Day 1 was purely travel. We started from Bhorugram by jeep around 7 AM. Originally just me, but no car leaves Bhorugram with empty seats. We picked up two visiting MSW students who wanted to see Jaipur, one staff member trying to get to the Churu bus station, one guy who I never did figure out who/what he was, and one villager just going two towns over. Not much to say about that trip -- same old one-lane roads, scrub, and Hindi-Punjabi mix tapes. (He did finally get a new tape, at least.)
I got dropped at the railway station in Jaipur and had an hour to explore a bit, finding mainly a so-so $6 lunch buffet and a major decrease in my traffic-dodging skills since Hyderabad. The train this time was 3-tier AC, as I was traveling on the cheap. It remains an excellent way to travel, especially with only a small suitcase. The compartment is more crowded than 2AC, but still spacious by Indian standards. You stretch out on your berth, read and nap as you like, and take tea, samosa, omelette, chips, and other such delectables from passing caterers. The only disappointment is the tea, which is bag-based and not worthy of the name "chai". Energy and a little entertainment come from the many little kids running up and down. A lot more energy was added by a discussion that arose between my compartment-mates and stretched to entertain the whole coach for over an hour. The topic, as best I could tell, was the merits/lack thereof of holy men collecting large sums of money for their blessings, although it ranged pretty wide (there was something about hypnotism in there at some point).
As usual, getting off the train is where things went a bit rough, as the train station is down at the base of a 30km mountain road that leads to Mt Abu. Like all train stations, it is surrounded by a mob of taxi/rickshaw predators. Either no buses were running at 9:30 PM (possible) or I got bad directions, but I ended up having to go by (comfy) taxi for Rs 200. Not bad, except when I tell you that my room was Rs 200 per night. (Shri Ganesh hotel, recommended by Lonely Planet and Rough Guide. OK, not as good as the guides make it out to be, great place to meet fellow foreigners.)
Day 2 was for seeing the town, trekking (expensive at Rs 300, but amazing views), and a trip to the much-acclaimed Dilwara temples. No photos of the latter due to their rules, but they are indeed as amazing as the guidebooks say. I cannot begin to imagine the number of man-hours required to carve marble in that level of sophistication/detail. In the meantime, here's a view of what we climbed:
and what we found at the top:
The rest of the town is nice, although not quite something to write home about. It's sort of an Indian version of Gatlinburg, TN: lots of religious stuff, also lots of amusement for kids and random people trying to sell you crap. Among other things, they have an Eiffel Tower in the middle of the market:
Nevertheless, in town it's best to stick to the lake, which is beautiful.
Day 3 ended up with me hitching a ride on the back of a motorcycle, accompanying a Brit (Adam) and a Frenchman (Matthieu) to various temples. They drove, I acted as navigator and guide to various aspects of Indian religion/food. (They now know who Shiva is, why they get given sugar at every temple, what a dosa is, and to order the thali instead of bothering with a menu.) It definitely strengthened my desire to get a bike and learn to ride properly when I get home -- I have my "M" license, but need practice before I'm road-safe. Renting a scooter/bike seems to be *the* efficient way to tour rural South Asia. It was a fast way to handle the very steep 17km up to Guru Shikar, highest point in all Rajasthan. One photo cannot do the views justice, and I'm working on a panorama, but here's me being a tourist with much of the valley behind me:
Highlight of the day, though, was our last stop at Gaumukh, a temple reachable only via about 750 steps along a staircase hidden in the forest. (I counted.) The Gaumukh spring is, by legend, from the same source as the Ganges, and thus bathing in it is equivalent. Gaumukh water being much cleaner than Varanasi gangajal, I got myself fully purified.
From there, it was back to Jaipur by my next adventure: the sleeper bus (Rs 280 one way). Basically, remove the overhead luggage racks on a Greyhound and put in some padded berths. Not uncomfortable, although not as nice as train. I still don't understand how the system works -- the bus stands and stops aren't marked, there seems to be no fixed number of tickets per bus, and no way to know what your bus is like before you board. Still, you get curtains for privacy, and I slept well. Yet again, the only problem was arrival, where my driver was unable to find me. Private buses aren't allowed to pick up or drop off at or near to the main government bus stands, so they tend to go to nearby streets/gullies, and of course there's no road signs to help you direct someone. The wait isn't bad, it's once again the [bleeping] rickshaws. If that system ever gets a little less predatory, budget travel in India will become an extremely enjoyable experience.
On balance though, a thoroughly worthwhile little excursion, highly recommended. Great views (do look at the full photoset), nice cool climate, decent food, and plenty of new friends to meet.
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