Wednesday 2 March 2016

Desert Festival and Desert trekking, Jaisalmer- February 17th to 29th, 2016

Prologue:

I saw this programme on YHAI website somewhere in October 2015. I initially planned of going, and asked all my friends to accompany me, and everyone said a NO. I dropped the plan, but something inside me was not ready to accept that I cannot make it to this event. After about 2 months of re-thinking, I decided I should go for this, be it alone- since I will get to experience my first solo trip! I thus booked the trek and the to and fro train tickets (didn't make any extra plan, just Bengaluru-Jaisalmer-Bengaluru). After about 10 days of booking everything, my friend Dev who I had met in Amedikallu trip called me up just-like-that, and I said him that I'm going to Rajasthan in February. He was also interested in it and he said he will join me. (I had asked all my friends but him, since he was going through the agony of the death his beloved dog when I decided to book for the trek) I thus booked everything for him too, this time modifying the plan a little, to cover a few other places while returning. All set to go, but February was yet to come :P



February 17th, Day 0 - Board Bengaluru-Jodhpur express at 9:50 PM:


The day was finally here, and I took a WFH from my office since I had to pack up my bag yet and leave in the evening. I was taking 7 days of leave and I was going to say my colleagues that I am affected with Typhoid :P (couldn't say vacation for a week again, after being back from Goa only 2 months before). Finally got ready and arrived at Majestic Railway station at 8:50 PM, and Dev arrived at 9:25. We both walked to Platform 8, to find that train had not yet arrived. It arrived at 9:40 PM, and we boarded and settled to our seats. We were actually going to Rajasthan- couldn't believe this! We started talking about various stuffs, and we spoke for almost 2 hours! We then slept at 11:30 PM, realizing that we still have one and half days to talk about the rest of the things in the train.

February 18th, Day 1 - Full day train journey:


I was up by 5 AM. I can't sleep beyond this time when I am traveling during nights. We were somewhere near Dharwad, and it was a pleasant morning. We had our breakfast, Idli and then started with Uno game. I hate to tell that I lost badly, in all- Best of 5, 10, 15 and even 20. Never did I get a chance to even lead him at any given point. It was almost noon time, we had lunch, and we were offered Khamand by an elderly couple, who was in our compartment.  With much shy, we had to accept, and it tasted just awesome. There were around 10 dhoklas, and we finished it along with what we had bought to eat. We then started with Rummy game, and this time I won! :-D
By this time Pune arrived at about 5 PM, and we got down to fill our bottles and have some chats. We got back into the train, and there was another couple, and that uncle who was only watching us play all this time, now took the deck of cards, and started to show some tricks. You keep a number in mind and he tells you which it was, you select a card in your mind and he will find out which it is etc etc etc. About 4-5 tricks, we were watching with our mouths and eyes open- wondering how that was possible, and then he thought us all those tricks, only to find out how simple all those tricks were :P

It was about 8 PM now, and we had our dinner. We then had to sleep, and we decided we will watch a movie. We decided upon Wazir movie, and he went to his berth which was in next coach, and I stayed there and watched the movie till 12 PM and I slept.

February 19th, Day 2 - Reach Jodhpur at 5 PM, and board a train at 11:45 PM to Jaisalmer


As usual at 5 AM, I was up, but I was making an effort to sleep- all in vain. I woke up and sat at 6 AM, and was looking through the window until Dev arrived at 6:30. We were somewhere near to Ahmedabad and we reached Ahmedabad at 7 AM. We got down on the platform and we saw a kind of tower, long one, in front of the station. I called up Sanchitha on her phone, my friend who I had met in Goa and she said me that it was called Jhulti minar- which kind of shakes sometimes according to the local people. The train moved again and we had our breakfast. Around 10 PM, we entered Rajasthan, and we could see that the land was dry. But the breeze was still cool when standing near the door :)

