My hectic Gujarat trip

kimat

We set out from Mumbai on the 24th of March at around 9.15 PM by Saurashtra Mail and reached Dwarka the next day at around 4.15 in the afternoon. Checked into the City Palace hotel, freshened up and headed to the main temple which is within easy walking distance and then just walked around the town before dinner and a good night's sleep. The next morning we set out for local sight-seeing and visited nearby places as well as Bet-Dwarka, which is an island about 15 minutes away by ferry-boat. This took up most of the day.

The next morning, we checked out of the hotel and set off at about 9 by private car towards Porbandar and Somnath by the coastal highway via Harshad. visited Gandhiji's birthplace and Sudama-Mandir around noon and reached Somnath at around 4.30 after having lunch at a good dhaba near Chorwad. Left Somnath at around 6, and proceeded to Junagadh which we reached at about 8 PM. Checked into the National hotel there, had dinner at a nearby place and retired for the night.

The next day we visited Uparkot and explored the various historical places of interest in and around Junagadh. The museum closes down between 12.15 and 4.15, so arrange your schedule to inculde it.

The next morning we visited the Mahabat Makbara and the Akshar Mandir before leaving around noonish for Rajkot by luxury bus which is about a couple of hours ride from Junagadh. We had to miss out on Sasan-Gir and the Asian Lions because we had to set aside a couple of days for Rajkot where we have relatives. Since we were visiting Gujarat after a couple of decades, this was imperative.

We stayed in Rajkot till the 31st noon when we set off for Baroda, again by luxury bus. It took about six hours, so after reaching Baroda, we didn't have much time to do anything. We checked into the Panchsheel Hotel, freshened up, walked around a little, had dinner and retired for the night. On the 1st, we spent the day visiting the local attractions and the market. We set off for PavaGadh at around 8.30 the next morning by private car, which is a must if you are visiting Baroda. It is a hill with a temple on top, with a ropeway that makes it so much easier. We returned to the hotel at around 3 PM, checked out and headed for the station to catch the Shatabdi Express which departs at 4.15. In hindsight, I feel that we were cutting it dangerously short and should have given more time for contingencies.

Hotels: City Palace at Dwarka: OK
National at Junagadh: Bad
Everstar at Rajkot: OK
PanchSheel at Baroda: Ok

Observations: Junagadh requires more time, a couple of days is not enough, especially if you plan to see the asiatic lion in its natural habitat.

shahronakm

Thanks for the trip report. Any pics ?

Ronak.

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