Trip to Ahmedabad-Udaipur-Mt Abu-22nd Oct-27th Oct

Day 2-23rd Oct

The next day got up refreshed after a tired night. But as we had a lot of places also to see decided to get ready fast , have breakfast and mve on to the next to see place on the list.The friver had suggested that we should see Kankaria before we move out of Ahmedabad as it might take a little time for us to go around the place. So by 9am we were out of the guesthouse   and today also we were seeing only Fafda being available were not in a mood to eat that.Sao we went in search of a nice South Indian restaurant. But we soon found out that Ahmedabad wakes up up at 10 am-11 am  as wherever we went in search of resturant it had still not opened so we decided to directly go to the lake and see if we could find anything to eat there.

Kankaria Lake is the biggest lake in Ahmedabad in the state of Gujarat, India. A lakefront has been developed around it, which has many public attractions such as a zoo, toy train, kids city, balloon ride, water rides, water park, food stalls, and other entertainment facilities. The first thing we did when we entered the lakefront was to search for a restaurant , ordered some sandwich, dosa, etc and then explored around the Kankaria Lake. Definitely a nice place to visit in evenings  as even at 9 am the weather was a hot and humid. We were there for a hours, my friend trying out the train ride which  takes you arounf the lakefront and you can have a glimpse of the zoo, boating, garden ,entertainment park etc. It was 9 am when we left the place and post that , we told our driver to take us to Ekalingji temple  which comes on the way to Udaipur which was our next destination.

Eklingji Temple is one of the most famous temples of Rajasthan. Located in the town of Kailashpuri, the place got its popular name from the temple. Eklingji Temple is located at a distance of 22 km in the north of Udaipur, on the national highway no. 8. Eklingnath Temple is dedicated to the Lord Shiva of the Hindu religion. According to history , the temple was built in 734 A.D. by Bappa Rawal. Since that time, Eklingji has been the ruling deity of Mewar rulers. We reached the temple at 9:30 am but the temple opens at 10 am so we had some half an hour to kill.We explored the area around.Just a couple of minutes away from the temple is a small pond and a small Shiva temple .We sat there for some 20 minutes and came back to the main temple. By that time there was already a huge line of people waiting to go inside the temple. Finally by 10:15 am , the temple opened but  no one is allowed to take mobiles or cameras inside so we had to deposit it at the entrance.

On entering the hall, there is a huge idol of Nandi outside the main entrance. The temple houses a  striking four-faced idol of Eklingji (Lord Shiva) that is made out of black marble. Its height ranges around 50 feet and its four faces depict four forms of Lord Shiva. The east-facing part is recognized as Surya, the west-facing part is Lord Brahma, the north-facing part is Lord Vishnu and the south-facing part is Rudra i.e. Lord Shiva himself. The zenith of the multifaceted idol is known as 'Yantra that stands for the ultimate reality. The Shivlinga (Phallic form of Lord Shiva) garlanded by a silver snake, acquires the major attraction of people. The temple also comprises of 108 small and big temples. Loved the sculptures in the temple. It was am by the time we came out.The next we visited was Nathdwara, abode of Srinathji, Krishna, as the temple opens at 11 am .But our vehice could not go as the road was blocked for big vehicles.One has to take an auto rickshaw and it is some 15 minutes ride.

Nathdwara is a town in Rajasthan state of western India. It is located 48 kilometres north-east of Udaipur.This town is famous for its temple of Krishna which houses the idol of Shrinathji, a 14th-century, 7-year-old "infant" incarnation of Krishna. Nathdwara means ‘Gateway to Shrinathji’.One sees a different version of Krishna, a black faced idol of the God. I mean the face of the idol is different in its own way. According to history, The idol of the Lord Krishna was being transferred to a safer place from Vrindaban to protect it from destruction of the Mughal ruler Aurangzeb. When the idol reached the spot at village Sihad or Sinhad, the wheels of bullock cart in which the idol was being transported sank axle-deep in mud and could not be moved any farther. The accompanying priests realised that the particular place was the Lord's chosen spot and accordingly, a temple was built there under the rule and protection of the then Maharana Raj Singh of Mewar. Here too, one is not allowed to take cameras and phones . It was just too crowded at the temple with people almost pushing each other to have a glimpse of the God. There are various rooms one goes through to see different idols of Krishna. We came out finally after the Darshan, collected our belongings and explored the market area in Nathdwara buying some souvenirs . One can get some nice items to buy if you have the patience to look around .We all bought some dresses, sarees, toran, shoes .Of course you need to bargain but we shopped happily with one of the Aunty being the unanimous winner when it came to shopping but for some reason , do not know why she denied that saying she never shopped that much .Finally we made our way back to our Tempo Traveller around 1:30-2 pm I think.