At 4:50 PM, we arrived at Bhagat ki Kothi station, where our long journey ended. We left for Jodhpur station by auto and reached there at 5:15. We freshened up, and kept our luggages in Cloak Room, and went out to explore the city. We knew we couldn't visit any place since all the palaces and museums will close by 5 PM. We just went into the market, and we simply walked through the streets, observing the people, their way of living etc. I could see some huge building behind the market, and I suddenly realized it was Mehrangarh Fort! Even though it was closed, we spoke to some locals and we got to know that we could go till the Fort, but cannot enter it. It was 6:30, and sun was going down. We still walked fast and the road started to gain an angle, and it was getting steeper. We could see the palace now and it was magnificient. We went till the top, and the City from there looked amazing. It was not dark yet, and thus no lights were lit yet. Then the palace was lit up with normal bulbs, and it was good to see it! Wish we could go inside the palace and explore it.. :( We spent some 30 minutes there, and it eventually got dark, and the entire city was lit. It was a very conjusted city, and people always seemed to be in a hurry. We came down to the market area, and we were hungry now. We tried Pani puri which was good, and then Cutlet Masala which was ordinary, and then Pav Bhaji.. It was both Awesome, and economical :P We then finished our dinner with Faluda, and started to walk back to station. It was only 8 PM, and we sat in the circle in front of the railway station, and chatted for a while. At 8:30 we went into the station, trying to kill some time.

Mehrangarh Fort

View of Jodhpur city as seen from the fort

Streets in the market


At 9:30, Dev started to feel like having the Pav Bhaji again, and we walked back to market- anyway we had a lot of time for the next train. We came back at around 10 PM, and we went to the platform and sat on the bench. Train was not there yet, and at 10:45, we went to pick our backpacks from Cloak Room, and we came back and saw that the train was there, but the Reservation list was still not put. We still got into the train, and we suspected that few people were going to Desert Festival, and later we got to know that the entire coach was filled with people who had registered with YHAI for the same programme! Next to my compartment, there were 5 other people who were from Bangalore, and they made a start to talk to us, seeing us speaking in Kannada. Kumaraswamy, Siddaraju, Kavitha, Lakshman and Saroja. The first friends of the huge group with YHAI. Dev was sleepy and he went to sleep. I spoke with them for about half an hour and then went to sleep!

February 20th, Day 3 - Report at Base Camp in Jaisalmer, and Festival Day 1:


I couldn't sleep properly the whole night, and woke up at 4:30. I was shifting here and there but finally got up and came down from my upper berth, and found that Kumaranna and Lakshman were already up and were talking to some other person. I was surprised to find that it was just very cold, despite being in desert! I joined these guys, and we started to chat about treks and other stuffs, standing there next to the toilets :-P Meanwhile one by one got up, and we reached jaislalmer at 7:40 AM. We decided to walk to the base camp, since it was only 3 km. After walking for about 20 minutes, we started to see decorated camels, and some people dressed culturally, and the city was decorated as well. Festive mood was on. We thought we would be late for the festival if we continued to walk, and thus took an auto. We reached the camp at 8:30, and we finished all the reporting formalities, and we went to take bath quickly and got ready to go.

Landing in Jaisalmer

Our Base Camp


It was 9:50 when we left the camp and joined the crowd to witness the Shobha Yatra, kind of inaugural procession for the 3 day festival. We were not late as we had thought, and it just started the moment we reached. It was a long line with Decorated Camels, Cultural dancers, Girls dressed like brides, and people pulled in cart also, and they were all just so colorful. For the golden-yellow city, this was a colour-treat. We enjoyed the procession, observing their costumes, their big mustaches, pallu of the saree on heads, those colorful jewelry.. It was just amazing. We walked along with the procession and reached the ground where the cultural programmes/competitions would take place. Mr.Desert competition was first, where about 10 men had dressed culturally, and they were all looking so alike :P Then it was Miss.Moomal competition, followed by Turban Tying for Indians, and then for foreigners. It looked like those foreigners had great fun taking part, and the turbans were given as souvenirs to them. And then there were some cultural programmes, and after that we came back to base camp at 1:45 PM.


Shobha Yatra Banner at the start of the procession
Mr. Desert competitors

Cultural band

Decorated Camels in the procession


A foreigner enjoying the dance



Turban Tying competition for foreigners


We had lunch, and collected rucksack and Sleeping Bag at 3 PM. At 3.30, we had orientation and everyone gathered. Only then did we realize that there were about 170 people in our group! We were told briefly about the festival and our trek, and at 4:45 PM we had Tea and left to the grounds again at 5.45 PM to witness the evening cultural programmes. There were many performances, cultural songs and dances and orchestras. At 8:45 PM, we left the ground and walked to base camp. We had dinner and then went for a walk on the streets. We had soda and returned at 10.30 PM and slept.

