Pushkar Camel Fair; photography

Cameleer

I’m going to the Pushkar Camel Fair this year, November 12-15.
I plan on getting there earlier that this; from what I understand the camels, horses, and cattle get there about a week early and most of them will leave before the 12th. My plans are for doing a lot of photography and some 360 VR panoramas.
It would be nice to talk others who are interested in photography and have been there or are going there this year, maybe share some information or ideas about it or even meet up when we get there.
After the Camel Fair, I have plans for going to Bikaner to visit the camel center there, along with see the sights.

ona

We visited the camel research centre at Bikaner. Quite interesting. Go in the afternoon so that you can be there when the camels come back from their daily outing. If you go in the moning you won't see many camels as most are taken into the surrounding desert for exercise. They are brought back at around 4pm. It's quite a sight to see about 200 camels rushing in to drink water.

You will also see dozens of camel carts laden with all sorts of goods in the streets of Bikaner.

Cameleer

A friend and fellow camel trainer / photograph from Australia sent me this email about the Pushkar Camel Fair, he was there last year and give me this advice. I edited a few things out and thought I would share it here.

Hi Rodger,
Don't worry about staying at the tent places. although on the net it says it is your best bet, it really isn't. and it is pretty expensive. I stayed one night at the fair in a travelers tent. it was so loud and out of control you would never have a good night sleep.
I recommend a room in a hotel in Pushkar. you have your own space, your own toilet, lockable door etc. Believe me you will want your own room. the energy of the place is really full on and by 10am you will be buggered. it is dusty, frantic, and it is hassle central. mainly because it is their biggest time of year to get money out of tourist, and you will stand out like dogs balls. hahaha especially with a camera. I had my XL1 camera and was ok because they had no idea about it.

Some advice about photography. take the biggest lens you have and be as sneaky as possible. otherwise you will have to pay something. most of the camel men just want cigarette or beadies. cheap as chips from any stall along the market place. The gypsies women will want money. it is up to you, but get the price before snapping away. keep in mind that 50 rupees is the lowest day wage. working camel guys get about 150 -200 rupees per day. 100 rupee per hour for camel rides in the market. this is there time to clean up. so if someone asks you for 500 rups for a picture, well you can see what they think of you.

An interpreter is a good idea come to think of it. I was too stingy with the money thing and wished now that i had spent some rupees for interviews for my movie.
best time to shoot is a bit after 7am. get there at 6:15ish. most of the action is in the morning. buying selling etc. by the middle of the day the light will suck and it will be hot. on the hill they have a chai and drink tent and it is nice to watch the insanity below. watch where you step because sections of the place is reserved for toilet space. the open ground i mean.

Take sun glasses when you walk. If you make no eye contact, little hassling.
Pudja trouble: the holy men of the place are like the mafia. karma is their racket. you can do one of three things: do a Pudja and pay for karma blessings. don't pay anything other than rupees. hahah someone paid $100 US. I couldn't believe it. I think 50 to 100 is fair if you want to play the game. they then give you a red string to tie on your arm. this tells the other holy guys that you have been stung and they don't hustle you.
don't do one and forever say that your not here for spiritual guidance but here for "ooount" camel in Hindi. or tie your own piece of red string around your wrist. see how you go.

Don't accept flowers from anyone. it is the beginning of their husle.
The accommodation issue is funny. since September 11. tourism has dropped. so you can book in a hotel in the lonely planet and they will sting you 1000 rups for the night of the actual fair and then whatever their rate is before and after. they will ask up front payment. you could roll into town and see what happens. there was heaps of places with rooms. but a lot were on roof tops in tents so not secure for your gear. the place i stayed at is the one i will recommend. Hotel VK palace. it is in the lonely planet. The staff are lovely and accommodating. there is a 50 rup all you can eat buffet above and the staff and cook are great.
Bidue is the manager, Shitaram is the cleaner, Vi Geer the cook, Beeru sing lovely old guy big moustache, Manu restaurant owner speak good English, Amar Singh (one eye) but so sweet. Tell them I sent you and that you would do them a good deal. Hahaha

Pushkar is a holy town so that means no meat eggs of drugs or alcohol. you can get drugs anywhere because it is an Israeli town and they like drugs. alcohol is like rocket fuel and is sold in a little town on the border of Pushkar. they pay big bribes to police. half a kilometer on a motor bike. some places have eggs but you have to go to Ajmer for meat.
on the holiest day expect a million people or so in a little town. it is on this day that you are glad to have a hotel room to rest in.

