Who would have thought that the Pushkar Camel Festival would be the victim of Overourism?
You might ask? “Where and what is the Pushkar Camel Festival” and what is Overtoursim.
Both are topics of interest to me.
I had a chance to go to the Pushkar Camel Festival in 2011 on a tour of Rajasthan, India. Fascinating experience. This is a huge festival/fair where the nomads/desert people of this part of the world come together to buy and sell camels.
Overtourism is when there are so many tourists in an area that the experience is changed for the folks visiting. While this festival isn’t impacted by tourists like Venice, Barcelona, Amsterdam and other hotbeds of travel around the world, I did see evidence of an increased interest in this remote and exotic destination.
The people in Rajasthan of the world use camels in their daily life. Sure, some are employed at resorts for tourists to ride, but most are part of every day life for the folks who live in the desert.
The festival is a once-a-year event where camels are bought and sold. It’s also a time when people come together to enjoy the amusement park rides, buy goods, buy and sell horses, compete in camel races and decorating contests and in general have a good time.
I loved my experience seven years ago. I enjoyed it so much that when I had a chance to go back, I jumped on it.
Here is a blog post from the first experience.
https://designdestinations.org/2011/11/camel-traffic-jams-pushkar-camel-festival/
My 2018 experience had some surprises for me. Lots of tourists and photographers had discovered the festival, changing the character of the event since my first visit.
For example, when I went the first time, only one person asked for money when I asked to take a picture. The second time, well, I was constantly bombarded with requests for funds. And the first time, I saw very few folks who were obvious foreigners. This time–there were lots of us.
But it didn’t impact my fun. I only observed that it is harder and harder to go places “where no one goes.”
What did I love about this trip? Well, our guides (Jim Cline Photo Tours) took us to parts of the usually sleepy town to see and photograph areas where the tourists didn’t go. We had breakfast, meandered through an area where the Sadhus hung out and we had plenty of opportunities to take pictures.
I also enjoyed a little shopping, buying colorful bags to bring home to my grand daughters to use for overnight bags.
We found people who were willing to let us take their pictures without asking for money. And in other cases, we simply gave them a few rupees figuring it was only fair since we took their time. Paying for photos is a dilemma best resolved on an individual basis.
Sometimes our guides arranged for us to photograph locals. In the next series you’ll see the shadows of us all lined up to photograph two lovely women who came to dance for us.
Hope you enjoy the images I captured in this fascinating part of the world. And yep, if I had a chance I’d go again.
