12 hours in Somnath - Part 2

Feb 1 2013

By the time I finished my stroll on the beach, it was around 9AM and it was time to go to the bus stand to get the departure times for buses to Porbandar. As I walked past the temple, there were a group of photographers looking for tourists to offer their "instant" photo service. One saw me and offered to take a snap of me, and print it for a price. I smiled and said, "I have a good camera myself." He looked at mine and a few others gathered around me. Some were even interested in exchanging mine with them. I had to decline their offers.

I stopped by these two pilgrims, with whom I shared some fruits I had.

Pilgrims from the neighbouring state of Maharashtra. Having dressed in a Kurta and being dark, they thought I was a Maharashtrian. 

The bus stand was very close to the temple. The building looked like it was in desperate need of attention. Parts of concrete ceiling had broken off and the steel rods embedded in them could clearly be seen. It looked like an abandoned building of a war zone, which meant it was full of character. The next bus was to leave at 10 AM. I called my friend and asked him to get to the bus stand before then. Meanwhile, I went back to our room to check out. I was back at the bus station by 9:40 AM.

Staircase. I must say the spit stains on the walls add character.

A state government transport office.

Somnath Bus Stand - Looking up.

Somnath temple at distance.

Somnath temple.

My friend showed up at 9:45 and yet again, we ate some vadas for breakfast. I figured that even if the bus were to take 4 hours to reach Porbandar, I should be okay to catch my flight to Mumbai at 4 PM. I was going to be proven wrong...

It was 10 AM and no bus. We asked an official sitting behind the "Enquiry" counter. He said that it will arrive in a few minutes. 10:20 AM and still no bus. We went back to the counter and this time, the official attempted to call the conductor of the arriving bus - "No answer", he said. By now, I started to worry. My watch showed 10:45 and there was no no sign of any bus. The bus was not going to come. Change of plans. We walked out and started asking around for a taxi to take us to Porbandar. Having noticed our urgency, we were quoted high prices. So we decided to take a shared auto-rickshaw to go a nearby town that is bigger than Somnath and thus increase our chances of getting a taxi at a reasonable price. The ride on the shared auto-rickshaw was interesting. It frequently stopped all along the way to pick up passengers. No designated stops. People waved and hopped in. At one stop, a girl in her twenties got in and she demanded the driver to not let her sit with the other male passengers. She looked at me and looked at the driver. This meant that I had to move to another spot but where? The driver asked me to sit with him in the front. I didn't want to make a scene and demand equal rights for men and women. So without a word, I moved to the front to sit the driver. It was fine but it soon became crowded as the driver and I had to share the driver's seat with two more. So, the driver seat was now occupied by two guys on the left, the driver and myself on the right. One of my buttock cheek had some space on the seat but the other was not so lucky. The driver's face was stuck to the windshield as that was the only spot for his head. Amidst all this, the driver even answered his cellphone. I looked back and noticed that the girl was quite comfortable. I ignored and enjoyed the unhampered breeze.

We reached the nearby town. We got a taxi to take us to Porbandar. It was now close to noon but a car ride to Porbandar only takes 2:30 hours. So I felt safe and let go of my worry. Alas, the adventure was not yet over.

About three fourth of the way and just past the beautiful view of the Arabian sea to the left, the driver pulled over and got out. He opened the hood and put his hands on his head. It turned out the radiator liquid had started leaking.

Pretty neat drive along the Arabian sea coast.

Disaster on the way to Porbandar - radiator liquid leaking

The driver did not want to start his car again (understandably) but he started doing things which I was taught never to do in Canada such as opening the cap of the radiator while it is extremely hot and pouring down water! I stepped back but nothing happened. Now the only way for us to get to Porbandar would be to hitchhike as there were no big enough villages or towns nearby where we could get help. I paid the driver his money. He stopped an old Fiat for us and we asked the driver whether he could drop us at the Porbandar airport. He agreed.

There were no more surprises and we reached Porbandar. I thanked our new saint of the day profusely and got out. I made it to the airport on time to catch my flight. Phew. Despite the uncertainties throughout the journey, I enjoyed every bit of it.