track our trek

pushkar was an interesting place...apparently famous because of its reputation as a holy city, alcohol and drugs are supposed to be forbidden here...not surprisingly, it turns out to be well known as a place where tourists stop off and score all the drugs and alcohol they could want! (contradictions are the name of the game in india!) when we arrived, we were charged 150 rupees each for a "cleaning fee"...ha! excuse me, did you say you charge tourists a "cleaning fee" for the city? exactly which part of the city is clean? next satish told us about the "holy passport"...touts harass newcomers incessantly until they pay money for flowers to throw in the holy lake as a means of paying respect. once you've paid for your "holy passport" you get a bracelet of string round your wrist, and you can feel free to roam the streets and temples of pushkar without further harassment. (at least not more than is the norm everywhere else in rajastan.) satish told us about the passport, then advised us that if we didn't want to buy into it, then we should behave as if we weren't happy with our driver while we three were in public together! apparently, drivers are expected to instruct their tourists to cooperate, and if they don't, thugs sometimes gang up and threaten or actually fight the drivers!! that's absurd! naturally, we refused to be bullied by the pushkar mafia! we attempted to walk around the lake one morning without paying for the "holy passport." we were followed by at least three people claiming to be holy men (bull shit!) who insisted we show respect and pay for a blessing or "go back to your hotel and sleep!" can you imagine...so after telling them to fuck off in so many words, we strolled through the market for a couple more hours, then bid pushkar a fond farewell. are you kidding me? it's outrageous that people should buy into this mafia-run town...