17th. July 2010.
Wake up at around 7.00 am after a good nights sleep. Step out into the balcony, to be greeted by a blast of hot air. Did not realise it would be so hot, while in the room. Time to get ready for the drive today. Call up room service and order teas for everyone. Decide to take a bath and get ready, before the others are awake. By the time I come out of the bath the guys are awake and the tea has arrived too. We order bread and butter sandwiches for breakfast, which we decide to have in the room itself.
The plan for the day, first stop would be Ajmer to visit Dargah Sharif. Also decide to visit the town of Pushkar, where the famous Camel Fair is held every year. It also has a Brahma Temple, one of the few still in use today. Arshad and Dinesh finish with their baths and are ready by the time the sandwiches arrive, with another round of teas of course. Its almost 8.45 am, need to begin packing and getting ready to leave.
It's 9.10 am when we finally leave the hotel after paying the dues. Head out onto the main road and after a while we are on NH8, heading towards the GVK expressway. We reach the toll plaza at the Jaipur end at 9.40 am. Five minutes into our ride on the e-way, at one of the junctions on the expressway, we are stopped by a cop. Dinesh who is driving, moves the car to the left and stops the vehicle. He comes over and asks for papers. I try to get out of the car to show him the documents, which he prevents me from doing, and insists that I sit in the car. "Why is the car so dirty?" he asks. I didn't know driving a dirty car was an offence! I just tell him that we crossed some bad roads. Dinesh's licence is the first to be checked, then the car registration, insurance. All in order, he asks for the P.U.C. certificate, hoping that we would not have a current one. He looks pretty disappointed when shown a valid P.U.C. certificate. Not to be outdone, he says that the car does not have a rear no. plate! I'm shocked, get out of the car and show him the no. plate and he goes, " Lekin Bolero Ka Jidhar Rehta Hain, Udhar Nahi Hain!" Thankfully he does not pursue the matter, otherwise I would have given him a piece of my mind. He just shrugs his shoulders and waves us on. Good for him!
We complete the GVK expressway, passing the villages of Dhamikala, Bagru, Mahela, Dudu. Reach the toll plaza at the Kishangarh end at 10.31 am. Take the exit to Kishangarh and after passing the Toll plaza and the Railway overbridge, we are on the Kishangarh - Ajmer NH8. It is two lane at present, but road widening work in progress.
We pass the villages of Gagel, Ghoogra and are at the outer limits of Ajmer City at around 11.17 am. and reach the city at 11.23 am. Luckily there are proper signages all over and it is easy reaching the Dargah. The area around and leading to the Dargah is very congested, with lots of traffic, both human and vehicular. Cars can go only upto the Buland Darwaza Gate and beyond that is a 1.5 km walk to the Dargah. On the road leading to Buland Darwaza, there are numerous parking lots, mainly areas created in building/ house compounds and enterprisingly converted into parking lots. We find a decent parking place for the Bolero, ask for the charges and on being told Rs.50.00 I drive inside.
Dinesh decides to stay back in car, with all the luggage and more importantly with the camera equipment, which is priceless. Arshad and me leave for the Dargah, assuring Dinesh that we will be back in approximately 30 - 45 mins maximum. We begin our walk, with a whole bunch of visitors, devotees all jostling for space. The whole area is lined on both the sides, with shops selling everything! Shoes have to be removed before entering the main gate of the Dargah and unfortunately cameras are not permitted inside. (Hence No photos). Deposit the camera at one of the shops, from where Arshad buys flowers for offering at the shrine. The place is totally crowded with a vast multitude of people, of ALL RELIGIONS waiting to have a glimpse of the Shrine. We fall in line behind a vast multitude of people waiting for an entry into the Shrine of Hazrat Khawaja Moinuddin Hasan Chisty (RA). He was a Sufi saint who arrived from Persia and devoted his life to upliftment of the poor and the downtrodden. He was revered by the Mughal rulers of that period. Even today people from all walks of life and Religions, come to pay their respects and many to ask for favours from the Saint.
After visiting the Inner sanctum, Arshad and me step out, collect our Camera and shoes and walk back to the parking lot. We have spent nearly an hour from the time we parked and the time we got back. Unfortunately no photos of either the Dargah or the surrounding areas.(Next road trip, will be rectified!). We finally leave the parking lot at 12.20 pm. and head towards Pushkar. Our next destination is the Brahma temple at Pushkar.
We reach the outer limits of Pushkar at 12.50 pm., where an entry toll for Pushkar town has to be paid. We are accosted by a tour guide, who claims to be officially appointed by the administration (He even has an I-Card!), guaranteeing us an easy entry into the Temple premises. We politely decline and drive on, only to be met by another guide who insists on following us on his bike, saying things like, " Temple will close soon, You will have to park far away from the Temple, I know a short cut that takes you straight to the Temple via the bypass, so on and so forth!" We again decline his services and drive on and reach the RTDC hotel. I decide to go in and check for information at the reception. The gentleman there gives me all the directions to the Temple and says that there is no problem and we can take the car very near the Temple, but we should hurry, cos the temple closes at around 1.30 pm. Thanking him, I drive towards the road leading to the Temple and sure enough there is ample parking right next to the Temple. (Glad we did not hire any guide!) Dinesh and me head towards the temple, while Arshad decides to stroll around. Again no cameras are allowed in the Temple premises. The temple is one of very few existing temples dedicated to the Hindu creator- God Brahma in India and is the most prominent among them.
