Go to previous update Go to next update

Pushka and Bundi

23/02/2011

Photo of Pushka town taken from Savitri TempleSo last time I wrote we had just arrived in Pushka. We were very happy in Pushka. There isn't a huge amount to do there but we found ourselves in a nice hotel with a pool at a very reasonable rate (about £6 a night) and the atmosphere in Pushka and the beatuiful countryside around it were enough to keep us very contented for 4 very relaxed days in the end. Pushka is a Hindu pilgramage town with lots of temples surrounding a lake so watching the pilgrams, walking around the lake, and a walk up a to the top of a hill which had (yet another) temple at the top was enough to keep us out of trouble.

After a few days there though it was time to head out again. Having checked out of our hotel and settled down to a late breakfast before getting our train to Jodhpur it finally dawned on us that, having lived in Edinburgh, London, Nottingham and Reading for the last 10 years or so, either of us really like cities (or maybe it is just cities in India?) so we changed our mind and decided to skip out a city which was described in our 2009 guide book as "in talks about replacing the open swage system" and head to Bundi instead. Heading to Bundi first involved a stop in Chittorgarh. We only stayed there because we had to but as we waited for our 2pm train the next day we were plesently surprised by the very impressive fort there. We only had an hour or so to wander a very small part of it but it was huge and well worth the trip.

Sadly leaving the town resulted in our first (probably not last!) travel error as we got on the wrong train to Bundi and so four hours later found ourselves back in Chittorgarh and having another couple of hours to kill before the late train Bundi. Finally we did make it though and were able to check into a nice little guesthouse in the form of a haveli (traditional residence) which wasn't particularly clean, and the bathroom was so nasty both us were tempted to offer to clean it but settled for changing to a different room the next day. That said it was very cute and all the old features were clearly in place.

Photo from the top of Menal waterfallBundi is a little like Pushka in terms of being laid back and relatively compact, it even has a little lake in the town like Pushka however Bundi isn't a prilgram site and I'm pretty certain Gandhi didn't come here (he did go to Pushka). However it has been a lovely little place to watch and enjoy the Indian way of life again as it is less touristy then a lot of places we have been. Yesterday we went to a beautiful waterfall (Menal waterfall) which was increible and having picked our way across the top of the waterfall (which the help of our rickshaw driver who clearly thought, correctly, that I was going to fall over at any moment and slide over the edge of the waterfall) we walked down to the base of the fall in the forest foliage and went for a swim. The wind down at the base of the waterfall was amazing and we were covered in the spray from the fall within minutes of reaching the bottom. Swimming under the actual fall was out of the question and it was a constant struggle against the current just to stay in one spot however it was stunning and peaceful (peace being something we were both craving - even in laidback towns we have been unable to find much in the way of peace in India) and well worth the one hour back-jarring rickshaw ride to get there.

Now we are about to embark on a journey east which will take us over night tonight to Agra were we will spend tomorrow at the Taj Mahal before another over night train to Khajuraho (to see the temples with the Kama Sutra carving).

Go to previous update Return to top of page Go to next update