Since I've been away, every time I set an alarm I’ve slept badly and check my phone worried that I've overslept, only to wake up at 90 minute/ two hour intervals. 5am arrives and we meet downstairs, all sat in silence and Raj gives an itinerary. It's too early for detail, Raj. Way too early. I hear ‘lets go’, stand up and walk to a waiting tuc tuc, Dom jumps in too. Oh good, he's perky. He'd gone for a walk the night before and ended up at a temple during prayer. He'd been invited in and enjoyed the ceremony. I'm excited for you Dom, I really am. But at 5am? No. Not unless it's Christmas. Chugging through the quiet roads, we arrive at Udaipur train station and step onto the train. Raj thinks it's funny to put me in a seat between JohnMiller and a stranger, I'm too tired to grumble…turns out it’s a joke and he moves me to my actual seat…next to a perky Dom. Fortunately, his temple story enthusiasm has worn off and he's headphones in, hood up, eyes closed. I do the same. A couple of times during the train journey Dom erupts. He has a child sat behind him, kicking his chair. For me it's hilarious, he looks so angry he could punch a child! Which of course makes it even funnier. Judging his mood, we sit in silence the entire journey. We arrive at Pushkar train station. I think I said that I thought I had maybe acclimatised? I lied. A very pungent, potent, ‘stings the back of the nostrils’, aroma of urine smacked us in the face as we descended the station stairs. Taxi and tuc tuc men beckoning to the group of westerners hoping for our business. Raj had already arranged the taxis so we jumped in and headed to our hotel, threw our bags in our rooms and went to the hotel restaurant next door for lunch. Raj had had two previous travellers fall ill at the hotel restaurant so didn't want to risk it again. Lunch was silent and uneventful. The restaurants we've been eating at have all served the freshest food, and it's also out of tourist season, which obviously is great(- and I haven't suffered from Delhi belly! Too much information, I know. Made of sterner stuff, Tobes) but it also means that the food takes 30-45minutes for it to be on your table, and when you're tired and hungry it feels so much longer. Finishing lunch at 13:00 we agree to meet up again at 16:30 for a Pushkar walk around. This can only mean one thing for me… THIS POOL HAS A SWIMMING POOL AND I AM USING IT. Beth says the pool looks gross and won't go in it, but says when I get to Australia I'll understand. It's the first hotel we've stayed in that has a swimming pool and the temperature hasn't been below 34 degrees since I've been in India. I do what any sweaty, hot, person would do. I do a bomb into the pool. I spend the afternoon alternating between the pool and sunbathing. Pushkar is a dry town however, also no meat, so I can't have a cocktail or six unfortunately. That's right, Nana, no midday Moretti beer for me. 16:30 we meet in the hotel lobby and head into the town. There are camels, pigs, cows, goats and now monkeys roaming everywhere. Raj gives us a brief orientation tour and leaves us to our own devices. Mads, Beth, Dom, JohnMiller and I walk to the Brahmin temple. It's one of only a few Brahma temple in India. There's a few stories saying why there are so few but the general idea is that Brahma disrespected Shiva and Shiva decided that no one would worship him. As I walked through the streets I saw more westerners than I had seen anywhere else. Although these westerners had dreadlocks, and/ or undercuts, cut up tee shirts, wooden jewellery, some were barefoot, some smoking weed…Raj said that even though drugs aren't allowed there are still very prevalent and that Pushkar no longer felt like a Holy place. We walked towards the central Holy lake. You aren't allowed to wear shoes beyond a certain point around the lake, nor can you take photographs beyond that point. I was told in a temple by a man worshipping that we take off our shoes so that we can be closer to the holy ground (as well as for cleanliness). Another reason Raj doesn't rate Pushkar is the imitating holy men. Holy Men will not ask for money but there is a large number of men who imitate them and ask for ‘donations’ or tips. As we walked around the lake, a Holy Man tried to give us flowers and take us to a ‘special area’- this is the exact scam Raj had told us about so we politely declined and walked in the opposite direction. As we walked we could hear drums, we headed towards and sat watching locals and Westerners play the drums. They invited us to join in but I could only imagine me ruining it monumentally and observed. I think we sat for about an hour on those stone steps, listening to the drummers play their different rhythms with alternating musicians and amateurs, watching the sun set and staring at the lake. There was also a couple of toddlers playing behind us. The little Indian girl putting red powder on the little English boys forehead to match hers. Dinner was at a nearby pizza place- my first non Indian meal! Dom accidentally ate half of Bryan's pizza because he'd forgotten what he ordered and I had four cheeses. Weirdly the Italian restaurant, in India, played psy trance and was full of Westerners. I certainly didn't feel like I was in a Holy place in northern India. When back at the hotel, six hours after leaving, we discovered that JohnMiller had left his bedroom door unlocked. The hotels use massive padlocks as well so it was obvious just by looking. Raj was so irritated, understandably. Dom, Mads and I sat outside in the hotel gardens, while three west coast American girls did yoga and I drank water. It was weird.