December 8, 2006 Mt Abu to Jalor to Jodhpur

Woke up in the morning and had bread, butter and some tomato and cukes from last night's salad (had covered the left overs) with tea. We somehow managed to take our showers in spite of the horrible bathroom. Got ready, finished packing and wanted to be on our way. The room smelled because of the wet bathroom.

It was still early for Sarawan Singh to be ready, so Pavan and I went outside the hotel to take some photos of the Lake and surroundings.

As we were paying our bill, we told the manager at the reception on how they should not rent rooms which are smelly or need maintenance. In a very chilled manner he commented that their "main customers were Gujaratis, who do not care about these things". He went onto to say that they do not receive guests like us, there are only a few NRI's or other guests beside Gujaratis. Alright then!! We left without tipping anyone and paid our bill of Rs 800 for the crappy room + our dinner bill from last night.

Outside, we met with Sarawan Singh, he was more upset than us. We asked him if he had eaten, he said he would eat later somewhere else. On the way he told us at what a bad facility they have for drivers etc. Figures! After paying, our service was so bad, what could he expect for free? Seems most of their customers drive themselves to the hotel.

One thing is for sure, I would never recommend this hotel to anyone!!

We started to look around for some South Indian style restaurant, and found "Arbuda". We had eaten in another Arbuda on the way to Mt Abu form Udaipur yesterday. We parked close by, and all 3 of us went inside. We told the waiter we would take care of Sarawan Singh's bill, and as we were eating fresh, hot and delicious Idli's with sambhar, we asked the waiter who was the owner. He brought the gentleman who was standing right behind our table talking to another older gentleman. He introduced himself as Prashant Vora. We told him that we had also eaten at another Arbuda, which he said also belongs to them. On inquiring about any decent hotels in this area, he told us they own a hotel close by. We wanted to see the rooms, because we loved Mt Abu and would like to visit again, but so far had not been very impressed by the accommodation. So, after breakfast, we paid our bill and he walked us to his hotel which was a 5 minutes walk from the restaurant.

Prashant Vora has a Hotel Management degree from UK.

At the hotel - Deep Resort - we met with his older brother - Kailash Vora, with a European guest talking with a young pretty lady who was in charge of the hotel's beauty parlour. The brothers and their father (who Prakash was talking to at the restaurant) own and manage the restaurants and the hotels, and they own quite a few. Their room rates are between Rs 350 to Rs 1500. We took pictures of a Rs 600 and a Rs 950 room. All their rooms were basic but very clean and appealing. We would definitely like to stay here next time.

Both the brothers are doing an excellent job at ARBUDA, Arbuda Circle, Mount Abu 307501. Phone: (2974) 238670 / 235358. Email: akashdeep_abu@sancharnet.in

On our way to Jalor, at Swaroopganj - (Mahavir Automobiles, NH 14 Banas 307019, receipt # 5316 as per cash receipt for the gas bill) - Pavan wanted to use the bathroom, so Sarawan Singh stopped at a Bharat Petroleum gas station. I thought I would go only if it was decent. He came back saying it was filthy. I called my friend Uncy Menon who is with BPL in Bombay now, to tell him about this. The Gas Stations around the country need to provide clean and sanitized bathroom facilities to all their clients. He asked me to email him the info and he would pass it on to the right department. I did, and wonder if there is any improvement since then!

There is a lack of road signs. Unless you live in India, one can only drive by guessing and hoping you are on the right road. Suddenly one reaches a fork in the road, and though I would be stumped, Sarawan Singh always guessed (mostly correctly) and took the wider road!!

2.15 pm - Reaching Jalor - our 25th District.

We were not planning to stay here and were headed to Jodhpur after seeing the main attractions in Jalore. But, we did stop by at a nice hotel and restaurant - called Hotel GEETCO. The power was off, so the lights and AC were also off, but not for long. We really enjoyed the cleanliness of this wonderful hotel which had sprung out of nowhere. We ordered soups, sandwiches and Puri Bhaji. The food was so good, that we ordered 2 plates of Puri Bhaji to go. After lunch, Pavan went and checked some rooms just in case we decided to stay in Jalor after all. The rooms were very good and priced very economically Rs 590 and up). The staff was very friendly and eager that we stay in Jalor that night.

