It had been a great start to a much waited for and anticipated trip. All of us had enjoyed the outings on Day 1 and were looking forward to Day 2 with much anticipation. On Day 1 we had mostly been to places of importance within the Jodhpur city limits. The plan for Day 2 was to venture out a bit and hit the road. It was decided that the girls would pick us up from the hotel at 7 am. We have already arranged a cab (Innova) for this purpose. So on the 5th of December the girls were at our hotel reception on time! (The exclamation is on purpose :D). We had only been traveling for 15 minutes when everyone but me expressed a desire to have some tea. We stopped at a tea stall and after everyone had had their morning tea we moved on. I was sitting in the last row with her and she was looking pretty as ever. I don’t know if you have ever noticed that sunlight seems to be more pure when the sky is blue. Well that’s what she looked like :).
We had gone a short distance when she pulled out a bag that had tiffin carriers full of sandwiches. The girls had woken up very early in the morning to prepare sandwiches for us. Before I forget- Thank you girls…you were great hosts and the sandwiches were awesome. I ate 4 [;)]. We were heading towards an old and sacred temple called the Osiyan temple. Its situated approximately 60 km from Jodhpur. We were there sooner than expected. On the way we saw lots of windmills for used for power generation. The countryside has a charm that tends to get under your skin and casts a spell on you. Poor me, I was under 2 spells.
The temple is a grand looking one and we did not have any problems in having darshans. A round of photography followed the darshan. The photographer inside Ajitesh suddenly came to life and he clicked several pictures. Prem was transformed into a pious believer and he held the pooja thali. Even his accent disappeared for a while. After that my faith in God got stronger [:)].
After spending some time in the temple premises we headed back towards Jodhpur. We were going to see Mandor Gardens, a picnic spot on the outskirts of the town. The journey to Mandor Gardens took about 45 mins. It was a decent picnic spot built around some ancient structures. It was also full of langoors but they did not seem to mind our presence over there. We rushed through Mandor Gardens as we have a few other spots to cover. From there we started toward Sardar Samand lake after much deliberation. The cab driver was not sure of the route but he managed to find out some how.
It was a long trip to Sardar Samand on a narrow potholed country road. We nevertheless enjoyed the ride as there was some very interesting and cheerful conversation going on. Sample this- Prem’s job description-“Basically we manage the flow of money.” His music interest -“Led Zapp”. The American inside had reappeared. Fact- He is an informatica developer and has a fancy job description – Business Intelligence Consultant. The girls and Prem were at constant loggerheads over the choice of music that was being played inside the cab.
After about 2 hours we were at the lake. It was a kind of a dampener. There was nothing but a lake. I loved it but the stares I got from the others left me in no doubt that the place had disappointed them. However, as soon I attempted to skim stones on the lake surface excitement and childhood both returned. Believe it or not, the local villagers joined in. Even the ladies who had come to fetch water! I tried to indulge into some nature photography. Don’t want to talk about the results[:)]. Nature had a heady effect on people. Girls were offered flowers (Dhature ka phool!) and a mentally unstable villager was chased just to get a snap.
After spending some more time, we decided to head towards Luni Fort. I had read a lot about this place using Google. However, since everyone was hungry we stopped at a Dhaba and had a sumptuous meal. Soon we were at Luni. The welcome was great. Teeka was applied on fore heads and it seemed we were about to enter a grand palace. However if Sardar Samand was a semblance of disappointment, this was disappointment personified. It was a haveli that had been renovated to be used as a resort. The attendant informed us that it was private property and one needed to book a room in order to see the place. After some negotiation, we arrived at a deal. He would show us around but we had to have coffee there. It was a well appointed resort and we clicked a few pictures there as well. The coffee was served in royal fashion and after having it the deal did not seem so bad.
From Luni we headed straight to Jodhpur Railway station to catch the train that would take us back to our mundane lives. The girls bought and packed some dinner for us. Soon we were in the train and I was bidding goodbye to the best girl I know. It had been an awesome trip-one that I would cherish forever. And I may forget about the forts and the lakes but I would never forget the sandwiches and the reason is deeper than my taste buds [:)]
@abhay – paetu wali kya baat hai? i was hungry and the sandwiches were real tasty 😛
@RS- hehehehe no Robo…I guess the hints are enough to keep them alive and fresh in my memory 🙂
i hope you are writing a private diary too with all the interesting information hinted in these blogs but not revealed… very interesting read nonetheless. keep writing.
wah paetu paetu wah…blog ko purple kyun nahi kar deta??