Nestled in the rocky hills of the Aravali Mountain Range, tucked between red cliffs lined with scrubby bushes, is the pilgrimage town of Pushkar. Settled around the holy Pushkar Lake, sets of steep stone steps, or ghats, lead up to winding lines crammed with organic cafes and shops selling identical cotton hippie-yoga clothing. Each building has four or five even steeper sets of stairs leading up to a rooftop terrace where you can find identical menus of banana pancakes and 'curd honey muesli'. Identical guesthouses offer plain rooms where long-stay visitors set up camp for their laid-back schedules of meditation and flute lessons. The weather was turning, and while my open-windowed room was
I woke up at 5:00 in the morning to go and see the Taj Mahal. It was worth it. Wrapped in every piece of clothing that I had with me, I made my way through the dark empty streets of Agra towards the Taj compound. Details on the Tomb of Itmad-Ud-Daula in Agra I had spent the first day of my vacation on an overnight flight to Delhi, followed by an early morning train and a busy day wandering the markets and minor sights of Agra. I saved the Taj for a sunrise viewing on my second morning. The Kau Ban Mosque at the Taj Compound People have always told me that the Taj is hyped up and touristy, but also worth it. I think I had this idea in my mind that I was missing a piece of India until I had ma
