The road was pretty bad initially, broken due to the monsoons but pretty soon it smoothened out. We made good time and was in Junagadh in an hour and a half.
Our first stop was the Junagadh Uporkot Fort.
This fort was famous for its virtual inaccessibility, the Uparkot or Upper Fort is girdled by a wall that is, in some places, over 60 feet high. An ornate entrance gateway leads to the ruins and a mosque still stands in a state of preservation. A Nilamtope (canon) was acquired by the Nawab of Junagadh from a Turkish Sultan and is on display. The Canon was cast in Egypt in 1531 AD. There are also two step-wells and Buddhist caves in the fort premises.
The Buddhist caves have 2 levels and 3 rooms and was used by the monks as living quarters, there is remnants of a school there as well. This is under the jurisdiction of the Archeological Society of India, who have basically done nothing to preserve or maintain this wonderful site dating back to around 300 BC.
Took a break a stopped for lunch at The Leo restaurant. The food was tasty, reasonably priced, and the people hospitable, pleasant, and attentive. What more could one ask for.
After lunch our next stop was The Maqbara, the mausolea of the Nawabs, the traditional rulers of Junagadh. The architecture was magnificent but lacking preservation efforts.
I was eager to see the Ashoka Rock Edicts. This was on the way to Gondal. There are fourteen Rock Edicts of Emperor Ashoka inscribed on a great boulder. The inscriptions carry Brahmi script in Pali language and dates back to 250 BC.
Unfortunately the monsoons had caused havoc and was under renovation and closed to visitors. This was really disappointing, specially since my native language Bengali is derived from Pali and by mother published a book on the original of Bengali language and Pali was mentioned.
We proceeded on to Gondal. We are staying here tonight at the Orchard Palace. The Orchard Palace is one of the two mansion guest house opened as heritage hotels. The present Maharaja lives on the property in his now palace.
The interiors of these properties are appointed with period furniture, antiques and artefacts remniscent of the days of the Raj. The premises also contain the royal garages, housing vintage & classic cars. It has an royal saloon suite, which has its own drawing, dining, bedroom & bathroom in a converted railway carriage.
We checked in and then went to visit the Naulakha Palace, which is famous for its stone carvings & houses royal memorabilia including toys of the late 19th & early 20th century, silver caskets that carried messages & gifts for the Maharajah, elephant howdahs & royal portaits.
We came back, visited the royal garages and the converted railway car. A very impressive collection indeed.
We are the only guests tonight, a whole palace to ourselves, neat!
When in to dinner at 7:30 pm as agreed upon. It was a set menu consisting of tomato carrot soup, chicken curry, eggplant, lentil, dhokla, and gulab jamun. Everything was very tasty, specially the soup and the gulab jamun.
We have to be on the road by 6:30 am tomorrow, so retired early for the night.
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