From Daman to Diu

Never knew till recently, that though they form a part of same Union Territory, Daman and Diu are far aprt from each other, around 650kms from each other. While Daman lies at the start of Gujarat, Diu is the southern most tip of the Kathiawadi region of Gujarat.

From Daman we set off to Ahmedabad, taking the Surat, Bharuch, Vadodara route. Roads they remain excellent throughout. Ahmedabad was just a night halt, and no exploring. But the roads of Ahmedabad, they are too chaotic, no signals at all, not even at major junctions. This was not expected out of NaMo's own land. 

From Ahmedabad set out to Diu by around 10 in the morning. There are a lot of factories and industries on the outskirts of  Ahmedabad. In fact the entire belt from Surat to Ahmedabad there are quite a lot of industrial activity happening, but nothing much once you move forward into Gujarat.

Offroading somewhere before Savar Kundla

The route to Diu from Ahemedabad gave us a real taste of rural Ahmedabad. The famed good roads of Gujarat do not exist on this route. The route took us through Dhandukha, Vallabhipur, Savar Kundla, Damnagar, Chalala and Una  and these were all state highways (so called), but were so narrow and at one particular place there was no road and we had to drive through this. True rural experience and offroading op. Moreover, this route lacks any sort of facilities for food stopovers. The Bhavnagar, Mahuva, Rajula, Una route may be better. We also passed very close to Lothal, one of the prominent cities of ancient Indus Valley Civilization, however did not stop by. Its just 80kms from Ahmedabad.

One more thing that you notice on any Gujarat highways are herds of cattle, sheep, goats taking a leisure walk, and I should mention it here the cattle and their horns are truly worth seeing, seem so robust. Another ubiquitous feature on the roads is the enfield turned 'Jugaad' or Chakkada locally. They come in all hues and colors, brightly decorated and painted. I was tempted to hitch a ride on one of them, but couldn't manage. Also noticed that this was the main mode of transport for the villagers, buses were rarely seen on the state roads.

The Jugaad/Chakkada

In spite of the conditions of the road, I found this journey enjoyable. We got to see so much of what the real Gujarat is. Colorful attire of ladies, the typical attire of cattle herdsmen, acres of cotton farms, a glimpse into the food habits, a camel caravan somewhere along the way, colorful crowded markets, groups of aged men chatting under a tree almost in all the villages we passed by and much more.

Bhel stalls are found all over

The fafdas,bhujias and more