During my time in school, there was a chapter on “Delwara Jain Temple” which are located in Mount Abu. This was my introduction to Mount Abu and something which stayed with me and was always on my travel list. Udaipur is a well known travel destination and is about 4 hour away by bus from Mount Abu. So here I was on a trip to Delhi -> Mt. Abu -> Udaipur -> Delhi.
Lots of trains and buses are available to travel Delhi, Mt. Abu, Udaipur. So commute planning is super easy. There are trains available till Abu road and from there lots of buses to reach Mt. Abu and from there direct buses are available for Udaipur.
Mt. Abu was my first stop and i absolutely loved it. Just my kind of place :). All you need to do is rent a scooter and just explore. Roads are good, so one can easily go to far off places as well. Lots of tourist visit Mt. Abu but one can always find its own space by just avoiding touristy places like Nakki lake, rather just go to opposite side of Nakki lake and you will have whole lake to yourself with lots of empty benches. There are lots places to visit with most popular being Nakki Lake, Dilwara jain Temple, well i would say just skip 😀 and head to “Guru Shikhar” (its a hilltop). “Guru Shikhar” is a place where journey is more amazing than destination !! I started early around 6am I believe and as i reached higher in altitude, it was zero visibility and completely foggy with a bit of rain. However google map works well. On my scooter, navigating through clouds, i loved every moment of it. Finally when i reached the hilltop, and it was windy and cold, there were more people and every body was having tea and maggi (noodles) and i joined them. There is also a small temple at hilltop. As i was coming down, fog had cleared and there were lots of good views and also number of vehicles/crowd was going up. To fully enjoy “Guru Shikhar” start early and ride a bike/scooter. Mt Abu infrastructure is very well managed and of key reason being that its a hub for various “Brahmkumari’s institutions” and you will find lots of people in white dresses all around Mt. Abu. A 2 night stay at Mt. Abu is a good time to get an idea of the place and if you want to spent time around lake/nature away from city then it is the place.
Udaipur was like any other tourist city however Udaipur lakes make it stand apart from other places. “Lake Pichola” is probably the most visited one and this where the famous Taj Hotel (super expensive!!) is located. My favourite was Fathehsagar lake, and this was where my hotel was located. Its much more peaceful and you can take long walks around the lake. Udaipur city palace, truly stands out and I will give it 5 stars, its a must visit if you have interest in history. In Udaipur palace, i learnt that Mewar dynasty is the oldest dynasty in world (though some dispute this), it is so well demonstrated via photos of different kings. Also its very well demonstrated how attacks from Mughals pushed Indian society to become more conservative in an attempt to protect women and children, something which we are still struggling to overcome.
Overall both Mount Abu and Udaipur are good places to visit; both are safe and well connected by transport. Question i ask myself is whether i will visit again? Well, i will visit Mount Abu for sure as a solo traveler or in group doesn’t matter. As i say. it’s (Mount Abu) my kind of place 🙂