After Udaipur, we (myself and two classmates) headed to Jodhpur by car. Our hotel in Udaipur helped us arrange a driver for the day. We set out a bit later than we had hoped, but the drive was fantastic. We saw amazing sites at
Kumbhalgargh (a massive old stone fortress) and
Ranakpur (a beautiful Jain temple). We held our collective breath as we swung around curvy, single lane roads up in the mountains and passed traffic on the flat highways.
The drive was quite long and our late start meant that we had several hours of driving left as it started to get dark. Despite the long day none of us passengers were sleepy: the perilous driving kept all of us awake. We were all slightly nervous and wanted to be at our destination.
And then at 7:02, with darkness falling, we came upon a minor commotion on the side of the highway. There was a small roadside shrine with a handful of people drumming before it and a small fire going. Our driver, Javni, quickly pulled over and chuckled that we were very, very lucky. I followed Javni towards the shrine with trucks whizzing by and honking (when I say "roadside shrine" I mean it was really right at the side of the road). I took of my shoes, (though the ground was just dirt) and walked with Javni around the shrine.
As we circled around the back, I saw an old, dusty motorcycle with a flat tire parked there under a fluorescent light. The motorcycle, Javni explained, was known to start all by itself and drive itself around and around the shrine. This ceremony we'd stopped at only happened at 7:00 each night, so we were lucky to have been passing at just the right time. Sure enough a dozen travelers were running from just-parked (or still moving) vehicles to kick off their shoes, say a quick prayer, and sprint back to their car/truck/bus.
As Javni and I headed back to our car, the drumming died down and the fire was put out. The crowd melted away. It was hectic and simple and beautiful all at once. Definitely a highlight of the trip so far.
