[jesrani]

Originally Posted by tejas08

Thanks a lot for your advice. Yes, I actually know that what I have planned is going to be hectic. But not from the driving point of view but from the traveling point of view for the people who are going to sit in the car. I have my wife's cousin with me as a back-up driver. If somehow driving does tire me, which I really don't think it will happen too many times, I will hand over the driving part to him.

As I said the I am the culprit for planning such a hectic trip as my family members don't really believe in doing two trips to a state for vacation and certainly not Gujrat. No offense to who ever have traveled to Gujrat. I have looked at picking only the top-spots of sight-seeing at major places. I do not plan to look at all the small small places everywhere.

My opinion is that you pick any place, anywhere in the world, Google will give you at least 5 options or things to see. Its upto an individual to decide whether you want to see everything or only the important things.



425 Kms mentioned is including trip back to the hotel at Junagadh. Ahmedabad to Gir is around 330 Kms and Gir to Junagadh is around 85 Kms. Again part of the answer to your statement has to be the same as above.

The stretch from Ahmedabad to Gir, I am hoping that Google is showing a fair time to cover the distance based on the Road and Traffic conditions which it normally does.



I will check out about Hodka. I dont have an idea about what Hodka is all about.

I did not find much on Google to see around in Bhuj. But I have still kept the whole day for some shsopping and stuff if my mother and wife want to do. In fact, the things I mentioned in my post for sight-seeing actually don't take more than 7-8 hours.

With regards to Rann, I will be leaving the hotel from Bhuj at around 02:00 PM, go to Kala Dungar and then to Rann by around 05:30 PM. Enjoy the sunset, watch the full moon (Checking out the moon-rise times, the Moon-rise is actually at around 06:15 PM, which works out well to execute the stuff) and leave by around 07:45 PM to Rann Utsav, have dinner and come back to Bhuj by around 10:00 PM.

I checked up with the Bhuj Hotel guys and its perfectly safe with regards to evening time and night time, specially with the Rann Utsav going on.

I don't know about touch and go, but certainly as per the calculations, I have put in a fair amount of time to relax and sight-seeing. Lets see. Still working out on some minor details. Thats why looking for inputs over here.

Gujarat is a large state. Kutch and Saurashtra each have distinct flavours. We really liked Kutch, maybe as it is where our ancestors came from.

I would still say that cover less places but see them well and also take time to relax in between. Of course, everyone's definition of enjoyment is different. We enjoy historical monuments and also the jungle. But some of my friends feel it is just bricks and stone, nothing to see.

Hodka is near to Dhordo, where the White Rann is located. You will pass it on the way from Bhirandariya to Dhordo. I hope you are aware that you need a permit to go to the White Rann, which you will get at Bhirandariya check post. But in holiday times it is crowded there and since you are short of time, you can also get it in Bhuj, I think from Tourist Bureau or some place. Again, check with Krutarthji. Bhuj has good shopping options for ethnic wear.

Enjoy your trip, I am pretty sure you will decide to go there again

[tejas08]

Originally Posted by jesrani

Gujarat is a large state. Kutch and Saurashtra each have distinct flavours. We really liked Kutch, maybe as it is where our ancestors came from.

I would still say that cover less places but see them well and also take time to relax in between. Of course, everyone's definition of enjoyment is different. We enjoy historical monuments and also the jungle. But some of my friends feel it is just bricks and stone, nothing to see.

Hodka is near to Dhordo, where the White Rann is located. You will pass it on the way from Bhirandariya to Dhordo. I hope you are aware that you need a permit to go to the White Rann, which you will get at Bhirandariya check post. But in holiday times it is crowded there and since you are short of time, you can also get it in Bhuj, I think from Tourist Bureau or some place. Again, check with Krutarthji. Bhuj has good shopping options for ethnic wear.

Enjoy your trip, I am pretty sure you will decide to go there again

I wasn't aware of the name Hodka. Yes. White rann is the thing we are going for. I am aware of the permit requirement. Thinking about getting it at Bhuj itself.

[Ajitsingh208]

Hi,

I am also planning to visit the Rann during the 26th Jan Weekend, I need help with the Permits, any idea whether one needs to be physically present to get them at Bhuj. is it possible for 1 person to collect for all?
Also, how do we get the permit for India Bridge?
Any pointers?

