Home » Pushkar

New challenges of travel

16 November 2011 30 Comments

You must be wondering where have I disappeared to.
Well, there is always a new set of challenges in travel and I like to set new bars for myself.

Recently I visited Pushkar International camel fair. It was an impulsive decision.
While people booked their hotel rooms and train tickets at least three months in advance to attend this annual event, here I was without a confirmed berth on train and without knowing where I was going to stay.

pushkar camel fair @lemonicks.com

A decorated camel in Pushkar.

The challenge was to budget travel without any advance reservation and like a local… in those local ‘khatara‘ buses, shared autos. No taxi allowed. And wherever possible, eat street food.

And that is when you realize that the journey is your destination too. The agendaless journey was fun and there were surprises too. I started tweeting from the railway station at Mumbai itself about my journey.

People on my Twitter Timeline were constantly watching my moves and advised, requested and queried accordingly.
I am copying below, few, very few of their tweets. You’ll know how interesting my journey was. :D

@Cemonde u should have clicked the picture of those ppl quarreling in the train, I need a pic for my thoughts on anger :)
@Cemonde enjoy your trip! waiting for pics!
@Cemonde click pics of angry faces
@Cemonde have a gr8 trip & about the mallu might b he didnt have his eve quota of today

@Cemonde hey is there water is pushar lake now?
@Cemonde Going to PanchKunda? i will b joinin u in eve.
@Cemonde Thanks for that info on bus, am leaving for #Pushkar tomorrow

congrats @cemonde for being the judge in #camel dancing competition #pushkar
@Cemonde tweet pic of winning camel #pushkar
@Cemonde arre then travel arnd rajasthan for four more days (when I grumbled abt non-availability of return tickets) :D
@Cemonde hws ur day, hav u visited brahma temple in pushkar
@Cemonde explore some more Rajasthan :)

@Cemonde Pre fix cabs they tend overcharge, carry liquor if u need cause it’s not available openly
@Cemonde go by bus to ahmedabad :) from thr u can get a bus easily 2 mumbai.
@Cemonde keep the updates coming :)
@Cemonde remember, ur 1st article on #Pushkar is for me :)
@Cemonde We’d love to hear it! Do tell us!

I love you all.
I love all my followers and friends who are constantly with me and keep my moral up during such journeys.

Note- If you are not familiar with Twitter,
1. @cemonde is my handle on Twitter. It is used to mention/ address me.
2. Please ignore the ‘#’ sign while reading tweets.
3. The tweets are from different people.
4. It is high time that you become my follower on Twitter. Do that ASAP ! :P

Also, met quite a few interesting people on my way including a western family of four who had to part with two of their berths to make way for people like me. :)

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30 Comments »

  • Anu said:

    what a wonderful way to write about your journey!
    missed most of the twitter conversation since i was completely offline then, incidentally, we did the same on our sringeri trip too..no reservations, just buses all the way… from volvo to local khataras! theres so much to write!

    # 16 November 2011 at 8:31 PM
  • Nisha said:

    @Anu,
    Absolutely! The joy of unreserved travel is something else. But it’s not everybody’s cup of tea. :)

    # 16 November 2011 at 8:41 PM
  • Shri said:

    The joy of unreserved travel is best on a train journey through India. it will put several things on perspective!:-D!

    # 16 November 2011 at 9:58 PM
  • Sudha Ganapathi said:

    A friend and I travelled done India’s west coast starting from Honnavar and ending at Trivandrum. We visited Murudeshwar, Udipi, Sringeri, Hornadu, Mangalore, Bekal, Kollam, Thallasery, Male, ochi and finally T’vandrum. It was a 15 day long trip at the end of which my friend got engaged ! It was really a memorable trip in every way

    # 16 November 2011 at 10:15 PM
  • Connie said:

    Wow this is definitely an ADVENTURE!!!!! Loved the tweet timeline. Great way to record your travel.

    # 17 November 2011 at 6:50 AM
  • magiceye said:

    love your spirit!!
    and the way you have compiled tweets from your tl into a post!!

    # 17 November 2011 at 7:15 AM
  • Indrani said:

    You are BRAVE!

    # 17 November 2011 at 10:21 AM
  • Samaresh Biswal said:

    its been long since i got lost , after reading ur trip log 2 pushkar . its time 4 me go 4 unreserved travel . had followed ur trip in twitter but u could have done justice with some more pic of the bful place :)

    # 17 November 2011 at 2:24 PM
  • Indian Bazaars said:

    Have always wanted to go to Pushkar. unreserved, unplanned is the way to make it happen, isn’t it??! Eventually, in a crowded train, people make way for others and soon, everyone has settled down to enjoy the landscape and every passing of a food vendor! That’s what I love about Indian trains!

