Gujarat- Land of Lions, Beaches & White desert

Two things that kept calling me to the West of India- Land of Lions & White Desert.

When we moved through the coastal lines and salt panes the journey tuned more magical and beautiful, Gujarat trip turned to be more beautiful and a different experience than I had thought of. Gujarat is a state on the western coast of India and the coastal line it holds is the longest in India, spanning around 1600km. Less in introduction , Rest in experience 🙂 Join with me to read about Gujarat and how we traveled.

The trip was the first long one we planned after the pandemic, and we were accompanied by our little traveler. Since it was our first time traveling with a child and it was going to be a nine-day trip, we were skeptical about choosing a destination. We wanted to avoid mountains and high altitudes, so we decided on Gujarat. Gujarat offers beaches, forests, and a salt desert, which we believed would make the trip enjoyable for our child. Gujarat is not a popular tourist destination among South Indians, many people asked me what there is to see in Gujarat when I mentioned about our trip.

We took a less opted route of usual Gujarat tourism by flying to Diu from Bangalore. Diu is a union territory and share border with Gujarat. There is no direct flight from Bangalore to Diu, there are not many airlines operated here. Alliance Air is the one which operates here, so we flew like Bangalore -> Mumbai -> Diu. The air bus to Diu is very small but it was almost full and while we were near to landing , we could catch a birds eye view of the beautiful seascape down below. Unlike my usual travel excitement, I was being very casual and only just hoping the travel should go fine as planned with kid in hand.

Sun was already setting and the lamps had started opening eyes. We checked into our hotel and as the hotel was just opposite to Nagoa beach, we stepped out to get a glimpse of the beach and for playing in the play area as the little eyes never miss to spot any play are.

Day 1- DIU

After a restful night's sleep, we woke up to a beautiful morning and were eager to explore Diu. We had hired a car for the entire trip, so our first destination was Gangeshwar Temple, which is located near the sea. The temple houses a shiva linga that gets washed by the water from the sea during high tides. According to Hindu mythology, it was built by the Pandavas. Apart from its religious significance, the temple offers a serene and scenic location. We embarked on a quick trek up a small rocky hill to enjoy the panoramic view from the top.

Next on our itinerary was Diu Fort, a Portuguese-built fortification that holds great historical importance. The fort is massive and has various spots to explore, including watchtowers. To keep our child entertained, we played a game of hide and seek amidst the fort's structures. One notable attraction near the fort was INS Khukri, the lead ship of the Indian Navy, which is now decommissioned and serves as a museum in Diu. We purchased tickets and boarded the ship, feeling a surge of patriotism and excitement. It was my first time on a naval ship, and the experience was truly remarkable. We were grateful to the Navy and Diu administration for preserving this piece of history.

Although we had plans to visit Nagada Caves, we found out that they were closed. It was already noon, so we decided to head back to our hotel. We didn't want to tire out our child, as giving her sufficient rest would ensure a smoother journey. After a satisfying lunch and a quick nap, we made our way to Nagoa Beach for the evening. Equipped with sandcastle accessories, we spent a relaxing time on the beach, enjoying the clear waters lapping at our feet and the picturesque views of various adventure sports, such as paragliding and boat rides. We even took a thrilling speed boat ride but mostly indulged in playing in the sand. As the day came to a close, we called it a day, satisfied with our adventures in Diu.

Day 2- Sasan Gir

Safari's can be booked via the only official online site https://girlion.gujarat.gov.in/. There are a number of sites providing online booking but this is the official site.

Day 3- Somnath and Madhvpur

Our next destination was Dwarka but it can take close to 10-11hour of journey and we were not very sure of that long drive with kid. We didn't want to make it very tiring for her and make the rest of the journeys hard. So we had opted for a stop mostly midway close to Porbander. I would like to tell here that drive to Dwarka can be done in a day and its just we split the drive for our comfort. We left hotel and on the way stopped to buy some mango pulp and drove towards the famous Somnath temple that was destroyed 17 times. Somnath Jyotirling temple, which is believed to be one of the first Jyotirling among the 12 as per Hindu Mythology. Temple has strict security measures in place and hence we had to leave mobiles and other electronic items in the locker and we moved to visit temple. It was not very crowded and we finished Darshan fast. After spending sometime in temple premises we took lunch from a nearby hotel and continued to our hotel. Booking was with The Fern in Madhvpur. It was a beach-side stay and after a short time resting in the hotel, we hit the beach. She had a nice time in the beach playing in sand and water while I enjoyed a beautiful sunset view. The day was relaxing and allowed us to spend quality time.