[mpksuhas]

Disclaimer: I have not been to Rann yet. However this is the information I got when there was a plan to visit.

For visiting India bridge you need to get permit from police check-post near Khavda. This as per reviews on different forum is very much a walk-in process. You need to provide yours and passengers photo ID proof and photocopy (hence keep few copies along with you).

You need to get another permit to drive past India bridge if you want to visit Indo- Pak border. For this you have to get permit from Bhuj in advance. Permit is granted by Bhuj BSF office. There are few posts on TBHP which mentions about getting the same, all have got the same one day in advance. You need to produce yours and passengers ID cards, and also vehicle papers.
However I saw couple of reviews on Tripadvisor mentioning that these permits should be taken around a week in advance, not sure of the same though.

You can check the few details mentioned here.

[dmplog]

Note to Mod: Didn't receive any response on another thread. Hence posting it here in hope of a response here :-)

Planning to visit Sasan Gir towards this month end from Pune.
I saw detailed instructions from Pune till joining Ahmedabad Highway in preceding posts. However what is the route guidance thereafter?

Google Maps shows a route from Karjan > Padra > Borsad > Dhandhuka > Botad. Is the road condition better?

Or is it better to take a small detour via Vadodara ring road and take exit around Anand?

Plan is like this:
26 Feb: Leave from Pune early, reach mid-way (Vadodara) stay overnight
27 Feb: Start again early and reach Gir - relax or do Somnath
28 Feb: Visit Gir forests and other areas such as Junagadh + Somnath temple
1 Mar: Visit NalSarovar Bird Sanctury and reach Vadodara overnight
2 Mar: Leave Vadodara and reach Pune.

We thought about doing Rann utsav, but, with the time we have at hand, it seems to be a stretch..!

So, the questions!
Does this sound like a good plan?

Can we do more?

Anything we are missing?

[SS-Traveller]

Originally Posted by dmplog

I saw detailed instructions from Pune till joining Ahmedabad Highway in preceding posts. However what is the route guidance thereafter?

Fastest to approach via Ahmedabad >> Rajkot >> Junagadh >> Mendarda >> Sasan Gir (https://goo.gl/maps/CFAHM). Though around 100 km longer, it still saves on travel time, and the roads are much better than the route you plan to take.

27 Feb: Start again early and reach Gir - relax or do Somnath
28 Feb: Visit Gir forests and other areas such as Junagadh + Somnath temple

You can reach Rajkot from Pune easily in a day's driving (11-12 hours).
27 Feb: Leave Rajkot in the morning, cover Junagadh, then reach Sasan Gir by late afternoon.
28 Feb: The next day, do back-to-back safaris at Gir, then leave for Somnath.
Stay overnight at Somnath, and leave late morning on 1 March. You can easily reach Surat/Vapi. You could spend the night at Daman too.
2 March: Surat/Vapi/Daman >> Pune.

Originally Posted by dmplog

Anything we are missing?

You can refer to my Gir travelogue here for details of visiting Gir forest.

[dinesha]

Hello All!
I have booked the return flight tickets for Delhi Ahmadabad for the family trip.
I will be travelling with my wife and Daughter (11 yrs) and Son (9 yrs).

I am reaching Ahmadabad on 24th December Morning at 8:30AM and leaving for Delhi on #rd January 2016 evening at 7:30 PM. (10 nights/11 Days). Now I am not sure and unable to figure our the good itinerary for the trip. I think the holidays could have been shortened by few days, however the flight tickets being booked I have added the Mt. Abu leg of travel.

I have heard the White Desert is best visited on Full Moon night. Now checking on the calendar it seems December 25th is the full moon night.

Following are the two tentative itinerary that I have drawn. The first own is based on being at the Bhuj on the full moon night.

I also need help regarding the extra night (02 January) that I have kept for Ahmadabad. Should I stay one extra night at some other place at Bhuj/Dwarka/Diu.

Itinerary (Travel Distance - 1978Kms) - (OPTION-1)
24 Dec: Delhi-Ahmadabad- - Bhuj
25 Dec: Bhuj - Local (FULL MOON NIGHT)
26 Dec: Bhuj - Dwarka
27 Dec: Dwarka - Somnath
28 Dec: Somnath - Diu
29 Dec: Diu - Gir
30 Dec: Gir - Patan
31 Dec: Patan-Mount Abu
01 Jan: Mount Abu - Ahmadabad
02 Jan: Ahmedabad
03 Jan: Ahmedabad -Delhi @ 7:30 PM.