Fort seen in the background of the stage

An artist performing dance with pots on head


February 21st, Day 4 - Desert Festival Day 2:


I was up by 6:30 (It was late, but I slept nicely :P ) and I was ready by 6:45. Lakshman, Saroja, Kumaraswamy, Dev and I went for a morning walk, and had coffee at one of those roaddside shops, who charged Rs.20 a glass! Neither the coffee was good, nor the price was reasonable. We went to a temple there and went on to the other side of the road, which supposedly led to another temple. We realized we had to return to the camp since we were hungry now, and started walking back. On the way back, there were too many pigeons sitting on the road, and Dev, Saroja and Kumaraswamy made an attempt to shoo them off, to get a nice candid DP :P

The Jain temple we visited


We went back to the camp and had our breakfast, and packed our lunch at 8:30. We gathered in the hall at 9 AM, and Mr.Desert and Miss.Moomal 2016 were invited. We got a chance to spend some time with them and click pics. At 9:15 we left for the ground again, which was about 1.5 km walk. We managed to get nice seats, and we also gave our names for tug of war, though none of our names were selected. The programmes began, and first it was Camel Decoration competition. There were 5-6 camels that took part, and each one of them looked amazing and colorful. Then it was Shaan-e-marudhara competition, where the participant will first wear his dhoti, tie his turban, get his camel ready for the ride, and ride his camel to the finish point. Then there was Tug of War for men, Indians and Foreigners- where foreigners proved to be strong! Next was for women's and the result was no different again. Seeing this, the BSF head announced that his BSF team will challenge the foreigner team for Tug of war, and they accepted the challenge.Thus there was another round of Tug of War, between BSF and Foreigners, and of course BSF won! Then there was panihari matka race, where women should carry a pot of water and run and reach the line first. Even foreign ladies took part, and it was fun to see them competing :D Then there was this rifle performance by the Army people, where they played with their rifles like toys, though it weighed 5.5 kgs! They were throwing them in air and catching them, passing it on to the person behind/front, and other syncing actions which left us dumbstruck! And then Camel polo match, playing football while riding the camels. And the final performance was Camel March, performed by the Army people again, showing us various formations and that was also good.

Mr. Desert and Miss.Moomal 2016 at our Base Camp

View of the city on the way to the ground

Camel Decoration Competition

Tug of War Indians vs. Foreigners

Rifle Show

Camel March



It was 3:30 when it got over, and we started to walk to the base camp and it was very hot. We reached the camp at 4 PM and had tea. We were supposed to go to the grounds again for the evening cultural programmes, but we decided to roam around the city, thinking that the programmes would be similar to the previous day's. We left at 5 PM to Gadisar Lake. We reached at 5:15 PM, and the lake was a little crowded but it was a serene view. We clicked some pics from outside only, and went to a museum next to it, which was not that worthy, and we decided to go to fort. We walked along the market to enter the fort and went straight to Cannon point. It was a nice view of the entire city from this point, and it proves the title "Golden City" Not even one building/house/shop was in another color! We went to another cannon point and then to a Rama's temple. We spoke to a local guy who said us about the fort's history and about the city, and also said about some famous places in Rajasthan. We left at 7:30 PM in search of Leather Laptop bag which Dev wanted to purchase, looking for the address provided by that local guy. We went to that shop, and selected a bag and asked the shop guy to oil it for a darker shade and keep it ready, while we went out to have some chats. We had Dilli Chat, Aloo Tikki and then Lassi- which was awesome! I don't really remember the name but it was very thick, and he had put dry fruits and tutti-frooti's in it. We then went to the bag shop, collected the bag and took an auto back to the base camp at 9:15. We had to repack our bags for next day. I took bath in cold water, since the water would turn even colder the next day morning, and also all bathrooms would be on great demand. I then started packing the bag, had some nice chat with the other girls in our room for about 45 minutes, and then I slept at 12.
Gadisar Lake

A couple selling jewellery at the fort

One of the buildings at the fort

Golden city as seen from the Cannon point
Cannon Point

The fort during night, as seen from outside


February 22nd, Day 5 - Depart for Sam Sand Dunes, Last day of Festival:


