Blogs from Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India, Asia - page 10

We departed Udaipur and after a relatively painless daytime bus trip south, we were soon struggling through the hot and dusty streets of Ahmedabad, trying to find some habitable accommodation. This was our penultimate stop before getting to Mumbai and for Thailand in a few days time. First stop was the city museum, a ‘must see’ according the guide book, but when the rickshaw driver had no idea where it was, nor many of the people he asked for directions we started to get suspicious. When we finally found it, it appeared to be a deserted multistory car-park, but to be fair, there was some interesting history about Gandhi and with only 2 other people and the security guard there was no problem getting to see the exhibits. As we were about to leave the ... read more

Ok, this one is for the architects, some of you may find this a little boring but finally I found some interesting buildings of international recognition (please note I am yet to visit the Taj), in the strangest most unexpected city as well. But before we get into the architecture talk, let's just recount the journey to our current destination, Ahmedabad. A grueling 16 and a half bus journey, and mind you not via highway, but the ‘short cut’ being the back end of no-where on a road that doesn’t even class as a dirt track. Now the buses we’ve been traveling on are sleeper coaches, meaning there actual beds on the bus, which is brilliant because you actually get to sleep lying down, far more comfortable than the reclining seats. Further the sleeper beds come ... read more

We arrived in Ahmedabad courtesy of Spice Jet - India’s answer to easy jet. We were met by a representative from the Mandir (temple) who is currently in India giving “Seva” or service to the faith. We were taken to one of the 48 Swaminarayan Temples in Ahmedabad, and this is where the current “Guru” or spiritual leader was staying at the time. We were lucky enough to get a room that had air-con, not that we ever used it. Temperatures were in the mid- twenties. That afternoon we visited the school at Raisan village. It is currently only open to Pre Primary and Primary children, and has 120 odd day boys attending at the moment. We met some of the teachers that would be taking part in the training days. Following day we began the ... read more

Our original plan had been to take a Friday evening train out of Udaipur, arrive Ahmedabad at 4:35am, Saturday morning, visit all day; and depart for Mumbai at 10:35pm. Once we took a close look at this schedule, as we dined overlooking Lake Pichola, we knew this was a plan, like most plans, made to be changed. Thinking travelers do not show-up, at strange railway stations, at 4:35am, anywhere; pretty elementary. Instead, we hired a car and driver for a leisurely Friday excursion, through the dusky valleys of the brooding Aravalli Hills, on whose sloping sides grow miles of cactus thorns, serving as impediments to herds roaming the semi-arid land. In time, we broke free of the stony hills into more verdant pastures in eastern Gujarat, traveling a dual carriageway we shared with standing-room-only auto rickshaws, ... read more

We just left Mount Abu which was absolutely beautiful. It was peaceful and calm and pretty much hassle free. We did a trek yesterday for 12 km / 5 hrs around the mountain and through the nature reserve. We saw monkeys, wild boar and lots of birds and found out loads about the local area. Our guide Charles was great and even invited us back to his house for a drop of rum and to listen to his bad danish music and generic chart dance (Saturday Night by Whigfield!). But we realised if we stayed much longer then we wouldn't leave! It was quite strange being in Mount Abu mainly because its really a resort. Its kind of like Rhyl or Skeggy for Indian's. Peddalos on the lake, amusment arcade and ice cream shops on top ... read more