After the demanding days of summative exams, it was time for a break from the monotonous routine of studies. The school organised a three days trip for students of Std 5-6 on 6th October 2015 to Mount Abu. Mount Abu is a popular hill station in the Aravalli Range of Rajasthan state.
We, 20 staff members with 98 students, started off on our journey to this beautiful place from AVM at 9.00 pm. We were accommodated in two sleeper coach buses. All the kids were very much excited for the tour and started hailing Swamishree’s name and jai jai kar before beginning the journey. Their singing and dancing made the whole atmosphere very lively. At 4.00 am we took a halt at Unjha in Mehsana district where we freshened up quickly. We then visited a goddess temple, attended aarti, had prasad and later we had an elaborate breakfast. Our journey then continued from Unjha saying good bye to our generous hosts over there. Finally we reached our destination, a very decent 3 star hotel named ‘Hilltone’. We were welcomed by sweet lemonade drinks and were shown our respective rooms. After finishing a very delicious lunch and some break, we were ready for the adventure activities organized by our tour organiser: Shri Himanshu Goyal.
Day 1 – Adventure activities and night trekking
There were 8 activities that included: Zip Line, Burma Bridge, Improvised Rope Ladder Climbing, Puzzled Tyre Twist, Tyre Tunnel, Commando Net, Commando Bridge and Horse Riding. All students undertook all the activities one by one. Although fully protected, one of the students started screaming while zip-lining as he was afraid. Pujeetbhai like an elder brother rushed to the child and instructed him how to tackle the ride and slope down. And when he came down there was a smile on his face. These adventure activities were meant to boost up the confidence of the children. There were a few other students who did not dare to attempt some of these activities. But after Pujeetbhai’s inspiration, they took up the task and it resulted in a change in their outlook towards these adventure activities.
After the tiring but exciting adventure it was time for a light snack and drink. After a quick freshening up, we gathered at the hotel to go for the most exciting night trekking. Himanshubhai gave few instructions to be followed while trekking. The trekking was to be done with no torch light or mobile lights, one had to only depend on the natural light of stars. We wanted to be a bit disobedient but our commander saw us with lights and he said, ‘If you want to enjoy the night trekking you must go along with nature’s rule’ and that was enough for all of us to move with our team leader’s wish. To our amazement, all the students (Std 5-6) were able to climb a good height after one hour of trekking! Few students were a little bit apprehensive about the night and darkness. Students said that while walking in the dark they were afraid of stepping on a snake or they had an illusion of tiger walking along with them. After this venture they felt a bit more confident to walk in a dark street without light. During the trekking, there was a cave to be passed. It was very narrow and dark where one had to literally crawl and come out. When the students were crawling through the spooky cave, they were afraid of getting stuck in the cave but with the encouraging buck up they were able to come out of the cave successfully without any injury. And later on climbed the top of the hill. There was a feeling of triumph in the air as we had achieved something impassable. The aerial view of the valley, which was twinkling with light, made us spell bound. After the climb, we walked again for one and a half hours to reach the hotel. Finally, after a tiring 4 km trek and walk, we reached the hotel, had a delicious dinner and went to our room to get some rest.
Day 2- Rock climbing, Rock rappelling, Swimming, Sunset Point and Puppet Show
The next day began with some challenging activities i.e. rock climbing in which one has to climb rocks with the help of rope and reach the summit of that rock. Through rock rappelling, one has to climb down the steep slope of the rock. Our young kids were very eager to do these stunts, which so far they had seen it only in movies. One of our students who was initially afraid of doing this act, found it very easy after doing rock rappelling. In fact, all students put their own strength to reach the target and experience the joy & thrill of being at the top.
After enjoying these stunts, we returned to our hotel and then did swimming till lunch was ready. After lunch, we took some rest and got ready for the next trekking event. This trekking of 3 km in between the hills took us towards the sunset point. Here we witnessed the eye catching beauty of nature. We sat on the peak of the mountain in nature’s lap and viewed the sunset in between the hills. It was very difficult to leave that place, but the journey must go on! Then we returned back to our hotel, had dinner and then saw a very entertaining puppet show.
Day 3 – Guru Shikhar, Nakki Lake and Peace Park
On the third day of the tour, after having breakfast, we continued our journey towards Guru Shikhar – the highest peak on the Aravalli Range at 1,722 m (5,650 ft) above sea level. Guru Shikhar is referred to as ‘an oasis in the desert’ as its heights are home to rivers, lakes, waterfalls and evergreen forests. A group of 7-8 students accompanied with one teacher experienced the journey in a local jeep. The way towards Guru Shikhar was very exciting with all twists and turns, but this was not an end to our destination. How could our trip end without trekking! So to reach Guru Shikhar, we further took stairs that had approximately 500 steps. After reaching the top of the peak, we got a complete aerial view of Mount Abu and its serene surroundings. It was very mesmerizing. On the top of the peak there was a temple of Dattatreya, an incarnation of Lord Vishnu. The footprints of Dattatreya are sanctified here in a rock in a cave. The students paid their holy tribute to the deity, took prasad and then started climbing down the stairs. The bus then took us to the next spot: Nakki Lake.
Nakki Lake is a very ancient and sacred lake. It is called by this name because it is said to have been dug out by Nails (Nakh) by Gods to live in, for protection against the Bashkali rakshas (a wicked demon). Students enjoyed boating in this lake. It was indeed a pleasure to sit and observe the beauty surrounding the lake with peace and relaxation after the tiring trekking from Guru Shikhar. Then our 6th grade students visited Brahma Kumari’s Peace Park which is a botanical garden where they saw a lots of unusual plants and flowers. After visiting these places, it was time for some mouth-watering lunch at the Sankalp hotel in Abu. After having lunch, it was time to say good bye to Mount Abu with a lot of memories in our hearts.
On the way back to school, we had our dinner at Atmiya Vidhya Dham in Bakrol, near Vallabh Vidyanagar. From there, our journey continued back to AVM. Thus, the tour of Abu ended with great satisfaction and a great sense of achievement after performing those impossible stunts.
This report would be incomplete without the mention of three names. Pujeetbhai, Niravbhai and Himanshubhai’s untiring team was behind the scenes and hence responsible for the success of the tour. The tour was not just staying in hotel, having meal, entertainment and site seeing. But it had something more to it. The trip did not have any space for unnecessary leisure or waste of time. The unbeatable spirit of this team inspired the whole tour group to exercise their part of work. On behalf of all the tour members, we thank our dearest Pujeetbhai who is a source of motivation and a powerhouse of energy for continuously encouraging us to overcome our fears in the midst of challenges.
To conclude, we would like to say that these trips must be undertaken for kids as they allow them to experience for themselves some real life situations.
Rashmi Ma’am and Binu Ma’am
