Bus Trip to Junagadh fro Diu

Monday, September 18, 2017

After visiting all the places on our itinerary for Diu, we woke up around 530 AM the next morning as we had to travel to Junagadh but the 7 AM bus. 

There are very few options available for early morning breakfast near the Diu Bus Stand We had a cup of tea, and then waited near the bus stand for the bus to arrive.

The bus finally arrived around 7:15 AM. After haulting for around 5 minutes it then took off. 

We then stopped near the Diu -Gujarat border. The bus was checked by the police. They checked all the bags thoroughly as Gujarat is a no liquor state, carrying liquor is punishable crime.

As the journey was long,and we had nothing better to do, we dozed off. So most of our time was spent sleeping in the bus. Though were we sitting we still managed to get good sleep. I guess when one is tired, one can sleep in any position. 

I would not call it a nap, as we were sleeping for atleast three hours. We finally reached Junagadh bus stand. Now we had too immediate goals, one is to eat lunch as we had skipped breakfast and the second is to hunt for accommodation. 

We walked the streets, searching each hotel, starting from the ones near the Junagadh bus stand , moving to the ones near the Junagadh railway station. The tariff rates are very high here, compared to the ones in Diu. Not sure why so. We were not able to find any hotel within Rs. 1000 for two. 

Hunger strikes, we then decided to give up our search for a place to stay for the night and to eat lunch. We headed over to a small eatery near the Junagadh bus stand. 

Lunch was in the form of Veg Thali. The cost Rs.40 each. That is so cheap,compared to the Thali we have in Mumbai. As we were hungry, we decided to eat rather take photo of the good we eat. It was a unlimited thali, it comprised of roti, salad, two vegetables, chaas (buttermilk), dal and rice. All this just for Rs. 40, now isnt that a good deal. (this place was closed down when we left for Mumbai)

After having a good healthy meal, we then headed off on our search for accommodation. We got a place a few blocks away from the eatery. Hotel Ganesh. We finally settled for Rs. 1000 for two. As it was impossible to get anything within Rs.1000. 

We decided not to waste any time and hence decided to explore the places within the city premises.

Gangeshwar Mahadev Temple in Diu (Union Territory in India)

Wednesday, March 22, 2017

After visiting the INS Kukri Memorial, we travelled to Gangeshwar Mahadev temple located a couple of KM away. 

Shivlings in the water

Provision of food and refreshments is available here. 

There are a couple of shops here, selling articles of worship.
There were many people who can come to venerate the Shivlings. It is said that the temple was constructed by the Five Pandavas. The five brothers had constructed five shivlings. The five shivlings are of different sizes. The shivlings were built at the bottom, in a cave. The sea waves directly lash onto the shivlings, keeping it submerged most of the time when the tide is high. 

Shivlings in the water

Many people got down to get a closer view of the shivlings. But force of the waves is so strong that, it can pull you in the waters, so it is best to stay far and see.

View of the sea from Gangeshwar mahadev temple in Diu

The tourism department had built a couple of seats facing the sea on the cliff. We sat there as we watched the sun go down. Water was all that I could see in a distance. The sea breeze kept us cool.
We then headed back to our Hotel in Diu. We had covered most of the places on our itinerary. Beaches were not on the list, but we still managed to sit atop a cliff, and enjoyed the sun going down the water I regret we didn't get to dip our happy feet in the water. 

Diu Bus Stand

We inquired at the Diu Bus Stand if there was any bus that would take us to Junagadh. Yes there was a bus going to Junagadh. As the booking office was closed, we still managed to book tickets from a third party vendor for a cost. Reserved seats are always better than travelling unreserved. The booking agent had informed us that it would take us around five hours to reach Junagadh as the bus travels across various small towns before reaching Junagadh. The bus departs from Diu Bus Stand at 7 AM.

INS Kukri memorial in Diu (Union Territory in India)

Monday, March 20, 2017

After visiting the Naida caves, we headed over to see the INS Kukri Memorial, located a few minutes away from here via the same rickshaw. 

INS Kukri memorial in Diu

The memorial is built atop a small hillock. There is provision for food and water here. 

The miniature version of the INS Kukri looked amazing. Though it is put in a glass casket. Information about the ship and the name of the soldiers who gave up their lives , is displayed here. 

List of Martyr's at INS Kukri memorial in Diu

The time was around 5 PM on my watch. The sun was shining, but the cool breeze didn't let us break a sweat. The weather was just pleasant here. The water lashing onto, the hillock. Water was all that I could see as far as I could see. 

From there we headed to our last place on our itinerary. The Gangeshwar Mahadev temple aka Shiva Temple.

Naida Caves in Diu (Union Territory in India)

Wednesday, March 15, 2017

When I saw the website of Diu on the internet, the first image I saw was of the Naida Caves, they were just beautiful. 'I have to visit Diu' is what I said to myself. I then checked to see the other historical sites I can see in Diu.

Naida Caves in Diu

After visiting the Diu Museum, the rickshaw driver brought us here.

There is no entry fee. But point to be noted here, is that these caves need to be seen in sunlight. Light should be in plenty.

Naida Caves in Diu

There was hardly anyone at the caves, just the two of us.

The caves were all identical to each other. One can get lost in the cave premises you don't follow the signs. Like always we too got lost.

I have been have been either Buddhist, Jain or Hindu Caves. But these are totally different.

Naida Caves in Diu

The rays of the sun falling on them, made them even more beautiful. I initially thought the photos, on the Diu website were a product of Photoshop. But these are for real.