    # 17 November 2011 at 4:45 PM
  • Arti said:

    I have been there thrice but never during the camel fair! It must be quite a colorful sight. And what an adventure you had, loved going through your tweets now… Actually I am not that active on twitter myself.
    Looking forward to more pics :)

    # 19 November 2011 at 6:06 AM
  • Nisha said:

    @Sudha,
    Journeys like this going to remain in our memory for a long time. I am sure your friend remembers it with equal fondness.

    @Connie,
    Thank you very much. Sure, it was. :)

    # 20 November 2011 at 2:03 AM
  • Nisha said:

    @Magiceye,
    Thank you. I could not write a long post so thought of doing this. :)

    @Indrani,
    I think I am a chicken ! :P

    # 20 November 2011 at 2:06 AM
  • Nisha said:

    @Samaresh,
    Thank you and you did a great job of keeping in touch.
    Regarding tweeting more pics, I tried my best but either the connection was weak or my tweets were not going properly.
    I tried many times.

    The result was that daily by evening, my cell phone’s charge was almost gone and I needed it till I reach my hotel.

    # 20 November 2011 at 2:11 AM
  • Nisha said:

    @Indianbazaars,
    Absolutely! The adventure and fun are endless.
    But I think it is a bit difficult when you set a budget target and are alone. :)

    # 20 November 2011 at 2:14 AM
  • Connie said:

    I have a free cd for u if u want it ;)

    # 20 November 2011 at 1:30 PM
  • Nisha said:

    @Arti,
    This was my first visit there but would love to go there again during this festival. Rather some of my friends are ready to come along. Next year possibly you can see a group of women going there. :)

    But not all is so colorful, wrote an article about it. :)

    # 20 November 2011 at 1:58 PM
  • Nisha said:

    @Connie,
    Which CD? Please please…..
    BTW, did you receive anything from me by post? :P

    # 20 November 2011 at 2:12 PM
  • Nisha said:

    @Connie,
    Oh, so you got it? :D

    # 21 November 2011 at 12:31 AM
  • Siddhartha Joshi said:

    Now I wonder if we were in Pushkar at the same time :) But I really liked your posy…interestingly different!

    # 21 November 2011 at 11:20 PM
  • Nisha said:

    @Siddhartha,
    When were you there? What dates?

    # 21 November 2011 at 11:38 PM
  • Jason Terry said:

    That’s surely challenging and fun! I would love to try for it too sometimes. It’d be fun i’m sure!

    # 22 November 2011 at 8:10 AM
  • Siddhartha Joshi said:

    I was there on 6th, 7th, 8th Nov…

    # 22 November 2011 at 8:20 AM
  • Nisha said:

    @Jason,
    Go for it ! :)

    @Siddhartha,
    Awww, what a mismatch! I was there from 2nd till 5th. Wanted to see the opening.
    Chalo, I am going there next year too. :)

    # 22 November 2011 at 8:54 AM
  • Siddhartha Joshi said:

    Next year, we’ll try and catch up there :) How was the opening?

    # 22 November 2011 at 9:40 AM
  • Nisha (author) said:

    @Siddhartha,
    Sure !
    The opening was not as good as I expected it to be. Next year I’ll go a little later… probably on 3rd or 4th day.

    # 23 November 2011 at 7:31 PM
  • Dark Knight said:

    Nice pics. Pushkar sounds like a cool place, I would love to go there one day.

    # 25 November 2011 at 10:55 PM
  • Appu said:

    No train reservation? General? Wow if done that is appreciated.
    Claps Claps Claps

    # 27 November 2011 at 12:36 AM
  • Nisha said:

    @Dark Night,
    Give it a try! :)

    @Appu,
    What do you mean by “if done” ?

    # 4 December 2011 at 2:32 AM
  • Le Monde – A Poetic Travail » Blog Archive » Udaipur in half a day said:

    [...] in Udaipur. At the moment we will not go into why and how of the episode. It is part of the challenge we had taken up for our journey and right now we have just arrived from [...]

    # 8 December 2011 at 11:04 PM
  • Neeraj said:

    Impulsive travel is always an adventure. Hats off to you – I don’t know of any Indian women who do that!

    Regarding Twitter, I never got the hang of it (at least, not yet)!

    # 13 December 2011 at 8:59 AM

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