We took a sleeper bus belonging to “Patel Tours and Travels” from Ahmedabad to Mundra. Mundra is the place where my aunt and uncle have been staying for more than 5 years. We reached early in the morning, I went straight to bed. I was so tired that day because I hadn’t slept on a bus like that for 5-6 years. My body was shaken. That day went for all of us in rest due to the long travel.
The next day we went to see the temples in Mundra. The first one we visited was the Luni Ganesha temple. The temple was under renovation, yet we were able to offer our prayers. There was a statue of Nartana Ganapathi. Near the statue was a park. I enjoyed sitting on the swing. The next was Peeplaeshwar Temple. There were idols of God Ganesha and Goddess Parvati. There was also a Shivalinga. There was also a huge statue of Adi Yogi outside the temple.
That evening, our friendly neighbor was more than happy to apply henna on my hands. I had noodles for dinner. I woke up the next morning and rushed to the bathroom. Without letting any water wet my henna, I slowly scraped off the dried henna. The color had set so well.
That afternoon, we visited Ambedham Temple in Mandvi. We had to visit the main temple quickly because it was almost 12:30 (closing time to prepare for the evening poojas). We then saw the stages of life in paper models. We then visited Vijay Vilas Palace where a queen lives. Her name is Radhikaraje Gaekwad. She right now is in Bombay but would come to the Palace for the Navaratri Puja every year.
We next visited Mandvi Beach. We went on 4-5 rides. The first one was a ski boat. My aunt and I got soaked on this ride and I mean completely soaked. The next we took a camel ride. I was so scared. I went on a camel ride in Dubai when I was 4. I was screaming, “MOM! DAD! SOMEONE GET ME DOWN FROM HERE!!!” When we stopped, I was relieved but the way that the camel sat down was like the whole world crashed down.
The next was on a platform where you have to hold handles on a floatable boat attached to the ski boat. There is no other safety other than the handles. I guess my aunt and I, were lucky that day because we were sitting in the center. The others who sat on the edges got very badly soaked and had a lot of salt in their mouth.
After a couple of days more at Mundra, finally, it was time to return to Bengaluru. On the train,
I did get teary as I bade goodbye to my aunt. Once the train started, I eagerly looked forward; it was my first train trip – and it was supposed to last 40 hours! I enjoyed playing games with my parents. I loved seeing tons and tons of green fields. My dad told me to look out of the train from the door, which I was really scared about. Though I enjoyed the air on my face, I was scared and didn’t want to slip. I gave it a go. We took several trips to the pantry. We reached home by midnight, I managed to drag my sleepy and weary body up the stairs and drop onto the bed. Home Sweet Home!
That was a short trip of just 11 days but I’m sure hold these memories for more than 11 years. By the way, I wanted to just let you readers know that AMD is formed by the first letters of Ahmedabad, Mundra & Dhamathi.