[KSM-Vtec]

We saw a dark maned lion, 2 lionesses & 2 cubs (quite large, though). The lion lived upto its reputation of being a lazy animal (it was sleeping throughout the 10-15 minutes our bus was there. It slept through all whistles, noises we made, roar of the lioness, noise of the bus and yes, an attempted stone throw on it by Varun !!!

We were super excited and went on a photo shooting spree. Everyone in the bus was falling over each other in order to get a better view.






















A prince was lying just in front of my window, say 20 feet away. It looked at us, it sneezed, it yawned. (attach snaps at each instance). The other prince was walked towards it and played with it for some time. These were unbelievable scenes for all of us ! Then the Queen walked towards the kids. And this was a scene straight out of Kaal, just replace the tiger with the lioness. She played around with the kids & sat a few feet away. At this time, Varun bribed the bus driver to go a bit closer to them. Rs. 20 did the trick that a lot of convincing could not do !! And, we were closer. More photos followed. Videos of “the walk” were taken too. As a gift to us, the lioness roared for us too, showing her jaws in full glory. And what a scene that was !! This was turning out to be a once in a lifetime experience for us. Unfortunately, we could capture the King Lion only in his sleeping posture.

[srikanthpotluri]

good pictures there!!!continue..

[KSM-Vtec]

thanx a lot...next is the drive to mt abu across GJ ..will post soon

Originally Posted by srikanthpotluri

good pictures there!!!continue..

[Wolfheart]

Originally Posted by KSM-Vtec

The lion lived upto its reputation of being a lazy animal (it was sleeping throughout the 10-15 minutes our bus was there. It slept through all whistles, noises we made, roar of the lioness, noise of the bus and yes, an attempted stone throw on it by Varun !!!

And the homo sapiens lived up to their reputation of being insensitive, tormentors of helpless captive animals!

[KSM-Vtec]

Originally Posted by Wolfheart

And the homo sapiens lived up to their reputation of being insensitive, tormentors of helpless captive animals!

Well ya, but we dint find the environment that bad at Gir. The area allocated to them was huge, i guess it was just the heat in the afternoon that made the King of the Jungle take a nap.

[KSM-Vtec]

Date – 14th Dec 2009

o Start Point - Gir, 9:00 a.m.
o End Point – Mt. Abu, 7:45 p.m.
o Distance Travelled – 700Kms approx

Mihir’s birthday today !! And we gifted him a day long drive on absolutely awesome roads. We had to cover approximate 700 kms and we did it in 10 hours !!! The roads were beautiful & smooth, with our average speed over the last 3 hours coming to 110 kmph, this without unnecessary speeding. We passed through a lot of dry land, with salt pan on both sides of the road. This is where we got a glimpse of the “cracked ground” like that of drought areas.



























We reached Mt. Abu when it was dark & booked into a nice hotel that gave us a huge room – very cosy & comfortable. Varun went to get us some drinks on a bike of the hotel manager & came back frozen !!! The bike was speeding in the cold & windy roads of abu & poor Varun was its victim. He had held the vodka bottle in his frozen hands, and we pretty much didn’t need ice in our pegs after that !!

Kaushik & Varun had got a cake for Mihir & they celebrated the cake cutting with no one singing happy birthday, Mihir wishing himself as he cut the cake & Varun dancing his crazy dance !

All in all it was an awesome night & the Rajasthan leg of the trip began on that note!!!

[viv1984]

Originally Posted by Wolfheart

And the homo sapiens lived up to their reputation of being insensitive, tormentors of helpless captive animals!

I agree with above post. Very unfortunate!!

Btw good travelogue!

[KSM-Vtec]

Originally Posted by KSM-Vtec

It slept through all whistles, noises we made, roar of the lioness, noise of the bus and yes, an attempted stone throw on it by Varun !!!

Originally Posted by viv1984

I agree with above post. Very unfortunate!!

Btw good travelogue!

Originally Posted by Wolfheart

And the homo sapiens lived up to their reputation of being insensitive, tormentors of helpless captive animals!

Not sure what you guys are really talking abt, btw the stone throw bit was obviously a joke. Who would dare to do that to a Lion?? Its not a Dog for God sake....

[KSM-Vtec]

Date – 15th Dec 2009

o Start Point – Mt. Abu,13:00 a.m.
o End Point – Jodhpur,6:00 p.m.
o Distance Travelled – 290 km

We woke up late and checked out of our hotel only by 10. We thought we were late, only to find out that Dilwara temple opens only at 12 !!

We visited Nakki lake first. Nakki Lake derives its name from the famous mythological story that lies behind the creation of this lake. It is said that Devtas ( Gods ) had dug this lake in the centre of Mount Abu using their nails or nakh. This lake is the only artificial lake in India that is situated at an altitude of 1220 meters above sea level.

Here Varun got his snap clicked in royal Rajasthan clothing – a tradition for him – he does that in almost all places he goes to. After a heavy breakfast, we visited the dilwara temple. The Dilwara Jain Temple is one of the most famous and beautiful Jain temple in the world. The architecture and stone carvings are something note worthy. The interior decoration of the temple showcases the architectural brilliance and the grandeur of human craftsmanship. These temples were built in the period between 11th to 13th centuries A.D. The ornamental details carved out of marble on the ceilings and on the pillars are extremely beautiful....sorry photography was not allowed in there.

[KSM-Vtec]

Drive to Jodhpur was absolutely rocking. Rajasthan roads are as good, if not better than Gujarat Roads. We reached jodhpur in the evening and then began the great hotel hunt. Once you enter the city, you realise that it is full of 2 wheelers and rickshaws crawling all over it. Roads are confusing and hotels are mostly scattered. Most budget hotels are found on “nai sadak”, but many are dingy. We finally managed to get into a semi dingy hotel, for lack of choice and also because we were super tired and irritated. And then major shopping of Mihir happened. He bought kilos and kilos of sweets – gajak, revdi and tal papad. This was all done in some random wholesaler shop in random “jodhpur ki galli”. BUT, this offered kaushik some awesome opportunities to click some postcard snaps and also practice night photography. These snaps are almost magazine worthy.
























The rickshaws of Rajasthan are huge – with atleast 2 times the leg space of mumbai rickshaws, and they are colourful and decorated. Varun wanted to sit in one and we decided to make a visit to the umed bhavan palace travelling by rick. Now, visitors post 5 p.m. are not allowed through the gates. But we told the watchmen there that we would be having dinner at the palace, so they let us in ! Hehehe. We went in, clicked snaps till the guards shouted at us not to. Happy, we left and went back to the hotel.













The blue city was waiting for us !!

[KSM-Vtec]

will post the Jodhpur update soon....too many pics to downsize

[Chevy_lover]

Good pics Kaushik. I loved the photo of the swans swmming in a line! Waiting to see more of Rajasthan!

[hvkumar]

As usual, photos are great, Kaushik.

Where was this hotel that you stayed in Diu? And the hotel in Gir? I have visited Gir very long ago, are there many hotels there now?

[KSM-Vtec]

Originally Posted by hvkumar

As usual, photos are great, Kaushik.

Where was this hotel that you stayed in Diu? And the hotel in Gir? I have visited Gir very long ago, are there many hotels there now?

thanx a lot sir!!!

have picked up extra visiting cards for you..will hand them over when we meet next

[srikanthpotluri]

Originally Posted by Chevy_lover

Good pics Kaushik. I loved the photo of the swans swmming in a line! Waiting to see more of Rajasthan!

absolutely love this picture. Great capture Kaushik.