Itinerary (Travel Distance - 1787Kms) - (OPTION-2)
24 Dec: Delhi-Ahmadabad-Mt.Abu
25 Dec: Mt. Abu - Local
26 Dec: Mt. Abu - Patan - Bhuj
27 Dec: Bhuj - Local
28 Dec: Bhuj - Dwarka
29 Dec: Dwarka - Somnath
30 Dec: Somnath - Diu
31 Dec: Diu - Gir
01 Jan: Gir - Ahmadabad
02 Jan: Ahmadabad
03 Jan: Ahmadabad - Delhi @ 7:30 PM.

Please also suggest the changes in the Itinerary / Halt options / no. of nights at various stations.

Thanks.

[sathya.bhat]

We are planning a road trip in Gujrat in the coming month. We will be six friends, two being the main drivers and one backup driver. This is what we have finalized for now.

Day 1, Feb 10th, Friday:
Reach Ahmadabad airport at 5:00AM. Pickup Scorpio (ZoomCar) from Prahlad Nagar (20 KM away from airport). Then drive 360KM to reach Gir by 2.30PM. We have already taken online permit for 3:00 PM safari.
Route: https://goo.gl/2Jsq61

After finishing the safari, leave for Somnath (70 KM). Night stay at Somnath.
Route: https://goo.gl/t1QkUU
Total distance to be traveled: 360 + 70 = 410KM

Day 2, Feb 11th Saturday
Visit the Somnath temple and surroundings in the morning. Checkout and head for Dwarka via Porbander. (238 KM) See Kirti Mandir at Porbander. Check in at Dwarka and visit the temple. Take rest of the day off.
Route: https://goo.gl/dv2sB3
Total distance to be traveled: 238 KM

Day 3, Feb 12th Sunday
Leave from Dwarka early and head to Kutch. Night stay destination is Runn of Kutch.
Route: https://goo.gl/qhncGC
Total distance to be traveled: 465 KM

Day 4, Feb 13th Monday
Leave from Kutch leisurely and reach Ahmadabad and take rest for the day.
Route: https://goo.gl/X80De1

Day 5, Feb 14th Tuesday
Go to Gandhi nagar, Visit akshradham temple and surrondings. Come back to Ahmadabad, do shopping etc. Head to airport for flight at 9 PM.

Some questions:

1. Ahmadabad to Gir: To reach gir by 2:30PM, what time we should leave Ahmadabad?
2. For stay at Somnath, guest houses of the temple looks good in the pics on their website. Are they good enough for a night stay?
3. Any good stay recommendation for Dwarka? Haven’t found anything good yet.
4. Are there any ferries that carries vehicles also from Dwarka to Mandvi?
5. Any other interesting places that we can add to this itinerary?
6. Are any of the route we have mapped is not preferred road to take?

Any help to sort out the plan is gretly appreciated.

[murillo]

Hi all,

We are a group of 8 people from Chennai going to Gujarat for a temple tour. We will be leaving Chennai by flight on Jan 13 to Ahmedabad and return by flight on Jan 19 from Ahmedabad. Our trip is mainly for temple visits and doesn't include any other major detours. The places we are planning to visit are Ahmedabad, Jamnagar, Dwarka, Somnath, and Koliyaak. I would like to get further info regarding this trip from people familiar with these areas.

Our rough itinerary is as follows:

Jan 13 - Arrive at Ahmedabad airport by evening and check-in at hotel
Jan 14 - One day tour of Ahmedabad, leave to Jamnagar by train at night
Jan 15 - Arrive at Jamnagar and visit Bala hanuman temple, and leave for Dwarka, arrive at Dwarka and check-in into the hotel
Jan 15 pm/16 am - Spend time at Dwarka - Nageshwar jyotirlinga temple, gopi talav, byet dwarka, dandi hanuman mandir, rukmini temple, dwarakadesh temple, depart to Somnath
Jan 17 - Spend time at somnath visiting somnath temple, bhalka tirth, triveni ghat etc. Depart to Koliyaak. We hope to travel from Veraval to Koliyaak via Diu
Jan 18 - at koliyaak, visit nishkalank mahadev temple and depart to Ahmedabad from Bhavnagar
Jan 19 - spend time at Ahmedabad and depart to Chennai on flight at 11.30 pm

