Mount Abu - Riding Solo - II

On my way to the Mount
The next day was a Monday, and I hoped that the weekend crowd would've left by now. And sure enough, as I was riding upwards, lot of cars were leaving the Mount. I took halts and rode at leisurely pace today. Even on the way up, I saw a lot of birds - a peacock which ran out of sight in a jiffy, few more bulbuls and many others. I am not an avid bird-watcher, but I do enjoy spotting and trying to identify a few, and if I can click a good picture of one, priceless! My first destination today was Gurushikhar, which is 18 kms from Mount Abu. It is the highest peak of the Aravali range and the view from top is mesmerizing. Mount Abu is a part of the landscape from up there. Also, the observatory can be seen from here. Next, I was headed to the Jain temple. I didn't spend a lot of time here. Came back to Abu and roamed around the market for a while, before having lunch and leaving for a quick power nap at the hotel. I was riding up by 5 PM again. And 10 kms from Abu, the bike was out of fuel. I was a little panicky then but I knew I would be laughing about it the next day.
View from Gurushikhar

                Luckily, I got a lift till the petrol pump. But the petrol pump was out of fuel too. I called up the motorcycle rental guy and he gave me a liter of petrol, but I'd have to find a way to get back to the bike around 12 kms from the spot. I walked around 4 kms before a guy finally agreed to drop me at my destination. With the fuel in, I was able to get back on the bike and ride. Since it was already dark as I reached, I returned the bike. While walking toward the bus stop, I finally found a shop that served chicken. I went right in, and was thoroughly disappointed with the food. I couldn't even finish the food. I should've stayed with the vegetarian options, which did taste good.

View from the ghat
                The last day of the holiday was here. And I had forgotten my driving license with the bike rental guy. I had to go back up and get it myself, which was 2 hours of travel to and fro. My train for Mumbai was from Ahmedabad at 1140 PM, and Mount Abu to Ahmedabad was 5 hours of travel. I took the government bus, and regretted it. It was hot, and I was sweating and felt dehydrated even after consuming a lot of water. I felt better as I hopped off the bus at Ahmedabad at 5 PM. With close to 7 hours to kill, I thought I could watch a movie. So I dropped off my luggage at the cloak room (They need it locked up), and hauled a cab for the nearest PVR cinema. Watched 'Sachin', got goose bumps at a lot of scenes, liked the movie! After the movie, I was back the station by 1115 PM.

Devi Singh, gave me a lift till my bike
Temple near Achalgarh
       The return journey was uneventful. I was thinking about the entire journey. Overall, I felt Mt Abu is a little over-rated. It is similar to all the hill stations around. Each one has a lake, a temple, a sunset/sunrise point and a main market. And it is commercialized. I've been to a lot of places in Rajasthan so far, and Mt Abu is my least favorite. It is not a complete disaster to visit. But the problem is I had high expectations after hearing so much about it, which it did not live up to. The best part of the journey for me had to be riding the bike on the ghat roads. But this is one destination that I wouldn't want to come back to.

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