves every day at 11:50 to Bikaner (arrival at 15:30). Surely leave before 9:00 from Pushkar if you want to catch the train.
