Gondal- A small treasure trove

While planning for our long road trip, it was a struggle to find places where I could find accommodation and at the same time maintain driving distances for a day. I just happened to chance upon Gondal and found it interesting enough. Accommodation too wasn't a problem. Just 3 hours from Diu and it happened to fit the bill. I was also keen on ensuring of elements of fun and frolic, heritage, culture in the trip.

A small princely state of the erstwhile years, Gondal is hardly on the tourist map. Gondal is located in the Rajkot district of Gujarat, just 35 kms off Rajkot and 255kms from Ahmedabad. No sightseeing places in the town except for a palace which is turned into a museum and a guest wing of the palace where you can stay. In spite of all this the experience that Gondal offers,  puts this destination apart from any other.

HH Bhagwat Sinhji

Set out from Diu around 11 in the morning and passed through Una, Tulsishyam, Dhari and Bagasara. On this route you enter the Gir forest, famous for its Asiatic Lions for a small distance. We were hopeful of sighting some wild animal, but all that paid an audience to us were some birds, random peacocks and peahens and some monkeys.

The state of Gondal was a small state comprising of 4 towns and more than 175 villages. The rulers of Gondal belonged to the Krishna vanshi Jadeja clan. Under the famous king  HH Maharaja Bhagwat Sinhji the princely state became a first-class princely state. He was a very progressive ruler who introduced many economic reforms, compulsory education for girls, made the state tax free and improved infrastructure. Bhagwat Sinhji was a highly learned personality with degrees of Law, Medicine, Engineering and architecture everything under his belt.

Now coming back to our experience. We reached Gondal (Orchard Palace) by around 1530. A part of the Huzoor palace, Orchard Palace was originally the guest wing of the  now converted into a heritage hotel. The original rulers also stay in the same campus, just behind the hotel.

Antique Fan in our room!!

We were then escorted to our room (apparently we got the best one). Seeing the decor of the room, with antique furniture right from writing table, carpets, beds, fan and the sheer size of the room , we were floored. In addition, there was a dressing room, again with elegant furniture and a more bigger bathroom with bathtub and old tiles. Lot of  fruit bearing trees gives Orchard Palace its name and serenity. You could see peacocks flying in and out of the gardens adorning the palace. Oh my god!! I felt like a queen myself.

The Orchard Palace Hotel

Orchard palace is the location where the famous vintage car collection of the Gondal maharajas is displayed. There are about 60 -70 of them, many of them are specially crafted on order and all of them are in operating condition. They are taken out for vintage car rallies. The present title holder and his son are sports and car racing enthusiasts. When we were taking a look around the cars, we could see the Yuvraj Himansusinhji zoom in, in one of his sports cars. There is also the Railway Saloon of the Maharaja, which is on also on display next to the palace. Interestingly, this saloon is offered as accommodation for a family or a couple. It features separate living and dining areas, attendant areas and its own kitchen. The staff at the Orchard Palace, especially Ravi takes good care of the guests at the hotel. His service is exemplary and  leaves no stone upturned to bring a smile on the faces of guests at the hotel.

The royal saloon

Rolls Royce 1973

The common area at Orchard Palace replete with antiques and accessories

Dinner at Orchard Palace hotel is something one should not like to miss. It is an fixed menu dinner served in the tastefully decorated dining hall..The dinner is cooked at the royal kitchen and you eat what the royalty eats. It was a complete 3 course dinner with an interesting combination of western and Indian cuisine. The food was one of the most tastiest meals we have ever had. You can choose not to have your dinner here, but do not make that mistake.

All guests staying at Orchard Palace or the Riverside Palace (originally meant for the Princes now a heritage hotel) are taken for a guided tour of the Naulakha Palace (the main palace of Gondal). This place is now given out for film shootings apparently. When we visited there was some movie being shot featuring Mithun Chakraborty and Ayusshman Khurana. The palace has also been converted into a private museum.

The Naulakha Palace

The palace itself is quite impressive with its jharoka styled windows, long pillared corridors, arches, spiral staircases and carvings. The museum at the palace houses many antiques, silver and gold caskets and other gifts received by the King, coins and stamps of Gondal state, beadwork and other personal items. Hunting spoils of the kings are also on display here. Among the other things on display are fine crockery, utensils used by the royals, toys etc. The toy car collection of the present Yuvraj (prince) is definitely not be missed, on display are hundreds of vehicles of all sorts. Horse carriages and other mode of transport used by the royal family is also on display. A wonderful trip down the history of Gondal!!

