Strangers Sunrise

There is a place up a hill in Udaipur called the Karni Mata temple. The sunrise and probably also the sunset are very pretty from here. You can also get a view of the entire city and Pichola lake from there.

The place is around 45 mins by walk from the place I stay. Udaipur sleeps till 10am and so getting public transport like Auto before 10am is little difficult. So, Waking is the only option. Sunrise is at 7:10 am today.

11:00 pm (previous day) – Kept alarm.

3:00 am – Woke up thinking I missed the alarm and the sunrise.

4:00 am – Still unable to sleep. Already read 4 Wikipedia articles and 3 news articles.

5:00 am – Slept lightly and got a dream that I missed the sunrise.

5:50 am – Alarm rings. Sleepy now and so contemplating whether to go or to sleep.

6:00 am – Still contemplating.

6:02 am – Brushing teeth.

6:10 am – Left the room and started walking. The roads are empty. Like dead empty. Google walking ETA – 6:52am.

6:30 am – Enjoying music and walking. Stopping by random places to take morning pictures as I have a lot time.

6:45 am – Google says take left. There is no left. It’s a road by the side of a hill. The only way to take left is to climb a 30 feet high boulder first. After climbing that, need to climb more of them. Not happening

6:48 am – Walking back and forth to see if there is a left turn anywhere. Nothing. Just jungle and boulders.

6:49 am – Music is no more enjoyable. It’s disturbing. Close Spotify app.

6:50 am – Zooming and seeing maps again. Found an alternative route. But it’s 25 mins by walk. I have to climb a hill also in it which google has not included coming up with an ETA.

6:51 am – Start walking on the new route. Let’s hope for best.

6:55 am – Find a guy on an Activa. Oh wait. It’s 3 guys on an Activa. Stoping them and ask if they can take me there. They say “We are already 3.” I say “That’s right. I will walk to sunrise point then”

6:56 am – The vehicle moves 50 meters and stops. They call out “You also come. Tell us the route to sunrise point. We will also see sunrise.”.

6:56:30 am – We are 4 guys on an Activa. I am sitting on the rim. Not the seat. I have a backpack and nothing to hold on to. I am holding the guy in the middle with one hand and mobile with another hand helping them navigate. There is a Bluetooth speaker b/w the guys playing Punjabi songs in high volume.

6:58 am – “Turn right, turn right” I shout. The rider does not hear it. Obviously. He is so far away and Punjabi music is distorting my navigation instructions. We miss the turn and make a U-turn to return back.

7:00 am – We reach. I see I need to climb a small hill. Yes there are steps. That doesn’t make it simple. I still need to climb.

7:05 am – I am trying to push myself. It’s cold, yet I am sweating. Breathing so hard that people below the hill can hear me breathing.

7:15 am – Finally reach the top half dead. Wow. Sun has not risen yet. Like Nithyananda, I also told the sun to rise 10 mins late today while I was climbing up the hill as I was a little late. The sun obediently agreed.

7:20 am – Sun rise starts. Start the photo session.