Woke up at 6 AM and got ready for the City tour till 12 PM. We would then be leaving to Sam Sand Dunes. We had our breakfast and left at 8:30 AM, heading to the fort. We first visited Jain Temple which we had missed the last day. The architecture of that temple was awesome, and then we roamed the narrow streets of the fort. We then headed to Patwon ki Haweli, where everyone got busy taking pics. It was then that Dev realised that my phone was missing (He had my phone, and I had his, since I was clicking the pics everywhere and his Note 3 was better than my Moto G2), and after 15 tensing minutes, we were about to go lodge a complaint in the police station, when Lakshman said he had it! :P We left a sigh of relief.



Walls of the fort

Patwon Ki Haweli

Patwon Ki Haweli


It was time to return and we left to the camp. We walked quickly now, hoping we were not late. We reached 11:15 AM, and we deposited the extra luggage, and had lunch. We left at 12:30 PM, in bus. It was an hour journey, and we played antyakshari for the whole journey. We reached Sam Camp at 1:30 PM, and it was very very sunny and hot! We sneaked inside the tent, and it was much better inside the tent. It was very hot, but everyone managed to take a nap! We were asked to collect Sleeping bags and blankets at 4 PM, and then at 4:30, we were given another session about the camp details, about drinking and washing water, dinner area and toilet areas. For today and tomorrow, open field would be our toilets! :D And we also had to carry water in bottles! :P It was one exciting topic on everyone's mouth for time being. We then left for the festival in the dunes.

The Dunes were beautiful, but very crowded due to the festival. Kavitha was feeling a little tired, and we bought some fruits and biscuits to her. We went and sat at a comfortable place to watch the programmes. I wanted to go sit in the Dunes and witness the SunSet but no one was ready to come. There was some orchestra going on, and after a while Dev asked if we can go to the Dunes, and I joined him. None of the others accompanied us, and we went and sat on the dunes. Sun had already gone down on the West, and Moon was showing up himself in the East. It was a Full moon night and the view was good. We then came back to the ground at 9 PM, and everyone were leaving for the camp. We wanted to witness the fireworks and we thought of waiting. After about 15 minutes, we asked a local person about the fireworks, and he said there wont be any such programme. Disappointed, we left to the camp. Just after we returned, they started bursting the crackers, and we felt annoyed! Even though we could see it from the camp site, it would have been a much better view form the Dunes. Helpless, we had our dinner, and had a laughter session about missing Kumaraswamy, who was angry on losing a bet with Saroja :P We then went and slept at 11 PM.
Sam Sand Dunes
Stage set up at Sam Sand Dunes
Sunset at Sam Sand Dunes

Moon Rise





February 23rd, Day 6 - Camel ride for 10 km till Beeda Fanta, and 5 km trek to Sudasari Camp:


Waking up at 6, we freshened up and had breakfast, and at 8:40, we gathered- all ready for Camel ride! Camels were already waiting for us for about 15 minutes, and after some general instructions, we went and sat on the camels. First time ever on a camel, and trust me it was great fun. Not just riding, but the best part is when the camel gets up and sits down :P It was a 10 km ride, and it took about 2 hours. We walked along the Sam Sand Dunes, and after 6 km, we got a break, and we took selfies with our camels. Till here, I was in front and Dev was sitting back, and for the rest of the ride, we exchanged. The awesome part was that the owner of the camel gave us the control of the camel, and it felt so good to ride the camel ourselves. At 12 PM, we reached Beeda Fanta, and from here we had to start our trek in hot sun.

My Tentmates

Camel Ride


Me and Dev on our Camel
Sand Dunes


Our Camel with its owner


We sat below the tree for sometime and then we started to walk at 12:30. It was too sunny, and we were sweating like anything. We reached a small hut, where there was a tank with cool water, and after 6 km of walk we were too thirsty. Here our trek ended, and a bus came to pick us up. We reached the Sudasari Camp at 1:30 and directly went to have lunch. Special lunch was Bajra roti and Ker sangri. After that, we went into our tents and everybody took a nap, and I was talking to Nainatara for a while about other treks organized by YHAI, after which she also slept. At 5 PM, we were called for tea, after which we departed to Gajai Mata Sand Dunes.

