Early morning, awakened by the cold I am greeted by the lowing of hungry Buffaloes and Cows and of course the blissful snoring of our bunch.

Decide to take a walk in the village and wander along. I guess I was the first amongst the entire group to get breakfast of Bhakri (which is a kind of roti) and of course lots and lots of Chai.

Must add here, in Gujarat offering one's guest tea seems to have been developed into some kind of a ritual. One is usually given a saucer (made of steel ) and the host is ready with a kettle of the steaming brew. Finish one saucer and you are immediately offered another. Finish that and then again you are offered another!

Talk of Chai Pilao Yaar!

After the usual round of goodbye's and a bit more of snapping, we hit the road again. Bound for Velavadhar Black Buck National Park. The going was mostly through the interior parts of the state and we were rewarded by views composed of thorn palisades along the roads, stunted Babool trees and of course both of Gujarat's famed carriers - the colourfully caparisoned Chagdas drawn by iron bulls and their plodding counterparts drawn by flesh and bone Bulls.

Chagdas are almost like the Autorickshaws one sees across India in which the Bullet's engine (modified to run on diesel) and gearbox have been retained. I was nonplussed to see them fully laden with upto 10-12 people and their luggage, before realizing that they rarely go beyond 40kmph and remembering that the Diesel does pack an amazing torque. But for sheer majesty I would choose the ordinary bullock carts anyday. The carts themselves looked amazingly sturdy and the Bullocks were mostly hefty, muscled beasts with amazing horns! By the by (considering that the roads were either bad or downright un-rideable) we approached Velavadhar.

The weather was a bit on the hotter side and the topography was now really arid. I knew we were in Velavadhar when Amol shouted across the cacophony of our Bullets "Watch out for Nilgai crossing the road". And thereafter of course it wasn't surprising to see a sign saying "Animals Have Right Of Way". Once in the park proper, the vistas were all golden grasses with perimeters of thorn trees. One is allowed into the core area of the park on vehicles, so we all got to ride into the core area.

A jeep trail was our road, traversing through tall golden grasses on both sides from where herds of Black Buck gazed at us in different degrees of alertness. Riding parallel to the racing herds, one is gifted by the spectacular sight of the Bucks putting on speed and slowly cutting across to cross the road, almost as if it was some kind of a flank attack! One moment they are on the left grazing peacefully, the next minute they are all bounding parallel to us and then they are suddenly jumping across the road to vanish on the right! And I am talking of herds which must have numbered in hundreds! We were lucky enough to spot a rooting wild boar too, though the Nilgai eluded us (we could just observe a couple of the majestic antelopes at a distance).


Velvadhar onwards we proceeded towards Una, stopping enroute for some food at a roadside hotel. The food was amazingly bland and typically Gujarati. Of special mention are the buildings housing these hotels. Set a bit away from the road, they resemble an inverted Pagoda and look massive from the distance, though they are mostly just two-storied in height. I was astonished to find that almost all across south-western Gujarat, all these hotels looked astonishingly alike!

Next followed an amazing ride through the Sanctuary, 18 odd kilometers before we were to emerge out of it. 18 odd kilometers of a narrow single road through scrub and thorn forest with the usual forest department boards every 250 metres or so. The riding was single file and the going slow.

Finally we were out of the Sanctuary and on the way for the Union Territory of Diu. We ultimately reached Diu at around 11:00 in the night after some really bad roads.

Gujarat is under prohibition so it was no wonder that Diu was choc-a-bloc full with all kinds of bars, permit-rooms, etc., etc. Having been to Goa, I could note the similarity when it came to the names of the resorts and the "private clubs".

Nightscapes wise, Diu is amazing. The main hotels and resorts rival a Christmas Tree in their brilliance and what's more, revel in reflected glory too, considering that they are all located along the waterfront besides Diu's harbour.

Everybody got down to discussing the day's events while I (with Kyle in tow) hunted out an open bar for some well-earned Beer. Post dinner some of us decided to have another shot at adventure, rode 15 odd kilometers through sleeping Diu without lights and finally slept at a beach.



Next...
there's an island bang in the middle of the harbour. What better setting for a prison than this?
...(read on)


^Top