Now we moved towards Udaipur. Here too we did not check into the hotel but told our driver to take us to the Lake Pichola.We reached around 5-5:30 pm in Udaipur. Lake Pichola, situated in Udaipur city in the Indian state of Rajasthan, is an artificial fresh water lake. It is one of the several. Two islands, Jag Niwas and Jag Mandir are located within Pichola Lake, and have been developed with several palaces to provide views of the lake. There are four islands on the lake:


 



 


 

• Jag Niwas, where is built the Lake Palace.
• Jag Mandir, with the palace of the same name.
• Mohan Mandir, from where the king would watch the annual Gangaur festival celebration.
• Arsi Vilas, Small Island which was an ammunition depot, but also a small palace. This one was built by one of the Maharanas of Udaipur to enjoy the sunset on the lake.

 


 

 

 

We took a boating ride around the lake to view the various places and the sunset which was just amazing sight to witness. The boating ride is a 20 minute ride on the lake. After the ride we thought of going to the ropeway which takes you to the Karni Mata temple and once can view Udaipur from the top. But the person at ticket counter suggested us to come the next day as the tickets were booked. So we roamed around the place for sometime and then went to the Hotel to check in where the rooms were already booked. It was 8 pm already but we thought of freshening up and decided to visit some shopping areas which usually close by 9pm.Unfortunately the guide whom we checked  in the hotel took us to the govt handicraft emporium which was very expensive and not in out budget . In spite of us telling him that we want to local shopping he was adamant on the emporiums .I guess he will be paid a small commission on taking the tourists to these places. Anyways we argued and made him show us the local shopping areas. We reached the hotel back at  pm and retied for the day.

Trip to Ahmedabad-Udaipur-Mt Abu- 22nd Oct-27th Oct-2015

Trip to Ahmedabad-Udaipur-Mt Abu-22nd Oct-27th Oct

Day 1-22nd Oct

One positive thing that has happened to me over the years is that I do not find it that difficult to adjust with people with whom I have never interacted before. Maybe I have evolved better as a human and matured more J. And this was a second time that I was planning a trip with a group whom I met the first time at the airport . Of course both the trips there was a common friend/colleague in between .Maybe that made it easier for me to adjust.

Well this time the plan was to travel Ahmedabad-Udaipur Mt Abu and the planning was going on for a considerable time with my friend telling me saying she had got in touch with a travel agency who will organise the tour for 7 -8 people. We were hoping for a bigger group as the cost factor will come down and also secondly it was during the season time that we were going. The number of people kept fluctuating from 3-4-6-8 -6 and then then finally 7. At the same time I remembered another friend of mine who had organised the tour for me and I remembered him again to check what the best time he could give is. The itinerary was changed some ‘” n” number of times till we finally freezed on Ahmedabad-Udaipur-Mt Abu. The choice of vehicle also kept on changing from Tavera-Innova-Tempo Traveller and finally we freezed on Tempo Traveller as there will be more luggage space. The choice of hotels kept on changing as the hotels earlier to be booked were not available .In between all this my patience level too kept fluctuating as it is easy to take a decision about yourself quickly but to keep the 7 people agree to you is one big job s the responsibility to handle the tour itinerary was given to me  PHEW!!!

Finally the D-Day came. My friend had booked the tickets only 2 day in advance and that was one reason the trip turned out to be bit expensive but worth it. We all reached the airport at 5:15 am. The flight was at 6:20 am. It was there that I met my travel group. They were all relatives of my colleague and in the 5 days trip we all got to know each other very well including my colleague. I came to know what is her pet name which I keep using in between to irritate her and what is good at and the good qualities of other 6 people too. The group consisted of 3 aunties of my friend, their colleague, and cousin of my colleague.


