Splendors of Rajasthan. India travel review

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We moved to <strong>Pushkarstrong> for the camel fair. Since tourists are still a few (the Full house is expected in recent days, for the rites of the full moon), scanned the tented camp and accommodation in a comfortable hotel.<br />The village has a shop full of goods, which is nice to choose and negotiate; adjacent to the market many fall into the lake <strong>Pushkarstrong> ghat. The site is one of the most sacred in India and attracts pilgrims from every region. But here, too., As in <strong>Delhistrong>, the sacred includes poverty, filth and promiscuity; trample barefoot - as required by respect for the sacred place - the stone steps is an act of true heroism and of boundless confidence in their immune system .<br />Then, we dive into the fair. The sandy hills that surround the city are covered with tents and herds of horses and camels. The show is extraordinary. The men, dressed in styles more diverse, with large colorful turbans, squatting, smoking and watching, without showing it, the animals on which they put the eye. The negotiations are slow and complex, dotted with horse races, polo matches with the camels, singing and dancing. Indeed, for the applicant, agree to <strong>Pushkarstrong> ethnic groups of all sorts, a caste of nomads, who is called the "gipsy", Gypsies, merchants and tourists entertains with music, men playing stringed instruments and percussion and girls, from large bright eyes and supple movements, dance and facilities, with natural grace and with youthful freshness, for the camera. The sadhu holy men, professionals of the sacred, solemn stillness sit in the shade of the few trees that take root in the sand or walking with solemn Inaccessible, do not touch the colorful confusion. Under makeshift shelters are manufactured and sold for camels harnesses, whips, saddles, musical instruments, fabrics, patch up the large tents that serve as restaurant boils water for tea and smoked pot of soup. The world of the fair is predominantly male, women peep from the tents, cook and sew, tend to the many children. But the horsemen galloping to boast of the excellence of their steeds, men lean and vigorous, with large curved dagger at his belt, watching in silence, others approaching the turbans jabbering thick red, yellow, blue.<br />Try to calarci in this world so far away and so fascinating, we are accepted with benign indifference, sometimes with mild curiosity. Only sellers tenaciously follow us to deliver us the gain of the day.<br />In the afternoon of November, we move to <strong>Udaipurstrong>. The so-called highways in India deserve a nod. Have only toll highway: they are, in fact, a ribbon of asphalt on which to move pedestrians, bicycles, motorcycles, carts pulled by men, on horses and camels. These are truly unique: Vehicles wooden wheels very high and very long shafts, which has harnessed the camel majestic and indolent, with disdainful tolerance seems to accept the effort of towing. From lanes lateral to input, without any precautions on the large and bustling thoroughfare, men and animals, the driver must have eyes on all sides and drastically reduce the speed. However, we reach <strong>Udaipurstrong> without incident. The hotel accommodation is cumbersome and the usual refreshments welcome extends beyond all reason. The end we are given a truly unique accommodation. Dwell in the royal apartments converted into a museum. Our rooms are developed around a spectacular living room is furnished with crystal, that the novelty of a maharaja ordered in the early nineteenth century England without ever using them for their utter discomfort. Accommodation is luxurious, but almost inaccessible, the scale of entry is steep and made up so high that steps should be scaled with the aid of his hands, the rooms are decorated with sumptuous bed linen and paraphernalia bearing monumental canopies and curtains, the receptacle of powder secular, but there it was, this is India.