This toy actually runs on petrol

The legend has it that, HH Bhagwat Sinhji would use this carriage to check the newly made roads. He would travel on this with some water in a vessel and if even a single drop spilled out, the road would have to be redone

Another interesting thing about Gondal is respect and protection that cattle (esp cows) is given. There are in fact many trusts established to take care of cows and stray cows from all parts of the country come here and no cow is denied the care it is in need of.

Diu - The island of breeze, serenity and sun

From one Portuguese occupied territory we come to another one. Daman and Dia are parts of the same UT, however from administrative point of view they are different. Most of the people including me think they were co-located. Only afterl I started researching for this road trip of ours, I realised that they were far apart. Goes to show how little we know about our country. Anyways isn't it better to be late than never??

After a day's drive from Ahmedabad we reached Diu by around 7 in the evening and checked into Hoka Island Villa.A small but well maintained resort close to Nagoa beach, one of the most popular and probably the most crowded beach in Diu. 

The Colorful Hoka Island Villa

The island of Diu has a unique charm of its own, in addition to the sea,sand and serenity. Places with a unique history like Daman, Diu etc interest me a lot. Curious to see old buildings, churches, the Portuguese population etc. 

Fortim-do-mar

The Portuguese built a fort here in Diu too, as in Daman, however the fort here had a vantage point as Diu, being the southern most point of Gujarat assumed importance from the trade point of view. In addition to the fort on the sea shore (near jetty), there's one more in the water too. It is still known as Fortim-do-mar or the Pani Kotha. You can hitch a boat ride to the fort. 

The fort is made of stone and is quite an imposing structure and makes you wonder how the entire structure including the cannons are built out of iron. A lighthouse is located within the fort giving you splendid view of the sea.

Many of the areas in Diu are still known by their Portuguese names like Fudam etc. The town is basically an extension of Gujarat because of its location. 

A bell in the fort !!

Mighty Cannons !!

  

Potato Pesto, Portuguese fish stew, Pasta and fried prawns

Around 60 odd Portuguese families still reside in Diu. I was very sad to find only one restaurant serving Portuguese cuisine. It might not be called a restaurant in the true sense, its just a home based eatery. The husband wife couple manage the whole show at 0'Coqueiro. They have a combination of basic Indian dishes like Rice Dal, some Italian stuff like Pastas and the Portuguese food. But the specialty definitely is Portuguese cuisine. Few items on the menu have to be pre-ordered as all the ingredients are sourced fresh. While you wait for your food, you could pick up some of the books from Mr Kailash Pandey's collection, chat up with him or relax with your drink and listen to some good music. They are open all through the day, choose to visit for breakfast, lunch or dinner. The location and the restaurant itself is not very prominent. It is located at main Diu Island in Firangiwada. There is a nice heritage building just at the end of the road near O'Coqueiro. The house where the restaurant is located is some 100 years old Portuguese house, which Mr Pandey wants to maintain as it is. There is a whole row of Portuguese houses on that road. 

The city was intended to be a walled town and there are many gates for entry into the main town. One such gate is the Zampa gate, a massive gate painted red looks magnificent with paintings and the cross.The remains of the original wall built by the Portuguese can be seen at different places. 

Zampa gate at the western end of the city

Once you enter the city from this gate, you encounter narrow streets of the town and somewhere on these roads is the Nagar Sheth haveli, the beautiful and ornate 3 storied building. Carved balconies, huge carvings on the doors. The architectural style is said to be Indo Sarcenic. Walking along the road we found many such buildings in a dilapidated condition bearing paintings and carvings. A trip along the Diu that once was!! It clearly demonstrated the influence of Portuguese. Even to this day, all business establishments in Diu follow Portugal timings ie., open by 8 in the morning, close by 12 for a siesta and open after 3.

Nagar Sheth haveli in all its opulence

An old door , look carefully for the painting above the door

An interesting place to be explored near the Zampa gate are the Naida caves, a maze of interconnecting caves of myriad shapes often making symmetry. It is said that the building materials for the forts and gates were taken out of these caves by the Portuguese. There are 10 caves on one side and a big 11th one on the other side.

The maze 

While talking about Diu, one can't really miss the beaches. Nagoa beach, as said earlier, is very popular and crowded, with lots of activities like water scooters, hot air balloon, para sailing, quad biking etc. However we liked the Chakratirth beach better, being less crowded and providing great views of the setting sun. Also located at this beach is the INS Khukri memorial. This is great place just to sit and relax and hear the waves of the sea lashing at the rocks. Other popular beaches being Ghogla, Jallandar and Gomtimata.

