Sunrise, Sunset

I woke up this morning to see the sunrise. Actually, I woke up at 5am this morning to do a 1-hour climb up a mountain to Savitri Temple, where we watched the sun rise over the city of Pushkar. Needless to say, it was incredible. In an hour or so, we will hike up to Brahma Temple on the other side of the city, to watch the sun set over Pushkar and Savitri Temple. We arrived in Pushkar yesterday morning, taking a 10-hour sleeper bus from Delhi. Basically they stick you in a coffin-sized compartment in the bus, and as the name implies, you sleep through the night. It was actually pretty awesome.

The city of Pushkar itself is beautiful - only hours away from Delhi but a whole new world. The people are incredibly friendly, bright, beautiful colors everywhere, and relatively calmer than the Main Bazaar in Delhi. And there is actually more Hebrew signage here than in Delhi, but because we arrived at the end of the season, there are very few Israelis still here.

We also visited the Taj Mahal a few days ago. About 5 hours each way in a jeep makes it a tough day, but I was not going to let myself regret not seeing the Taj. 1 of 7 Wonders of the World down, 6 to go...

While I came to India with no set plans, I did have a rough trip outline, and intended on heading to Nepal within 2 weeks of arriving in India, to do the famous Annapurna Trek at the base of Everest before the season closes, reopening only around September. I have been wrestling with the thought of changing my course and continuing in Northern India for the next few months, and then reaching Nepal when the next season begins. I have a few days left to decide, but I'm not rushing to make any decisions until I have to. 11 of us arrived at the Yes Please Guesthouse from our original flight. 7 of us took the sleeper bus to Pushkar. From here, only 2 people know with certainty where they are heading after this week(or so)-long visit in the region of Rajasthan, and the rest of us will play it by ear.

So that's it for now. I'm heading out to see the sunset now.

Namaste, and Shabbat Shalom.
-Erez