On the move again today with what should be a 4 to 5 hour journey to Mount Abu. The long journeys are a really good opportunity to write my blog!!
We leave Jodhpur on a good dual carriageway with well maintained central reservation. I wonder to myself how long this will last!! There are a number of tolls to go through as usual and after an hour or so we leave that road and the next one is not so good. Bumpy, not so well maintained, but we seem to be getting used to it and just letting Ravi get on with the driving.
Yet again there is not a cloud in the sky. We have almost forgotten what cloud and particularly grey skies look like. It is pleasantly warm and comfortable although we know that it soon gets cool at night.
After a couple of hours we stop for a break. The coffee is good here! The toilets, well! For those who are interested most public toilets have a choice of a western style seat or Asian hole in the ground for bopping down, all tiled, not a dirt floor!! 5 ladies in the group, some only using western style, so to speed the process do what the locals do!! It’s ok really. Just make sure you roll up your trouser legs before you bop, just in case the floor is wet! And always have your own supply of loo paper as that is not always provided. Usually there is water and sometimes soap and of course we are using the hand gel. Copious amounts it seems!! It does make your hands dry so I’m glad I brought a small tube of hand cream with me.
Whilst we were waiting outside to get back on the minibus - Ravi needed some breakfast - my eye was caught by a chap who was taking his trousers off😱😂 Then his tee shirt, but fortunately nothing else! He filled a bucket of water from an outside tap and then proceeded to completely wash himself, hair included, using soap as well. The water must have been cold and although warm outside I wouldn’t have wanted a cold shower. We assume he was probably one of the many truck drivers who are on the road and with the dust and dirt they must appreciate the opportunity to freshen up.
The majority of trucks you see are like the ones at home used for transporting sugar beet. Some are decorated, but we have not seen many elaborately decorated ones so far. There are hardly any container lorries, but a lot of vehicles piled up with stuff! Often covered with cloth some vehicles can hardly be seen under the loads!
The time passed quickly again and the hills that have sometimes been evident to the west of us are now much closer. As we head west we begin to climb into what are now rugged mountains, dramatic in their formation and possibly what you think of when you imagine the history of India, the Maharajah, the elephants, the grandeur.
The last part of our journey is slow as we wind up the mountain road to Mount Abu. Although we are now at nearly 1300 metres it has the feel of a tropical oasis with date palms everywhere. It is thought these were planted back in the 14th or 15th century by early visitors.
The journey was longer than anticipated so a quick lunch and then out for a welcome walk with our local guide Charlie.
It was lovely to be outside and particularly in this dramatic scenery. Charlie was born and brought up here so knows the area well. He also knows his stuff when it comes to flora and fauna. Within minutes of starting the walk he had spotted a number of green avadavat, a bird that is endemic to this area and is not guaranteed to be seen. In total we saw about 30 of them! Another iconic bird for this area is the scimitar babbler and these were spotted too, along with purple sun birds, Indian silver bills, whitecap buntings and others. Geoff was very proud to be the only one who saw a Black rumped flameback woodpecker.
There are also leopards, sloth bears and Indian tree pythons in this area and Charlie regaled us with his stories of encounters with these creatures. He certainly knows how to tell a story!
At times we stopped to look at a bird and were asked to be quiet. There was almost complete silence, other than the noise of the birds. No background hum of traffic, no aeroplane passing overhead, no machinery working, just a wonderful restorative peace.
At one point we stopped for a break and we were provided with chocolate. One of the options was a bar of Cadburys with mango. In some ways a strange combination but very tasty nonetheless!
The walk took us along good tracks, at one point passing through a small village. There were water buffalo in a yard, a man collecting together fronds from the date palms he had cut down to feed to his livestock, another man cutting barley whilst still in the green, children playing. How good it is to see children out in their community playing together, albeit we seem to see the girls together and the boys together, and not on mobile devices. There is the noise of children playing in the villages, unlike the silence at home. Again we appeared to be an object of interest to them.
As darkness fell we returned to our rather lovely hotel. Mount Abu is an old hill station where people would come in the hot summers for cooler temperature. It was built in the colonial times, probably for British people to come to and you could just imagine it as little in the way of decor or furniture in our hotel has changed. Our room is big enough for a party, probably about 25feet square. The bathroom leads off from the right hand corner, down a little tiled passageway, and from the left hand corner there is a small lounge with comfortable chairs and a writing desk. From here there are double doors leading out onto a shared roof terrace. Maybe we will have time to sit there tomorrow!
Dinner was delicious! I had thought that by keeping off meat we may get bored with the meals, but wherever we go they do different things with a vast array of veggies. Tonight the rice was served with pomegranate seeds stirred in. It was extremely tasty!
Uncle Mick, I hope you are managing to read this! Please say Happy Birthday to Aunty Joy!!
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