If you go a week early it will be Dwalli. festival of light. which means festival of fire crackers all day and night. kids go mental. please take ear plugs. i wish i had of taken ear plugs. everyone is noisy in India.
Keep your sense of humor. it is the only way, and never panic or get angry. it will do more harm to you than good.
Most of the stalls on the street are good to eat at. there is some amazing combos of vego food. The Third eye (Israeli hang out) has the best pizza i have had overseas. but it is a slow joint. takes about 45 mins to get your meal. so don't go there hungry. hahaha
it is really dusty.

The mela ground has heaps of activities, camel races, beautiful camel comp, night time entertainment. the program was never right or on time so you'll have to use your spider sense.
You will be amazed at how far you can push it when you are white and with a camera. it has it's ups and downs.
Women have problems at the fair in Pushkar because out of towner Indians come and cause trouble. mainly for the girls. When you see the Israeli chicks and the way they show themselves you will understand why Indian men go mental. I had two attempts of pick pocketing but they were hopeless at it, just only take what you need, you have to be sensible.

On Saturday nights at the Sai Baba cafe there is gypsy dancing and it is a great night. search for it when you go.
I was there for three weeks and it was about two days to many. if your game you could do a Pushkar to Jaisalmer trip like i did. it took 13 days but make them take 16. so the camels don't die.
Handy wipes are good and nail clippers.
The two temples are great for photos and good walks. the biggest one is the best in the afternoon and the smaller one in the morning. On the bigger one go around the back of the temple and watch the sun disappear, it is amazing.
Take a push bike and go for a ride out of the town into the farm villages. It is peace and quiet at its best in India other than finding enlightenment. hahaha. push bikes are way cheap. Maza is a great mango drink in a bottle. I found it addictive.
The beggars are professionals so don't feel too bad if you don't give them money all the time.

The internet and money changer near Hotel VK palace, did me a good deal. it is wise to spend time in one place, talk to the people etc, then you get a better deal. there are two prices in India. Indian price and tourist price. see how you go
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Some night footage would be no problem depending on the camel guys. be ready to bribe. it is all about black money in Rajasthan. it really is. once you have fun with it you'll get whatever you want. the camel men are all about money. just spend one hour watching them buy and sell and you'll see the game of it. some night flash stuff would be amazing.

With you having horses you'll also get some enjoyment from their ponies. beautiful nervous looking animals. amazing ears.
If an India with power doesn't like you then they will make it hard for you. they will believe that it is your Karma. I have seen the most stupid things get out of hand because the person didn't like the guy. I had no trouble because I smiled and was polite but some people have no manners.

Because of the US supporting Pakistan with weapons of war, Americans are not looked upon nicely. Canadians on the other hand.... On our camel trip we were mobbed and had rocks thrown at us because they thought all white people were American. Rajasthan is a simple minded place. the people are hard but entertaining. Hahaha

Start learning some Hindi now! it gets you soooo far down the track.
I guess you will be landing in Deli. I haven't been to deli but it is scammer paradise so take care with your gear. you can get a train to Jaipur, then a bus to pushkar, make sure the bus goes all the way to Pushkar and not to Ajmer. In Jaipur i stayed at the Maduhban hotel ( in lonely planet) lovely place, quiet, good food and staff. in Jaipur they try to sting you at the train station, so make sure you are persistent about going where you want. Rajasthan is the land of commission.

Although everything I have said may sound full on, you will be able to take it in its stride if you look at it like you would train a young pushy camel, then you should have no problems. Know what you want, who you are, where you want to go, and you will be fine.

Hope I have helped a bit.

caro

Hi

Can I just check the Camel Fare dates. My lonley Planet says Nov 8th, but it is a couple of years old.

Maybe see you there.

Thanks
Caro

ruins_explorer

Tell me you're kidding. Is this all over Rajasthan?

I'm surprised - this would be the first place I will have been where the people believed that the people of another country actually had any control over the actions of their government.

Is this a real concern? I don't have room in my bag for body-armor.

kimbokimbo

Cameleer - thanks for that - that is all really helpful information as I'm planning on being there this year.

