Ranakpur

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Kumbhalgadh – Ranakpur-Mt Abu



From Kumbhalgadh, we proceeded to Ranakpur. 55 km / 90 min, via Sayra. That is the only route. Sayra to Ranakpur is not so bad. Visited Ranakpur temple in the afternoon. It closes at 5 pm. One of the most beautiful Jain temples, constructed in 15^th century – 800+ yrs old.

Original idea was to stay somewhere near Ranakpur. Mistake number four! No regular ‘hotels’ are available near Kumbhalgadh or Ranakpur. There are only ‘resorts’ in this area. Most of these are in remote, off-the-road locations, more suitable for larger groups of tourists, rather than elderly couples like us and those who are not interested in hard drinks. We do not prefer isolated, lonely jungle places (aka - resorts!). So, we decided to drive on.

From Ranakpur, you can reach NH-62 via Sadri (8 km), Bali (27 km), Falna (35 km) and Sanderao (46 km / 1 hr). Good interior roads. From Sanderao to Abu Road (via Sirohi, Pindwara – both towns are located off-the highway) is 137 Km / 2 ½ hrs). Although all throughout it is National Highway from Sanderao, this area of Rajasthan is underdeveloped. The highway is used mainly by trucks and there are few private vehicles. And so, safe, road-side night stay is not possible before you reach Abu Road (which is also 10 km off the highway).

Ultimately, we ended up driving almost 400 Km in a single day from Ambaji-Kumbhalgadh-Ranakpur-Abu Road. Very tiring.

Our plan went wrong in many ways: (i) Jashwantgadh to Kumbhalgadh: extremely poor road conditions, (ii) we depended on Google Maps where net connectivity was very poor, (iii) it turned out to be very hot at Kumbhalgadh, (iv) our hesitation to stay at remotely located resorts.

Although, rather dangerous from driving point of view, the most enjoyable part of the day’s journey was the last 45 min before reaching Abu Road, when it started pouring cats and dogs. Visibility was just 10-15 feet!

Made it to Abu Road safely to stay for the night – where I wanted to be – at the junction from where road to Mt Abu starts.

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