Trek towards Sudasari Camp

End point of trek


After about 15 minutes of walk, we reached the dunes. This place is prohibited for tourists, since this is a protected wildlife sanctuary. YHAI had taken permission for us (Thanks a ton to YHAI) and thus, we got a chance to go there, and it was much much better than Sam Sand Dunes. It was sunset time, and we took many crazy pics, and we also played in the sand, jumping from a height, running race etc. and we also threw sand on each other like snow :P (the worst part was that sand and thorns were sticking all over our clothes, face and hands and we had to wait for another 20 hours to take bath) Sun went down, and it started getting dark. We were called by the CL to gather, and we had running race competition for Men and Women, and then it was 7:20, and we all shifted our faces towards East to witness the Moon Rise. The sky was reddish only at this part, indicating the Moon was ready to show up. At 7:30, the Moon started to rise slowly, and it was simply amazing to see it rise slowly. Nobody spoke a word and we just watched it for another 5 minutes, when it was completely seen as a whole! After this, we had a campfire session for about 2 hours. People sang, danced, and said shayari's and jokes. I was looking at stars and I was struggling with the Google sky app to figure out the constellations. I was only able to make out Taurus, a part of Leo and Jupiter. It was nice to see that clear sky with so many stars shining! At 9 PM, we started walking back to the camp, and at 9:30 we had dinner- Dal Bhati churma was the special item and it tasted awesome. This camp also didn't have electricity, and it was good to have dinner in moonlight. We then creeped to our sleeping bags and slept at 11 PM.
Some random clicks at Gajai Mata Sand Dunes



Moon Rise


February 24th, Day 7 - Trek to Khabha village, and to Base Camp by bus; Checkout of basecamp, and leave for Udaipur by night bus:


Woke up at 5:30 today, and it was very cold outside! We got freshened up, and since It was the last day of our trek, we were taking group pics of our tentmates, and with our organizers. After that we had breakfast, packed lunch and left in bus at 8:30. The ride was inside the wildlife sanctuary and we were able to see a few vultures and reptiles. Few of us sat on the top of the bus to get a better view :P In between, the bus got stuck in sand, and guys had to push it. At 9:30, we got down at some point and started to trek. In between, we reached a primary school, and there we got water to drink. We continued further to reach Khabha village fort at 12:30 PM. The fort was still under construction, and they had also kept some old items (like museum) inside 2 rooms. Behind the fort, we were able to see the Khabha Village. The view was good since the Fort is situated at a much higher altitude than the village. We left the fort at 1 PM by bus, and reached the Jaisalmer base camp by 2 PM.

Sun Rise

Last group pic with Tentmates and YHAI Organizers

On the top of bus

Trek towards Khabha village
Resting in between, on the way to Khabha Fort

Khabha Fort

View of Khabha Village as seen from Fort

Walls of the fort


Now everyone were desperate to take bath! 2 days of dirt and dust and sweat was no more bearable. But we were all asked to gather in the hall for certificate distribution, and with a heavy heart, we had to settle down in the hall. The felicitation started, and there were 150 certificates to be given out. Dev got it first, and as soon as he got, he went to take  bath. I got my certificate after sometime, and then even I escaped to take bath. It felt very fresh now and all the tiredness went away.

Tired faces in the base camp
Certificate Distribution Programme


The certificate distribution programme got over at 3:30. We all now had to pick our bags which was deposited, and for that there was a loooong queue. Everyone were busy in packing bags and making preparations to leave. Dev and I had our lunch. Goodbyes started and almost everyone had planned to leave the same day. Lakshman, Kumaraswamy, Siddaraju, Saroja and Kavitha left at 4:30 PM and we had a last group selfie. We also packed our bags and left at 4:45 PM, and took an auto for Gadisar Lake bus stop.

Last selfie before departing


We were only 2 of us now, and it felt soo bad to not have the friends we made in the last 5 days. Although we were excited about our next places of visiting, we felt sad of their absence. We boarded the bus at 5 PM, and the bus started at 5:30 PM exact. It was a sleeper bus, and was decent enough. The bus stopped at 9:30 PM for dinner, and started again at 10:15 PM. I tried a lot to sleep, but the effort was in vain!

