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| The 31 Km drive from Abu Rd Station to Mount Abu Hill station in a shared taxi. |
A "TRAVEL ADDICT', i suffer from "Travel Withdrawal Symptoms" after a few months of long confinement at home, sweet home in Mumbai. Foreign travel was in the doldrums due to the "Iran-U.S.A-Israel" war psychosis with unpredictable flight cancellations ,hence, after much travel research was fortunate to discover a internal Indian travel itinerary to Mount Abu in Rajasthan.Having travelled across entire India, Mount Abu and its unique desert Summer festival had surprisingly alluded me,in fact never knew such a festival existed in India's only " Desert Hill Station".The actual dates of the "Mount Abu Summer Festival-2026" was advertised on the Rajasthan tourist and other travel websites just 3 days before the event .
For the first time in my life,just a day before departure booked a "Premier Tatkal Railway Ticket" with great formality using my Adhar card and e- mail identity through guidiance with my usual railway tickets booking agent, Shri Sachin.Jagtap.
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| "Sp.Dal Bhati churma fixed" in " Bhawani Dhal - Bati" Restaurant. Lavish Rajasthani Vegetarian cuisine. |
The cost for this normally ordinary 2nd class sleeper ticket was a mind boggling Rs 1700 only.Rs 1273 was the actual railway Tatkal fare and rest booking agents fees. In fact i had applied for A/ C berth but the same at a enormously inflated price was on waiting list and didnt want to risk a last minute ticket refund after booking a hotel.First time in my life of countless train travel within India had paid such a large amount for a common 2nd class ticket on a short 11 hrs train journey.In India train travel tickets are booked at least 2 months in advance with last minute " Tatkal Bookings" costing a premium.Train travel educates.This was a total unplanned travel expedition in peak Indian summer to the only hill station in India's largest desert region State of Rajasthan having 60% of its total area as the geographical Thar Desert.
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| " MOUNT ABU SUMMER FESTIVAL - 2026". Advertisement at entrance to Nakki Lake, one of the 2 main venues of the 2 day festival held on Saturday and Sunday.The other venue is the " Mount Abu Polo Ground ". |
On Thursday(7/5/2026) travelled from Prabhadevi to Mumbai Bandra Terminus station( BDTS) and boarded the " 20943 BGKT Humsafar Exp" stationed on platform No 2.Occupied my highly priced common 2nd class sleeper berth " S/7"and thankful of getting a berth at the highest "Stock price/ Seat".Typical May weather in Mumbai, hot and humid and wondering what temp awaited me on Mount Abu situated at a elevation of approximately 4000ft( 1219-1220 meters). Its highest peak Guru Shikar stands at 5650 feet( 1722 meters).Train departure was prompt at 2145 hrs.After ages had a decent nights sleep on a train,the compartment being clean and not crowded with passage way general compartment ticket travellers.Weather was also surprisingly cool and pleasant, better than A/ C compartment.
Friday(8/5/2026) Mout Abu :- Breakfast waas " Upmaa" and at Palanpur train station a few women fruitsellers boarded the compartment selling excellent Chikoo fruits, some of the tastiest i had tasted over the years.At 0845 hrs our train arrived on time at Abu Road station.Two young Marwari pasengers got down along with me and thanks to Shri Dhanraj.Patel for guiding me to the main bus/ taxi stand. At 0900 hrs boarded a shared taxi at a rate of Rs 100/ passenger with the jeep taxi leisurely awaiting at various spots to collect passengers.Finally after collecting a total of 7 it's was a pleasant upward mountain drive on a excellent broad mountain highway to Mount Abu .At 1000 hrs reached Mount Abu hill station taxi stand.Rang up Shri Vikram.Singh the manager of " The Plum Mount Abu( Dharmaji Paradise)" hotel my residence in Mount Abu and he sent Shri Kishen Singh on a scooter to collect me from the taxi stand.Blazing hot sun but cool weather and absolutely no humidity.Checked into " Room No 16" on the first floor,self contained with A/ C and double bed/ bathe. After a bathe got refreshed and paid the hotel rental amounting to Rs 6800 in advance to Manager Mr Samir.Sahoo.Next Kishen gave me a lift to the main road next to the Bus/ Taxi stand and explained me the important landmarks of the city and directions to the Polo ground and Nakki lake.Walking along the main city road past the bus stand spotted landmark Gujarat Wine shop ,a landmark on Mount Abu hill station.Inquired about a bar and was relieved to know that liquor was served behind the shop in its rustic backyard compound.Purchased a Kingfisher beer and made myself comfortable in the backyard surrounded by tall wild date trees,a topographical landscape of the Aravallimountains of Mount Abu.Sitting alone was joined by another two customers and hence casually picked up a conversation with Mr Ummed.Singh accompanied by his employee Subhash.Mr Umeed Singh a businessman was the proprietor of " Vivek Traders" who were distributors of Pepsi brand in Mount Abu.Had a excellent conversation with Mr Umeed Singh and discovered a bit of Mt Abu and Marwari culture of Rajasthan .Was surprised to know that real estate in Mount Abu was as costly as all buildings are mostly heritage buildings and no new construction allowed including repairs to old buildings..Finally parting ways I walked down the road and lunch was a Rajasthan vegetarian speciality,"Sp.Dal Bhati churma fixed" in " Bhawani Dhal - Bati" restaurant situated alongside the main road.A palatial thali actually meant for 2 diners and hence sadly I couldn't finish the entire plate,feeling guilty of wasting food. Excellent local hill station weather with bright hot sunshine and cool not hot breeze in the shades, reminding me of Larnaca in Cyprus which i visited last year. A bit of European Mediterranean weather in summer.Whiled my way at the restaurant busy with online publishing of my travelogue. A hobby that keeps me relevant and busy , thanks to my own private income that funds my travels.So far so good.Later in the hot sun making inquiries walked in the blazing hot sun towards the Polo ground.As with all hill stations so also Mount Abu has restaurants and hotels every few meters as also wine shops.Travel educates.Numerous motorcycles and scooters on hire with rentals of Rs 250/ scooter and Rs 500/ RE Motorcycle.From Polo ground it was a long walk to Nakki lake. All tourists whom I observed were local Indian tourists and I was told tourists from the State of Gujarat are maximum and help in maintaining the economy of Mount Abu .Relaxed inside the lake garden, crowded with local tourists.After some rest walked my way back to the hotel.Near the turn from the main road towards my hotel observed one unique aspect of 2 hotels in close vicinity duplicating the names of famous Intenational hotel brand franchisè chains and definitely avoiding a copyright trade brand infringement by changing the spelling and hence " Hotel Hiltone" and "Hotel Sheratone" were committing no offence appearing to be a franchisee of the Hilton and Sheraton group of hotels.Back to the hotel relaxed in.my room and had the A/ C adjusted to 25*c and slept early,tired from the travel journey as well as local sightseeing walk.
Saturday (9/5/2026)Mount Abu:- As usual was up early the hotel room A/ C functioning excellently and amazingly cold inside the room in peak Summer.Mount Abu weather is pleasant and in fact A/ C is a luxury even in peak Summer month of May, a excellent desert hill station.Almost every bungalow style house in Mount Abu has been partly converted into resorts and hence lots of construction activity which would sadly destroy the unique landscape of this desert hill station.Aldo observed lots of plastic waste littered on the grounds near my hotel as also waste cement construction material.Hope rampant commercialization doesn't destroy Mount Abu as the same is happening in hill stations all across India.I am commenting after visiting all the premium hill stations in India with Mount Abu being the last of Indian hill stations visited during my travels.
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