Porbander, Junagadh-burning thighs and a sore head
Trip Start
Unknown
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Trip End
Ongoing
Porbandar, Gujarat, India
Friday, December 12, 2008
After a few days of being in Gujarat I arrive in Porbander to visit Gandhi's birthplace. The building bears very little apart from a couple of large paintings on the wall of Gandhi, his mother & father and markings on the floor to show the exact spot where Gandhi was born. There is nothing aesthetically great to look at and the house feels more abandoned then trying to celebrate someone's life. However the emptiness & simplicity gives time for respect & reflection. I think anything that was in that house has been sent round the world to try and give people a slice and connection with the man himself. The family house after being given to the government has been massively extended to include a huge courtyard with a museum and photo gallery depicting Gandhi's life
Courtyard to Gandhi's House
. Probably the biggest lesson to learn from Gandhi's life is how one man can make such a difference whilst facing such adversity, how one man can literally halt an empire. Not that I'm going to achieve what Gandhi did, but it puts it into perspective that if one man can achieve so much then it gives hope and inspiration to everyone else in achieving their own dreams however big or small. In comparison it makes my goals seem insignificance, but in doing so it also makes them appear so much more achievable. I leave Porbander with even more admiration for Gandhi and personally inspired to achieve my goals, regardless of how big or how many hurdles there are to overcome.
I don't quite know where the next destination will be as there are a few options, but I know the direction I am heading is east, so I set off to see what will grab me. Driving around Gujarat is great, the land in the south is flat, so offers minimal views but there are different aspects that make it so great. One of them is the friendliness of the people. I am constantly waving at people from all ages, whether riding through villages or on the road. I get treated like some Bollywood star as the reaction I get off people is like that of a famous person. You do get a few tourists in Gujarat but only in the main areas, so driving around rural areas I'm a novelty to all the onlookers
Gandhi's House
. I can't help but be happy. After riding through endless cotton field and lakes that are filled with migrating bird I arrive in Junagadh. Time is getting on and the next possible destination is quite far away so the decision was made for me to stay the night in Junagadh. With time still left in the day I go exploring the town making my way to the Uparkot Citadel, the highlight of the town. It is on a small plateau with high walls protecting it from any assault. I start to walk round the perimeter of the walls looking in the distant at Girnar hill that juts up high amongst the surroundings and for some reason urges me to climb it. I stare out to the hills weighing up the climb, then all of a sudden I get whacked round the head, it nearly knocks me off balance. What the ..... It feels like someone has just thrown a log at me. Everything happened so fast that I have no clue what is going on. My sunglasses fall from my head and I just managed to grab them before they disappeared into abyss over the wall. I'm still trying to work out what is going on, my head hurts to the degree that I check to see I'm bleeding. Then I spot it....those bloody hawks! They are searing in great numbers above the fort effortlessly in the warm currents, but why attack me. At the time I had my sunglasses on top of my head and I think the reflection of the sun made the hawk think it was something interesting. Just as I'm piecing this together I come under attack again. 'Leave me alone!' I put my glasses in my pocket fearing that if I wore them on my eyes then they might get clawed out. Obviously at this point the movie 'The Birds' is on my mind.
The rest of the time went unscathed but I did keep looking up at the skies to check for any ambushes
Gandhi's house2`
. I enjoyed the sights within the complex, one in particular being a massive 60m well with a 200 step spiral staircase that take you to the waters edge. I might still have horror movies on my mind but the entrance isn't far off from featuring in such a film. The steps seem infinite as they fade off into the darkness, there is a cool breeze but the air is stagnant and smelling of bat droppings, even so I wanted to explore. Coming in from the bright sunlight didn't help matters and I spent the majority of my time literally blind, gingerly testing the ground ahead of me with every step. I make it down to the bottom to be greeted by rats and a huge mound of pungent rubbish. I look up through the center of the well to see how far I've descended only to be blinded by the sunlight making everything pitch black again for the return journey. It was worth it though. Even though pondering the idea of climbing Girnar Hill sparked off bad luck by getting attacked by a hawk I was still keen on it. It is a pilgrim site so I was expecting many pilgrims to be doing the same as me, so wanting to see if I can get a head start ahead of them I set off in the darkness of the morning around 4'ish to the beginning of the climb. On arriving at the point of ascent I definitely wasn't alone as the entrance bustles with people drinking chai and preparing themselves for the 10,000 step 900m climb. The problem is that I cause too much interest and I'm not exaggerating but everyone wants to talk to me and for long periods of time. This definitely is a test on the patience of politeness. At least it is still pitch black so my plan is to move fast and hopefully get to the point where I am one of the first. Forty-five minutes of solid fast climbing and I've flown by over 100 people, but there are still streams of people ahead of me. The sun is starting to rise and my cover of darkness eroding
Porbander
. But I had another plan to escape long drawn out conversation repeating myself a million times up the hill and that was to climb fast and by doing so no-one can catch up. I'm sounding like a right miserable git, there are some great characters to chat to, but if I give everyone the time they want I wouldn't have any for myself. People always have trouble saying my name especially in Asia, in China my name was Wenai, in Thailand Lenny and in India it's Vinay, it's ok though as I'm rubbish at pronouncing Asian names as it always causes amusement when I repeat their name back to them. The sun is getting stronger by the minute as it starts to burn away the morning mist that slowly reveals more depth of field and enormity of these lush green forests cladding the hills. You could easily get lost in there for months. This is the Indian countryside & it is in abundance of wildlife and not to forget tigers. About 60kms from here there is the Sasan national park and with landscapes like these I can understand why. I finally make it to the top after 3 hours of leg burn and heaving breathing. The destination is a small Jain temple where the pilgrims have come to get blessed. Visually it is nothing, a small 15ft by 15ft area where you get blessed, circle a statue of a deity then leave. I was there for all of a minute then left. The destination of the journey did little for me, there was nothing spectacular or even that interesting to look at in the temple, but I'm not a Jain so the end product for the climb and pilgrimage will not bear essence
Bloody Hawks
. This is not to say that I was left disappointed by any accounts. Mid-way up surmounting the hill is a cluster of Jain temples that offer more of a spectacle but more impressively it was seeing pilgrims even in their 60's, 70's or disabled climb the 10,000 steps that puts it into perspective the importance of this site. Seeing all of this dedication, and happiness in doing so, leaves me with a good impression of their religion, their strong beliefs and to the importance of Girnar hill. After 5 1/2 hours, a million handshakes, a million 'my name is vinay from London' whilst being dazzled by the views and amazed by the dedication of the pilgrimage I finally reach the last step. I grab a glass of dubious looking sugarcane juice with a group of people that descended part of the journey with me then jump in a rickshaw to a sea of waves, quickly making it back to my hotel to shower & check out b4 12. I'm looking forward to hitting the road but this time primarily because I want to sit down.
