Travelblog: Traveller's lifestyle in Pushkar

A combination of too many years in London, a lack of proper responsibilities and an unhealthy admiration for Michael Palin have led Nick Claxton to spend a year travelling the globe. A terminally-disorganised 24-year-old taking on the world - solo. He will be sharing his experiences from India and Nepal, south-east Asia, New Zealand and South America. This month he is reporting from India and Nepal. Here is his fifth blog entry:

I woke up to the noise of the fan dying and the sudden heat sent me scampering upstairs to find some breeze. This was my first day in Pushkar, and one of my first experiences while travelling of having nothing planned.

I enjoyed being shepherded around Kashmir, but it was only now that I realised how constrained my travels have been so far.

So as I explored the tiny town that morning, I was filled with the same guilty freedom that you get by taking a sly day off work and spending your time productively - reading while lying in the park.

My good mood guided me towards the nearest ghats down to the lake to enjoy the view of the many temples surrounding the water.

Pushkar is considered a holy place by Hindus, especially since it is the only place in India where there is a temple to Brahma.

The story goes that Brahma was trying to decide where to perform a sacred ritual and while he was thinking, a lotus petal from fell from his hand and formed Pushkar's lake.

Brahma later visited the town and married a local girl, infuriating his wife Savitri who placed a curse on him that from then on he would only be worshipped there.

So although there are some 400 other temples crowded into Pushkar, the Brahma temple attracts by far the greatest number of pilgrims from all over India.

The Brahma temple's bright colours make it easily identifiable and although busy, it still felt like a refuge from the sun-scorched market outside its walls.

Entrance and leaving your shoes in a numbered rack should be free, as should any offering of puja (prayer) at the lakeside ghats.

Extra emphasis on should though, as my good mood was soured by locals chancing their luck by pretending to be Brahmins (priests) and trying to talk me into giving 'donations' which my instinct warned would be promptly pocketed.

Their trick is to take you down by the lakeside and get you to repeat their mantras appealing to Brahma, but then they slip in a promise to give a cash offering 'for the temple' or on behalf of each of your family members.

Despite being fairly agnostic, I had been enjoying the peaceful act of prayer before this guy sitting next to me brought up money.

That his only concern was his own profit was confirmed to me when I tried to put my donation straight into the boxes provided for this rather than give it to him.

I ignored his mock indignation at the amount I eventually offered to extricate myself from the situation and then I retreated back to the hostel to quell my anger and reassess this place.

I was shocked at how brazenly this supposed holy man would exploit his religion. I felt Pushkar's peaceful atmosphere had been marred within my first few hours and the dignified, holy ambiance that had been tangible that morning had been cheapened for me.

Had it not been for the people staying with me at the Athiti Guesthouse, I doubt I would have been in Pushkar for more than another day or so.

There was a call from the desert that I came close to answering - I'd heard glowing stories of Jaisalmer's fort - but I found that a good hostel can have a huge influence on your impressions of a place.

The atmosphere and people at Athiti chimed so well with what I felt I needed, and the easy-going nature of the small place cooled my frustrations enough that I resolved to give Pushkar another try.

So I spent a few days relaxing on the roof shaded from the scorching desert sun which made us all lethargic. Some days we would do little else but sit up on the roof shooting the breeze, playing chess and getting a tan.

Days eventually turned into weeks that passed in a happy haze of simple living - punctuated spurts of drama when people left, new travellers arrived, when we were hit by sandstorms that blacked out the sky.

I'd finally hit the traveller's lifestyle after almost three weeks on the road, and it felt satisfying. My expenses were almost solely on books, water and food - I'd recommend Little Tibet and the Hard Rock Café as some of the best restaurants in town.

Some parts of Pushkar still had the ability to spur us into action, however. The Savitri temple on the mountain looming above us was an obvious attraction. Climbing was not too much of a challenge, although its imperative to leave early to beat the sun.

We started around 08:00 local time and by the time we reached the bottom again around 10:00, the heat was stifling and some of the people coming the other way were visibly struggling.

My only other indulgence in Pushkar was renting a 125cc motorbike (200 rupees a day) so whenever I was gripped with the need for activity, those two wheels gave me the freedom to burn out into the desert and get a new perspective on where I was.

The desert has always seemed to me to be the perfect place for bike riding - as endless sand rolls by and you feel the hot gusts of wind edging you onwards, you're engaging with the raw side of nature and it's somehow therapeutic. I can't imagine that I'd have spent so long in the desert without having that release.

These factors all helped my planned three days in Pushkar stretch out into weeks, but my idyllic view of this little desert oasis was not to remain unchanged.

Nick Claxton