From McLoed Ganj to Pushkar

On the Thursday Denny, Hannah, Marco, an English guy called Jay, and myself went to see the exiled leader of Tibet, the Dalai Lama, speak. The speech was translated into English on a local radio frequency. The crowds were big, but we managed to find a space to park our bums, even if the man himself was out of sight. However, the translation was often absent, and after listening to the opening few minutes I found little of interest in his ramblings. After the morning session finished, I wasn't the only one to happily skip the afternoon learnings.

The following day Denny, Hannah and myself returned to Amritsar to experience Diwali, a hugely popular festival. We were very excited about this for an extra reason too, it was to be our first experience of 'Couchsurfing'. Couchsurfing is where locals all over the world agree to let travellers into their lives for free, providing a bed for the night and an insight into their lives. We were set to spend Diwali Eve with our Indian host, Aftab.

Aftab sounded a little nutty on his online profile. Under 'favourite music', he chose 'Tranceeeeeeeeeee'. Under 'favourite books and films', he chose 'Trance and tranceeeeeeee'. Before we met him, we knew one thing; he liked trance. However, what we didn't expect was that he would be an unpleasant host, forcing ear-busting trance on our fragile ears, pushing us to drink 'moonshine' we didn't want to drink, and generally being a pain. The next day we told him we wanted to spend a night in the guruwadas in the Golden Temple - and we never returned.

On our previous visit to Amritsar we had failed to find the guruwadas; the lodgings within The Golden Temple. However, this time we knew where to go. It was a simple dormitory, and in typical dormitory style, we met a fair few travellers also ready to experience Diwali Amritsar style. However, all this meant were some fireworks and overcrowding within the Golden Temple. In fact it was only when the crowds had gone the following day that we were able to fully experience the temple without the lavish decorations it had been smothered in on our previous visit.

On the Monday we took the train to Delhi, and on Tuesday I met up with Jen who I originally met back in Ko Phi Phi in Thailand. She is now travelling with her friend Becky. After saying a temporary farewell to Denny and Hannah, my new trio moved on to Jaipur. Jaipur was a little uninspiring, although we visited a palace and a semi-interesting museum. We soon moved on to Pushkar via a night's stop in nearby Ajmer.

We have now been in Pushkar for a good few days. This has included climbing the nearby mountain ready for sunrise; the very first time I have actually managed to get up for a sunrise in my entire journey. However, it was the monkeys on the hill which provided me with the most interest. We have also witnessed the initial stages of the Pushkar Camel Fair, including the Horse Dancing competition.

We have now been rejoined by Hannah and Denny. Pushkar is a popular place for tourists, even though the holy lake is currently dry. However, as from Monday, things really picked up. The Pushkar Camel Fair began to get into full swing. Within the main arena, various competitions are held. Camel dancing and horse dancing appears to be a favourite of the locals, whilst the Locals versus Tourists football match was quite fun too. However, my favourite event is the camel race. I was expecting quite a serious race, but in truth it was hilariously bad. Some camels went the totally wrong way whilst some barely managed a canter. Meanwhile the leader is putting his heart and soul into it despite having no clear competition. Quite funnily, it wasn't until yesterday that Jen, Becky and myself finally discovered the huge patch of desert where the mass of camels were actually being kept.

Tonight Jen, Becky, Denny, a Dutchman called Ernst and myself are going on a camel trek. I expect a bumpy ride.