I am on Holy ground, an important Hindu pilgrimage site with a holy lake surrounded by several ghats. No alcohol. No eggs. No meat. Come as you, remove your shoes but be respectful. A population of less than 15,000 people live here with over 400 temples within walking distance.

You will find me in Pushkar today. I arrived yesterday afternoon by bus. Actually it was my most pleasant bus ride to date despite the freak dust storm.

I’m staying at Seventh Heaven, which is an old haveili that has been converted into a beautiful hotel. During the Camel Fair, the prices quadruple in price. I am told that I was lucky to get one of the twelve rooms. I met a nice Kiwi man last night who gave me some tips on the area.

Many travelers come to Pushkar to chill. It’s laid back and best of all, there are no rickshaw drivers. I’ve seen some wannabe hippy types with dreads roaming the streets. The only game that’s going on is the priest one. A few days ago, a Japanese girl warned me of it so I knew to keep on my toes.

So-called priests will approach foreigners near the temples or the ghats offering to do a puja (prayer) for you and your family. Then they ask for crazy amounts of money. The Japanese girl told me that after the puja, the man demanded $100US when she said no, he said he would put a curse on her family. Nice.

I went to the Brahma temple early this morning. It’s one of the only Brahma temples in the world and the only one in the country that is dedicated to Lord Braham. I followed a huge procession into the temple. I was given flowers to toss at one of the Hindu gods (?), and then the remaining flowers were to be thrown in the holy lake. A man approached me as soon as I reached the top of the temple steps. He saw my confusion and jumped on my naitive. He told me where to throw the flowers and then showed me around the temple. He told me to follow him down to the lake to toss the remaining flowers in for good Karma.

That was my way out as I gathered my shoes and kept on walking. The kiwi told me that that was the smart thing to do because it is usually down at the lake where they start demanding money.

It’s not that I am averse to donating money, I just don’t want to be bullied into doing something I don’t want to. People have said these “priests” get pretty nasty if you don’t dole out as much as they want.