do the diu - a place of virgin beaches - i
- Publishing Date: 11-Apr-2018
- Category: Adventure
- Starting Date: 30-May-2017
- No of Days: 2 Days
- Expense: 10000
- Location: Diu, Daman and Diu, India
To read the same blog in Hindi, go to setting gear showing on the right hand side and change the language selection to Hindi.
હિન્દીમાં તે જ બ્લોગ વાંચવા માટે, જિયર્સની બાજુમાં ગિયર બતાવવાનું અને ભાષા પસંદગીને હિન્દીમાં બદલવા માટે જાઓ.
1 May 2017, our most of the trip are related to mountains, so this time we want to go somewhere else, but where? While thinking over it, I remembered that one of my close friend was inviting us to come to his place so many times, so let's plan a trip to his place. I called him and informed him that we are coming so that he also plan his leaves accordingly. Oh I forget to tell the place name, its Gujarat.
Plan of journey:
There are so many trains running between Delhi to Ahamdabad on daily basic like Rajdhani Express and Ashram Express. But as usual our plan was a sudden plan so we didn't get tickets in 3rd AC, we only get two tickets in Ashram Express that was in RAC, and the two travelers include me and Neha. While at the time of ticket booking I was in hope that this RAC must clear till the date of journey, but our bad luck is walking ahead of us and the RAC didn't clear. But we didn't have any other option, so we traveled in the same RAC tickets.
28 May 2017, our train will depart from Purani Delhi Station at around 03:00 PM, and we will reach Ahamdabad at 07:00 AM, our destination is just one station before Ahamdabad main station i.e. Sabarmati Junction, Jatin will meet there.
The plan was like, on the first day we will explore Ahamdabad, and on the same night we will take a bus for Diu, and will spend next 2 days in Diu. From Ahamdabad, there are lot of AC and Non AC buses are available for Diu, and their starting point is a place named Paldi and the time is around 11:00 PM and they reach Diu around 09:00 AM after covering a distance of 350 Kilometer approx.
Preparation of Trip:
On the name of preparation we only did two things. First, we did our hotel booking in Diu, and second, Jating did the bus ticket booking.
At 11:00 PM we got our bus and after adjusting our luggage we were all set to sleep as we were totally exhausted from our previous journey. And with in few minutes we were sleeping, and when I awake in the morning, the surrounding were totally changed. Humidity in the atmosphere increased as were going towards the sea. After covering some more distance, we saw salt harvesting fields.
I was trying to see the surrounding area from bus window, and now I was able to saw the sea. This is my first affair with sea in the real life, I am very happy in this moment, my heart was beating fast. It was like you were trying to learn the cycle riding from past few months, and this is the first time when you make balance and riding well. In my opinion, every wanderer must go to mountain, snow laden fields, and to witness the sea once in their lifetime, otherwise their wandering is not completed.
After some time, we were entering in the Diu after crossing a long bridge built on the sea, after crossing the bridge, bus reached at Diu bus stand i.e. Jetha Bai bus terminus, which is nearby the Bunder Chowk. From this place there are two roads, one is going to Naida following Fulam, Malala, Nagoa and Banakwara. And another one is going towards Diu fort via Bunder Chowk.
Information related to Diu:
Diu is a town in Diu district in the union territory of Daman and Diu, India. Diu District is the tenth least populated district of India.
The town of Diu lies at the eastern end of Diu Island and is known for its fortress and old Portuguese cathedral. It is a fishing town. For more details, click here. Apart from this, Asia's longest beach festival i.e. "Festa De Diu" is also celebrated at Diu, and its duration is 75 days started from 1st Decemver upto 15th February on every year, during these days, Diu is like a place full of tourist from all over the world.
Our hotel booking was already done, so we got an auto to drop us to our hotel (Hotel Apaar) at 50 bucks as the hotel was quite near from this place. After reaching hotel, we did the formalities for the check-in and luckily we got two sea facing rooms by without paying any extra charge, this was like Icing on Cake.
The Best way to explore Diu:
The best way to explore Diu, is by taking a rented vehicle which are easily available on a reasonable rent. And to take this vehicle you must have a valid Driving License, ID Card, just fill a small form with basic details and enter the hotel name and the room number and you have to deposit some amount of money as security and the vehicle is yours. One day rent of Active is around Rs 350 and petrol is on your own. The over all area of Diu is 40 sq kilometers, so fill the petrol tank accordingly. If you will take a vehicle for one day, then you have to return it back at 08:00 PM, but if you take it for 2 days, then you will park it in your hotel parking in the night. That means you can also enjoy the night life of Diu with the same vehicle.