February 25th, Day 8 - Reach Mount Abu and full day city seeing and stay in Mount Abu:


We reached Udaipur at 5 AM in morning. We went to the railway station, which was 5 min walk from where the bus dropped us. We went to the rest rooms, freshened up, repacked our bags, and left mine and his backpack at Cloak's room. We took only one smaller bag of mine for the next two days. We left at 6 AM, and walked to bus stand and boarded the bus to Mount Abu, which left at 7 AM. The bus stopped in between and we had poha as our breakfast. The bus reached Abu Road at 10:40 AM. We took another bus to Mount Abu and we reached at 11:40. Dev was already feeling quiet uncomfortable due to lack of sleep. We checked in to our hotel, and we decided to hire an Activa to roam around. Since we had plans to visit only Guru Shikar, Dilwada Temples and Sunset point, we thought we have lot of time, and decided to leave after taking a short nap.

Scenery while on the way to Mount Abu


At 2, I woke up  and freshened up. Dev also got ready, and we left to have lunch in a nearby hotel. We started our ride to Guru Shikar at 2:45 PM. The view while driving up the hill was scenic. We reached the Shikar at 3:30 PM. Dev refused to come up to the temple and view point since he was feeling very uneasy. He had light fever also. He sat there on the steps while I visited the temple, and went upto view point. This view point is the highest point in the Aravalli range. The whole 360 degree view from there was really good. The best part is to see Mount Abu town on the hill, from that a height! I came down and we started again towards the town. Meanwhile Dev felt sick, and he preferred taking rest at the hotel room. We went to the hotel, and he slept. I also went to get some sleep, but couldn't. I then took the vehicle and visited Dilwada temples at 6 in the evening, and while coming back , I got the view of Nakki Lake also. I came back by 7:30 PM and started watching the movie "Om". At 8:45, I got our dinner parceled, and we both had it in the room, watching the movie together. Dev then slept at 10, and I went to my room, finished the movie and slept at 11:45 PM.
View from the View Point on Top
At the highest point
View from the highest point


February 26th, Day 9 - Leave for Udaipur, full day Udaipur and leave for Vadodara by night train:


For this day, we had decided that we will wake up late, since we both were deprived of peaceful sleep for last 8 days! We woke up at 6:30, took bath and got ready to leave Mount Abu. We had breakfast in the hotel, and took a bus to Abu Road at 9. We reached Abu Road at 10, only to get disappointed of just missing a bus to Udaipur, which costed us an hour. After a long wait we finally got a bus, which started at 11:15 AM to Udaipur., which reached at 3 PM. It was pretty late, but we couldn't help it.

One of the camp coordinators had suggested us to see the palace completely, and take boating in the evening during sunset and then go to some temple there through ropeway, and get the night view of the city. Dev's friend Akshansh was from Udaipur, and he also said the same. We went to the palace straight, took the tickets to the museum, and entered the palace. We roamed the entire palace, noticing everything there, and the palace was really good. We both felt it would have been even better if we knew the history of the city.
City Palace

Inside City Palace



After roaming the palace for about 2 hours, we came out and met Akshansh. He showed us the way to one of the local boating place, and we went for a 45 minute ride. He rowed us along Taj, Oberoi and Jag Mandir and he stopped at a point, a perfect spot to watch sunset. We are on the lake, sun going behind the hills far off, and the reflection of it in the water- amazing view it was. After the sun was no more seen, he rowed us back to where he picked us up, and we sat on the steps there, chitchatting with Akshansh. He was getting married in April, so he was telling us about all the preparations that was going on.

City Palace, as seen from City lake while boating

Jag Mandir




Oberoi hotel on the banks of the lake


Sunset as seen from the boat

The clock ticked 7:30 PM and it was dark now, and left to his house since he had invited us for dinner. We were so excited to have home food after so long, and the food tasted great! We then left to railway station at 8:30, bidding him and his family goodbye. We reached at 9 PM, picked up our backpacks from cloak room, and boarded the train at 9 PM. We were invited by one of our trek friend Vishal in Vadodara, so we called him to ask if he was free the next day, and he said he will meet us. With the hopes of the last place that we will be visiting in this trip will also be great like all other, we slept at 9:45, as the train made its journey towards our next destination.

