India Day 8.

I don't really know if this is Day 8, but I'll continue to number my blog entries sequentially just to keep things tidy.

After Jaipur (which was the Amber Fort, the elephant ride, the Jantar Mantar (fun to say!), the crazy rickshaw ride and the gem-cutting) we drove to Pushkar.....the home of The Pigeon Who Fell From the Sky.

The Pushkar resort was sooo fantastic. It was just soooooo fantastic. Oddly enough, it was built to provide accommodation for Kate Winslet, Harvey Keitel and the cast and crew of the 1999 movie Holy Smoke.

It's in the middle of nowhere, not within walking distance of the city of Pushkar at all, and it was like an oasis of peace and quiet. The rooms were either little individual cottages or duplexes, all covered with vines and bouganvillea. It's like a little village, winding paths that connect each cottage and they eventually wound their way to the reception area, the pool and the restaurant. 

My biggest complaint about the hotels is the fact that most of them just have a duvet. Sure, it's a fabulously fluffy feathery item, but it's too hot to sleep with, but when I cast it aside I'd get too cold. I had to rustle around like a hamster, trying to get it fluffed up and tucked to one side to stay at an even temperature. I'd have killed for a sheet. 

As in Europe, all the toilets had strange ways of flushing. This one was the most unusual, not only because the whole room was like of of those "magic eye" pictures where you have to squint to see the picture, but because you had to turn a knob to fill the toilet (each time) before you flushed it with another lever. Plus the shower had 4 knobs and a tub faucet, but no tub, and a thing that looked like an old fashioned well-pump in there also. Some knobs turned left for hot and some turned right for hot. Trying to have a shower was a dangerous procedure, shrieks of pain from scalding water and yells of shock from sudden blasts of cold water were frequently heard from all the rooms. 

The food was mostly organic and the grounds had huge gardens where they grew as much as they could, depending on the season. I really liked it here a lot, and would have loved to have stayed a few more days. 

The reception area, which has a billiard/games room and incredibly slow wi-fi on the top floor in the little lounge. 

Rosewater to drink. India either smells like roses or garbage. Very opposite scents.

A couple of us were told that the restaurant opened at 6, so we walked over and were told that it didnt actually open until 7, so we headed back to go for a swim. We ran into one of our travel companions who said she was told that it opened at 6:30 so we walked back with her to see what was what. A waiter was outside and said that it didn't really open until 7:30 (geeez) but we could go in for a drink. We went in and another waiter said the restaurant did open at 7, but not for us, but for a different group and we would have to come back at 7. What? That confused me, so I asked if we could just sit inside because the mosquitoes were bad outside and he said "yes, yes, come in and eat" So I'm not sure what was really happening, except maybe the waiters don't really know how to tell time. In any case, we went in and ate.

I have to tell you how horrible the coffee was IN ALL OF INDIA. I did not have one single good cup. It's really bitter and strong in a "left in the pot all day" strong, and while they do use hot milk, I'm pretty sure that it's skim milk. I was pretty sad about that. Occasionally you can find a good cappuchino, but not too often. Good thing that the food is incredible.

Next day we headed off to Udaipur.