Day 4- Porbander to Dwarka

After an early breakfast we headed to Dwarka and on the way we planned to visit Mahatma Gandhi's birth place. We visited Kirti Mandir and then resumed to the final destination for the day. The places around Kirti Mandir can be maintained more clean and better as there are many tourists visiting this area especially as its the best place of a legend who always reminded and educated people about the importance of maintaining cleanliness. Around noon we reached Dwarka, after some nap for the kid by evening we setout to visit Dwarkadeesh temple, the famous and one of the char Dham temples. It was very much crowded and our little one is not used to , so wasn't a pleasant experience for her. The architecture of the temple is magnificent and the main shrine of the five-storied building, supported by 72 pillars, is known as Jagat Mandir or Nija Mandir. I am not going to the temple architecture and stories as its well detailed in many other sites dedicated on this topic. We visited some other small and less crowded temples in the evening, bought some specialties over there and headed back to hotel.

Day 5- Dwarka -> Rajkot

This was supposed to be one of the longest days, we had to visit few more places in Dwarka and then head to Rajkot for overnight stay. Again, we stayed in Rajkot mainly to split the journey from Dwarka to Kutch. We started bit early than usual, we stopped first at Shivrajpur Beach, on the Dwarka-Okha highway. This beach has received the blue flag accreditation recently. Maybe because it was morning, it was less crowded, the clear waters and shore were very welcoming especially as in India we don't get clean beaches in most of the places. After spending some time around the beach, we had to rush to see Bet Dwarka , but definitely plan to spend more time here , will be worth it. We set off to Bet Dwarka, an island at the mouth of gulf of Kutch and as per Hindu mythology Lord Krishna was ruling from here. Again, there are a lot of stories about this place and area, but I won't go into them. The island with its blue waters is a great treat , but the place is damn crowded and the place doesn't seem to be that developed also. We could see some construction going on, so there will probably be bridges in the future. Currently, only boats transport people to the island. We didn't wait to see the temple as it was very crowded and long queue. The place could be better maintained.

On the way back to Dwarka we visited the Nageshwar Jyotirlinga temple too and headed back to Dwarka to continue journey to Rajkot.

After lunch in Dwarka we bid adieu to the land of Krishna and headed towards Rajkot and it was almost around 2 or so in the afternoon when we started, roads were very good and both sides of road to a great extend was Industrial buildings and factories. We did stop in between for a few minutes break and the boredom of sitting in car mitigated with playing in slides and swings. It took more time than expected as we hit with heavy traffic as well. After checking in to hotel and getting fresh we stepped out and had some Gujrati delicacies.

Day 6 - Rajkot to Kutch

Another long journey day, and roads were not all very great. We had taken a tented stay in Kutch to give her a different stay experience. We did reach Kutch by around 2-3, after checking in and resting for a short time. We set off to the Rann of Kutch, Salt lakes were still filled with water though it was supposed to be dried, seems lot of rain water flew from Pakistan as well and hence fields are still having water to be evaporated. But still it was a different view. After watching sun set , we moved around exploring the fields that are dry. There were some adventure activities happening, like helicopter rides, para gliding etc. We then set off to explore the shops and festival area.

Day7- Kutch

We decided to see Kalo Dungar(Black hills) mountains in the morning, Its the highest point in Kutch.For some distance the roads were really bad or say no road this route from Kutch. Both sides are salt lakes or barren lands as if like no end. Hardly can see people , only batches of lorries that carry the salt or raw materials on the way and drive behind them as not enough space to even overtake. Later as we moved closer to mountain road condition improved.

