2016 is here. I decided to begin my new year with a weekend away with my BFF. We both, being crazy about Rajasthan and culturally rich places, decided on visiting Pushkar.

Most people, including our parents, were puzzled by our choice of place but we stuck to our choice. Early 1st morning, we boarded the Ajmer Shatabdi that would reach its destination, Ajmer, around noon. We reached Pushkar around lunch time. We quickly checked into our hotel which was located at the lake side and headed out to explore the town.

About Pushkar, it is a small town located around a lake. Mythology says that Brahma wanted to perform a yajna, so he sent out a bird carrying a rose. The rose fell in Pushkar and this place was chosen for the yajna. Pushkar is probably the only place in India to have a Brahma temple. Another interesting mythological story revolves around that. Apparently, Brahma’s wife took too long to get ready for the aforementioned yajna and so Brahma got married to a local girl to start the yajna (Brahma had to perform the pooja with his wife). His first wife, on arriving for the yajna and finding out that Brahma had married again, cursed him that nowhere else in the world will he have a temple.

Our first visit was to the Pushkar lake and ghats. We walked around the lake to get to the Brahma temple. The lake was beautiful but unfortunately, quite dirty.

Being the first day of the new year, devotees flocked the Brahma temple. The temple is situated in the middle of the Pushkar market place. The Pushkar market is located around the lake. There are also a lot of cafes and hotels that line the lake. We spent the rest of the day at the market shopping. In the market, you’ll find cute small food joints that serve kachoris, lassi, hot milk and other Indian delicacies. There are also many small joints that offer a variety of falafel and tacos, mainly catering to the foreign tourists.

We took a short stop at sunset to view the aarti at the ghats. Sunset at the lake is beautiful and worth a visit.

We ended our day with dinner at Sunset cafe. They had the greatest variety of food that I could imagine. From Italian to burgers to Indian to  Chinese. The food was okish but the location was WOW. The streets had been decorated for New Year.

We walked around the ghats post dinner and called it a day. The next morning we had a lazy start and we decided to check out the ‘U Turn’ cafe that we had read about. Whenever you do visit Pushkar, I would definitely recommend a visit to this cafe. Its location, ambience and food will make you a fan for sure.

From outside the cafe looked like you had arrived in Santorini. The gorgeous white and blue paint made the building stand out on the ghats. Even before my friend and I knew this was the cafe we were looking for, we fell in love with the place. The view from the rooftop cafe is breathtaking.

The ambience inside the cafe was even more mesmerizing. The seating, the interiors and the entire ambience was WOW. I would’ve loved to spend an entire day just lazying around here.

To add to the location, ambience; the food was extremely good too. We had pancake, grilled sandwiches, hot chocolate, etc. and it was all amazing. I loved the time we spent here. You can enjoy a beautiful fusion meal here with a beautiful Indian view and amazing western food. A quick tip: visit this cafe during sunset and catch the sunset aarti from here.

We checked out from the hotel after brunch and hailed a taxi to Ajmer. Owing to the time crunch we had, we decided to visit the Ajmer Dargah before catching our train back. We made a quick stop at the Dargah and offered our prayers. We had seen a couple of ‘Khadi’ stores on our way from the Ajmer railway station and decided to stop at one and do some last minute shopping. I bought a kurta, some soaps, agarbatti amongst other things.
The trip in all was great fun. It was short and sweet. I loved the entire trip. I loved the shopping I did too. For everyone that loves buying traditional items and is bored of the typical ‘Delhi Haat’ and Janpath stuff, visit Pushkar for a short shopping trip. One can buy lovely earrings, bags, clothes, leather items etc. for a decent price.

I would definitely recommend a weekend getaway to Pushkar to leave behind your busy lives and enjoy the calm of this town. It has something to offer for everyone. 🙂