Luck and happiness

I would like to say that I truly hope my friends and family have happiness and luck. Apparently the money I 'donated' (was cunningly scammed out of) at a Hindu temple to keep you all happy and lucky was a surprisingly small amount, and I sincerely apologise if it misses of you out. On the positive side, Kev 'donated' more, so his might cover you.

We're in Rajasthan, first Udaipur and now Pushkar. Udaipur was a stunning place, with beautiful palaces including two on the lake - one of which was the Maharaja's summer retreat, the other being his 'pleasure' palace... Both are now restaurants and hotels - sadly a little beyond our price range! They are also the setting for part of Octopussy - and clearly the town is very proud of this, as every restaurant and cafe advertises nightly showings. The main palace is impressive, full of beautiful marble fittings and artwork.

Pushkar is a temple town where many people visit on pilgrimages. After an overnight bus trip inhaling petrol fumes, we arrived in Ajmer, a nearby town where we were told by local rickshaw drivers that there was no bus to Pushkar for another 2 hours, and that the buses went from the bus station 2 km away. Of course, they could take us to Pushkar for only 250 rupees... We persevered with the bus plan and went up to a bus nearby, where a man started to tell us that, yes, it went to Pushkar. After a few angry words from the rickshaw drivers he changed his mind. It didn't. So we kept going and were approached by another man who showed another bus to Pushkar. More words from the rickshaw drivers, but this man took us to the bus anyway and we began to get on. So the rickshaw drivers punched the man. We decided we were best off hiding at the back of the bus and thanking the man once the fighting had stopped.

We arrived at a temple this morning, and found ourselves swept along through the temple and down to a bathing ghat, handed flowers and sweets to donate, given bands and red dots on our heads, and left with lighter wallets...