The magnetic uphill or anti gravity slope where vehicles will move down hill to uphill on the way was a nice one. At Kalo Dungar there is a Dattatreya temple and a spectacular view of the land with sea, desert and land. We can also see through binoculars the last village of India and Pakistan border.

From Kalo Dungar, we made plans to visit Dholavira, the remains of the Indus Valley Civilization. The actual route would have taken a long time, but we heard from the villagers about a new path that is under construction. A road that connects Khavda to Dholavira. Although it is not fully completed, they mentioned that it can still be used. Intrigued, we decided to take that path. After traveling for approximately 20 kilometers, we found ourselves on a pathway surrounded by water on both sides. It resembled a bridge, guiding our way forward.

Its just a muddy path and still construction going on, after sometime we felt as if like its never ending path as no way we could see an end to it, the initial excitement of the less crowded, less tourist inhabited route ended as the road was looking like an unending path with both sides water. As we moved close, water level reduced and lot of salt lakes and in lots salt can be seen. There were also lot of Flamingos.

Finally after an hour or so we reached the other end and another 10-20km we reached the Harappan and Indus valley civilization Heritage site, some where the memories of Hisotry pages in school flashed. It looked all together like a different world, their construction, how they modeled their city, culture. There was a mention of desert animal park also but we didn't plan to visit as we have to drive back that same route again to reach back Bhuj to catch our train to Ahemdabad. It was not easy to find lunch either. The couple of hotels/stays nearby were full because the election commissioner and their team were in town before the elections. We could only manage to get some chips and biscuits.

We started drive back and through the same route, we reached Bhuj around close to 6. The fort we wanted to see in Bhuj was almost about to close for the day but we managed to have a quick visit and then went to a restaurant near railway station. Our train was by 10pm and we chose train to give kiddo first train experience. We bid farewell to the driver who was with us all this days.

Day 8- Ahmedabad to Bangalore

In the early morning, around 6 o'clock, we reached Ahmedabad. We took a hotel room to freshen up and rest for a while. Afterward, we set out to have breakfast and explore the city quickly. We visited the Atal Bridge, strolled around the city, and bought some Gujarati specialties such as Khakhra and other savory snacks. Later, we checked out from the hotel and headed to the airport for our flight back to Bangalore.

Some Pro Tips

Best time to visit is around November to mid or end of February. But if keen on spending more time in Kutch consider the month of Jan ( before Jan 25th or so) Avoid rainy season, also Gir will be closed during this time. Planning to do Gir safari, check and book tickets online in advance. As Gujarat is vast, pick up the places of interest and make a rough itinerary & route plan as per convenience. If traveling with kids, ensure to give them enough open ended play. Guj has lot of play areas as well. Choose sight seeing spots wisely matching your kids choices. Make sure the kids are fed healthy, we didn't had any trouble to manage food options. We also ensured she is fed on time(plan day accordingly) There is no issue or difficulty to get Veg food options in Guj. Try to taste some Guj specific specialties like Dhokla (white and yellow), Gathiya, Handvo, Sev tameta,Kathiyawadi, Chaas etc

Thank you for joining me on this incredible journey through the land of beaches. From beaches, through the land of lions and salt lakes, it has been a privilege to share my adventures with you. Your support and engagement means a lot to me.

As we wrap up this travel blog, I encourage you to keep exploring. The world is vast and beautiful yet always ready to present the unexpected. Always remember to follow your wanderlust and embrace the unknown.

Before I sign off, let me share one last memory from my time in Gujarat. Picture yourself standing on a secluded island, sun kissed , the salty breeze through the hair making it restless, the only thing you see is the endless clear water and sky above. It's moments like these that remind us of the beauty and wonder that travel brings to our lives.

I would love to hear about your favorite travel memories or any suggestions for future destinations. Please leave a comment below if you like to know about any specific details. Stay tuned for more exciting travel stories, tips, and destination guides in the coming weeks.

Wishing you endless adventures and memorable journeys ahead!

Kind Regards,

Rashmi