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Published: December 25th 2007
Mount Abu
Day 10 & 11 of Rajasthan Tour
AAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRR………..his place is just great. The streets are clean, so not many animals come shopping with you. There are little hilly roads and a lake at the bottom with boats you can peddle. You can walk everywhere, so no tuk tuks in town, and there are like 10 ice cream bars - crisp cone, chocolate coated ice cream sprinkled with bits of toffee…yum yum yum. Mt Abu is a hill station, so colder than elsewhere and it is where the Indian residents come to vacation. The food is great and we love the prices, they don’t have foreign tourists menus here! Over 2 days we see 8 other foreign tourists only. It’s a lovely place to walk around, we walked down one whole side of a street without anyone saying “come into my shop and buy something”. We even found a western coffee shop and had a latte, Carl had a hot chocolate brownie! This place is worth a visit even just for the ice cream and latte.
Also I would have to say that we have noticed how many people stop to talk to us, they ask us
where we are from and start up a conversation, because they are interested and want a chat rather than take us to a shop. I am starting to think out of all the places we have been India have the nicest friendliest people.
On Indian CNN news the other night there was a foreign tourist who had arrived at the train station with his family and someone walked up to him, looked at his tickets and told him his train was cancelled and took him to a tour office to make other arrangements. They cashed in his train tickets for him, cancelled his flights and sold him a taxi driver to take him to his destination, 4 day trip for 50,000 rupees (NZ$1666). We paid less than that for 24 days! But these scams are all in the Lonely Planet and on the internet, you really need to do you research first before you come to India.
Sights Our driver took us up to the top of the hill where we walked 350 steps to the top of the mountain, not much to see, there were a couple of tiny temples you could visit on the way
Ranakpur Jain Temple
Marble sculptures hundreds of years old up if you wanted, but we didn’t. Then we picked up a 10 year old guide, who once we engaged for 80 cents told us he did not speak a word of English. But he walked us through a temple, yes another temple! And then up another 250 steps to see a 500 year old fort, this one looked realistic as there was only a wall left, and a temple.
Next stop down the hill was lunch at a local Indian restaurant where Carl enjoyed a Thali with the driver for $1.50, rice, bread, vegetable mix, dahl and 2 curries - amazing value. Then we walked around a Jain temple that was 1000 years old and was one of the best marble carving temples in India. We followed a group of Indian kids on a guided tour, they were so enthralled and appreciated their history and religion, it was nice to see. Could not take photos, sorry Grant.
Accommodation Review We were not keen on the drivers accommodation recommendation (Hotel Lake Palace) as it was too expensive 1800 rupees ($NZ60), even though the Lonely Plant says NZ$20 it is incorrect. But we said we would look, and
Ranakpur Jain Temple
Another Marble Sculptures when we arrived it was lovely, beside the lake with a fantastic view, sunny, warm, green lawn, and the rooms looked really clean. First room that had 2 sheets and a washable, and washed duvet cover - I know, but your bed has to be clean. The only room they had left they had just painted the bathroom and the room stunk of paint. It was like you have to be joking? So shame we should have booked.
Hotel Lake Palace They sent us to their sister hotel which was a short walk to town, big room, kingsize bed, 2 sheets, bathroom was passable, no loo paper in the toilet please, sat TV, really really hard bed, but it was fine and only 1000 rupees (NZ$34). was called Hotel Savera Palace. It had a nice swimming pool, god knows what a woman would have to wear when swimming, probably just for the men! Did not eat there, too many choices in town and breakfast was not much - we ate both nights at Arbuda.
Hotel Savera Palace Coming back from town at about 10 at night our hotel was booming out loud music, and here was a bus tour of
Roopam Hotel
Outside our verhandah men only outside around a bonfire with disco lights, music and all dancing waving their hands in the air. The men dance together here, have not seen woman dance, the men also hold hands walking down the street with their friends, but do not with their partners. Carl saw the other day 2 big burly men dressed in their army uniform with guns and all, got out of a jeep and took each others hands and walked down the road swinging their arms holding hands. Anyway they finished up about 11pm and then spent another 2 hours yelling and screaming down the corridors and in their rooms before they fall asleep. Later that night, at 4am, “BANG BANG” on the doors, they are up again…..yelling and shouting, so not much sleep. But we would stay there again. Not good driver accommodations at this hotel, in fact he could not wait to get out of Mt Abu, he found it too cold.
