We've traded in lakes and palaces for hills and valleys. Yesterday we arrived in Mount Abu, a hill station about 200kms from Udaipur, also in the state of Rajastan. We took a bouncy bus ride yesterday morning, culminating in a 28km ride up a windy, narrow hillside path with spectacular views of the valley and plateau below. Mt Abu is a a small Indian village about 1200m above sea level.
Yesterday afternoon we went on a sunset hike up into the mountains where this photo of me and the one after were taken. We walked around the lake in the background today, very tranquil and quiet (apart from a couple of teenage boys 'stalking' us half way around the lake). The hike itself was pretty steep along a rocky path with the tall shrubs making a canopy over our heads. It was wondeful though to be out in the Rajastani bush with red-brown and green hillsides all around us.
Today we walked to the Dewari temple about 3kms from Mt Abu. The walk itself was great, snaking through the quiet countryside, and the temple, magnificent. Unfortunately we were not allowed to take our cameras inside. It dates back 800 years and is carved out of marble, incredibly intricate carvings of gods, elephants, all sorts of creatures and scenes.The craftsmanship takes your breath away. I had to walk around with a robe wrapped around my legs as it is a very holy site. I thought the thing was for Larna when the guard brought it out.On our walk yesterday evening we met some great fellow travellers from Germany, Austria and Italy. We exchanged stories about our different Indian experiences and then we all went for dinner afterwards in town. At the end of the evening we huddled around a little chai shack (tea) and sipped our drinks as the locals stared on (the amount of staring is phenomenal, on the other hand people are generally so polite and many have asked us if we are enjoying our stay in India).They all left this morning so it was a very fleeting friendship. A shame we could not get to know them better.
A very funny story from yesterday: We went for lunch to a little local eatery - just a few benches - next to the bus station. We had a local dish called Dhal Bhati, which is little round breads and a dish of vegetable gravy with chutney. The guy brought the dish over and then proceeded to demonstrate how to eat it by breaking up the breads on my plate with his bare hands. He really got stuck into the task. I just prayed he washed his hands! Anyway, the food was delicious and I had the same dish for lunch today, though at a different restaurant.
It was a little sad to say goodbye to Udaipur, such a romantic place. We spent a good deal of time exploring the spice market, trying some of the local snacks and munching on jelebi (Indian syrupy sweets). We explored some of the winding backstreets and on our last night watched "Octpussy" in one of the lakeside restaurants. I forgot how diabolically bad the old James Bonds are, but it was great spotting all the scenes shot in Udaipur. I should also mention the Rajastani dance and music show we went to which was fantastic - amazing costumes, music and dancing. One woman balanced 9 bowls on her head and danced away!
Tomorrow evening we are taking the overnight bus (we have sleeper seats, though I have no idea what that means in India) to Pushkar, a little town alongside a lake, very holy and very beautiful judging from the photos we have seen. The bus leaves at 7pm and gets to Ajmer at 4am and from there its 20kms by another bus to Pushkar. God knows what kind of state we will be in when we arrive. Our aim is to be in Jaipur, the pink city and capital of Rajastan on 5 November, which is the start of Diwali, the Hindi new year and the biggest party of the year. They are already lighting off home made and deafening firecrackers and putting up decorations and painting houses in anticipation of the big celebration. India continues to astound and amaze me!
Some photos from the last few days in Udaipur:
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