I had all the time dismissed Mount Abu as a crowded, touristy vacation spot and it it was by no means on our journey radar. Till in the future, a analysis led us deep into this ‘hill station’ and we had been pleasantly stunned.
Mount Abu is a ‘hill station’ on the Aravalli vary of mountains. The Aravallis are amongst the oldest mountains on the earth. Being at a excessive altitude, and maybe in a beneficial windward location vis-a-vis the distant Himalayas, Mount Abu will get very chilly within the winters. Very chilly. Folks have reported a skinny layer of ice on the lake our bodies within the greater elevations of Mount Abu in winters.
As a result of it was a analysis journey, we acquired to discover the non-touristy a part of Mount Abu and realised what an superior place it’s.
The drive up the hill to Mount Abu is thru a lazily winding street via the dense Mount Abu Wildlife Sanctuary. The forests are residence to sloth bears, leopards, rhesus macaques and plenty of different animals. The temperature retains dropping as you climb. End up a pleasant place to remain and also you shall have the ability to actually take pleasure in this pretty city within the hills.
Since Mount Abu is the one ‘hill station’ in Rajasthan, and likewise neighbouring Gujarat, many of the erstwhile royalty and rich folks from these two states have had sprawling summer season and winter retreats right here. Jaipur Home, Bikaner Home, Kishangarh Home and many others are notable examples that come to the thoughts. Most of those estates have been transformed into resorts, and kind some excellent locations high keep.
Our personal journey to Mount Abu was about assembly folks. We went into the city, visited houses that are over 70 years outdated, mentioned plenty of tales and historical past. We went for walks contained in the sanctuary, and walks round Trevor’s Tank (Colonel Trevor was an Agent To The Governor Basic, in pre-Independence India), a person made water physique on the high of Mount Abu which now harbours many crocodiles. We trekked via the slopes and search for tell-tale indicators of sloth bears on tree trunks.
Conversations and tales inspired us to go to extra of this city. We went to Trevor’s Pavilion, a Colonial period polo floor, the place the lettering says ‘1894’, maybe the yr the pavilion was constructed, making it 126 years outdated in 2020.
Over subsequent journeys, we fell an increasing number of in love with Mount Abu. There’s a lot to do right here and lots to see. It’s mentioned Guru Nanak too had visited Mount Abu and there stands a Gurudwara to commmorate that, constructed by the First Sikh Governor of Rajasthan named S. Gurmukh Singh in 1960.
When to go to: Mount Abu will get extremely popular within the summers. The most effective time to go to could be monsoons (July-August) and the winters (mid-late October until mid March).
How you can Attain : The closest airport is Udaipur. Abu Highway is the title of the railway station. You possibly can drive too, the roads are wonderful.
The place to remain: Although there are a lot of resorts in Mount Abu, we’d extremely advocate ‘Wordsworth Lodge’, one of many oldest buildings right here. It could be a tad costly, however price it. Another choice might be one of many many ‘Homes’ of erstwhile royalty of rich folks which have been transformed into resorts. We had as soon as stayed at Jaipur Home and do advocate it as effectively.
