Journey Daman to Udvada

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

I had buffet breakfast at a place called Hotel Gurukripa in Daman for just Rs 73, inclusive of taxes.

I had planned to travel hardcore from Daman to Udvada. I wanted to have a good breakfast as I had no idea when my stomach would be fed its next meal. So a buffet breakfast was just the thing I was looking for and with an offer of eat-as-much-as-you-want for just Rs 73, I couldn’t resist it.

Breakfast consisted of customized egg preparations served with bread toast and brown bread, three types of jam, vegetable croquette and fruit salad along with tea or coffee. I had my full here as I was uncertain about my afternoon lunch.

Udvada is the next station after Vapi if one is travelling by train, but that would make the journey too simple, so I decided to take on-road transport. I had a lot of free time and I wanted to do some freestyle travelling.

Buses to Patalia, which is on the Daman and Gujarat border, depart from the road next to Hotel Sagar Presidency. Note that there are no buses or rickshaws that go across the border, so from Patalia, I had to figure out another mode of transport to take me to Udvada.

The bus is not a bus but a small tempo in which people are huddled as sheep and then dropped off at their destinations. The tempo was packed with people. Luckily I got a place to sit , but I had to rest my luggage on my lap as there was no space to keep it in the tempo.

Food items and other necessities are also transported by this tempo. These are stacked up next to the driver. The driver then drops them off at hotels and collection points on the way.

This tempo is a private vehicle and so the bus driver doubles up as the conductor to collect the Rs 15 fare from the passengers.

After a journey of 30 minutes along the mini roads of Daman, we finally reached the border. I was relieved. The tempo had been quite cramped.

For a fare of Rs 15, I guess one has to travel in a congested tempo. Alternatively there are rickshaws that ply here as well. These are special rickshaws and their fares are quite high.

I spoke to the driver regarding my further course of journey to Udvada. When I told him that I wanted to go to the Parsi Temple, he advised me to cross the border and board a rickshaw to Char Rasta.

From Char Rasta I had to board another rickshaw to Udvada. The bus driver had told me that the fare would be around Rs 10 each for both the journeys.

I crossed over from Daman to Gujarat and boarded a rickshaw. The first question the rickshaw driver asked me was, “Apke pass bottle hai?” (Do you have a bottle?) My face must have betrayed my confusion, because he re-phrased the question. “Apke pass drink hai”? I got his point then. He was asking me if I was carrying liquor across the border. No, I replied.

Carrying liquor across the border is considered a serious offence. Liquor bottles are confiscated. So it is better to be safe than sorry.

Within 10 minutes, I was at Char Rasta from where I was supposed to board another rickshaw to Udvada. Char Rasta means junction of four roads. There were no sign boards to indicate where the other two roads led.

Finally after a wait for 15 minutes, I hailed another rickshaw to Udvada. Overall, the journey had taken a little more than an hour.

Freestyle travelling by public means of transport -- I am certainly loving it.