February 27th, Day 10 - Vadodara city till evening, and board train for Bengaluru at 4:55 PM:


We reached Vadodara station at 7:15 AM. We went to rest rooms to get freshened up, and Vishal called just then, saying he is already waiting near the main entrance of the station! He had come in his car to pick us up. We were a little shocked, and we met him, and went to his house. His wife was also very friendly, and we spent some time chit chatting, and then we went to take bath- which felt just soo good! (the whole idea of taking bath in a house after 9 days is just awesome! :P) By the time we finished our shower and came out, Vishal had bought us breakfast from hotel- Khandvi, Khamand, Methi bonda, besan ki bonda, missal.... There were too many items. He had bought many varieties so that we could get to taste different Gujarati food. We had it till our neck, and then left his house to see Gaikwad Palace. Vishal's wife couldn't accompany us, since she had to wait for her daughter to be back from school.

We reached palace at 11:15 AM. It was surrounded by gardens and trees, and we took the audio guide headphones, which guided us very well about the history of the palace. There were 11 sections, which was explained very well by the audio guide. We spent time till 12:45, and then went to shop Gujarati delicacies which Vishal wanted us to hand over to his brother-in-law in Bengaluru. Even we got a packet of Bakarwadi and groundnuts. We then went to have lunch at Mandap and had an awesome Gujarathi thali! We went back to his home, and by the time we reached, his daughter was home, and she was very lovely and smart! We chatted for a while and then got ready to leave. We had our train at 4:55 PM, and we left for station at 4:15. He dropped us at the station and we entered the station after bidding bye to his family, wondering about such selfless hospitality, though he knew us only for a short period of time!

Lakshmi Vilas Palace (Gaekwad Palace)

Lakshmi Vilas Palace


We picked up our luggage from the cloak room and boarded the train at 4:45. Now the problem was that we didn't have a confirmed ticket! It was RAC till Miraj, and then from Miraj to Bengaluru it was confirmed. So we had to adjust in 1 berth till next day morning 10. The train was little crowded, and we didn't even get an extra berth from the TT. I sat, while Dev slept. I couldn't sleep initially, but eventually fell asleep around 11:30 PM.

February 28th, Day 11 - Full day train journey:


I woke up at 3 AM, finding it very uncomfortable to sleep while sitting. I tried a lot to change my positions, but it never helped. I though I will start watching a movie, just to keep me diverted and started with Airlift movie (3rd and last movie during the trip :P) It was 6 when it got over, and after some time Dev woke up. I couldn't get sleep then, so I sat there instead, waiting for breakfast. After breakfast, we shifted to our confirmed berths, and I went and slept for about 2 hours.

I woke up at 1:30, and we had our lunch. At this time, a guy called Rameez came to our berth, asking if he can plug his laptop for charging. Thus we started talking to him, and he was also from Mysuru, currently working in Bengaluru for Google. We spoke non stop about treks, trips, friends, marriage, food, etc. etc. etc., and the the time passed by quickly. We had our dinner, and it was time to sleep. Dev was sleepy and he couldn't control his sleep, and he went to sleep at 12 AM. We both continued to speak, since there was only 3 and half hours left to reach Bengaluru! We spoke till 3 and then we woke up Dev too :P We reached Majestic at 4 AM, and we bid goodbye to Rameez and we took an auto. Dev dropped me off at my Aunt's place in Girinagar, from where I took my vehicle and reached home at 4:45. Meanwhile Dev continued in the same auto to his home near Kanakapura road. we were back to our cozy homes, and there came an end to the Rajasthan Trip!


Epilogue:

Rajasthan... Never had any particular expectations, and of course the entire experience was beyond imagination. The desert, the culture, the colors, the history, the hotness of the day and the coldness of the night, and those places.... It's something that cannot be put in words, coz it's something that you have to see it, feel it, and experience it yourself. Trek in desert doesn't sound like a good idea, since we think that it might be too hot and tiring, but believe me, a wanderlust must to go for it atleast once.. It's a whole new thing. I again want to go to Rajasthan since I'm very curious about those cities that we couldn't cover, wondering how beautiful and amazing they might be, just like the ones we had been. :) And finally, the phrase "Rangeelo maaro Rajasthan" suits just best!

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