Day 36 - Abhaneri

February disappeared just like that and we're now into the final days of our tour of India. We were blessed with a late start today thanks to some serious discussions and negotiations over the last couple of days. How so? I hear you say. Well, here’s the story…

As is the standard practice, we received our daily briefing from Anant about the plans for the next couple of days which included our journey from Jaipur to Abhaneri. Not being across the finer details I asked, “How are we getting to Abhaneri?” to which he replied, “By public bus”. Well, this went down like a lead balloon with the rest of the crew. No one was enamored by the prospect of a repeat of yesterday’s adventures, which Kerry voiced on everyone’s behalf and so the wheels were set in motion to resolve the problem. Anant resolved to speak to his boss in India to voice our disapproval and to get the authority to provide an suitable alternative. A day went by and nothing had moved forward. Anant’s boss was adamant. In the meantime, the Intrepid website and people’s personal travel documents were reviewed to confirm that transport by private vehicle had been promised. Anna set about finding our own options for private transport and costed them for the group. All up it was likely to be not much more than 500 rupees (AUD$10.00) per person in a small bus for us all to get the Abhanaeri under our own steam. This plan was fed back to Anant’s boss. The threat of a mutiny and the risk of any repercussions that might arise should something go wrong coupled with the feedback that Anant’s boss was assured would find it’s way back the Australian head office help him see things from our standpoint more clearly. Wisely, he granted Anant permission to arrange a private vehicle for the morning’s 2.5hr journey. Let me be clear, Anant was the meat in the sandwich here. He did everything he could to represent our case to his management. Thankfully he got our message through load and clear. So, because we no longer had  to deal with the challenges, vagaries and time-table of the Indian bus service we got three more hours sleep and still made our destination on time.

Our little fifteen-seater bus was very luxurious. We had comfortable, individual, reclining seats with air-con. Everyone had a window seat! At about 1:30pm we arrived in the little village of Abhaneri. The village has nothing to offer except for the largest and one of the oldest step-wells in India, having been built in the 8th century. A step-well is an amazing piece of architecture and construction. As the name suggests, it’s a water well. Access to the water is gained by a series of levels, like stories is a building, with each level connected the previous and the next by a flight of steps, one to the left and one to the right. The stories and the step connecting them encircle the well entirely. This one is 13 stories deep from ground level to the pool of water below and is comprised of no less that 3500 steps. The water is ground water so is always there. A few of the levels become inundated when the monsoon arrives each year.

Next we visited the adjacent ancient temple ruins briefly. I was more interested in watching a group of young lads who were playing an impromptu cricket match on the dusty oval next door. An short informal stroll through the village ensued next. This is a really small village so we didn’t have to go very far. Nevertheless, we were invited by an old lady sitting by a gate to come in and watch her potter husband ply his craft. As in the Bishnoi village near Jodhpur, he too used a big, heavy stone pivoting on a fulcrum and powered by only the momentum of it’s own weight to quickly and skillfully produce a number of little vessels. I think he really enjoyed the opportunity to demonstrate his skill and we certainly enjoyed and appreciated it.

From here we sauntered back down the road to our hotel, just a mere 10 minutes away, stopping to make way for a flock of sheep and their shepherd as they made their way to a watering trough on the edge of town. Our hotel is very flash indeed. Sitting behind a tall fence and gate are half a dozen recently renovated elegant houses each containing a half a dozen well-appointed rooms. The main dining hall is equally well appointed. We had a huge lunch here before our step-well visit and then a nice beer in forecourt after our village walk and before dinner. We even managed to sneak in a game or two of cards before dinner was served – the cards being provided by yours truly.