Train travel – The Timber Trawler

Inspired by the experience of spending Diwali in the hills the previous year, I decided to spend the Diwali this year too at an interesting place. The place was not very hard to choose, as I had been planning to take my parents to Udaipur soon, and thought it would be wonderful to see Diwali over Lake Pichola.

Accordingly, a fortnight before Diwali, seeing a great deal for the day, for which most hotels were already booked or overpriced, I booked a room in Hotel Thamla Haveli that stands right on the bank of Lake Pichola exactly opposite the Gangaur Ghat. On the other hand, not getting tickets on the Chetak Express, the only train connecting Gurgaon and Udaipur, I improvised and booked tickets on a 2 PM train instead from Jaipur, which we would reach by bus.

Day 1: Off to Udaipur

On the day preceding Diwali, we reached our designated pick-up point at Rajiv Chowk around 6 AM, only to learn that we had left behind the food Mother had painstakingly cooked and packed for the journey. So, I rushed back home, which thankfully was only one-and-a-half kilometers from our bus-stop, to pick up the food, and was back in time to catch the bus.

Relishing the views of the Aravallis and the countryside on the way, we reached Jaipur at 12, catching the train to Udaipur as planned. This being a day train, we had the opportunity to see the landscape the railway line passed through, including the topography of areas around Ajmer, where I felt a strong pang of desire inside me to visit Ajmer sometime soon. We reached Udaipur around 9 PM and soon checked-in to a hotel near the railway station.

Day 2: Diwali in the City of Lakes

The next morning, i.e. on Diwali day, after breakfast, we checked out of the hotel and moved over to Thamla Haveli, checking-in around 11.30 AM. We were quite pleased to know that the window of our room opened to, and in fact, hung right over the Pichola lake – if you fell from the window, you drop right into the water! Then, we checked out Ambrai Ghat, which was only a 200 metre walk from our hotel and gave us an exhilarating view of the City Palace sitting across the Pichola Lake.

Morning at the Ambrai Ghat on Lake Pichola, Udaipur

After that, we hired an autorickshaw to show us around Udaipur the whole day, and first proceeded to Sajjangarh Palace, a monsoon palace that stands on the top of a hill, overlooking the city and the Fatehsagar and Pichola lakes. From the terrace of the palace, we also got breathtaking views of the Aravallis. Descending from Sajjangarh Palace, we had lunch near Saheliyon ki Bari, an early 18th century garden, which we visited next. Next up was the City Palace, which I was seeing for the fourth time in as many visits. We ended the day by visiting the Jagadish temple, which stands right on the road that the Palace tour exits to.

Back at the haveli, from our window we were treated to the electrifying sights that we had hoped to see – the fireworks going over the skyline across the lake, with their reflections sparkling over the lake’s surface. As we climbed to the rooftop restaurant for dinner, we were rewarded with even clearer views of the Diwali celebrations. We finally went to sleep, as Diwali celebrations drew to a close.

The city and sky are lit up on Diwali night, as seen from Thamla Haveli, Udaipur

Day 3: An Excursion to Kumbhalgarh

The next morning at 7.30 AM, we walked to the Ambrai Ghat again and were mesmerized by the views of the city palace bathing in the morning sun. Soon after, I booked an outstation Ola cab after some struggle, to take us to Kumbhalgarh. Starting at 11 AM, we drove for about two hours, mostly through the Aravallis, to reach Kumbhalgarh fort which was taking forever to appear. However, given the scenic beauty on the road, the drive was not that boring after all.

This being our first ever visit to Kumbhalgarh, we took the guided tour savouring every nook and cranny of the palaces and every bit of information dished out by the guide. From the rooftop of the Badal Mahal, we beheld the most magnificent views of the Aravallis and the Marwar plains beyond. Before we realized it, we had already spent two hours.

Descending from the palace, after a quick light meal at one of the shanties located inside the fort premises, we checked out the Vedi temple, and other nearby temples, and capped off the fort visit with a walk along the famed fortress wall of Kumbhalgarh, from where one gets a clear view of the palaces sitting on the hilltop.

