The India Chronicles 2000-2001

The builder's face on a door lintel in Ahmedabad

continued from Episode 5: Page 1

Monday was another early start to catch the 5:30 AM bus to Rajkot, where we changed to another bus to Junagadh. A rather boring trip ending in the early afternoon. The draw in Junagadh is Girnar Hill, an extinct volcano ascending 3,300 ft from the desert floor. There are 10,000 stone steps to reach the top and starting early the next morning to avoid the heat, we climbed every last step. The reward at the top for us was not the temples, which are sacred to Jains and Hindus, but the great views. When we walked up, we were the only non-Indians around, so we were a source of great interest for the groups of high school kids on an excursion from Ahmedabad and a group of college boys on school vacations. We politely answered their favourite questions; 'What is your country', 'What is your name', 'How are you', and chatted with several who spoke quite good English. As a result it became payback time for us as we posed for innumerable photos as the foreign tourists they met on their trip.

It took us about two hours to reach the first summit, where, like the Adirondacks, we discovered there were two more summits, one close by and the last reached by first descending about 200 meters. We decided we had to do it all, but on our way down we found out how long it had been since our trek in Nepal. Our calves were complaining about those 10,000 steps down, but we didn't have to succumb to being carried down (or up) in a portable rope chair called a Doli.

Our plan had been to visit the Lion Sanctuary at Sasan Gir after Junagadh, but the price hikes that have hit other Indian tourist sites has had a huge impact on Sasan Gir. As well as the entrance fee to the Nature Reserve rising to $10 US each, the guesthouse rate went from Rs 150 per night to Rs 1380 and the jeep and guide fees have skyrocketed as well. Since it is not assured that the lions will be around and this was to be an added extra, and not the main reason for our trip to India, we changed our plans. The beaches at Diu all of a sudden became very tempting, so Wednesday, we caught the 6:30 AM train (oh, those early mornings!) to the village of Delwada.

Diu, a 14 K long island just off the southern coast of Gujarat, has not experienced a big tourist influx and one of the reasons is its remote location and difficulty in getting there. Ray estimated that the train we took, one of the remaining narrow guaged lines, averaged about 20 K per hour. It was a long ride, the seats were hard and the start was rocky enough to cause the two young children of the family sharing the cubicle with us to upchuck their breakfast. Thank goodness they were OK the rest of the trip. In Delwada, we got a rickshaw to the town of Diu, 8K away, then had to take another rickshaw out to the beach area, another 8K trip, and our choice of hotel, Resort Hoka. This was another of those trips that the end better justify the travel and thank goodness it did. We had the nicest accommodations so far and Nagoa beach, a two minute walk away, was almost empty and the water was lovely. Plus, the beer was Rs 35! It tasted good after a long drought.

We rented a moped to zip around the island on its uncrowded roads. The town of Diu is a busy little fishing village that was a Portuguese colony until 1961 when it was forcibly 'liberated' by India. We arrived in time for annual Liberation ceremonies, which included a sail past of gaily decorated fishing boats complete with firecrackers for sound effects. At the tourist bureau officials of the town were busy judging displays of artistically arranged salads and sand art. Diu, which was quite tidy and clean compared to many Indian towns, has the usual busy vegetable market and narrow streets, plus an old fort to explore. The fort, with its double moats and Portuguese motifs, is mostly in ruins but was a great place to watch the local fishing fleet leave for their afternoon fishing.

Every afternoon we rode down to a second beach, 2 K away from our hotel, to try out our body surfing techniques (non-existent) in the big waves. There are no hotels or facilities on the entire 2 K length and the only people swimming were a few Western tourists.

We had lunch after our morning swim one day at a small restaurant on Nagoa beach. We spent the time watching a bus load of school children and their teachers come to explore the beach. They were typical of the other Indian tourists we saw. First they took their shoes off and fully clothed, waded in up to their ankles and jumped over the small waves as they broke on the shore. As they got braver, they gradually got up to their knees and a few even flopped down and paddled into shore. Even the women in their saris enjoyed letting the salt water soak them. There were very few Indians who actually went swimming, and I only ever saw one Indian woman in a bathing suit.

We were getting very relaxed and into a pleasant routine of swimming and exploring when we had to leave the island. Christmas is the busiest time of year and we did not have a reservation past Dec 24, so Christmas Eve day, we were on the road again. We travelled on a rickety old bus with no suspension over narrow bumpy roads to the town of Palitana. The Lonely Planet description of the trip from hell was a little exaggerated, but close.

