11/30/2025
I had long dreamt of visiting Pushkar.
A desire driven by an Instagram feed inundated by portraits of stunning Rajasthani women, camel traders and alluring fire rituals.
I missed the camel fair by a month.
All for the better I think, as over 200,000 tourists flock to town that week and while it's undoubtedly quieter here now, the decibels, crowds and spiritual rituals of Pushkar are, well, even for a seasoned traveler, a hefty and constant source of sensory overload.
But hey, that.is.india.
One massive sensory overload.
Daily, I ask myself 'What the heck Julie-Anne?' Truly, what is it about this place that draws me back?
Strangely, it’s all of the things that test me. The yin and yang of them all. The smells. The chaos. The layer upon layer of spirituality that pervade everyday life. The colours. The spices.
Yes. All those things.
But, hands down, it’s the people. Despite a population density that one can almost not comprehend, it's the people within those crowds that keep me loving and returning to this place.
