We got up early so that we could have enough time for an explore of Mt Abu and the temples in the morning and then crack on to another town on the bikes in the afternoon.
We had breakfast at the hotel and then went off around Nakki Lake. The lake was not far from the hotel. It is a quite pretty and is a site where tourists go to relax and eat ice-cream. You can hire pedalos and rowing boats.
After a ride round the lake we shot off to see a couple of the famous temples. The first one is up on the side of a hill and so we parked the bikes and walked up the 360 steps. The temple (Adhar Devi Temple) and steps are all painted blue and white. There were loads of pilgrims walking up with us. Along the side of the steps there are little shops to buy offerings and other tat. The views of the town below are great.
Adhar Devi Temple is carved out of solid rock. There is an entrance which has been built on the front in stone but then to get into the cave you have to couch down and climb though. The inside is then lit up and has air conditioning. We had to queue with other pilgrims to get a look inside and then pray to the deity.
We had breakfast at the hotel and then went off around Nakki Lake. The lake was not far from the hotel. It is a quite pretty and is a site where tourists go to relax and eat ice-cream. You can hire pedalos and rowing boats. 
After a ride round the lake we shot off to see a couple of the famous temples. The first one is up on the side of a hill and so we parked the bikes and walked up the 360 steps. The temple (Adhar Devi Temple) and steps are all painted blue and white. There were loads of pilgrims walking up with us. Along the side of the steps there are little shops to buy offerings and other tat. The views of the town below are great.Adhar Devi Temple is carved out of solid rock. There is an entrance which has been built on the front in stone but then to get into the cave you have to couch down and climb though. The inside is then lit up and has air conditioning. We had to queue with other pilgrims to get a look inside and then pray to the deity.
I found it very incongruous that a priest on the door was giving blessings and marking peoples foreheads with coloured chalk while talking on his mobile phone.....
The fashion is very different in the North. This lady had awesome arm bangles all the way down her arms. She was very happy for me to take a photo.
After the Adhar Devi Temple we biked to the Dilwara Temples. This is what Wikipeadia has to say about them:
The Dilwara Temples are a complex of temples, carved of white marble, that were built between the 11th and 13th centuries AD. The oldest of these is the Vimal Vasahi temple, built in 1031 AD by Vimal Shah and dedicated to the first of the Jain Tirthankaras. The Lun Vasahi Temple were built in 1231 AD by the brothers Vastupal and Tejpal, who belonged to the Porwal Jain community. They were ministers of Raja Vir Dhawal, a local ruler of Gujarat.
These temples were very impressive. Unfortunately, you are not allowed to take photos when inside and so I stole these photos from the internet. The white marble marble carvings are very intricate and impressive. I especially liked the elephant carvings which are about 4 feet tall.
In order to get in we had to queue with a large number of pilgrims. Men and women have different queues to get in. You have to take your shoes off and there are signs everywhere staying that women that are having their menstrual flow should not enter...
Around lunch time we came back into town and had coffee and toasties a Coffee Day. :-) All of a sudden there was loads of noise outside and a big procession going past. There was singing and banging of drums. 2 months ago I would have jumped up and ran outside to take photos straight away but this time Alan and I just looked at each other and said "India"! We are both so used to it now.... I finished my toastie before I popped out to have a look and take some photos. The colours of the women's saris are very fiberant here. I have no idea what the march was all about.... Loads of floral head-dresses though.
Many of the cows are different here. They have a hump. Is that what happens when a cow and a camel fall in love, get married and live happily ever after?
After lunch we went back to the hotel and picked up our bags and then headed off. We took a road north of town that was marked on Google maps but it stopped after about 20km. We had taken this road as it look on the map like it brought us out further north on the highway than just going back on the same road that the bus had bought us up on yesterday. It also looked like a smaller road and so there would be less traffic and we would be able to see another part of the area. It was the first time that google maps had been seriously wrong for me. Arrggg. The ride was through the national park and was very beautiful and so neither of us really minded but it had been hilly and it put us seriously behind schedule to get to a town to sleep in before dark tonight. Our little detour was about 40km....
The detour meant that we did not leave Mt Abu till 4. However, the first 25km afterward were amazing. It was the best downer I have had in India. It was not too steep and so I could really go for it without having to put on the brakes! There were amazing views of the plains below and hundreds of monkeys along the side of the road. Awesome!!!
I only took 30mins to get down off the mountain and that was including time to stop to take photos (and laugh a lot with Alan about how awesome it was). We then managed a great average speed on the highway for about 60km as we had to hurry to get to Pindwara. We got there at dusk.
I did not get anywhere near as much hassle from guys passing me on their motorbikes today in comparison to Southern India. I am not sure how much this is due to the differences between the North and the South and how much is due to the fact that I am traveling with a man?
Pindwara is a small, dirty town with 2 guest houses and it is unlikely that many other white tourists have ever stayed. A nothing place but it does have a station! We checked in to the best of the 2 guest houses, showered, put on Indian clothes and then went out for something to eat. It was dark by this point. It was good to be with Alan as if I had been on my own I would not have ventured out in such a town in the dark on my own. I felt so much safer in his company.
