Tordi Sagar and Pushkar

Tordi Sagar 

On New Year’s Day we left Jaipur (all with sore heads!) and got around a 4 hour jeep ride to an area called Tordi Sagar. It was in the countryside in India and was a nice change from the madness of the chaotic, polluted citys! The drive there was pretty amazing as we went through all these remote villages - as we drove past many of the people stopped to wave and greet us as we passed. We arrived just after lunch time to a beautiful old converted palace where we were going to be spending the night. 

After lunch and enjoying some free time in the palace we went out in the afternoon to explore the area. First stop was the mustard fields and the old step well. We then went to climb the sand dunes which was where we went to watch the first sunset of 2019. Obviously I needed to drink my first beer of 2019 as well!

The next day we went to explore the local village before heading on to our next destination, Pushkar. The village was fairly quiet as most of the children were either at school or on their way to school. We did get to see lots of wildlife - cows, goats and pigs! Some of the locals in the village showed us some of their skills and I even helped one of them do their ironing with a coal iron! 

Pushkar 

We arrived in Pushkar and it was time for lunch! Another vegetarian curry it was... In Pushkar it is actually a sacred city so they don’t sell meat or alcohol in the shops anyway so just as well I was eating vegetarian... And I probably could do with a 2 day detox from drinking! 

In the afternoon we had booked to do a camel trek followed by dinner in the desert. I had rode a camel twice before in Marrakech but it still took me by surprise now high up you are - My camel was called Romeo and he had a habit of trying to run to overtake the other camels! When we got into the desert we dressed up in traditional Indian clothing and were entertained by dancers and a magician before having dinner. 

The next day was another early start - 6am we left the hotel to hike to the top of Savitri Temple. It was a horrid 20-30 minute uphill climb via steps, in the dark! But when we got to the top the climb was soon forgotten as the sun came up we could see the view over the city and the monkeys also came out to say hello! 

After making our way back down from the hill we went for a walk around the lake and made a stop for well deserved breakfast! The rest of the day was spent exploring the town and relaxing by the pool at the hotel. 

The next day we were heading on the train to Udaipur!