One of the boys - Nanda Ram from the hotel accompanied us to Siri temple. There was a delay in allowing people to go up, as they had to blow up some hill for road construction. So, we waited a while, but then left at 3.10 pm to see the Fort. The Fort was ridiculously high and inaccessible, and impossible for us to even try to climb, unless we had another full day. We took some pictures from below. We realized staying in Jalor was fruitless, and left for Jodhpur, after leaving Nanda Ram at Hotel Geetco and tipped him Rs 50 for his time and help.

Approximately 20 kms to Jodhpur we saw another Reliance Petroleum Station with A1 Plaza. Nice!

Jodhpur is known as Surya Nagri - Sun City.

5.27 pm - As we were about to enter Jodhpur, suddenly a cow from the fields ran in front of our taxi from the left side. It was so sudden and maybe the cow panicked, instead of stopping or slowing down, it charged in front of our cab........we and Sarawan Singh saw it almost at the same time, and he really pulled the breaks. Lucky for us, there were no vehicles behind us, because Sarawan Singh had to push the brakes so hard that we all got a burning tire smell - and the right side parking light broke due to the sudden impact with the cow, before it rushed and crossed the road and ran away into the fields. This left a tremendous effect on all of us. Sarawan is a very religious man and none of us would have forgiven ourselves had something happened to this poor creature. Although Sarawan was driving under the allowed speed, after this incident, he was extremely cautious till we reached Jodhpur. None of us cared for the broken light as long as the cow was unhurt.

5.50 pm - Reached Jodhpur and Hotel Newton's Manor - our 26th District!

We were shown a number of rooms, I liked them all and specially one on the ground floor. But Pavan insisted there were not enough outlets (we checked the room again next morning with Mr Newton, and they had more than what we needed), but we settled for one room upstairs, right next to the computer room. There was a massive billiard room in the center, from which our room, the computer room and some other guest rooms opened. We were every happy with the place. Mr Newton is a collector and collects almost everything he can get his hands on. His beautiful guest house has a number of old sewing machines, gramophones, statues, furniture from all over the world. I was getting so used to bargaining that I bargained here also. Very graciously, the manager discounted the room rate by Rs 100 - I felt like a heel later when I encountered great customer service and graciousness. I wished I had not bargained, they were too dignified.

We ordered one dinner and one soup for the night as I was not very hungry and we also had Bhature chole ............. Mr Newton came by to introduce himself to us. He was Mr dignity personified. We were a bit confused at his name - Stephen Newton - and a photo of him and his wife in all the Rajput outfits, complete with a pagdi and all. Next morning, he explained that his grand father had converted to Christianity. He requested us to ask for anything to make our stay comfortable. He offered to show us all his rooms next morning, including his personal quarters, after his married son went to work.

The room as well as the bathroom was very nice, although this room was a bit smaller than the others, but we were extremely comfortable. The internet service here is free to the guests, although it is dial up. In the first few hours the computer was busy, all the guests they had were European. Once the guest left the computer room, I checked my email before eating our dinner.

After a good night's sleep, we woke up next morning, and Mr Newton came by again to say hello. After breakfast, we were given a complete tour of this beautiful guest house, including his personal living quarters and he took great pleasure in showing us his future plans with the newer guest house that was almost ready. His son, wife and a child live in the new quarters, and we met with his lovely daughter in law. The Newton family is gracious and they own and manage a beautiful guest house.

We took a lot of pictures of this guest house, paid our bill - Rs 1220 total, Rs 895 for the room and Rs 325 for the meals.

We thanked Mr Newton, he came out to see us off. As we were leaving, we tipped his staff really well, and at that time realized that we also needed a bottle of water. Mr Newton refused to take any payment for it. He said we had paid enough. We left feeling very good about this place and would definitely stay here again.