By now, it was already 4 PM, leaving us with little for the next stop on our itinerary, Ranakpur. In any case, any possibility of seeing Ranakpur was nipped in the bud shortly, when our cab driver refused point-blank to drive through the hills to the famous Jain temple, on account of the impending darkness, compounded by the fact that the temple closes by 5 PM anyway.

So, we had to leave Ranakpur for another day, another trip! Returning to Udaipur by 7 PM, we checked in to Broadway Hotel near Saheliyon ki Bari, and retired for the day after dinner.

Day 4: Exploring Nearabouts: Eklingji and Haldighati

The next day began with yet another struggle to obtain a confirmed booking for an Ola outstation cab, which I managed to get after attempting for about an hour. Given the dire circumstances, we had to leave out Nathdwara temple from the itinerary, opting instead to go to Eklingji. We finally managed to hit the road at around 10 AM, heading to and reaching Eklingji just in time for the darshan starting at 10.30 AM.

From the Eklingji temple, we proceeded to Sahasra Bahu temples at Nagda, a couple of kilometers away, which comprises a pair of 10th century Vishnu temples. The site seemed to be a popular spot for pre-wedding shoots. Thereon, we drove on to Haldighati Musuem, where we went through memorabilia related to Maharana Pratap, had our lunch, and proceeded to the Haldighati Pass. Turning back, we got down at Udaipur railway station , where we caught the 6:15 PM train to Chittaurgarh, reaching the latter after two hours.

Day 5: On to Chittorgarh

Next morning, I was back again at the place that I love most in Rajasthan – Chittorgarh, for the third time, but it still felt like I was coming here for the first time! We booked an auto-rickshaw whose driver doubled up as our guide, and took us around the fort area which in itself feels like a self-contained region, with a populated area on one side, and the remaining area covered with forests, including a deer sanctuary, and sprinkled with palaces, temples, towers and water tanks.

We started off with the Kubhashyam and Meera temples, then rode over to Vijaya Stambh, then saw the Jauhar kund and Samadhisvara temple. For there, we moved to the to Kalika Mata temple, and then Rani Padmini Palace. Then taking a wide curve, we switched to the other side of the hill, where we saw the fort’s main entrance gate, Suraj Pol, while also being treated to a breath-taking view of sparsely populated valley below. We then went over to a handicrafts shop, where we bought some scented silk fabric items.

By 1 PM, having completed one full round around the periphery of the fort, it was time leave, with a heavy heart, as far as I was concerned. Nevertheless, down in the city, we had a Rajasthani meal, and were in the railway station at 2.30 PM.

Chittorgarh fort sits atop of the flat long hill, as seen from Chittorgarh railway station

With part of our return train journey happening in daylight, we were again able to enjoy the interesting landscape, especially as we neared Bundi, where the railway line descended to the barren escarpment below. Then entering a tunnel, the train emerged out to amble along the edge of a reservoir on the other side of which ran the Aravallis. As we reached Kota, night had fallen, and when we opened our eyes early next morning, we were already approaching Gurgaon.

For more than 15 years, I harboured a longing to see Khajuraho, a dreamy place that I had read about in my school history textbooks, whose mention and descriptions conjured up images of a culturally rich and advanced town bustling with activity in the middle of dense forests.

In December 2016, as I awaited the admission results for the B-school I had applied for, and to keep myself preoccupied to counter anxiety on the exact date the results would be coming out, I scheduled a three-day solo trip to Khajuraho as below:
Day 0: Take overnight train from Delhi to Khajuraho
Day 1: See the temples of Khajuraho
Day 2: See Raneh Falls and Panna Sanctuary, and proceed to Jhansi later in the day
Day 3: See Orchha, and take the evening train from Jhansi and reach Delhi by midnight

But, as Robert Burns said, “The best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry.” Consider the ensuing circumstances I describe below.

With intense anticipation as I reached the Nizamuddin Railway station for the train scheduled at 8 PM, I learned that the train would start with a 6 hour delay, starting eventually at 3 AM. Then, due to intense fog, the train got further delayed, and finally reached Khajuraho at 6 PM, 12 hours late!

