We left Pushkar at the break of dawn. I was still a little sick, but strong enough to carry my backpack.
First, we had to take a bus to Ajmer, where the buses going to Sawai Madhopur await at 9am. We took some chai and biscuits and waited for the bus.
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| Ajmer, covered in early morning mist, looking like a mirage. |
We were surprised that it took 8 hours to get to Sawai Madhopur, which is the closest town to Ranthambore Tiger Reserve, one of the best places in the world to spot a tiger. By normal standards, it should be 2 hours, and by Indian standards, 6!
We passed through a lot of villages, some of which turned out to be very interesting when we read about them after, but at the time all we wanted was an end to the swirling dust. The landscape was, as usual, fantastic - Rajasthan does not disappoint in that department, and we had a lot of time to admire it because every few meters away were herds of sheep in the hundreds. That meant we stopped every 5 minutes to wait for the flock to be ushered to the side.
We were dropped off at the corner of Sawai Madhopur and Ranthambore, and the guesthouse manager picked us up at the roundabout in a safari jeep. Hatim, our friend from Mumbai (whom we met in the safari in Mudumalai), recommended the guest house because he comes here often, and I got to bargain the price of the room even before we got there :D
