While the Camel Fair is happening on the outskirts of Pushka, the town itself is filling with pilgrims. Both events happen during the holy Hindu month of Kartika, an especially auspicious time for believers to pray and bathe themselves in the holy waters of Pushka lake.
However, this year, there is no lake. Apparently, the lake was so filthy that the local government decided to clean it. The lake bed was disturbed and the water seeped through, because Rajasthan has been suffering from a drought, there was little rain to refill it. Some of the ghats had their own bathing areas which were filled each day and this seemed to suffice for the hundreds of pilgrims flooding in for the festivities.
It is prohibited to photograph on the ghats in Pushkar, specifically the bathers bathing, but I hope you get an idea of the events from these images.

I decided that since I was in the neighbourhood, well, 11 1/2 hours by sleeper train, I should attend one of the World's largest Camel Fairs, in Pushkar, Rajasthan. It was quite brilliant! Literally hundreds of camels and other livestock were brought from miles around by their owners to sell and trade. I was told that there were less this year than usual, possibly due to outbreaks of animal flu that occured last year, or perhaps the global economic crush has reached the smallest villages of Rajasthan and other nearby states. Still, it was an amazing sight. I spent several days wandering among the animals, watching their owners buy and sell, listening to the camels' prehistoric growls and enjoying the colours of Rajasthan and its people.One day I was approached by several camel traders, it took awhile to understand what they were asking, I thought perhaps they wanted their picture taken, but they kept pointing to one of the lad's cracked lips.... I produced a tube of lib balm and it was promptly shared among the small group that had gathered to sounds of glee and laughter. It's the little things in life that can make such a huge difference!!

I am in Bhopal, India. The town that lost 1000s of lives 25-years-ago, due to a massive chemical leak at the Union Carbide Factory. The poisonous gasses killed many almost instantly and has proven to be the cause of continued suffering among the survivors and their children. The factory has not been cleaned up and the toxic waste that accumulated while the factory was in operation has seeped into the ground water, causing a new generation to be born with debilitating effects from water contamination. This is a work in progress as I shall be heading back there in a couple of weeks, but I thought I'd post a few images of some of the gas survivors, their children and others who have been effected in recent years by drinking the contaminated water. This is an ongoing problem until clean water can be provided to everyone and the land around the factory is decontaminated.

A piece I wrote for The Oregonian Travel section ran today:

http://www.oregonlive.com/travel/index.ssf/2009/10/trekking_into_mayan_history.html

Well, I'm back in India. I actually arrived several days ago, but I have been sick with some kind of flu bug.
I'll be heading out of Bangalore by train, on Sunday, but I thought I'd post an image I made while flying somewhere over south Iran/Pakistan.

Well, I'm off on a new adventure.
But before I leave I thought I'd post a couple of images shot while walking around London in the last couple of days.

Yesterday I started with a march and ended up watching fireworks over the river Thames. The march was Pro-Palestinian through the center of London, my interest was with a new far-right group called the English Defense League who were planning to also be in the center. The police were hundreds strong and controlled the entire event, walking with the marchers and corralling the protesters, keeping them penned into an area around Piccadilly Circus. The handful of protesters, who claim not to be racist, were yelling "We hate Muslims". It's sad that with the world growing smaller through internet and easy travel, these groups are popping up expeditiously. The hatred is scary.