Pushkar is around 15 kilometres from Ajmer city. There are frequent buses that ply to Pushkar from the Ajmer bus stand every 30 minutes. Cabs and rickshaw are also available and they charge anything from 300 to 500 INR. Take this option if you are good at bargaining or take a bus. I was travelling solo, so decided to take a bus and save some money. Rickshaw from Ajmer station to the bus stand (barely 2 kms.) costed me 40 Rs. The bus fare was 12 Rs. If you have heavy backpacks like I did, then you may face some difficulty as the bag compartment in the buses are really small. So you may just have to keep them on your lap, as the bus gets packed most times. The road journey to Pushkar takes you through a few mountain curves. Aravali mountain range and you can spot some golden tail macaques on the way. It also gives an amazing paranoma of Ajmer city and the lake nestled in between the city shined golden as the sun set. Took a rickshaw ride that costed me 50 Rs. and I reached Moustache hostel, Pushkar.
Where to Stay:
It was already 7 P.M and the whole journey from Bhuj (I started at 6 P.M on the previous day) was tiring. So I decided to relax for the night and managed to do some unpacking and washed my clothes. The hostel was like an Haveli with gorgeous veranda, soothing blue and yellow interiors. It was filled with art, so many wall paintings, quirky designs, comfortable chairs and also a pet dog. Yes, they had a Labrador named Blue, who was friendly. I stayed at Moustache hostel for 2 nights in a female dorm and paid 560 Rs. Isn’t that a great deal! The hostel has a restaurant on the 2nd floor that offers gorgeous views of the Pushkar lake. The ambiance is thoughtful, calming and quirky. The restaurant is slightly expensive, but the food is good. Besides the staff at Moustache were helpful and the dorm rooms were cleaned everyday. (This is not sponsored, just had a good experience here). They also have a terrace which was useful for doing yoga and the sunrise view from the terrace was breath taking. The best part was meeting travellers all across the globe. So hands down, Moustache hostel was worth it. There are several other hostels available too in the vicinity. I use booking.com to book my stays during my travels.
What to see in Pushkar:
Pushkar is famous for the Brahma temple and has a few other temples too. Lord Brahma in Hindu mythology is the god that created the world. Pushkar Lake or Pushkar Sarovar is said to be created by him. It is a considered as a sacred lake and evening aarti happens everyday. The sides of the Lake are now converted in ghats, where people perform puja’s, take a dip in the holy water (that looked murky and a little dirty). There are around 52 ghats and about dozens of temples mostly small ones. There hundreds of egrets swimming in the lake mostly in pairs and look so beautiful. They keep navigating through out the day in the lake and some times swam across to a different sides of the lake, only adding to the beauty of this place. At the ghats, the local people feed grains to pigeons and it is a surreal experience, when they fly off over your head.
Experiencing solitude here is a little difficult as no matter what time of the day. The locals keep pushing you to buy flowers or do a puja or they try to sell something, which can be a little irritating. Also in the evening, there is a tabla artist who gives a few drumming lessons and this happens in the morning around 11 A.M and in the evening around 6 P.M which is the same time as the aarti. The tabla class is donation based and one can give according to their will. It is such a melting pot experience as I sat next to the teach with other travellers. All of us engrossed in the tune of music. Overlooking the Pushkar Lake and the sound of chants from the aarti made my evening special.
Pushkar is such a blend of both spirituality and hippie vibes. I met people from all parts of the world here. Restaurants here not only had Indian, but also Israeli, Italian and continental food too. But all of it, vegetarian!! Yes, being a holy place, non vegetarian food is not at all available. If your craving for it real badly, then head to Ajmer. Ajmer is a treasure trove of non vegetarian food. It also has a lot of fast food joints. Here are some restaurants I eat when in Pushkar
Places to eat in Pushkar
La Pizzeria — I headed here for a dinner the first night I was in Pushkar. Apart from the ambiance which was open courtyard in a building (they also have indoor seating). The tables had candle lights and there was light music playing. Quite a romantic place, I was the only solo person there. They have really good pizza. The pizza’s are wood fired ones and the portion size is too big even for 2 people. I ordered a spinach ravioli. Again the portion size was really good. Around 10–12 ravioli stuffed with spinach and cheese. A mozzarella cheese sauce smothered over ravioli served with garlic bread, all of this was just 270 Rs. I also ordered a ginger lemon honey tea and my bill was 300 Rs. They have some good salads too. They staff is courteous and ready to explain the dishes and give suggestions.
Narayan Cafe & Restaurant — Tucked in a corner in the busy market of Pushkar. This place serves some good breakfast, specially pancakes. Also tried their mushroom cheese sandwich which was priced at 80 Rs. and must say it was pretty good. Masala chai was also nice. It is a nice place to chill and relax after some shopping.
Radhe Ji restaurant — Located near Mahadev Chowk, this indian restaurant serves good dosas. The place is very basic and the food is pretty reasonable and tasty. They also have dal baati churma (a rajasthani dish)and the malpua was too good.
Besides this, there are a lot of street food vendors that sell fried snacks like kachori, aloo tikki’s, malpua and much more :)
The street food is pocket friendly and delicious too. Although the cleanliness could be questionable at times!
Shopping scenes are quite lit in Pushkar. From tapestry to exotic essential oils, leather bags to silver jewelry, artsy diaries to local handicrafts. There’s just so much to shop there. I ended up buying a lot of silver jewelry as it was seriously cheap and the plethora of designs available, I just could not resist. Travellers here were mostly hippies, but what I realized is that Pushkar vibe was conducive to it. It felt liberating to just yourself and no judging.
P.S - If you are into silver jewelry, do not forget to buy some nose rings/ ear rings/ accessories. I brought a pretty sceptum piercing ring for just Rs.40
Coming to the darker side of Pushkar, one should also be a little careful too. Drugs are readily available here and hence you may get asked openly if you want to score some. The first night I arrived at Pushkar, I headed to La Pizzeria and it was around 10 P.M when I was returning back to the hostel. Atleast 3 people kept asking me if I wanted ‘SOMETHING”. Yes, I have a sceptum piercing, but I don’t drugs. One of this man was so persistent he followed me for 5 minutes, repeatedly asking ‘kuch chahiye madam?’ (Do you want something)while I was on a phone call. When I was almost about to reach the hostel, I got eve teased. And I was pretty shocked as all of this never occurs in my home town, Mumbai. So I would advise not to lurk out after 8 P.M in Pushkar as most of the stores close by that time and the streets start to get empty all of a sudden.
Although I stayed at Pushkar for around 3 days, I would love to come back, probably for Holi or the Pushkar festival. Pushkar is one place in Rajasthan that has turned me into a favorite destination. Would love to explore a little more next time at Pushkar. Hope this article helps you get a fair idea of Pushkar. #RememberRajasthan
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