Bundi, Sunday 3 March 2013
Mount Abu... for me, of course, it was the perfect antidote to the cities and towns where I've spent much of the past six weeks. This was my time to recharge my batteries and indulge my best-loved hobby of trekking.
Arriving into Mount Abu on the overnight bus (as I described in a previous post), I napped for a few hours and then spent the afternoon exploring the town, before returning to my hotel for a sunset trek. It wouldn't do to let a whole day go by here without getting out into those hills. Ashok, the son of the owner of my hotel, led me and a French couple up the road behind our hotel... upwards through a cluster of poorer houses we walked, returning the waves and hellos of the villagers. It wasn't long before we left the road, veering off along a track and contouring along and up into the hillside. Up we climbed on grippy granite boulders strewn across dry dirt trails in the evening sunshine. The perfect temperature for walking. Views began to open up around us, down into the valley towards a lake that looked a bit like a reservoir. Up and up we went, finally reaching the top of the ridge... and there, down the other side, was a stunning view over the main lake of Mount Abu, complete with its passenger balloon and hordes of boaters.
We sat down on a rock for a while to take it all in, our breath caught by the sight of the patchworked plains running away into the distance, overlooked by other long, fingery mountains, one behind the other.
With the sun now beginning to sink, we got up and headed towards it, a little bit further along our ridge. From our superb vantage point, we sat and watched it dip down and down, balanced by the moon coming up and up behind us. Off on another hillside to our left was the 'official' Sunset Point. This was where the majority of tourists schlepped along a concrete road to, to watch the sun go down. There were four terraces over there, all crowded with people, their cheers and whistles reaching us only lightly. That was one way to watch the sunset, I guess! For us three Europeans and our quiet-natured guide, though, the blissful tranquility of sitting quietly in a row was just perfect. Even Ashok's dog sat attentively watching the sun disappear and leave a spray of colour behind.
Ashok scanned the hills to see if he could spot any bears for us, as they sometimes come out around sunset for a wander. But, not this time. We returned back to the Shri Ganesh - but not before turning to thank nature for the beauty it had chosen to reveal to us on that, my first evening in Mount Abu.
Mount Abu... for me, of course, it was the perfect antidote to the cities and towns where I've spent much of the past six weeks. This was my time to recharge my batteries and indulge my best-loved hobby of trekking.
Arriving into Mount Abu on the overnight bus (as I described in a previous post), I napped for a few hours and then spent the afternoon exploring the town, before returning to my hotel for a sunset trek. It wouldn't do to let a whole day go by here without getting out into those hills. Ashok, the son of the owner of my hotel, led me and a French couple up the road behind our hotel... upwards through a cluster of poorer houses we walked, returning the waves and hellos of the villagers. It wasn't long before we left the road, veering off along a track and contouring along and up into the hillside. Up we climbed on grippy granite boulders strewn across dry dirt trails in the evening sunshine. The perfect temperature for walking. Views began to open up around us, down into the valley towards a lake that looked a bit like a reservoir. Up and up we went, finally reaching the top of the ridge... and there, down the other side, was a stunning view over the main lake of Mount Abu, complete with its passenger balloon and hordes of boaters.
We sat down on a rock for a while to take it all in, our breath caught by the sight of the patchworked plains running away into the distance, overlooked by other long, fingery mountains, one behind the other.
With the sun now beginning to sink, we got up and headed towards it, a little bit further along our ridge. From our superb vantage point, we sat and watched it dip down and down, balanced by the moon coming up and up behind us. Off on another hillside to our left was the 'official' Sunset Point. This was where the majority of tourists schlepped along a concrete road to, to watch the sun go down. There were four terraces over there, all crowded with people, their cheers and whistles reaching us only lightly. That was one way to watch the sunset, I guess! For us three Europeans and our quiet-natured guide, though, the blissful tranquility of sitting quietly in a row was just perfect. Even Ashok's dog sat attentively watching the sun disappear and leave a spray of colour behind.
Ashok scanned the hills to see if he could spot any bears for us, as they sometimes come out around sunset for a wander. But, not this time. We returned back to the Shri Ganesh - but not before turning to thank nature for the beauty it had chosen to reveal to us on that, my first evening in Mount Abu.
No comments:
Post a Comment