Udai Garh Royal Heritage Retrea Mount Abu

... into our rooms and then finally Em was feeling a bit better.

We had breakfast on the rooftop with Eilane and headed down to Nikki Lake one of the main attractions in Mount Abu. Mount Abu is in Southern Rajasthan, on a hilly plateau so is a lot cooler than the rest of Rajasthan. It is a holiday town for many Indians, especially from Gujarat. The three of us hired a pedalo and headed out into the lake for a while and admired the ...

... brimming with rocky cliffs and peaks.

So why is it such a shame?

As you walk around the town you see the same sign everywhere - "Keep Abu Green, Keep it Clean", well I'm afraid the sign hasn't worked, in a big way. Now I don't wear hemp and tie myself to trees, I not trying to save the planet and my name isn't Rainbow or Squirrel, but litter up a mountain bothers me. Every inch of Mount Abu is carpeted with rubbish, even the lake which would have once ...

On Friday morning we took a 6 hour bus trip from Udaipur to Mount Abu. Mount Abu wasn't on our original itinerary but we decided to go on the advise of the newly wed Sheik we met on the train from Goa to Mumbai (by the way, due to our extended stay in Goa and trips to Hampi and here to Mount Abu we're nearly 20 days behind our planned itinerary, but it doesn't matter. It's quite possible we'll make up some days by not being allowed entry to Tibet but we'll ...

... I needed to go that I had no need for a train. My time in Ahmedabad had expired, and I felt content to leave there, though sad to leave my friends. The plan was to hang out in Mt. Abu for a couple of days then make my way on to Jaipur, which was not even remotely in my original itinerary (which I have completed about 5% of, by the way... so that is not saying much). Niraj was rushing to a meeting that morning, and was kind enough to ...

... ricredermi. Ero assolutamente sbigottito, neppure io ho visto mai cosÏ tanto marmo cosÏ finemente intagliato, a disegnare altorilievi su colonne o sul soffitto, in particolare dei fiori di loto. Purtroppo Ë vietato fare foto - anche se poi gli abitanti del posto le vendono all'uscita del templio - per cui non possiamo farvi vedere cosa voglio descrivere. Ma forse si trova qualcosa su internet. Infine una nota sul cibo. A Monte Abu abbiamo mangiato molto bene ...

... nowhere to be found. Eventually, she came out of the restroom looking a different color than when she went in, and reported severe vomitting and diarrhea and needing to get back to the hotel immediately, though she was to weak to walk. We hired a rigshaw for the 10 minute walk back, and contemplated what it was that she had eaten that caused her to get food poisoning. My aunt had been the adventurous one with trying local indian dishes, and I was always the ...

... bus (instant friends!). The mountain scenery as the bus slowly wound its way up the mountain was just stunning plus we were finally leaving the heat behind. The bus trip took about an hour. Mt Abu is a sleepy little mountain town. We decided we would stay somewhere really nice with a pool. A man with push cart took our bags to the Hotel Hilltone (note the spelling) where we had a spacious room overlooking the valley. We went to the hotel ...

... Moving further up the hill we began losing hope of Marya arriving. We made fresh sandwiches with rocks ready to repel the next bold langur. A herd of wild peacocks appeared out of the tangle of cacti and thorny bushes as we lounged about continuing to rebuff commands to buy cement. The Brahmin of course was not giving up hope at our weak western wills buckling underneath obviously superior Indian guile and tenacity. The conversation turned ugly when we asked to be left alone ...

... the Jain Temples. These are, if we have not already mentioned it, made up by some pretty intricate stone structures which look amazing. There where three temples in total and they took between 15 to 25 year each to complete. Very impressive. After the Jain temples followed the contrast of a very simple Hindu temple that was pretty much just a cave in the side of the mountain but requiring us to climb 300 steps so the view was cool. Finished the day ...

... the 15 ticket counters of a major Indian train station while about 400 people are trying to buy tix!!?? So - because I'm female and India has the great 'ladies first' rule (which I think Waz is taking great advantage of) - I battled the throng of locals and pushy, pushy women, elbowing and knocking people out of the way with my big pack and thrusting my fist of money through the grill to the frustrated and tired ticketing officer. He then told me that I was at the wrong counter for Mt Abu ...