We had an explore of the town, which only took 10 minutes, and then went to the only restaurant that we could find. They only served Thalis. There was a big table of Indian men all eating when we arrived and they ran out of food and so had to cook fresh food for us. They told us to sit down and "wait, wait". We were waiting about 45 minutes but when it arrived it was very tasty (but very hot).
While we waited a couple of Indian lads came over to chat to us. It was very strange. They would not look at me and would only ask Alan questions. We where saying that we are siblings. Rather than directly questions directly to me they asked Alan what his sister thought of such and such. Alan thought that this was very funny and said to me "This is how it should be" with a big grin on his face. He suggested to the guys that they ask me directly. The lads seemed very surprised by this. This was a very different experience for me as I had been used to getting lots of people talking to me when I was on my own. Mt Abu was a tourist area and so the people there are used to Western ways and so I did not pick up on being treated differently from Alan. I really felt the difference in the way men and women are treated in this this little rural town.
A great biking day. For more Photos click here!
The fashion is very different in the North. This lady had awesome arm bangles all the way down her arms. She was very happy for me to take a photo. 
After the Adhar Devi Temple we biked to the Dilwara Temples. This is what Wikipeadia has to say about them:The Dilwara Temples are a complex of temples, carved of white marble, that were built between the 11th and 13th centuries AD. The oldest of these is the Vimal Vasahi temple, built in 1031 AD by Vimal Shah and dedicated to the first of the Jain Tirthankaras. The Lun Vasahi Temple were built in 1231 AD by the brothers Vastupal and Tejpal, who belonged to the Porwal Jain community. They were ministers of Raja Vir Dhawal, a local ruler of Gujarat.
These temples were very impressive. Unfortunately, you are not allowed to take photos when inside and so I stole these photos from the internet. The white marble marble carvings are very intricate and impressive. I especially liked the elephant carvings which are about 4 feet tall.In order to get in we had to queue with a large number of pilgrims. Men and women have different queues to get in. You have to take your shoes off and there are signs everywhere staying that women that are having their menstrual flow should not enter...
Around lunch time we came back into town and had coffee and toasties a Coffee Day. :-) All of a sudden there was loads of noise outside and a big procession going past. There was singing and banging of drums. 2 months ago I would have jumped up and ran outside to take photos straight away but this time Alan and I just looked at each other and said "India"! We are both so used to it now.... I finished my toastie before I popped out to have a look and take some photos. The colours of the women's saris are very fiberant here. I have no idea what the march was all about.... Loads of floral head-dresses though. 
Many of the cows are different here. They have a hump. Is that what happens when a cow and a camel fall in love, get married and live happily ever after? 
After lunch we went back to the hotel and picked up our bags and then headed off. We took a road north of town that was marked on Google maps but it stopped after about 20km. We had taken this road as it look on the map like it brought us out further north on the highway than just going back on the same road that the bus had bought us up on yesterday. It also looked like a smaller road and so there would be less traffic and we would be able to see another part of the area. It was the first time that google maps had been seriously wrong for me. Arrggg. The ride was through the national park and was very beautiful and so neither of us really minded but it had been hilly and it put us seriously behind schedule to get to a town to sleep in before dark tonight. Our little detour was about 40km.... 
The detour meant that we did not leave Mt Abu till 4. However, the first 25km afterward were amazing. It was the best downer I have had in India. It was not too steep and so I could really go for it without having to put on the brakes! There were amazing views of the plains below and hundreds of monkeys along the side of the road. Awesome!!! 
I only took 30mins to get down off the mountain and that was including time to stop to take photos (and laugh a lot with Alan about how awesome it was). We then managed a great average speed on the highway for about 60km as we had to hurry to get to Pindwara. We got there at dusk. I did not get anywhere near as much hassle from guys passing me on their motorbikes today in comparison to Southern India. I am not sure how much this is due to the differences between the North and the South and how much is due to the fact that I am traveling with a man?
Pindwara is a small, dirty town with 2 guest houses and it is unlikely that many other white tourists have ever stayed. A nothing place but it does have a station! We checked in to the best of the 2 guest houses, showered, put on Indian clothes and then went out for something to eat. It was dark by this point. It was good to be with Alan as if I had been on my own I would not have ventured out in such a town in the dark on my own. I felt so much safer in his company.We had an explore of the town, which only took 10 minutes, and then went to the only restaurant that we could find. They only served Thalis. There was a big table of Indian men all eating when we arrived and they ran out of food and so had to cook fresh food for us. They told us to sit down and "wait, wait". We were waiting about 45 minutes but when it arrived it was very tasty (but very hot).
While we waited a couple of Indian lads came over to chat to us. It was very strange. They would not look at me and would only ask Alan questions. We where saying that we are siblings. Rather than directly questions directly to me they asked Alan what his sister thought of such and such. Alan thought that this was very funny and said to me "This is how it should be" with a big grin on his face. He suggested to the guys that they ask me directly. The lads seemed very surprised by this. This was a very different experience for me as I had been used to getting lots of people talking to me when I was on my own. Mt Abu was a tourist area and so the people there are used to Western ways and so I did not pick up on being treated differently from Alan. I really felt the difference in the way men and women are treated in this this little rural town. A great biking day. For more Photos click here!
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