Was sad to leave Mt Abu, the ice cream and lattes behind, but 5 hours later and we were in Ranakpur.
Ranakpur
Day 12 & 13 of Rajasthan Tour
On the way to Ranakpur, driver
Ranakpur Resident
Lighting the fire in his kitchen to make us a cuppa enquires, “Breakfast you had?” No, we replied. I had just started eating after 4 days of Delhi Belly. Our driver says he will get us some Pakora to eat in the car, we like Pakora. We had been warned - DON’T eat street food unless they cook it in front of you. So he stops and we watch - a pile of already cooked food, sitting out in sun, with like 300 flies around it. Peering out the car window we whisper - its okay, its okay he will put it back in the wok and reheat it, that kills the germs. Oh oh no, they have been put straight into a paper bag...and its coming towards us.....no no its getting closer....its through the car window now..... No No No! But oh well, once we have driven away and the flies are out of sight, it actually looked quite yummy and it tasted fantastic. Our first taste of street food in 3 months of travel.
Our driver was funny, he drove with gusto today, he was so excited to get to Ranakpur, “many friend there, many Delhi driver”. When we arrived he was like pointing to the cars ”Delhi
Ranakpur Residence
Backyard, basin to wash, buffalo to pull the carts to plough their land car, Delhi Car, Delhi car, many Delhi friend”. He was following us, looking at the rooms, peering over our shoulder, hoping in hell we were going to say “Yes”, ready to do any negotiations he had to. Before “Yes” was out of our mouths, he’s off, changed into his track pants and relaxing with his buddies. He gets this afternoon and tomorrow off!
This is a nice place to stop halfway through our journey, for him and us, nothing much to do, greenery everywhere, quiet, secluded, the only noise is birds. No TV, no shopping, only 15 families in the local village, its warm and our outlook is green. It’s really very lovely.
Sights Of course there is temple we have to see, driver drops us off down the road and tells us to walk back! It is made of marble and is famous as it has 1444 pillars, no 2 the same, and yes it is fabulous, fantastic carvings, but so was the one we saw yesterday. We are templed out, but got some photos for Grant. Five minutes at the temple and 30 to walk back! But we got to watch the monkeys, or should I
Ranakpur Resident
Dad having a smoke! say the monkeys watched us, from the fences and trees along the road.
Today a guide from the hotel took us on a walking tour, we went up to the lake which provides the water to the village well. We visited a house and did sign language with the family, watched the Dad smoke something in a pipe, had some tea, looked at the buffalo tied up out back, gave them some money, took a photo and left. It was great to get up close to see the Rajasthan family lifestyle. I some young children pencils, trouble is they probably don’t have paper. If we had traveled independently I don’t believe we would have had these opportunities, our driver organized the guide and tells him where to take us. Always just a tip, how much? “You depend”. And it is, sometimes they smile when you tip them, sometimes they don’t, but we decide the tip. You can trek into the hills here where there are wild cows, pigs, panther, leopard, bears….you like….no I don’t think so. But we see heaps of free parrots, peacocks, wasps nests and monkeys.
The rest of the time we relax and catch up
on some reading or sit out on the grass or our verandah sipping a cold beer, yes we are reduced to beer now. Very peaceful. The guide is 33, has 5 kids works at the hotel 7 days, 7-6, today he is cutting the hedge, lives in a thatched hut up on the hill with his extended family, never been to school but learnt his English off the tourists. His children do go to school.
Accommodation Review Roopam - we have a nice room with verandah that gets plenty of sun overlooking tables and chairs with umbrellas on the grassy space in front, looking over a lemon tree orchard and wasp nests high up in the trees. All you can hear are birds chirping, in the morning they put feed out for the birds and it is covered in parrots and sparrows (see picture). Room good, very large, bathroom just passable, but the shower was great, kingsize bed, had to pay like NZ$10 more to get a bed that was soft! But prices start at 800 rupees (NZ$26) No TV, no town, no market, very peaceful. The restaurant food is superb. We had the most amazing kaju curry
Village Well
Villages all have wells where they fetch their drinking and washing water. last night.
Roopam Well tomorrow we are off to Udaipur.
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