Pushkar

Pushkar lies fifteen kilometres over the Nag Pahar ridge from Ajmer, a temple town wrapped around a lake so sacred that meat and alcohol are banned within its limits. Pilgrims bathe at the 52 ghats before sunrise, then walk to the Brahma Temple, whose red spire and silver-turtle floor date from the fourteenth century though the site is far older. Climb Ratnagiri hill to the Savitri Temple at dawn, on foot or by the ropeway, for the whole lake laid out below with the desert beginning beyond.

The Rangji Temple, built in 1823 in South Indian style, and the Varaha Temple are worth the walk through Sadar Bazaar, which sells silver, leather bags, Rajasthani puppets and the town's famous malpua, fried fresh in wide iron pans and dipped in syrup. Evenings bring the lake aarti at Varah Ghat, lamps floating out over the water. For a few days each October or November, the Kartik Purnima Camel Fair fills the sand flats west of town with tens of thousands of camels, horses and traders, plus moustache contests, folk music and a Ferris wheel; it is loud, dusty and worth planning a year around.

Outside the fair, Pushkar is a slow place, good for a couple of nights of rooftop cafes, temple bells and the sound of the lake.