Travelling North - Udaipur

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Our train first went to Jalgaon. Then from Jalgaon we caught Ahamedabad Puri express to our destination. We arrived at Ahmedabad junction around mid day. The heat was unbearable at this time of the day. Apart from scorching heat, it was a crazy rush hour of the day as there were so many people waiting for their trains. People were everywhere, every corners were occupied. basically the entire station was occupied by hundreds of thousands people. The space was so little for all of us. We very carefully stepped out of the station, without stamping those who sleep on the floor. We took a considerable amount of time and energy to come near to the exit gate.

We left our back backs at the left luggage place, which was located outside of the station at the left side of the main building. We walked along the pavement down to the main road. It was hot and dusty. The bin man had certainly forgotten to come here for a couple of months. As soon as we enter into the main road, a little girl approached me. She wanted the biscuit packet which I took out of my hand bag. I gave it to her. She was happily run into a little galley and disappeared. I walked down along the road to find a decent place to eat. It was so called famous Buryani restaurant. Our guide book has given a thump up. We sat at the table in the corner and ordered our meal. It might have been a couple of minutes since our orders have been taken, we began to feel suffocation. The entire seating are was covered with smoke which came through a broken window above our table. We could not enjoy our meal while suffocating ourselves. Both of us walked out of the restaurant so angrily with half-emptied stomach.

We walked opposite direction of the road, ahead of us a little group of children were running towards us. I did not understand them as they joyfully approached. Then we noticed that the little girl who took our biscuits packet was hiding in the corner of the alleyway, holding the same biscuit packet in her little hands. It was very clear to us, what was going on here now. She had told all her friends that we are giving away biscuits. We could not gather all the street children and give them biscuits. It was impossible to even imagine that I stand by the road and distribute biscuits for all. We tried to ignore them, then they became aggressive by pulling our clothes and the little carrier bag. I therefore hissed at them & then chased them away. They withdraw themselves to a little road in between two arrays of local shops. It was impossible for us to distribute biscuits for ten or twelve children now. Only God almighty know next, how many of them will appear from the other corner of the road.

After a short walk along the main road, we returned back to collect our luggage. It was the right time for us to look for a place because it was getting dark. The shutters are coming down and locals are returning home. A drunken rickshaw driver took us to various places around the city, but we finally stick to where we wanted to stay first place. He was not happy in the end because he not only lost his commission but also he did not get enough fare from us.

We spent a night in a very tiny square which was enough to fit a cow. Once again, our guide book describes this place as a clean, affordable and pleasant place. I began to worry about the skill of research done by the publishers. Anyway, this what happened if we did not expect to get stuck in this city. We left our little cow shed late afternoon on next day to catch Udipur Express.

There was very little to say about Ahamedabad due to so many unpredicted incidents. Apart from having Buriyani, staying at a lodge, getting wet under the rain, we were also fooled by an internet cafe owner and as a result of that we lost approximately 1000 photos of Humpi, Goa and Ahamedabad.

We decided to leave without visiting Ahamedabad - for sure there's a lot of good reasons behind our decision. Our next destination is the city of Lake - Udaipur.

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