With a complete day wiped off from my itinerary, I improvised. I would proceed with the original plan for Day 2, i.e. see the Raneh Falls and the Panna sanctuary, and cram the temple visit in the later half of the day. I would then leave for Jhansi and Orchha early the following morning. Accordingly, on Day 2, I got up earlier than my routine, had an early breakfast, promptly rented out a scooter, fueled it up, then put on the rented helmet, took a glance at the tourist map given to me by the hotel receptionist, and set off for Raneh Falls by 9 AM.

I never got to Raneh Falls though. About two kilometres after taking a right turn for Raneh, with still 13 km to go, and 7 km from Khajuraho, I encountered a patch of sand that had spilt over to the curving road, and I applied my brakes, immediately telling myself, “Uh-oh, you shouldn’t have done that!” The next thing I remembered was my helmet hitting with a thud on a surface, and me lying on the ground. I stood up, but there was no strength in my knee, causing me to fall back on the ground, even as locals gathered around me.

The locals surveyed the damage both I and my scooter had incurred, and reckoned that both were probably fine, but that I most certainly needed some medical attention. They asked an auto-rickshaw driver who had stopped by, to take me to a nearby public health clinic, whereas another local inquiring of me as to where I had put up, offered to deliver the scooter at the hotel.

Shortly, I was on my way to the clinic on the auto-rickshaw, with the pain kicking in as the adrenaline wore off, making me realize that I had a deep cut in my right palm, a wide bruise on my left elbow almost exposing the bone, and a feeling of limpness and burgeoning swelling around my left knee. The doctor strapped a knee cap on my left leg, cleaned up and bandaged my wounds, gave me a shot of painkiller, and prescribed a ton of medicines. Thankfully, there was no fracture, and it seemed to be a case of soft tissue injury, the extent and nature of which were not immediately clear.

By 12.30 PM, I was back in the hotel – and so was the scooter – and laid down, soothed by the effect of the painkiller. Nevertheless, I was not going to be bogged down by this setback, given that I had waited 15 years to visit this place, and so around 4 PM, I set out to see the Western Group of temples which was just a stone’s throw away.

Soon inside the premises of the temple complex and absorbed by a tourist guide into a larger group, I was hobbling across the sprawling lawns and staggering from temple to temple, lumbering up and down the high platforms, taking photographs of the exquisite sculptures and carvings on the temple walls, even as the pain kept stabbing through the shroud of the painkiller. Hanging around for the amazing Light-and-Sound show that is conducted every evening, I was finally back at the hotel, where I had to take another round of painkiller to counter the intense pain.

Now it was clear that the improvised plan for Day 3 was off the plate, and my only objective for the day would be to reach the Jhansi Railway station well in time to catch the train. So, on Day 3, after taking my medicines following breakfast, I was dropped at the bus-stand by a generous local, where I was told I should change buses at Chhatarpur. In the bus itself, the bus conductor, looking at my condition, gave me a place to sit even though the bus was filled to the brim.

At Chhatarpur, I limped from the bus I was in to another, where I got a decent seat by the window, and was soon headed to Jhansi. The road to Jhansi seemed unusually long, what with my injuries giving me rather gentle reminders about their existence, and the looming B-school admission result prompting me to frequently check my email inbox, but mainly because reconstruction on long stretches of the road hampered the bus’s progress.

With the bus permeated by clouds of dirt as we neared Jhansi, I saw an email from the B-school. With the pounding in my heart instantly notching to many gears higher, I opened the email to read that I had been accepted – talk about a silver lining!

In Jhansi, as I got down the bus, I realized for the first time that something was seriously off in my knee, when I felt a bit of wobbling between the femur and tibia – most likely, the result of a torn ligament. Later, aboard the Shatabdi Express which itself had arrived an hour late, with the pain setting back in again as the painkillers wore off, I realized I had forgotten my medicines at the hotel!

Getting down at Delhi, I hailed a cab, and picked up a new stock of the prescribed medicines on my way home, and slowly clambered up the three flights of stairs to my place on the third floor, one step at a time, virtually dragging along my near-lifeless but excruciatingly painful left leg. Back in my bed, I contemplated my next course of action, as I stared at a long path to recovery, amidst the workload at the office, medical consultations and the upcoming B-school admission.

Tag: Train travel

Diwali in Mewar: Udaipur, Kumbhalgarh and Chittorgarh

Khajuraho: A Personal Odyssey