Living Lakeside

In Udaipur we ate on the city’s highest terraces. In Jodhpur we stayed in a haveli’s sky-scraping room. When we were escorted to our quarters in a Pushkar guesthouse, it became clear that we are destined to experience some of Rajasthan’s most spectacular altitudes.

Our room itself was unremarkable, with pallid walls and a pink-tiled bathroom, but the large, lake-facing windows were some of the best in town. Our door opened up to an enormous, private rooftop terrace overlooking the water. From its edge I accessed an unobstructed, 360-degree view of my surroundings.

Imagine: An imperturbable body of water bordered by blanched marble stairs. The holy lake shines jade in the morning and dulls to a pale azure in the afternoon. Barefooted women draped in vibrant cloth descend the steps of Pushkar’s famous bathing ghats while their bare-chested male counterparts thrash about in the thick water. Instrumental music pours from the surrounding temples, drowning out the excited chatter of pilgrims and impersonating priests.

Alexander and I sipped fresh lime sodas and black chai from our private vantage point. We spent our days wandering the surprisingly serene bazaars and eating fresh Israeli food. In the evening we visited the legendary Brahma temple- marked with a red spire. And on our last day in Pushkar we stopped by the town’s khadi bhandar where a retired priest gave us a fervent lecture on the benefits of monogamy. “I hope, and I REQUEST, that you remain faithful,” he said waving a bony finger at Alexander.