The guide books described it as “void of tourists,” and I found this to be nearly true; there was consequentiall almost no English, or English speakers, and I saw only one other white person during my three day venture.
While eating lunch (with Harry Potter), another girl (the other white person I saw) was sitting in front of me. She whispered an “I’m so sorry,” and tried to get up, but the waiters insisted we sit together. This was a rather fortunate event, as we were able to spend several meals together over the next few days.
After lunch Rosanne and I visited a few temples, and then ventured to the fort in the Old City. There were several stepwells, caves, temples, and walking paths inside the fort. Unfortunately, we seemed to be a major attraction as well; we were followed and photographed by a group of about 30 enthusiastic, non-English speaking Indian children and adults.
The next morning I woke up early to hike Mount Girnar. The mountain is traversed by hundreds of pilgrims each day, famous for its 899 temples.
It is literally all steps, which are kindly numbered to remind you of how far you have (not) come.
I had a bit of trouble being followed (in the sense that the party, of often more than 15 people, would stop and start along with me, all the while staring at my every move), but after a few grumpy looks managed to hike alone and stop occassionally to enjoy the scenery. Unfortunately, it was quite foggy, and at times my scenery ended a few feet in front of me.
(my "view")
However, the temples were absolutely beautiful, and it felt great to be active for the morning.
I made it to approximately step 7,000 and decided to turn around (at this point it was quite foggy, and beginning to rain).
I returned to a big meal, a long nap, more snacks, and then the bus ride home.
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