After our darshan, the two of us head out to meet Arshad, who is sitting in a Dhaba opposite the Temple. He has already had a glass of Chaas and he insists that we should have our lunch and then proceed further. Sounds logical as it's almost 1.45 pm. We order one Special Veg. Thali and a couple of other Veg. dishes, with Makka Roti. The food is quite delicious and filling. After washing down our meals with cooling chaas, we are ready to leave. The time is 2.20 pm.
Back on the road, have to head back to Ajmer for the onward journey. Reach Ajmer city at 2.40 pm, drive through the city, passing Ajmer Railway station and reach the Nasirabad exit. We decide against taking NH 8 to Udaipur and settle on NH 79 via Bhilwara and Chittorgarh. Reach the junction of NH 79 at around 3.15 pm. Back on the Golden Quadrilateral and immediately our average speed is up. Smooth roads once again. Pass the village of Jagpura and stop at an IOC petrol pump at Motipura at 3.22 pm. Fill up the tank to full capacity and we are on our way. Drive on, passing the villages/ towns of Bantanwad, Bijainagar, Bhilwara toll plaza, Dhunwalia, Raila, Bera and reach Nanakpura. Stop at the Bhilwara Midway on the highway at 4.31 pm., for a tea break and exchange of fluids.
We leave after a 30 min. break, Arshad takes over the driving and we are on our way to Udaipur and hopefully beyond. Drive past Raisingpura, BSL factory and are at the Gangral Toll plaza at 5.40 pm. Gangral town flashes by and next Toll plaza is at Rithola at 6.00 pm. Past the town/ villages of Bansar, Bagund, Kapasan, Gopalpura, Palkheri, Mangalwad, Rodji Ka Khera and the Narayanpura Toll Plaza at 6.42 pm. I take over the driving again, drive on past Barodia, Menar, Bhatewar, Bantheda, Dardi and the Udaipur airport at 7.07 pm. We were greeted by rains somewhere before the Narayanpura Toll plaza, resulting in the car getting a thorough wash, the first in many many days. Most of the dirt of the past few days is washed off. So the car is pretty clean now!
Reach the Udaipur Bypass at around 7.20 pm. Are greeted with a huge traffic jam on the Bypass road, stop the car and alight to see how long it will take. The line of cars and trucks stuck in the jam seems to disappear into the distance. There is a small service road, on the wrong side of the road, should we take it or not is the question? Or should we like good motorists wait in line for the jam to clear? I take the service road and move forward. Finally get a chance to get back on to the main road, find a gap again and get onto the service road on the left. Move past all the traffic, to reach the spot which is the cause of the Traffic jam. A tractor trailer, while negotiating a turn has fallen into a ditch by the side of the road, resulting in the trailer blocking the whole road. A whole load of people are trying to extricate the vehicle, but by the looks of it, will take a long time. In hindsight a good decision to violate some traffic rules!
Back onto the NH8, reach the Paduna Toll plaza at 8.20 pm. Drive on and see the RTDC Hotel Gavri at Rishabdeo on the right side of the road. Somehow manage to miss the turn and have to drive another 2 kms., before I get a chance to turn around and head back to Hotel Gavri. The time is 8.44 pm. Dinesh and me head to the reception and see a few rooms of varying prices and finally settle on an A.C room. The room is large enough, with cleans sheets and a big bath cum toilet. First priority I order tea for myself and then get the luggage into the room. When the waiter comes with the tea, we place our order for dinner.
While dinner is getting ready, all three of us freshen up one by one. Head for dinner at around 9.45 pm. We are the only guests in the hotel. Food is quite good and the quantities are sufficient. After finishing dinner we head back to our room. The journey is almost coming to an end and there is a tinge of sadness in the air. Though on the brighter side, we are heading back to Bombay and going to see our families and children after 15 whole days!
We reminiscence over the adventures of the past two weeks. It has been a good journey. We missed out on the Leh/Ladakh part of the journey, but instead we got to see the Kullu, Kinnaur and Spiti valleys! So all in all a very satisfying trip! The car supported us throughout the journey, without any sort of breakdown, through some really treacherous roads and some no roads, so that in itself is a big relief! An adventure which is to be cherished for a long time to come! We promise ourselves another journey next year to Ladakh and continue our chit chat for some more time before going of to sleep.
To be continued..................................
p.s: Should I continue with the last day's uninteresting details or should I end the blog here???? People your comments will help!
