Saint Paul's Church in Diu (Union Territory in India)

Monday, March 6, 2017

After visiting the Diu fort ,we travelled to St. Paul's Church in Diu. The church is dedicated to our Lady of Immaculate Conception. It was founded in 1600 AD. by the Jesuits. 

Saint Paul's Church in Diu (Union Territory in India)

The design of the church was very similar to the ones I have seen in Old Goa in Goa and Daman.  After all these churches were constructed by the Portuguese. 

Most Portuguese churches are painted white in color. Not sure the reason why they were painted white. The front of the churches beautiful design, with emblem in them. It had three doors, the center one being the main door. It had three window lanes atop the door. This is something similar in most Portuguese constructed churches.

History of Saint Paul's Church in Diu (Union Territory in India)

The inside of the church was also painted white. The ceiling was high up. The design on the ceiling was also wonderful. Sometimes I wonder, how they might have designed them, without any gadgets. 

I said Fathima, and it echoed within the church walls. I was happy as there was no one around to ask me to maintain silence. Though I didn't do it on purpose.

Saint Paul's Church in Diu (Union Territory in India) from the inside

The altar and the palpit was beautiful. Though both are made of wood. The art work on them is truly beautiful. It might have taken the artisans years to complete both the structures. 

There is also a first floor, where people used to attend services.it was currently closed saw we had come in the off hours. 

The visiting hours are from 8 AM to 530 PM. There is no entry fee. But one has to keep footwear outside while entering the church premises. 

There is no food and water available outside the church premises
We then headed over to see Diu Museum.

Diu fort in Diu (Union Territory in India)

Saturday, March 4, 2017

Diu fort, was our first stop on the rickshaw tour of Diu. To read about our bus journey to Diu, click here. 

Diu Fort in Diu (Union Territory of India)

The first glimpse of the fort was just amazing. The sun shining on the walls made it even more attractive. As we had too many places to cover in a short span of time, we decided not to waste any time, but to start exploring the fort.

The fort walls are short in height. There is open space near the fort premises. How I love to sit there sipping on some ice cold beer in the hot weather. In its glory days ships might be halting here, hence it appeared like a port. There are a couple of cannons here. No inscription on them. 

Fathima and Me at Diu fort in Diu (Union Territory in India)

The fortress of Panikota is clearly visible from here. The fortress is not accessible to public. Not sure as to why entry to it is denied. By the look of it, it was beautifully constructed structure in the middle of the waters. Though it was far and I possessed just a mobile phone, couldn't get clearer photos of it. 

History of Diu fort in Diu (Union Territory in India)

Other beautiful sea forts I have visited are Murud Janjira near Alibag and Sindhudurg in Malvan, Vijaydurg near Devgad.

Atop the entrance of the fort, are places two symbols, which appear to me like lions, not sure what they symbolize. The door is made of wood, painted black with a small chor darwazain it. It was made for people to pass through. Most forts have a chor darwaza.  I guess the big door is only opened when there is a occasion. 

There is a jail in the fort premises, which is still in service, entry in it restricted.

Near the jail are places many cannon balls. The cannon balls are placed around a soldier like structure. They are also places around a Cross and a small bell next to the cross. The cannon balls reminded me of my trip to Vijaydurg near Devgad in Maharashtra. They had plenty of cannon balls for display.

Please refer to the photo for the history of the Diu fort.

The fort visiting hours are from 8 AM to 6 PM, everyday. There is no entry fee. 

There are a couple of ruined structures within the fort premises.
We decided to walk on the walls of the fort to get a better view of what is inside and outside. 

Some of the cannons on the fort are beautiful. They reported a wonderful design.They even had a royal emblem on them.
Fort of Daulatabad, Naldurg and Solapur in Maharashtra, Moti Daman in Daman and Reis Magos fort in Goa, have beautiful cannons in their premises.

Entry to certain structures on the fort premises is restricted. 

I saw a different type of cannons sitting within one of the structures in the fort. These destructive toys looked like the ones which were used in the world wars. Not sure as to how they landed in the fort premises. 

There is a church in the fort premises. It is currently under lock and key. Not sure if it is still in service. 

There are a  couple of under ground dungeons in the fort premises. Entry to them is currently restricted. I have seen dungeons even at Srirangapatna near Mysore in Karnataka . And in Goa.

The ruins of St. Tiago Bastion and Chapel is beautiful. They offer a wonderful view of the sea. They are airy too. 