Places of interest in Diu:
Ghogla Beach
Naida Caves
Nagoa Beach
Diu Fort
St. Paul Church
Panikota Fort
Gangeshwar Mahadev Temple
Zampa Gateway
INS Khukri Memorial
Diu Museum
Shell Museums in Diu
Jallandar Beach
Gomptimata Beach
Jurassic Park etc
Among all these places you can select places according to your choice and your time schedule. In my opinion 2 days are enough to explore all these places. Our 2 days plan was like, on first day we will cover Diu Fort, St. Paul Church, Gangeshwar Mahadev Temple, INS Khukri Memorial, Jallandar Beach, Naida Caves etc, and on second day we have only one place i.e. Nagoa beach, we will spend entire day here and also try different types of water sports activity.
Our sea facing room's view
After having some rest we were ready to explore the beauty of this beautiful place. From our hotel, the road towards right hand is going to Diu Fort, after taking a local map printed on hotel pemplate, we were heading towards the Diu fort. After covering some distance we saw a direction board - Take right for St. Paul's Church, we turned our vehicle towards St. Paul's Church.
St. Paul's Church
St. Paul's Church was built in 1610, its architecture was beautiful. The entire area was covered with a lush green environment and there is so much silence exist in this place. After spending some time there, we were moving towards the main road to take the Diu fort road again. Its around 12:00 and we were hungry, so we stopped at a road side restaurant and placed our order. The best thing about Diu is, apart from Non Veg, sea food, you can easily get Vegetarian food that includes North India food, South Indian food and many more and the taste is good enough.
After finishing the food we reached Diu fort, there is no entry fees in Diu fort and the fort timing is from 08:00 AM to 06:00 PM. To know more about Diu fort, click here.
Diu fort
Diu fort history
Under Diu fort there is a Shivji temple and a light house, these two are the main attraction of Diu fort. A specific part of this fort was used as a jail. This fort is covered by sea from all the side, that makes it different from other fort. After Gwalior and Agra fort, I like this fort very much.
Light house under Diu fort
Shivji temple under Diu fort
After exploring Diu fort, we were moving towards the INS Khukhri Memorial, on the way we saw some beaches where there was no crowd, only four of us were there. We stay sometime on these places and after that we reached INS Khukhri Memorial.
Seems like our private beach
INS Khukhri is the name of a India Naval Ship, She was a Type 14 anti-submarine warfare frigates of the Indian Navy, which played an active role in the 1971 Indo-Pak War. She was sunk by PNS Hangor - a French Daphne Class submarine of the Pakistan Navy - on 09 December 1971 at 40 nautical miles off the coast of Diu, Gujarat. She went down her crew of 18 officers and 176 sailors on that fateful night. Captain Mahendra Nath Mulla chose to go down with his ship. This single act of Captain Mulla and his valiant crew is a shining example of unyielding spirit and indomitable courage, glorifying the highest traditions of the Indian Navy. He was posthumously awarded the Maha Vir Chakra for his gallant action. A memorial was built at Diu for the officers & sailors of INS Khukri who lost their lives on that ill-fated day.
Model of INS Khukri
INS Khukri Memorial
Jalandhar beach is also situated nearby, the name Jalandhar beach was related to a mythological story in which lord Shri Krishna kills a devil named Jalandher here. There was no crowd on this beach, just like on another beaches we saw before. This beach was just like a romantic movie location and I like it very much.
Gangeshwar Mahadev Temple
After spending some time there, we move forward to Gangeshwar temple and parked our vehicle and after taking some prasad we took off our shoes there and started walking towrads the temple. The temple is situated on the coast, and the entire scene was like, the sea waves come again and again to meet Shivji and every time it came, it took everything offered by devotee in their waves. Most of the people stay there for sometime to see this loop of sea waves, and we were one of them.
Naida Caves
After spending sometime at this place, we were moving forward to Naida Caves, that was nearby Gangeshwar Temple. In my opinion, the Naida Caves, one of the most underrated tourist attractions of Diu is just as much of a photographer’s paradise as it is for an explorer. Located outside the Diu fort, the caves have an intricate network of tunnels and huge step- like structures that make the caves a must- visit. There were some vendor available on the gate, and they were selling Nimbu Pani, we parked our vehicle there and move forward towads caves. The caves feature a big network of tunnels with square hewn steps, which is yet to be fully explored. It is believed that the Portuguese during their reign hacked building materials from these caves. After spending around half an hour, we come out and took a stop to have some energy drink to maintain the water balance of the body.
This is the first part of this travel tale, in the next part I will take you to some good places like Jurassic park and Nagoa beech, and tell you the adventure story of different water sports we tried at Nagoa beach.
To read the second part of this blog click here
Happy traveling
Fir milege kahi kisi roj ghumte firte :)
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