Lets Go! Gujarat - 5. The Union Territory of Diu
- Krishna Prabhu
- Oct 31, 2019
- 4 min read
Updated: Nov 17, 2019
We set out next day on the morning GSRTC Express bus to reach the small union territory of Diu (of Daman and Diu). Diu is separated from its brother Daman by 200 Kms by sea. After checking into our nice hotel near the Main bazaar, we took some rest and then proceeded early in the evening to Diu Fort. The entry to the fort is free. It was built by Bahadur Shah Zafar, the erstwhile King of Gujarat in collaboration with the Portuguese around 1535 AD to defend against attacks by the Mughal King Humayun. After the king’s death, the Portuguese finally took over and enjoyed an uninterrupted rule for about 424 years. It’s a large complex and easily takes about two hours to see it entirely. We hired a part time guide for Rs.100/-, who gave us some history of the fort.
From the fort can be seen the small island prison of Panikota. The jail was later shifted to a section withing the main fort complex. The fort is covered on three sides by water and only on one side by land, which is again separated by a wide moat. We could walk along the narrow ramparts of a section of the fort and got great views of the Arabian Sea from there.
At the highest point in the fort, is a tall lighthouse which we could see from as far as Nagoa beach many miles away!
We then proceeded to St. Paul's Church, which was beautiful from the inside. We saw the nice illustrations of the ten commandments, which I found to be similar to some of the values taught in our Hindu Sanatana (eternal) Dharma. There was one Diu museum a short distance from the church which housed wooden statues of Cristian saints.
Early morning on the next day, we proceeded to Ghogla beach, around 10 kms from our hotel. Moving around in Diu is mostly on regular Auto and a Large sized Auto (called ‘Chakda’ in the local language). Though there is no fare meter, they charge standard rates of either Rs.40 (minimum), for short distances or Rs.80 (for intermediate distances). Make sure to ask at least a couple of auto drivers in advance, to know the correct fare to the destination and then get into one.
Ghogla beach was really beautiful with its clean white sands and gently sloping beach. We had a nice dip into the sea and headed back really hungry to have a sumptuous breakfast.
We then hired an auto for entire day sight-seeing. Autos can be hired for around Rs.500-600 for entire day - depending on number of spots covered.
We first headed to the magnificent Naida caves. These beautiful rocky caves with an intricate network of tunnels and huge step structures, is a photographer's and explorer’s paradise! Sunlight enters the caves through natural openings on the top, giving sufficient light for good photos. The caves are part natural and part man made.
We then proceeded to Khukri memorial, where the INS Khukri, which was the only naval warship that was sunk by our neighbouring country, in the war of 1971. The area was under construction and we had some difficulty to get on top of the hill, where a miniature version of the naval warship was placed, along with the names of more than 200 brave naval soldiers, who went down with the vessel.
In the early evening, we went to Gangeshwar Mahadev temple, where five Shiv lings are established inside a small cave. If possible visit during high tide, when the ocean offers its prayers to Shivji by doing an Abhishek on the Shivlings. We could see a part of the sea water lashing against the cave, at the time we went.
In the later part of evening we visited Nagoa beach located on the far end of Diu, to watch the sun go down from sunset point. We could see lot of Hokka Palm trees unique to this part of India. These were brought by the Portuguese from Africa several hundred years back and planted all around Diu. Most of the tourism infrastructure is already developed around Nagoa beach, whereas constructions are currently going on to develop around Ghogla beach.
Though I liked Ghogla beach much better than Nagoa, we didn’t know that a glorious sight was awaiting us at the back end of the beach! Since Nagoa beach was pointing towards the eastern side (just like Ghogla), I was suddenly inspired to look for a vantage point on the western side to watch the beautiful sunset, which was fast approaching! We hiked across the beach and behind it to see a beautiful small hill covered with lush green grass. On top of it we witnessed a glorious sunset and the pictures below speak for themselves!
On the last day of our trip, we caught the first morning Volvo bus from Diu to Ahmedabad, to catch the late evening flight back to Bangalore. Our glorious eleven day trip to Gujarat, it seemed ended within just a few hours. It is said you never know the passage of time when it is spent happily! But coming back to our home late in the night, we realized that east or west, home is really the best! Hope this travel blog helps someone to better plan their visit to the glorious state of Gujarat. Any comments are welcome and can be posted below. If you are interested to know my detailed travel itinerary, then write to me to my email id listed on this site's homepage.
Comentarios