Palitana is a sacred pilgrimage for many of India's Jains. They come to climb the 3,000 stone steps to worship at several of the 863 temples constructed on Shatrunjaya hill. After Junagadh, this was a piece of cake, but we still started early Christmas morning to avoid the heat of the day. What we didn't expect was the number of faithful. There were thousands of people there ahead of us, all intent on climbing those stairs. Some, especially the Jain nuns, were even on their way down by 7:30 AM. There is the option of hiring a Dholi to carry you up, and being the only Westerners around and my gray hair meant we had to fend off innumerable offers of assistance. Lots of the older Indian people took advantage of this service, though.

Dholi litter for rent

Palitan Temple

Temple Carvings

With so many people around, we didn't attract as much attention as we did in Junagadh, but a few people stopped to wish us a Merry Christmas. Most of the temples are housed in nine fortified compounds at the top of the hill. We reached the gates of the first compound after climbing over an hour. Here we had to hand in our camera permission slip and leave our shoes behind. Inside everyone was buying trays of roses and sandalwood oil to use as offerings in the temples, then they were lining up to enter the biggest and most popular temple. Many of the men climb the hill in western clothing, then change into a white sari-like robe for the ceremonies. The majority of the women, except for the Jain nuns, seemed to stay in their saris. We spent quite a bit of time at the top exploring the various temple complexes, enjoying the views of the surrounding countryside and observing the faithful.

We were down at the bottom by noon and got directed to a Gujarati Thali restaurant where we provided some entertainment for the other local patrons. I don't think it was a usual tourist hang out, but the food was good.

There wasn't much else to keep us in Palitana, so we joined three young women, a Canadian from Antigonish, a German and a Belgian, who had stayed at the same guesthouse as us, on a return bus trip to Ahmedabad. We enjoyed talking to them on the bus and finding out about their jobs in Ahmedabad with the Self-Employed Women's association (SEWA). This is Gujarat's largest union to promote the work of hawkers and vendors, cottage industry workers, manual labourers and laundry and domestic workers. This covers about 94% of women. The Canadian, Skylan Parker, has a six month internship job with CIDA, supposedly helping with marketing of handicrafts. She said it has been an interesting but difficult experience.

Our time in Ahmedabad has been a combination of travel arrangements and sight seeing. We replenished our money supply and made several trips to the train station to reserve seats for trips to see the caves of Ajanta and Ellora and then onwards to Mumbai (Bombay). As well, we decided to lighten our load by mailing home our purchases. This is not the same as mailing a parcel in Canada. First you have to find some one to package your parcel according to Indian standards. One such person had a booth set up next to the post office in Ahmedabad. For Rs 50, he cut a piece of rough cotton to size and hand sewed it with string over my parcel. Then he melted sealing wax over strategic spots on the seams and affixed the wax with an official seal. Next, I had to purchase a marker pen and write the 'to' and 'from' addresses boldly on both sides of the package. While this was going on, Ray scouted out the line-ups inside the post office and determined the right queue for us to join. Luckily, it was very short, so it didn't take long for them to weigh it and extract Rs 860 to send them home by boat. That is almost $30 CAD, about the same as the total cost of my souvenirs. I hope I get them intact.

We discovered that Ahmedabad has some interesting spots to visit. Yesterday afternoon we had an escorted tour of the Calico textile museum, which is a fabulous collection of Indian handiwork housed in a lovely old Haveli in the middle of beautifully kept gardens. Given more time, I would have returned for a second look to learn more about the many techniques for embroidery and textile design.

Bird Feeder

This morning we followed the recommendation of Skylan and joined six other tourists for a walking tour of the old city. The tour is not mentioned in the guide books yet, but it certainly should be. We started at the Rainbow Sherbet coloured Swami Narayan Temple and ended at the nearly six hundred year old Jama Masjid mosque. In between, we followed our guide through narrow back streets while he explained the architecture and the history of the city. Fascinating.

This afternoon, we visited the Sabarmati Ashram, Gandhi's headquarters during his struggle for India's independence. It was a nice, peaceful spot next to the Sabarmati river and displays many of the important events in Ghandi's life. Tomorrow is a travel day again. We will be on the train headed to our next adventure, so stay tuned. Thanks again for all your newsy reports and good wishes. As you can tell, we are well and still enjoying our travels.

Back to Episode 5: Page 1