Mount Abu 1

So I took a trip to Mount Abu recently. Actually it was more like a week and a half ago but I've been too lazy to write about till now. Now I've decided to do a detailed account just so I can remember the journey later. I've also decided to serialize it to make it easier for me to write it out. Pictures here. These don't contain the family photos though. Ask me to add you as a friend if you want to see those. So here goes.

The decision to go to Mount Abu was definitely an impulsive one. Having seen practically all the hill stations close to Delhi (Shimla, Kasauli, Nainital et al) I was in no mood for more of the same. So we (me and my family) decided we'd go someplace different this time. We thought of Kashmir but everybody just kept giving us grief over the terrorists. We thought of the North East but it would've taken too long to get there. Finally, exasperated and out of options, we settled for Mount Abu.

Mount Abu's always had this allure for me. Not because I've been there or even heard about it, but only because I've come close to going there at least three times but never made it. This time though I booked us tickets even before I asked for a leave from work. Indian Railways really shouldn't make it so easy to book tickets online. Anyway, the search for hotel reservations began. Mount Abu, like any touristy hill station in this country, has loads of hotels. Problem is, they all want to get paid in advance when booking. Mostly when I make a booking I do show up, but unless I've seen the place before I don't like paying in advance. After all, the brochures will always contain photographs of the best rooms won't they. Besides, you can't tell what a room smells like from its picture. So no bookings then. I decided to play adventurous/skirt danger/tempt fate/finger the devil (ok, I'll stop now) on this one.

The ride to the train station was pretty uneventful except for one detail. We got to hear loads of this guy. A detail I chose to ignore at the time (although at my own peril as I later realised). If you don't know who the guy is I am going to spare you the grief by NOT telling you who he is. The train station we went to was Old Delhi. That quaint little edifice (compared to New Delhi anyway) that always reminds me of a small town railway station. What was surprising was that it actually looked kind of clean. Guess Lalu's been doing his job after all. The air conditioner in the train was a bit noisy but not so bad that we couldn't sleep. The bit I really like about train journies though is the people you meet. True to form there was a zimbabwean (a Muslim of Indian descent) headed for Ahmedabad to see his grandfather's city and a German couple headed for Pushkar via Ajmer. A little bit of polite chit chat and some impromptu photography done we got ready to sleep.

The train got to Abu Road, which is the closest thing railway station to Mount Abu, at 10 in the morning. It was about 10 minutes late. But going by northern railways' previous track record this was actually a pretty good time. When I'd made the booking I thought that Abu Road would be just that: a station by the highway leading up to Mount Abu. I couldn't have been more wrong. Turns out Abu Road is a whole town at the foot of the hill that has Mount Abu atop it. Also, people in Abu Road sure do like their Rabri. I saw shops selling it everywhere. Strange. I always thought Punjabis had a think for high fat dairy products. Now I know we're not the only ones.

Abu Road is in a district called Sirohi in Rajasthan. Its only about 14 kms from the Rajasthan-Gujarat border and therein lies the reason for its mysterious prosperity. Gujarat is a prohibition state. Rajasthan on the other hand has no such problems. As a result, Abu Road has turned into the place Gujaratis use to get drunk legally (of course they can still get bootleg in Gujarat). Almost every roadside establishment serves alchohol and has rooms to rent (probably because people might want to stay the night). Unfortunately a lot of people still do tend to get pissed and go driving. Not a very reassuring thought when you're about to go up a hill in a taxi. Also, the day we got to Abu Road was Holi which didn't make things any better.