A Unique Find .....and how I won a $100 from Parker!

Not much has changed......even though time and distance has separated us for months.....some things never change...

While at the Zip Line Adventure, our instructors pointed out a spot on the horizon that was the site of a step well that was built in the 18th century......as the history was told to us, bad times had come to Neemrana.......a severe drought had caused all of the village the leave and the small city was destined to become a ghost town......but the fort became useful once again and at the urging of the followers a huge bawdi was built to store water.

The step well that Preston and I discovered at Tugluqabad Fort was impressive, and I thought that it would be interesting to show Parker and Linda what a "step well" was all about. So at the conclusion of our adventure, I asked Ramesh to make a turn so that we could find it.........this is the part of the story where after some time of driving on the road, we could not find the landmarks that were pointed out to us......and of course, Parker had to place a bet that I had instructed Ramesh to go in the wrong direction. This was a sign that Parker was becoming bored and I was beginning to wonder if the visit was even going to be worthwhile. After all, the step well that Preston and I found at Tugluqabad, though impressive, was after all just a hole in the ground.

After proving Parker wrong,and winning my $100 bet, the car was parked and out we hopped. We began walking towards a very simple wall and came upon one of the most magnificent civil construction projects that I had ever witnessed......this step well was beautiful.

This Bawdi descends 9 stories, at 20 feet each.....180 feet below the surface of the land.....125 steps to the bottom.....Parker and Preston took off right away and got as far as their noses would let them......according to Parker, the smell of bat guano stopped he and Preston in their tracks....no water.....according to Parker..

Meanwhile, I was snapping photographs from above and Linda became the object of curiosity of some of the village boys....asking in broken English all sorts of questions. All were courteous of course...and it earned them some candy from inside the car.

We vowed to return to Neemrana one day......it was a romantic place for sure.....and I want to spend some additional time exploring this magnificent step well....there is certainly more here to discover.