Friday 14 August & Saurday 15 August- Pushkar- the town that is eating itself, and hasn't realised..

Yesterday's journey here was a bit of a nightmare.. It all started some days before with a rickshaw driver and his dodgy mates a the travel agency.
The bus left 1 1/2 hours later then expected, we then got dumped by the side of the road, when we were expecting to be dropped off at the bus station.. We then had to negotiate with another rickshaw driver to get us here. Once we got here, he got stopped by the police. He attempted to bribe them, the police took both the bribe & his licence! He then dropped us on the outskirts of Pushkar as he could not go any further in to the town (rickshaw aren't allowed here- hence the police), telling us it was the main market- when it blatantly wasn't! We managed to find the guest house which we had booked. It is very nice & we have a western toilet- which is well worth the extra 150 ruppees it is costing us!
Pushkar is a tourist town. It is centred on a holy lake which is one of the pilgrimage places for Hindu's. But now it seems to be more about the tourists. The lake is non-existant due to the monsoon failing- so it is even more about the tourists now... Ironically, the more hotels which are built, and more tourists that come, the less water there is for the lake. Which is why it is the town which is eating itself.... It seems to be pretty much a town of 2 halves- the bazaar for the tourists- and the accompanying junk, and then the town for the ordinary population. So, if I am sounding a bit jaded, then these are the reasons why..
Also, it looks as though our plans are changing. We are currently talking about another week of travelling and then going back to Jaipur for th final week to volunteer. We have emailed the voluntary organisation to find out if they will have us back...