The sun sets over the peaceful Chakratirth beach

At the St Paul's church, one of the oldest and most elaborate of the Portuguese churches in India

Diu market near the main road by the jetty is an interesting place where goods from Kandla and Mundra port reach here for selling (export surplus I suppose). Clothes, belts, jackets, quilts, watches, chocolates everything can be found here. A bargain pick would be the spices and dry fruits. Good quality cashews often sell for as less as Rs 300 per kg.

3 days in Diu had me captivated beyond my imagination and wished to go back again to enjoy the laid back nature of this island. No wonder it is called the Goa without hippies and the crowd. 

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

Daman- Upcoming Goa??

Daman is at a distance of about 167 kms from Mumbai. One would have to get off the Mumbai- Ahmedabad highway few kilometers short of Vapi, towards your left. This is the entrance to Moti-Daman. Daman is divided into 2, Moti (Big in Gujarati) Daman and Nani (Small) Daman by the river Daman Ganga.

Our first impression of Daman was very nice. We entered Daman from Vapi side and passed the area at 11 in the night. It felt we were passing through a forest. Dense vegetation on both the sides of the road with not a single soul on the road. Then there is a huge gate with a big statue of a fisherman welcoming you to the Union Territory of Daman. The roads are broad, well maintained and well lit. This was Moti Daman, where all the administrative offices are located. Ahead on the road, is a church (It is Basilica of Bom Jesus, I think) and many old houses reminding you of the Portuguese occupation of Daman. Along with Diu, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Goa, Daman was a Portuguese colony for over 300 years and was liberated in 1961.

Well-lit Daman Fort also looked formidable. You pass on the Rajiv Gandhi setu(bridge) to reach Nani Daman. This bridge again was very well maintained, which got us thinking if it was a general phenomenon being a Union Territory maintained under the aegis of the President of India himself. After crossing this bridge, you enter Nani Daman.

We stayed twice at Daman both ways, while going to and coming back from Gujarat. We stayed the second time because the first time, we felt there was more to explore at Daman. The first stay at Daman was at Silver Sands Beach Resort just off

Sunset @Daman Jetty

Devka beach and the second one was at Hotel Emerald near Daman jetty. These fare among the affordable range of hotels at Daman. There are more luxurious ones too, along the Devka beach, near the Coastal Highway like Hotel Miramar, Ocean Panorama etc.

Daman has many similarities with Goa, the Portuguese influence being the obvious one, beaches and beach shacks are the other ones.

However the beaches of Daman do not have the usual brown sand. Instead they have black sand and due to the beach shacks and incessant use of plastic, the beaches are quite filthy, especially Devka beach. As we stayed right in front of Devka beach, we went for an early morning walk and found plastics wrappers and covers strewn all over the beach. The water too seemed quite dirty. Moreover, there are lots of rocks preventing you from swimming.

Empty shacks at Devka beach 

Rocky sea

The scene at Jampore beach at Moti Daman seemed much better. There are beach shacks here too, but the beach looked better maintained. These beach shacks serve all kinds of alcohol (at a premium) and sea food, like fried fish, prawns etc You could also pick the sea food you like at Daman markets and ask one of the shack owners to prepare it according to your taste for a fee. We tried some seafood and found the preparation quite good. This beach also offers rides on camels, horses etc. One interesting feature at Jampore beach is that, waters does not flow to the beach, instead you would have to walk in soft sand ahead to reach the sea.

The most popular thing at Daman is liquor. Daman lies sandwiched between Maharashtra and Gujarat and the latter one being a dry state, there is a steady inflow of people from Gujarat to quench their thirst. There is good variety of liquor available at Daman, which is not generally available anywhere else. The prices are also cheaper. In fact, liquor shops at Daman open much before any other shops.

Relaxed pace of life at Daman

All said and done, Daman is a place where you can spend a day or two in leisure, as it is not as crowded as Goa. The roads are relatively empty and the town still retains the old world charm, especially Moti Daman, with its fort , churches and old Portuguese architecture. 

Beginning of the Road Trip to Gujarat

A road trip is something that I have always enjoyed, new roads, new landscapes, the people along the road everything seems so exciting. Something, that I enjoy more than this is planning for the trip. Having done many weekend driving holidays in and around Bangalore, sought for something more this time. A long holiday was overdue and the holiday season in December meant non-availability of seats on flights. So what could be better than a road trip.

