An Typical Gujarati Weekend Getaway!

The Mumbai (Bombay) attacks had really dampened everyone’s spirit in India. The media kept on showing the same horrific images over-and-over again which reminded me of 9/11. After a while, my mom, Gin & I were fed up with the media coverage and just felt like getting away for a while. My dad on the other hand was glued to the TV and wanted to get all the media coverage. We finally convinced dad to get away for the weekend.

The idea was to go to Mount Abu, Rajasthan, a popular hill station (a resort town on the hills) via Ambaji (a famous temple 40km from Mt. Abu). I wanted to take Ginnie to the Delwara temple, in Rajasthan, which to me is one of the most remarkable things to see in India.

Growing up in India, our family often visited Mount Abu. I’ve been there at least 5 times before, but every time I go there, it’s a wonderful experience. Full of fun memories.

First we went to the temple at Ambaji and stayed a night there. It was really nice to see the lighting at the temple at night. The temple also holds the Guinness Book of World Records for the longest flag (abt 4500 feet).

Next morning we left for Mount Abu. We stayed at a great spot overlooking the Nakki Lake. There was a little porch outside our room and the view was so incredible that we didn’t even go anywhere for the day. Just sat outside on the swing and had some food and masala chai (Indian tea). The sunset was incredible! I don’t think I’d seen the sky look the way it did in my entire life. Later in the evening, all of us played cards and had a chillaxed evening.

The following morning we woke up and were surprised to see rain. None of us were expecting it to rain, especially because it was dry season. Anyways, it cleared up and we decided to go up to Guru Shikhar (the highest peak of Mount Abu about 1700mts/5500ft). The view from there was spectacular.

On our way back we went to the much awaited Delwara Temple. Unfortunately, the temple was closed because of some religious ceremony being performed. Luckily, the temple was to reopen again for the day 2 hours before closing hour. So we just went back to the hotel and rested. We wanted to make sure we go back in time. I knew 2 hours wasn’t going to be enough if we doodled around. We all felt the urgency to get there because we were leaving the following day. Unfortunately, no photography or videography is allowed inside the temple. Ginnie thought the carvings were amazing. After the temple, we returned back to our hotel and played more cards after having a leisurely dinner.

The following morning was tight schedule. We had to get back to Ahmedabad, but before we left, we decided to do boating in the Nakki Lake. It was a splendid idea. It was a paddle boat for 4. Gin & I paddled the boat with my parents sitting in the back. It was a great idea and a great end to our weekend getaway.