It's all very exciting!!

cheers,
Kimbo

seventies'hippy

Thats Rubbish, from one persons interpretation of the situation they were in and is their opinion only.
You'll have no problems,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

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Cameleer

I agree that you should have no problems, in that persons case there’s no telling what was happening. Here in the US kids have been known to throw rocks at cars going by, just for the fun of it....

I will only be in India for 18 days, would be nice to have more time but how that goes.
Right now I’m looking at spending 10 days (8th - 18th) at the camel fair in Pushkar, but I may end up leaving sooner depending on how things go there. As I see it, going at a slower pace and getting to know the place and people is much better than running around trying to see everything like so many people do these days.
After Pushkar I may spend part of a day in Ajmer before heading out to Bikaner for a few days, then back to Jaipur for a few more days before catching the plane back home.

I have been learning to do 360VR photography and plan on doing a lot of it on this trip. For those that don’t know what 360VR photos are, you take photos in all directions from the same spot and assemble them with a program to be view on the internet. When viewing them you can look up, down, all around, and even zoom in and out. Some people say it’s better than being there, and in some cases I’m sure that‘s true!

Roger & Gobi

Cameleer

Here’s a little more information from a friend that was there last year and I thought it was worth sharing.

If you want to be close to get your gear have a look at staying in the hotel Aroma. some friends stayed there and they were good to them. It’s about 50-100 from the fair, but I think it would be a bit noisy. VK is at the far end of the market lane near the lake. It’s a good walk through the market in the morning to the camel fair.

I guess you will spend one or two days checking out the scene. the best time is in the middle of the camel trading week as the camel men flood in around that time.
The Pushkar council makes the camel men pay rent for the land they stay on at the fair, so they wait with their herds in the neighboring villages until the buying heats up then they rock in. it’s all about money. so the first few days there are pockets of camels here and there but then in they come. It’s quite amazing.

I’d go five day before the time and stay a few days after everyone has left to shop. if you want to buy camel gear do it in the middle of the week when they are selling for reasonable prices to camel men. At the end they don't care and will go over the top. if you make friends with a camel man get him to come with you when you buy. He will take a commission from the camel jeweler man. if you want, go to VK palace and out in front is a camel man named Gopi Kaka. ask him to take you. Also the post service from Pushkar is reliable. I sent a whole bunch of camel stuff home and it arrived exactly on the day.
There is a man named Gopal and he has two sons who is a parcel wallah. he is lovely guy and is fair. Ask for him at the post office. there are two post offices, go to the big one near the Marwar bus stand.

seventies'hippy

Having seen a sample of your work I can't wait for you to show us your 360/degree video recording of Pushkar Fair,,,,,,,,,,,

ruins_explorer

Ooh, do post.

I guess you would have to use a tripod for that.

cyberhippie

What a load of tosh!!!!!!! Indians like people everywhere else have little difficulty in separating the average American tourist, from the Ills of their goverment.
You don't have to worry in this direction. Perhaps you'll meet the odd local with an axe to grind but I'm sure far fewer than you would encounter in Europe for instance!!

ruins_explorer

In Europe, or anywhere that I meet people with an axe to grind, we usually end up having a great conversation since generally, we actually agree. I love educating people about the "Socialist Republic of Cambridge" as we call it, probably the most liberal place in the US, where I live.

hfot2

Great info Cameleer.
...however, I never paid anyone to take photos of them and I did ask before I shot. We found the camel drivers on the left hand side of the road as you walk into the camel yard from town to be kinder and nicer - perhaps because they didn't get as many tourists walking around them. I just crouched in the sand amongst them and began shooting. [The pooty-picking-up girls were another story; they wanted baksheesh - there's a whole photo essay to be made out of collecting and drying camel dung]

Be on the lookout for nursing baby camels - great photos to be had and we were told it was fairly rare to see this and it brings good luck.


As was said above, do not take flowers from anyone!

Cameleer

Here's a 360 VR Panoramic photo of a camel race, the
file size is 1.7 MB and you need Quick Time to view it. To make one
of these photos I have to stitch 17 photos together and I'm still
learning, so it's not perfect yet.
http://camelphotos.com/pic4/vccr66d.mov

If you really want to see some nice ones check out this site.
http://www.4020.net/