There is a light house. Not sure if it is still in service. As it was closed when reached it. There are a couple of cannons here. These cannons are beautiful. This the the highest point on the fort. The view from here is amazing. 

There are a lot of unnamed structures on the fort premises, but they are completely in ruins. How I wish, I had a time machine, I could travel back in time to marvel the beauty of this fort.

There is food and water available outside the fort premises.
We then headed to St. Paul's church.

DIU Road trip, Bus journey to Diu (Union Territory in India)

Monday, February 27, 2017

Diu is a Union territory located not very close to Mumbai. Total travel time is around 18 hours away, no matter which mode of transport you take. 

Bus to Diu

When people say Daman and Diu it gives one the understanding that they are close to each other but in reality they are around 9 hours away from each other. One of the reasons why people use the two of them together is because the official govt offices are in Daman. 

There are three ways of reaching Diu. Either travel by road, which is tagged on google maps. Or travel by train to Verangal and from there travel by bus. Or the last is by a flight to Diu airport. The air travel is the shortest, the other two modes of transport take more or less the same amount of time. 

After researching all our options we decided to travel by bus. That too a sleeper bus to Diu. 

Remember Fathima, she had accompained me to Chinchoti waterfall near Tungareshwar, joined me on my trip to Diu. We booked bus tickets to Diu, just a week in advance. We booked bus tickets from OP Travels, which is located on the Western Express Highway near Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SNGP). Buses to major towns in and around Maharashtra are available here. We got the tickets at a cost of Rs. 700 each for a non ac sleeper bus. Please note, that ac buses don't ply on this route. 

I boarded the bus at 1:30 PM at Andheri near the intersection of the metro line and the western express highway. Thanks to the traffic jam, we reached Vasai around 4 PM. The bus was full and travelled by the Mumbai Ahmedabad highway. 

As the journey is long, you can do two things, either sleep all the way to Diu or play around on your phones. If you choose the later then do carry a power bank along for charge. One more thing, one can read a book too.

Day turned to Night and the weather changed, it started growing cooler in the bus too. Had to close the windows so that we don't feel the cool breeze. But the very next morning it became hot again.
The bus will take sufficient breaks at hotels for eating and refreshment purposes.

We stopped for breakfast the next morning and all I got to eat was this Fafda Jalebi. Jalebi I enjoyed as it is one of my favorite sweets but not Fafda. Hot tea to gulp it all down. 

Fafda and Jalebi

The road passes through fields. The color brown was all over the place. The roads were in good condition, which made the journey a pleasant one. 

The roads are tagged on google maps. 

Our bus broke down somewhere near the outskirts of Diu, hence we travelled by a auto rickshaw to reach Diu. This is the first time I have travelled by this mode of transport and it was fun. 

Though it is slow it will still get you to your destination.
First glimpse of Diu and it is a beautiful. Beautifully constructed roads which are totally deserted. The view of the sea in a distance was also amazing. 

We were dropped near the Diu Bus stand, from here buses ply to many towns in Gujarat. Buses ply to Mumbai too from here.
We got our self a place to stay near the bus stand premises. We got ourselves rooms at Hotel Galaxy. It cost us around 1200 bucks plus taxes each for non ac rooms. The ac ones cost around 1500 bucks plus taxes.  Which is pretty expensive. I guess it is the location that commands the money. It has a eatery in its premises, where food and liquor is available. Remember Diu is a Union Territory.
We freshened up in the room, had lunch and off course beer and then headed out to see Diu. 

As you go away from the Diu Bus Stand, the hotel prices drop. But then commuting to the Bus Stand, again will be a task. 

Diu has a lot of historical sites one can visit. I had made a note of the places I wanted to visit on the trip. I had St Paul's Church, Diu fort, Fortress of Panikota, Gangeshwar  Temple, Maida Caves, Diu Museum, Shell Museum, Church of St Francis d Assisi, INS Khukhri.

I didn't have the beaches on my list, as they don't amuse me much. It is just the names and the color of the sand of the beach that changes.

Our mode of transport to Diu from where the bus brokedown

Auto Rickshaw are available outside the Diu Bus stand on hire. One has to negotiate the rates with them depending upon the places one wants to cover. The rates differ from place to place 

We negotiated and got a rickshaw at a cost of Rs. 500 to see the places mentioned above.

The time was now 3 PM on my watch. We had to hurry if we wanted to cover all the places. 

The rickshaw driver first took us to Diu Fort.