We left home at 0630hrs on our Rajasthan odyssey on a rainy morning.
This rain followed us all the way to Ahmedabad. The truck traffic from Dahisar right upto Manor was dense and boggd us down. It took us 2 hrs to cover this distance of 80kms!
We had our breakfast in ‘Silver Mines’ a food court in Manor where it was ‘eat all you want’ for Rs.69/- only. Though the guy at the counter never has the small change and charges Rs.70/- and points out to a board which sternly states ‘Wastage will be charged Rs.200/-‘. So you take a plate and go to the spread where there are wadas, idlis, poha and dosas. To wash it down you can have coffee/tea/lime juice. If you want any without sugar you have to order a-la-carte. After a hearty breakfast and ensuring no wastage, we got on NH8 and did reached Ahmedabad our destination for the day at 1700hrs. We had rains on and off all the time. The roads were good after Manor and the truck traffic was not so bad.
Soon we got onto NE1(National Expressway 1) and halfway through noticed that we were low on fuel and there was no fuel pump anywhere on the way unlike the Mumbai Pune expressway where there are food courts along with fuel pumps in about 3 places.
At the Nadiad exit we met a group of young workers who gladdened our hearts when he told us that there was a Reliance pump just before the Ahmedabad exit.
Then we went on the Ring Road to get to Greenwoods and Lakeview resort and got mazed! Finally reached the resort which is in an area away from the city bustle after a drive of 565kms from Mumbai. There is nothing available within a walking distance from the resort. So you have to have you meals there or drive some place far off.
It is a beautiful resort with very friendly staff and wonderful food too. The only thing that irked me was you are fingerprinted while checking in! Seems it is the law of the land and have to abide by it. This after taking photocopies of our photo identification and signatures! Another thing that surprised me was that there was no Gujarati food available in their restaurant!
Spent a quiet evening in the hotel and dined on Punjabi food in Gujarat and retired for the day.
Spent a quiet evening in the hotel and dined on Punjabi food in Gujarat and retired for the day.
Next morning we would roll on to Mt.Abu – our 1st stop in Rajasthan!
Ah! So Mumbai will have to wait for your and your camera to return, eh?
ReplyDeleteWarm Aloha from Waikiki;
Comfort Spiral
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I am going to note down every single thing that you write. I am going to do the same 3 week's road trip (if possible) sometime in future.
ReplyDeleteWould love to know more on the road, conditions of road & vehicle.
Great beginning inspite of all the minor hurdles!! :) Awaiting for next episode!!
ReplyDeleteWelcome back :) Rajasthan, wow! A fabulous start to what looks like an amazing journey ahead.. Eagerly awaiting for more!
ReplyDeleteDeepak it seems you are heading straight to Rajasthan
ReplyDeleteSo that's where you had disappeared to! Looking forward to the tales from the desert.
ReplyDeleteHey Nisha the car was the wonderful Indica V2 DLS TC of Aug06. She behaved perfectly and enjoyed the trip with us. My son and me drove while my wife navigated :)
ReplyDeleteThe roads overall were fantastic except for a few bad patches here and there.
Wow superb start . Waiting for more .
ReplyDeleteWelcome Back Sir, Hope you had terrific time and brought back some memories and shots for your readers. Nice post, we had a sneak peak of your vacation.
ReplyDeleteIt's great to see you here again, and with such an interesting post!
ReplyDeleteWill come back tomorrow morning and read it :)
ReplyDeleteI hope you enjoy the nice roads, lovely food, amazing sweets and hospitality of my Rajasthan :)
ReplyDeleteGreat start .I now want to have idlis for breakfast:)Fingerprinted ....well this is new in India.Looking forward for the next post.....
ReplyDeleteGreat start! didnt realise that it was a road trip... loved the pics u posted, and waiting for the detailed travelogues! we visited mt abu, udaipur and nathdwara in may, but havent got around to writing abt it yet :(
ReplyDeletehave fun :) rajasthan is probably the best place for photography...
ReplyDeletei had never been to rajasthan nor had seen any snaps..!
ReplyDeleteI can't wait to read more about your Rajastan journey. Don't keep us waiting!
ReplyDelete(Oh yes, I too know the pain of trying to leave 'the city'. To be honest, 80kms in one hour is still pretty fast when leaving Mumbai. It's the same when trying to get out of London!)
Good post and very Nice pics, Magiceye! :)
ReplyDeleteNice to see you back
ReplyDeleteafter a relaxing vacation :-)
A road trip to Rajasthan sounds like fun especially in this weather. I just went to Udaipur and Jaipur too. Do check out the pics on my blog too that I posted recently. I await your critique!
ReplyDeleteRoad trips are fun! I too had one last winter.
ReplyDeleteAbout food ... when I was in Rajasthan, in few restaurants, staff insisted on serving South Indian food even when we asked for local favorites!! I felt that was a bit strange.
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ReplyDelete@Kusum in Rajasthan most of the restaurants cater to the continental tastes. You can either eat street food or in the fancy restaurants catering to the foreign tourists. There are no budget restaurants like the Udipi restaurants of Mumbai. The fancy restaurants have just a couple of true Rajasthani dishes. Am going to do a separate post on this :)
ReplyDeletegood start
ReplyDeleteI started reading from your Jaisalmer post and then thought of starting it with your first post on Rajasthan. Beautiful beginning.
ReplyDeleteJust catching up with your Rajasthan series, Magiceye. :-)
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, Punjabi food is ubiquitous. The hotel I stayed in Varanasi served Punjabi food or Israeli food !
Really lovely pictures to go with the story.
ReplyDeleteThank you Shalu
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