Naida Caves in Diu

It was calm and quiet in here. Had Buddha been here, he tool would have fallen in love with them and mediated here.  

Sunrise and Sunsets were beautiful, but now these caves too have made it to the list, thanks to the rays of the sun.

Naida Caves in Diu

It took us almost an hour to explore all the caves in the premises.

Fathima and Me at Naida Caves in Diu

Again there is no food and water available near the Caves premises. 

We then headed over to see the INS Kukri Memorial located atop a small hillock a few KM away.

Diu museum in Diu (Union Territory in India)

Wednesday, March 8, 2017

The St.Thomas Church is now the Diu Museum. After visiting the St. Paul's church, we sat in the rickshaw and the rickshaw driver brought us here.

Diu museum in Diu

Artifacts at Diu museum in Diu from the inside

The church was converted into a museum in the year 1992. The artifacts in its premises are around 400 years old. The museum visiting timings are from 9 AM to 9 PM all days.

Diu museum in Diu from the inside

The museum is very small in size. The inside is painted white. The color common in all Portuguese built churches. The color has pealed off in certain portions. The museum is not very maintained.
There are plenty of religious statues in its premises.They are kept in a orderly manner. But there are too many of them, and most of them don't have any details about them. So if I would like to know more about a particular statue, I don't know who to ask? There is no curator either. 

Artifacts at Diu museum in Diu from the inside

It took us 10 minutes to see the museum. 

Artifacts at Diu museum in Diu from the inside

There is no food and water available outside the Museum premises
From there we headed off to see the Naida Caves. 

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.

Daman

Monday, June 11, 2012

Whenever one thinks of Daman, what is the first thing that comes to one’s mind?

If your answer is liquor, then you are absolutely right. Daman is supposed to be a haven for people who love to drink. Most people visit Daman to drink liquor as it is available a cheaper cost, compared to Maharashtra and Gujarat.

There are liquor shops all over the place. Every third shop is a liquor shop plus most of the hotels too serve liquor. I guess this is the reason why it is a haven for all drinkers. But of course the price of liquor is cheaper in Goa than in Daman. Then why do people head here? I don’t know.

Daman was a Portuguese colony like Diu, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Goa, Vasai and Mumbai. For a history buff, Daman has loads to offer, including old churches, forts and old houses.

Daman is located near the confluence of the Daman Ganga River and the Arabian Sea. As history states, Daman was acquired by the Portuguese from the Shah of Gujarat. For 400 years, it was ruled by the Portuguese until in 1961 it was integrated into India after the Indian Army, the Navy and the Air Force joined hands to make it a part of India.

Daman consists of Moti Daman and Nani Daman. Moti Daman is older than the other. But both are old enough. Moti Daman and Nani Daman are connected by two bridges, one meant for heavy traffic and the other for pedestrians and cyclists. Though the water in the river recedes when it is low tide, one cannot cross via the water. The fishing boats parked at both Moti and Nani Daman do not allow passage between the two.

Daman has many historical monuments. The forts that guard the coast are St Jerome Fort in Nani Daman and the Fort of Moti Daman. As Daman is a Union Territory, all the government buildings are located in Moti and Nani Daman. It is also famous for its beaches, Devka Beach and Jampore Beach.

There are four churches here. The Church of Our Lady of the Sea is situated in St Jerome Fort, and the other three are located in the Fort of Moti Daman. These are the Church of Our Lady of Remedies, the Church of Our Lady of Augustus, the Church of Our Lady of Rosary and the Cathedral of Bom Jesus.

Moti Daman Fort also houses the New and the Old Lighthouses, the Dominican Monastery and the House of Bocade and offers a spectacularly beautiful view of the fishing boats parked in the creek that divides Moti and Nani Daman.

The streets near the beaches are very narrow and mostly deserted. But these streets lead to beautiful and old houses. These houses are either ground-floor structures or a storey tall with tiled roofs. They are brightly painted and provide good material for photographers. Most of the houses have a small porch ahead of them, but nothing like the houses in Goa. Even though both Goa and Daman were earlier ruled by the Portuguese, the architecture and design of the houses is markedly different.

The windows of these houses are what caught my attention.  Though all of them are made of wood, each one appears to have been designed in a different and unique manner.

The markets here are flooded with goods, both Indian and Chinese makes of almost everything. Daman offers accommodation options to suit everyone. There are options for the budgeted traveller, businessman as well as those willing to shell out more for luxuries. In terms of food too, there is something for everyone. North Indian, South Indian, Moghlai, Gujarati food, take your pick. Sadly, Daman does not seem to have anything special to offer by way of its own particular cuisine.

There are mini buses, taxis and rickshaws which cater to travel needs within Daman, other than the private vehicles. But they leave from various locations across Daman. There is no common point for public transport here. Daman is so small that you can view all the sights here in two days.

Most travel websites talk about Daman and Diu together. I guess this is so because of long-ago history lessons in which we learned to speak of Goa, Daman and Diu in the same breath. I too made the mistake of assuming that Daman and Diu were near each other on the map. In reality, you have to undergo a ten-hour journey just to reach Diu from Daman by road or rail transport. So don’t be fooled the way I was into thinking I could tackle both places on the same trip.

As for how I got here, I alighted at Vapi and got in a shared taxi, which took me to Nani Daman.

Daman is very close to Vapi railway station. Outside the station there are shared taxis which charge Rs 20 per head, rickshaws which charge Rs 150 for a special trip and Gujarat State Transport buses. I don’t know the price of the bus ticket. One can reach Daman by road, rail and air as a mode of transport.

So do plan a trip to Daman. There is much to see and do here.