Over four days in Gujarat, I think I climbed more stairs than at any one time in my life.
Monday October 19 I took a day trip from Baroda to Pavagadh. The UNESCO World Heritage Site of Champaner is here, a complex of temples built over the past thousand years. Because of the Divali festival, and because students have vacation, many families were making pilgrimage to the site, so it was packed with 
people. When I arrived in Pavagadh I tried to get a jeep from the bus stand to the steps. Unfortunately everyone was travelling in groups, and my Hindi, although much improved, was not good enough. So I stood around hoping that a driver would "sell" me a seat. (This strategy works really well trying to get an auto at bus stations and major sites.)
Soon enough a young guy approached me and introduced himself. Rajan asked if he could help, and then arranged for me to take a jeep to the steps... with him and his eight friends! I found that they were all in 12th Standard (so all around 17 years old), and only Rajan spoke much English, so I got to practice my Hindi a lot. They came from a town called Jambughoda in walking distance of Champaner.
We had lunch, and they offered me snacks, water, and sweets on the 1500 step climb to the top--and refused to let me pay for anything. The views of the surrounding countryside were amazing; I could have taken at least another day to explore the area. The boys were very patient while I stopped to take photos, and we joked around a lot, calling them my security, and suggesting that we charge people 5 rupees to look at the foreigner. Most times I feel like a tourist attraction myself; some people take my photo (not always asking permission), others want to shake my hand, and--no word of a lie--I've heard parents telling their children to "look at the foreigner"!! I protested when they called me "madam" and then they ALL protested when one of them called me "aunty" so they nicknamed me "rani" which means queen or princess. Most people find my name difficult, and I try to roll the "r" in my name to make it easier to understand.
Many shops lined the steps selling food, drinks, pilgrimage items and gifts. Many pilgrims bought red-and-gold headbands with "Hail to the Mother" in Hindi (hanging on the right side of this photo). You could have your photo taken against a backdrop of the site, or get a temporary or permanent tattoo. A fashion here is to get a permanent tattoo of your girlfriend's or boyfriend's initials. A few of these boys had done that; it seems strange by Western standards, but some of these boys will take jobs after high school, and will probably marry their girlfriends shortly after that. Also, here it's not proper to date unless you intend on marrying the person.
At the top is the temple to Kalika Mata, so four of us went for darsana, which means seeing and being seen by the deity. They had security to move so many people along quickly, and it felt a little like a factory assembly line. No cameras were allowed in the temple, but a smaller idol outside was OK to photo. 
The climb down went a little more quickly and Rajan surprised me by buying a stuffed toy for me! Instead of taking a jeep, we walked down the hill, which was a bad idea, since my knee injury from running started to hurt, and the sun set. I started the climb at 1:30pm, and reached the bottom around 6:30pm.At the bus stop we exchanged contact information so I could mail
photos. Also, I wanted to give them some Canada flag pins, but I had left them in Baroda. All together, it was a great time. The boys are, from top left, back row: Saddam, Nirajan, Rajan (who spoke the best English), Pathan, Hitesh, and Gahnshuam; front row: Vishal (who was hilarious), Rajan, and Pravin. What's up with Indians not smiling in photos?
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