November 26th 2006
Off to the 12th District - Ajmer.
This is supposed to be a very long trip, but as yet we do not know how many places we can see and how many days we would need to do that. But the plan is to go to Ajmer, Pushkar, Bundi, Kota, Kaithun (famous for Kota sarees), Baran, Jhalawar, Chittorgarh (via Kota again), Bhilwara, Pali, Rajsamand, Ranakpur, Kumbhalgarh, Haldi Ghatti, Udaipur, Banswara, Dungarpur, Mt Abu (via Udaipur again), Jalor, Jodhpur, Jaisalmer, Barmer, Bikaner, Nagaur, Sri Ganganagar and Hanumangarh. Let us see what all can we hope to capture from these places. As of today, we only have the taxi service for ten days, but looks like we need to add another ten days atleast, which is not possible since we have a wedding on the 13th that we may have to attend in Ghaziabad.
Woke up at 6.30 am
While going to eat breakfast, we were informed at the reception that our laundry had arrived. Told them we would pick it up after breakfast.
As we were placing an order for our breakfast, Mr Laxmikant Jangid from Jhunjhunu must have seen us and came by to say hello. We were very pleasantly surprised to see him here in Jaipur. We placed an order (wanted Idli sambhar. but were told they were all sold out) so settled for one order of omelette / toast and one of parathas, yogurt. We walked back to the eating area, and met with Mr Laxmikant's wife. A wonderful, very dignified couple, his wife is a typical Rajasthani lady, very soft spoken, quiet and a delightful person. We had not met with her in Jhunjhunu, as mostly Rajasthani ladies do not get involved in their husbands' businesses. We moved to a larger table, where we spent the next 1/2 hour or so, exchanging news and our travel experiences etc. I noticed they had ordered Idli Sambhar, but then it was clarified by the staff that they had ordered in advance. While we were eating, Pavan received a call from Rajiv and asked me to talk to him, as he had talked with him earlier while I was getting the breakfast, and the connection was bad. I went outside to talk with him and again the line got cut off. We parted with Mr and Mrs Laxmikant on a note to keep in touch.
Paid Rs 12500 via credit card @ Rs 43.55 per dollar (paid in advance for the taxi for ten days @ Rs 1250 per day (rest to be paid to Saravan Singh in Rupees if we extended our trip) and paid Rs 920 (800 for the room and 120 for laundry) with a $100 bill and received the balance in Rs 3434 + change.
Talked with Payal and Sagar.
11.05 am - Left Jaipur for Ajmer
The road was excellent, 6 lane highway - Delhi Bombay Road. At the city/town intersections, they have added an extra lane on each side for commuters to exit/enter the highway, making it an 8 lane HW.
We came across very clean and impressive rest stations on the HW, these are Reliance Gas Stations and with collaboration with A1 Plaza, they are trying to capture American style rest stations. Ofcourse, they need a lot more, and some advance signs to let the drivers know about the distance to the next gas station, incase they miss this one. These are owned and managed by Reliance Petroleum.
1.00 pm - While driving, we saw a lot of trucks loaded with marble and also a lot of marble stacked up all the way. We were told by Saravan Singh that this place was called KishanGarh and is 161 kms from Makrana. The marble used for the world renowned Taj Mahal was from Makrana.
We took Highway # 8 to Ajmer, this road also goes to Allahabad.
1.35 pm - Arrived in Ajmer.
2.05 pm - Reached the temple and the Dargah site. We wanted to visit the temple first, but a local scooterwala convinced us to visit the Dargah first, Saravan Singh told us that we would need a scooter as it is not possible for a car to go through these narrow lanes, so we allowed ourselves to be driven by him. He said he would wait for us till we are done at the dargah. This is the famous Khwaja Moinuddin Chisthi ki Dargah, where even Akbar had gone to pray for an heir/son.
