Ahhh... back in the hills at last

Mount Abu, Monday 25 February 2013

It's bliss being back in the hills and away from cities for a while. Here are some pics from the past two days in Mount Abu, which is a hill station in southern Rajasthan.

Words to follow...

The view from my hotel balcony

As above

My hotel room window to the front, left and patio area further along the balcony

Looking down on the hotel's courtyard and restaurant

The shops selling ice cream on the way down to the lake

The lake, and the Hotel Jaipur up on the hillside to the left, which is just above my hotel

Popping out to catch some rays - and any unsuspecting insects

My hotel

On the way home from school

The lake, viewed from the hills above during a sunset trek

Hard to make out, but the place where my guide took me to see the sunset was a lot quieter than the official 'Sunset Point', seen here, with hundreds of people shouting and whistling as the sun went down!

Me, at the much more tranquil sunset spot

Me and a French couple who did the sunset trek with me

Grover and I poking the sun. It ain't half hot, mum.

The plains below and a winding river bed just about visible in the haze

This pic was taken at sun rise, at the start of the full-day trek I did yesterday. This is at the highest point in Rajasthan. I just love how the ranges of hills are divided by haze like this.

The hills here are formed from granite, a volcanic rock.  They've been weathered in a way that I've seen only in sedimentary rocks before. Extraordinary. This formation looks like an elephant!

One of our rest stops, under the shade of a weathered rock formation

Our lunch stop, with a large slab of rock serving as the table

The villagers who live in these hills have used the rock formations and caves to make houses and out buildings. Here you can also see dung patties drying, which are used for fuel for the fire.

Mummy, who are those funny looking people?