Amitabh Bachan's ad for Gujarat Tourism had definitely enticed me and wanted to make it to Kutch. Tried lots of, route permutations and combinations and depending on availability of accommodation, finally decided on Bangalore-Mumbai-Daman-Ahmedabad-Diu-Gondal-Hodka-Bhuj and return.

So it was December 22, left at the decided time of 5am and just a kilometer or two from home, our well behaved Safari started making some problems, steering vibration, clutch not returning. Not wanting to lose the initial momentum, we drove till Hiriyur and stopped for breakfast at Hotel Aroma. Note there are hardly any decent places to eat after you cross the usual Kamat Upchars and Coffee Days before Tumkur. After breakfast the problem with the vehicle seemed more pronounced and we decided to get some help at Chitradurga.

It was a Sunday, and a call to the Toll Free Tata Motos number gave us the number of a Tata authorised service center in Chitradurga. Call to the manager and he asked us to wait at the workshop while he would send in a mechanic. That wait lasted for 2 hours and the mechanic finally arrived. He did something and the vehicle seemed fine. We were planning for lunch at Belgaum with my brother, which looked far fetched now.

At 1130 am we started from Chitradurga and manged to reach Hubli by around 3. Lunch at Rajasthani Ghar Dhaba just after Dharwad high court. It was a cuisine not explored, by doing so, it marked a start of our road trip in the true sense. Excellent panner tikka masala, Dal tempered with red chilly and oil and hot rotis were really needed. Finally ordered Sev Tomato which was the icing on the cake. Some buttermilk to go with it and the meal was complete.

It was my turn at the wheels and with some temporary arrangement at the clutch, I was not very comfortable and loads of tractors and trucks carrying sugarcanes to the factories on the road added to it and finally gave up little after Belgaum as we didn't want to lose time. It was getting dark and we hoped to reach Satara/Karad by 2000h and halt for the day.

As we bid farewell to the roads of Karnataka, the condition of roads did not remain all the good. Lot of bikers on the road after Kolhapur and the roads were only 2 laned on each side. Finally we decided on Hotel Alankaar at Karad for our night halt. A decent hotel right in front of the Bus Station with good food.
We decided to start early the next day as we had a booking at Daman for the night. We could start only by 9 after  a tasty breakfast of Misal Pav.

The New Katraj tunnel

Fully loaded for the trip

By 1130 we were in Pune and looked around for authorised workshops to find a proper solution to the problem in Tata Safari. We spotted Concorde Motors and went in. Amazing facility and excellent staff. Safari got a quick fix there where we realised that there was a problem with the clutch plate and it would have to be used very carefully. We get our vehicle back at around 5. So the entire day was gone. We had two options either halt at Mumbai or drive till Daman. Went with the second option and drove till night 11 and reached Daman. It was the first time we had ever driven after sunset on the highways. The road from Mumbai to Daman, being a part of Mumbai-Ahmedabad road was very good, once we got on to the highway. However crossing Mumbai and getting on to the highway does take a good 2 hrs.

See you in Daman!!!!

Far away in the hills

As the travel bug begins to itch, the  search for newer destinations begins. This time around we settled for a known destination only to enjoy the beauty of monsoons.  It was Kodaikanal.  After exploring many wildlife destinations continuously this was exciting and different.  We had visited kodai on for our honeymoon and revisiting the place after 11 years seemed nice. Also this journey meant travelling on some new roads, the best part of the entire trip according to me.

The white building is Country Club

Kodai is a good 450 odd kms from Bangalore. We took the Bangalore Salem route and subsequently turned right to reach kodaikanal passing through karur, namakkal and dindigul and then the climb to Kodai. The ghats section to reach Kodai spans for around 45 kms and takes a little more than 2 hrs. However the roads bends are not as much as Ooty and they can be easily negotiated. The road conditions throughout right from Blore to Kodai is excellent. 

We chose to stay at Country Club Valley Vista Kodaikanal situated a around 5kms from Kodai.  To reach this place, take a left turn before you reach the main town. The signboards are not very evident. This is a village called Shenbaganur. The roads leading to the resort are quite narrow for 2 vehicles to simultaneously pass by. However,  once you see the views available from the hotel, you are bound to forget everything about the distance from the town.

Service and other facilities at the hotel are nothing to boast about. The food is also pretty average. They arrange for some activities during the day like fishing, trekking night safari etc, but charge exorbitantly for the same.