 
 

We landed at Ahmedabad airport at 8:30 am and by the time we came out with the luggage was 9 am. The vehicle was waiting for us at the airport. But instead of directly checking in at the hotel we decided to see the list of places –which was a huge list with all of them having done a groundwork as to what to see. And we wanted to save time as well. We nobody was tired but we decided to first have breakfast and then start the tour and conveyed the same to the driver. We had actually travelled on Dussehra and all the shops were serving only one dish-Fafda-which we came to know from the driver that this is what will be available today everywhere in Gujarat. Fafda  is a traditional crunchy snack that is synonymous with Gujarati cuisine. Made of gram flour and other spices, it is a convenient and quick snacking option that can be had at anytime of the day. We too had the same dish served along with Gujarati Kadhi and Papaya Salad. I loved the papaya salad that they had made of the raw papaya .It was totally a different experience but somehow was not okay with the idea that we might have to end up the same dish in the afternoon and evening as well.


 
 



 
Well after our pet puja the first thing on our list of things to see was Sabarmati Ashram, formerly known as 'Satyagraha Ashram" was home to Mohandas Gandhi from 1917 until 1930. While at Sabarmati, Gandhi lived in a small cottage. It is a place of great historic value, where we can view some of the things which Gandhi used- a writing desk, a khadi kurta, a yarn spun by him and some of his letters. Also there is a cottage called Vinobha Kutir and Mira Kutir names after Vinobha Bhave and Mira , one of his disciples. It has a museum which exhibits Gandhi’s life through paintings, photographs, letters etc. We spent some close to 40 minutes seeing the place .next to it is the Sabarmati waterfront which is 10.5 km stretch on the river which is a focal point of leisure and recreation . We did not go down the stretch leaving it as one pf the to do activity for the evening as the weather  was very ,very hot in Oct similar to that of May-June summer.


 

 

Next we wanted to see Calico Museum but could not you have to book in advance for that and there are 2 timings for that. We did not want to take a chance going there and see if we can get the tickets. So we started out for Modhera Sun Temple which is dedicated to the Sun God. It is still a magnificent piece of Gujarat's architects of the bygone days. Before you enter the sun temple, you first come across a large  kund known as the Ramakund, built in rectangular shape containing 108 shrines to various gods and demi-gods. As per the legend goes- after vanquishing Ravana in battle, Lord Rama and Sita halted here on their way back. After consulting with sage Vashishtha, Lord Rama decided to conduct a yagna here to cleanse himself of the sin of killing a Brahmin, namely Ravana who was a Shaivite and one of Shiva’s most glorious disciples. This yagna was performed by a local Brahmin belonging to the Modh community thus originated the name Modhera. It was an amazing experience to see the beautiful carvings there.

 

 

On the way to Modhera, we also visited Matangi Mata or Modheshwari Maa temple. Matangi had eighteen arms each having a weapon like trident, Kamandal, Shell club, Pash dagger etc. Goddess Matangi killed devil Karnat, who was causing  havoc in the area of Dharmaranya( one of the names of Modhera) . We spent some time at the small museum there.

 

It was lunch time as we did not want to eat Fafda. Hence asked the driver to take us to a restaurant where we could have a gujarati thali . We all had our fill and gulped down a glass of buttermilk each which was really good. Now that energy was restored we started out to see the next place in our list which was Science City. It is a huge planetarium which has the Hall of Science & Hall of Space, Energy Park, Life Science etc .built on sprawling acres of land. And you need to walk a lot. It did not interest me that much maybe because I am not a science enthusiast but I am sure kids will really enjoy coming there. The one thing I liked was the Life Science park which had the prehistoric animals displayed and the small garden which has cactus of various varieties grown there. Even though we did not want to spent much time there, we ended up staying for a longer time as the place is huge and we had to pass all the various halls to reach to the exit.

 

 

It was already 5:15 pm And the group wanted to see Akshardham temple. There is also this water show. Though I have seen it in Delhi but missed out on the water show which starts at 7 pm. Swaminarayan Akshardham, the complex was built over 13 years and is a tribute to Swaminarayan and his life and teachings. It is a 23-acre complex and in the midst is the Akshardham mandir, which is built from 6,000 metric tons of pink sandstone from Rajasthan. It is definitely a nice place to spend in the evening and all of us had a good time. By the time we came out it was already 9 and we were dead tired. So we decided to call it a day as we had no more energy to see any places. Finally we checked into the Guest hose that was booked by my colleagues aunts .By the time we could reach the city and the guest hose it was 10 pm and I just wanted to sleep. Usually I can never get any sleep in a new place no matter how comfortable it is but today I slept like a log.