The scooterwala was right, there is no way we could have gone any other way, he drove fast, and with a mission. He handed us over to a guide, we had to remove our shoes (got a token) and were really forced to buy a chaadar, it is a muslim culture to drape a sheet on the tomb, and they also gave us some prasad items etc and charged us Rs 100 for all this. They also insisted that I should cover my head, so we bought a hankerchief for myself for Rs 10. We were guided inside, at the door itself, one Khadim (priest) told us that we would pay a donation here, only once and not anymore inside. He started by asking us to give Rs 500, I said Rs 50, he settled at Rs 100. We were given a receipt, and the place was so packed that I wished I had left my backpack with Saravan Singh as it contained our passports etc. So, I made Pavan walk right behind me, and he put his wallet in his front pocket with his hands in his pockets too!! Before we went inside, we were shown 2 room size matkaas, where people are asked to donate money, jewellery etc. I just put in Rs 10. But inside, no matter what the priest outside had said, we were asked every step of the way to shell out some money. There was a time, all this did not happen we were told. I was very concerned and wanted to leave right away (same feeling that we got in Kailadevi temple in Karauli). Although, there was some magic in this place. I loved the sight of men and women praying, they had so much faith in their expressions, that momentarily, I forgot where I was and kept clicking. One good thing here, photography was totally allowed, and both Pavan and I took some fantastic photos here. They take away the chaadar from you and say they will drape it for us. I am sure these sheets find their way back to the stall from where some one else will buy them. Overall, it was a visit worth its while, concerns remain on the cleanliness of such historical places, where it is almost impossible to even think of going to public restrooms etc. We paid Rs 10 for retrieve our shoes and left. Jaan bachchi to lakhon paaye, laut be budhu ghar ko aaya. I prayed for peace around the world.
3.05 pm - Returned from the Dargah, and were so overwhelmed that we completely forgot about the temple visit.
3.05 pm - Went to Ana Sagar Lake for about 10 minutes.
3.15 pm - Left Ajmer for Pushkar
3.30 pm - Reached Pushkar Palace. We were shown some rooms, one of them had a view of the side of the hotel, where at first it looked like there may be a puja held in the mornings or evenings, but that room was quite small so, settled for room # 205. The price quoted was quite high, I showed some interest in trying some other hotels too, and immediately the price came down (Rs 1700) had to bargain here too, as originally we were being quoted heavy rates (Rs 3200). Beautiful room, beautiful hotel, had an immense view of the lake from every floor. We probably would have stayed here even if the price was not brought down. We went all the way to the rooftop and WOW! What a view. We had not brought our cameras up, so while I was unpacking, Pavan came back up on the roof and took some classic pictures. We had a cup of tea while unpacking, and then went down to the hotels' restaurant, garden style, and ordered lunch - puri subji and raita. Excellent food. We were served by a person who was dressed in all his Rajasthani glory. Nice.
After lunch, we went for a walk in the neighborhood. There were lots of hippies in Pushkar, the shops had lovely, actually, gorgeous stuff to sell. We walked around for an hour, seemed we were in the right neighborhood, as the place was bustling with shops and people. We saw a store where maal puris were being made, and rabdi. Ofcourse, we would not eat anything sold like this, as this is an invitation to sickness! But we took some photographs.
As we were walking back, we realized we have missed the sunset, and rushed to the roof again, the sun had already gone down, but a little bright orange light was still tempting to shoot. Wish we had returned 15 minutes prior, but managed to get atleast some.
7.00 pm - Earlier Pavan had taken some real good shots in the afternoon light and now we got some more photos in the dusk light. After some time, we were exhausted, so returned to our room at 7 pm.
Uploaded the pictures, had some tea and then some rest while watching a cricket match live between India and S Africa. India lost - Ofcourse! by 106 runs. SA were 270 for 7.
Received a call from Sunder at 9.38 pm. He talked for about 20 minutes and told me about some new construction project on the Pune Expressway being sold for about 40 lakhs. Check the website www.softcornerindia.com for Pune property.
Pavan happy about today's haul in the Dargah in Ajmer, and the Ana Sagar as well as the City Palace in Ajmer and now the Pushkar photos. We did not eat any dinner after the heavy lunch but had lots of crackers and tea.
No comments:
Post a Comment