The charming Shenbaganur Museum

About the sights at Kodai, the usual hill station staples like a lake, a couple of falls and some view points are on the tourist circuit.  We did not do much sight seeing,  except for a couple of sights like the pillar rocks, upper lake view, walking around the lake etc. Cycles on hire are available, it is nice to cycle around the lake. Shenbaganur Museum was something I loved, its settings appeared out of the world. It felt quaint and lovely.Being far from the city did not allow us to do more though we had our own vehicle.

View from our resort

 However,  just sitting by the window of our room and watching the clouds gather in and move away was a great experience by itself. The roads near the resort pass through the villages and it is a good place for some long walks, not knowing where the roads lead to. An occasional vehicle passing by could seem a disturbance given the tranquility of the place. Mesmerising and a kind of haunting sound wafts through the air, caused by blowing of wind trees? I really do not know the right name of that tree, but in Kannada,  its called Gaali Mara,  so just going in for  a translation.

One great find there was a great eat-out place called the Cloud Street. When your taste buds appear tired of the usual south indian fare and crave for some pastas, steaks, hum

Upper lake view

Pillar Rocks

mus and pita bread, wood fired pizzas, this is the place to be. I just loved their lemon cake and expresso, one of the best that I ever had. They are open for breakfast too. Closed on mondays.

Kodaikanal is a small hill station, but there is much to explore outside the city. Couple of trekking tracks are available, which could be explored. Overall a nice place for a short holiday.

Midst of wilderness

I started my blog to make my treasure my travel memories, but off late, I have become to lazy to write my travelogues. So let me write this one, as the memories are fresh enough.

 

  Of all the trips, road trips excite me a lot. For me it is not only about the destination,  it is also also about the roads that I travel on. I would never like to take the same route again and again. I am bored of the Blr Mysore Bandipur road, having travelled many times on that route. This time around, it was a new route, we were going out of bangalore through kanakapura. We were off to BR Hills, a serene, less explored wildlife destination. It is at the confluence of the eastern and the western ghats.

An eco friendly bin

Our Loghut 

Finally we decided to make a visit to the Jungle Lodges and Resorts. This resort is situated right in the middle of BR Tiger Reserve. Built it the most nature friendly way from wood and very less of concrete. It felt really adventurous and thrilling to stay there and to be able to hear all sorts of wild cries, especially at nights. K gudi (kyathadevarayana gudi) wilderness camp runs on generators in the evenings and there is power only between 6pm and 6 am. Lanterns are placed at all the cottages, to scare away any wild animals and to show you way incase of a power failure. It is a great sight to see hordes of deers roaming around freely within the campus. Also there is a forest department elephant camp right next door. Kids love to see the mahouts bathe and clean these huge animals.

Indian Gaur

A safari stopover

Nature's artistry

The resort runs a safari into the Jungle twice a day, morning 6 and evening 3. Sighting of animals is a matter of pure luck. The naturalist kept mentioning of seing a tigress with her cubs just 2 days back, but we had to be satisfied with just a bear and many many birds. Well, bears are also said to highly reclusive and sighting is more difficult. Jungle lodges also took us to the famous Biligiri Ranganatha temple situated around 10 kms from the camp. All along the way, the drive, the naturalist provided us little snippets about nature around, birds, animal behaviour etc.

The elusive bear, we had to maintain our distance

Crested Eagle

The biligiri Ranganatha temple is  a quite temple, dedicated to the lord balaji. Its location gives a great view of the forest below. I was reminded of the Himgiri gopalswamy betta located near the Bandipur forest. Just at the foothills is located the Girijana vikasa kendra specially built for the upliftment of the Soliga tribals. Its a good place to buy some forest products like amla and sogadu sherbets , shikakai (soapnut) powder etc.

I would be really wrong not to mention about the impeccable service offered by each staff of the resort. They take good care of their guests. I hear this is a norm at all Jungle resorts. Worth every pie you pay. Food is also good, with good variety.

Water trickling down at Barachukki

You have two routes to reach this place, one via Kanakapura taking you through Malavalli, kollegal , br hills and K gudi or one through Mysore taking you through Chamrajnagar.

Lot of attractions dot the road through Malavalli,  Shivanasamudra, shimsha, Gaganachukki

and Barachukki falls to mention a few. We visited the Barachukki falls, however summers are not a ideal time to visit these falls. There was hardly any water in the falls.

This was one of the shortest holidays that we have done, but a very fulfilling one.