INDIA 26: Gujarat Stage 7.

So I clambered aboard the bus for the final leg on land, the relatively short hop from Sasan Gir to Diu. We passed through a lot of scrubby forest and I kept my eyes peeled for lions, as I knew they were there, but all I saw were a few deer. We did actually stop at one point, in the middle of nowhere, I think it was just for the driver to get some paan but I spied a man stirring something in a cauldron which smelt quite intriguing. I had to buy a box. I think it was milk based and very sweet. Absolutely delicious.

Diu was another return. This place has perhaps changed the most and was significantly changing even when I got there as there were was a major reshaping of the quay and indeed a lot of the old narrow lanes in the old town were being dug up. Some may say for the sake of progress, however the problem is there is no thought to the past, especially when you are trying to restore an old building but making it look like it was built yesterday.

When planning this trip, as in the past, I wanted to book a variety of hotels. In Diu I went for opulence and the Fort House Hotel, part of the Taj Exotica group. They even scanned my bag before letting me in. What did they think I was smuggling into the hotel? Don’t get me wrong, a nice hotel and very reasonably priced at 6000Rs a night (€60) but I actually much prefer the old cheapies with a bit of character.

Gujarat is a dry state, alcohol wise, but Diu, a tiny island off it’s south coast is definitely wet, alcohol-wise, and as I passed the bar on my way out for a wander there was a table of about half a dozen older middle aged rich guys boozing in the middle of the afternoon. They were on holiday from Mumbai. Their wives were all downstairs. As I noted above, I was a bit disappointed with Diu town but there are still quite a few beautiful old buildings still standing…

And I also managed to find the location of a photo from 1994. Looking rather more shabby these days.

 

I also made a little Wikiloc walk out of my old town wanderings:

In the evening, I just couldn’t resist fish’n’chips from the hotel restaurant but being a little disappointed. I think I mentioned in another post that “western” food is not done very well in India, even, it seems, in a posh hotel. Ah well.

Determined to give it a second go, I went for a poached egg with bacon for breakfast. Better.

And then I was off to find a scooter rental place on the front called Bhavani Scooter rent. Lots of forms to fill out but I got another Honda Activa for 500Rs for the day. I was headed off to the far end of the island (about 15km!) and the fishing village of Vanakbara, This was an interesting place. A warren of tiny alleys and then quite a large port stuffed with fishing boats and plenty of very smelly fish. Friendly folk though as I stopped at a chai stall and one of my fellow customers paid for me. that saved me 5Rs.

I drove back along the string of beaches that line the south coast. The most developed is Nagoa, lined with small restaurants where I settled for a Mango lassi. I certainly wasn’t going for a swim as the sea seemed to be a uniform brown colour, I think just silt rather than anything untoward. One thing I noted about Diu was that it was boiling hot, far hotter than the interior. Maybe the temperature had just increased generally, I’m not sure, but I remember the drive back with the searing hot wind.

I dropped off the bike and popped in next door to the “Best Hair Parlour” and it was pretty good. Hair cut and beard trim for 200Rs (€2). That evening I decided not to return to the hotel restaurant so headed to the small night market. As usual, I eat fairly early so the place was very quiet and opted for a prawn fry with rice. Very nice indeed, if a bit salty.

 

And so the final day! Up early as always and a short walk across the road from the hotel to the fort. I was there just before opening time at 8am and as it happened the bloke in the ticket office wasn’t there but the fort was completely open so I just walked in. I remember in 1994 part of it was being used as a jail and the rest was just ruins. Since then the jail has been vacated but you could walk around it and the rest of the fort has been quite heavily renovated, in my opinion, again, rather insensitively, with heavy use of plaster and concrete. Interesting to compare with some of my old photos though.

And so that was India 2026. All it remained was for me to take a final three wheeler to the tiny Diu airport. It was rather a relief to breeze past the small amount of security and then just walk across the tarmac to the propeller plane. From here I flew to Ahmedabad and then on to Delhi for the International flight. Transferring between terminals at Delhi and especially the security wasn’t as bad as normal but it was interesting to note that here was automatic check-in at a machine. No people involved at all (except for the staff on hand to help you with the machine!) . From here to Munich and then Porto and then home. 27 hours travel, phew!

 

And of course, here are some more photos of my time in Diu

So, Gujarat 26. Three weeks seemed to pass more quickly that previous trips – I must have enjoyed it, and did. A bit more low key than other trips. It had variety, I always love the architecture, especially Muslim, but I also enjoyed a few surprises – getting on the scooter and exploring the small towns of Mandvi and the Diu fishing village but of course the highlight was the wildlife.