barrage of photos - part II
we got up bright and early the next day
to start off our road trip to mount abu, rajasthan.
at 4am, the streets were deathly quiet,
a stark contrast to the incessant honking that goes on in the day.
the people here don't believe in using indicator lights.
instead, they honk to turn, honk to overtake,
honk to road rage, honk to everything.
two thirds through our six-hour journey,
we stopped by hotel way wait
which turned out to be a roadside cafeteria
that served the longest thosai i've ever seen.
i ate a quarter of it and was full.
we drove through dusty little towns,
and up windy mountain tracks
until we finally reached our hotel for the night - hotel hilltone.
a hilton it definitely wasn't,
but the rooms were spacious enough
and we didn't have to share our beds with any bugs.
i fished out a heart-shaped chip while snacking.
we had lunch at king's food
and found out that kings are vegetarian.
in fact, 99% of the restaurants in mount abu
serve only vegetarian food.
i should have brought along my own chicken a la borat.
we went up to the highest peak after lunch,
and climbed many flights of stairs
to reach the top.
en route, we saw never-before-seen things like a stall selling dodgy grass juice,
a man roasting corn with an old-school fanning machine,
and an old dude who lives in a hole in a wall.
the view was magnificent at the peak.
we met a bunch of locals who put one of their orange turbans on my head
and took a photo with me at the bell.
but my colleague has not sent me that photo. hrmph.
i do have one with a lady dressed in a colorful saree though -
she was tickled to see me posing at the bell
and volunteered to be in the picture!
there was a holy man in a little cave at the top,
and i was blessed by him and he gave me a super sweet sesame candy.
we were blessed by other holy men a little futher down the mountain
when we ventured into a temple.
there, they gave us enough sugar crystals to cause diabetes
(and we had to eat them all because you know, they're given by holy men!)
and i left with blessings and an orange dot between my eyebrows.
we got up bright and early the next day
to start off our road trip to mount abu, rajasthan.
at 4am, the streets were deathly quiet,
a stark contrast to the incessant honking that goes on in the day.
the people here don't believe in using indicator lights.
instead, they honk to turn, honk to overtake,
honk to road rage, honk to everything.
two thirds through our six-hour journey,
we stopped by hotel way wait
which turned out to be a roadside cafeteria
that served the longest thosai i've ever seen.
i ate a quarter of it and was full.
we drove through dusty little towns,
and up windy mountain tracks
until we finally reached our hotel for the night - hotel hilltone.
a hilton it definitely wasn't,
but the rooms were spacious enough
and we didn't have to share our beds with any bugs.
i fished out a heart-shaped chip while snacking.
we had lunch at king's food
and found out that kings are vegetarian.
in fact, 99% of the restaurants in mount abu
serve only vegetarian food.
i should have brought along my own chicken a la borat.
we went up to the highest peak after lunch,
and climbed many flights of stairs
to reach the top.
en route, we saw never-before-seen things like a stall selling dodgy grass juice,
a man roasting corn with an old-school fanning machine,
and an old dude who lives in a hole in a wall.
the view was magnificent at the peak.
we met a bunch of locals who put one of their orange turbans on my head
and took a photo with me at the bell.
but my colleague has not sent me that photo. hrmph.
i do have one with a lady dressed in a colorful saree though -
she was tickled to see me posing at the bell
and volunteered to be in the picture!
there was a holy man in a little cave at the top,
and i was blessed by him and he gave me a super sweet sesame candy.
we were blessed by other holy men a little futher down the mountain
when we ventured into a temple.
there, they gave us enough sugar crystals to cause diabetes
(and we had to eat them all because you know, they're given by holy men!)
and i left with blessings and an orange dot between my eyebrows.
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