Delhi to Mount Abu – A Tiring yet Refreshing Drive

The advent of spring was greeted with great excitement as it gives one of the two breaks – the other being summer – for a long-overdue trip somewhere. Planning started in right earnest for the whole of 11 days in hand which falls towards the end of March. Wanted to do a real long drive but hopes were dashed as the days drew near; school found out that the end-of-the-year meeting with the teacher is best done in the middle of the week, wifey-dear was held up at work for a few days – finally three free days dripped down through the sieve of engagements into my expectant goblet. Rather than sulking at the misfortune, decided to put to use the ‘three drops in the goblet’ as best as I could.

The lot fell on Mount Abu, the sole hill station of Rajasthan. It brought some challenges as well. Being the lone driver, would I be able to do a distance of over 750 km in a day? So far the maximum was just over 500 km. I prefer day driving. Setting out too early in the morning also was ruled out as it disturbs my fragile sleep pattern. The youngest passenger being just 5, frequent and longer breaks were required. But achieving this milestone was important as it would help me plan longer distances all over the country.

And the D-day arrived. We set out at 5 in the morning and soon hit the NH8. With its dancing lights, the Gurgaon expressway looked more like a runway. The expressways, though good for faster movement, seem to take away the romance out of travel. It just takes you from one place to another without any accompanying pleasing sights – you see more of metal poles and concrete which tends to rather depress the traveller. As someone said ‘you can drive from coast to coast without seeing anything’ holds true for such roads. However, the techno-drive ended soon enough and driving became pleasant.

Dodging trucks was the game we played until Jaipur bypass. It took just over 4 hours with a short break for sandwiches and coffee that we carried from home. Truckers never sleep and you find them in hordes any time of the day on this stretch. Interestingly, the game was played while the speedometer was reading in excess of the lowest three figure mark. The highway became wider and smoother after Jaipur and the speedo responded accordingly. Gradually the green cover thinned out and the colour of soil turned sandy – harbinger of the impending harsh summer months.

Once you reach Kishangarh, there are three routes to the destination: (i) via Chittaurgarh – Udaipur (NH79) (ii) via Rajasamand – Udaipur (NH8) and (iii) via Pali – Sirohi (NH14). The first has the best surface but is longer and the third takes you directly to Mount Abu. As we were unsure of making it to Abu before dark, we opted for the second. It was an undivided two-lane road with ups and downs and lot of bends where you can’t go over hundred – unless you are a rally driver –but I would rather drive on such roads.

However, I was disappointed with what I saw as we reached the rural area – sparse vegetation, dry blades of grass, craggy hills and rocky terrain. I was ready for sand dunes but not rocks! I started thinking about it and it dawned on me that if it weren’t different why would one go to visit another place? As we drove farther on, I started liking it, especially as we went up a hill. Here’s what we saw:

I noticed that many of the huge trucks here carry a load of a couple of heavy marble boulders. When we reached a place called Pasoond, we could see rows and rows of shops selling marble slabs. In fact it seemed the only item you could purchase at this place was marble slabs!

At 6 in the evening we reached the outskirts of Udaipur. Odometer read 712. We decided to press on as there was enough daylight. After some confusion over which direction to take, we hit the right one on NH76. It soon turned into a nightmare as the highway was still being laid and there were bad patches where work was still on. Though the rest of the highway was cream, traffic was non-existent and this made us a little jittery. We decided to call it a day after an hour and a half and found a cheap but spacious room for ourselves. It was the right decision as the territory was unknown.

We set out again the next morning. Just before Pindwara, the new highway ended and thru the town we came on to NH14. One more deviation and we reached Abu Road. The climb to Mount Abu starts from here. 20 km of uphill drive on smooth roads lined with langurs (yes, the primate) amidst flowering trees – red and lavender being the prominent colours – we reached our destination. Odometer now read 835.

Set on the western end of Aravalli ridges at a height of over 1200 metres, Mount Abu looks fresh. Cool weather, Gujarati/Rajasthani food, wide clean roads, beautiful lake & garden and a few other places of interest close by – you can spend a few days here and refresh yourselves. It doesn’t have the dilapidated look of some of the Himalayan resorts. Visiting Delwara temple with its exquisite marble carvings is a must.

Are the rocks here soft? Whether at Gurushikhar or at Toad Rock, its ‘holey’ and ‘cavey’ – susceptible to holes and even cave-ins. Have seen rocks at many places in Kerala and even Atlanta’s Stone Mountain. Those are all massive boulders, pounded by heavy rains round the year, yet with no hint of a hole anywhere.

Everything except rotis in the Gujarati thali was sweetened. So diabetes is a Gujju’s worst nightmare, I presume. Driving out of Delhi, this is the first place where I got to see an abundance of non-Delhi license plates other than the local ones. Seems to be Gujarati’s favourite destination.

We started for Delhi the next day via Sirohi-Pali (NH14) which joins NH8 at Beawar. The terrain is greener and flat. The two-lane road passes thru rural areas and the surface is good. Things were great till Jaipur but thereafter all three lanes of Jaipur–Delhi stretch were taken over by trucks – where we had to follow rather than dodge – and reached home safe late in the night.