The above are must visit temples for us - we are excluding other important places such as Gondal, Ragkot, Porbunder, etc. As you can see, it is a rough sketch only - we have to modify the itinerary as per our experience there. Anyhow, we have to depart to Ahmedabad from wherever we are on Jan 18 night as our return flight is on Jan 19 11.30 pm. We have booked the flight tickets and the train tickets from Ahmedabad to Jamnagar. For the rest of the trip, we plan to avail local transportation such as taxi, train, bus as per convenience.

Other places on consideration depending on time:
Diu - Gangeshwar temple
Modhera - sun temple
Patan - Rani ki vav
Dakor - Ranchhodarai temple

From you, I want to know specifically about these topics:

1. How will the weather be in Gujarat in the 3rd week of January? Do we need heavy woolens or light woolens enough?
2. In Dwaraka, if we want to visit the mentioned places on Jan 15 pm and Jan 16 am, how should we split our visiting places ideally?
3. What is usually the per km price of 7/8 seater taxi in Gujarat? How are they available in Jamnagar, Dwarka, and Somnath? How are private/public bus facilities between these places? Are night services available?
4. Any other suggestions to fine tune the itinerary?

Thank you all.

[NPV]

Folks looking for some guidance to plan a Gujarat trip:
We drive from Ahmedabad to Bhuj with an overnight stay and next day drive to Dhordo and overnight there. We would like to visit the following places while at Dhordo:
1. Kalo Dungar (Black hill) - any permit required?
2. India Bridge, can we extend up to the Indo-Pak border? Permits for both places?
3. Dholavira (can we drive to the Indus Valley civilisation ruins?), any permits required?
4. Any other places of interest that can be covered?

Please help with inputs on:
-where and how to get the permits (process, how many days in advance can we get them)?
-itinerary and sequence of visits for these places

[hothatchaway]

Originally Posted by NPV

Folks looking for some guidance to plan a Gujarat trip:
We drive from Ahmedabad to Bhuj with an overnight stay and next day drive to Dhordo and overnight there. We would like to visit the following places while at Dhordo:
1. Kalo Dungar (Black hill) - any permit required? No permit required. We skipped this place as I read it's too touristy
2. India Bridge, can we extend up to the Indo-Pak border? Permits for both places? You will need permission from the BSF office at Bhuj. We turned up at the bridge without a permit and could not go any further
3. Dholavira (can we drive to the Indus Valley civilisation ruins?), any permits required?
This is a must visit no permit required
4. Any other places of interest that can be covered?

Answers below

Please help with inputs on:
-where and how to get the permits (process, how many days in advance can we get them)?
-itinerary and sequence of visits for these places

I suggest you drive from Ahmedabad to Dholavira via Rapar. But before that, I recommend you include a visit to the little rann of kutch, if you are interested in visiting a unique ecosystem. You could first drive to Zainabad/Patdi/Jogad where the LRoK homestays are located. Stay overnight and do a safari. The little rann is nothing like anything else in India, save perhaps the sunderbans mangrove. You don't see the white rann here so footfall is low, but unlike the great rann, the LRoK has a wealth of fauna, including the protected Asiatic wild donkey. The resorts organize jeep safaris or hire a jeep at the Bajana gate of the LRoK wild ass sanctuary.

Next, drive to Dholavira via Rapar. The drive to Khadir bet, the island on which Dholavira is located is perhaps one of most scenic drives. Stay overnight at Dholavira village, visit the harappan site and the sunset point on the kutch lake, where we were lucky to spot flamingos. The museum at the Harappan site is small but being history buffs, we spent a lot of time here. Also visit the wood fossil museum, which is close to the sunset point, both the places are located 10 kms north of the harappan ruins. You could resume your drive to Bhuj from Dholavira after covering these points.

We skipped Dhordo/tent city and did a trip to Lakhpat and kotesvar instead, stopping at the Nirona art village on the way.


Nilgai at little Rann


The great reservoir at Harappan site, Dholavira


Ship building at mandvi


Westernmost point at Kotesvar


At the sunset pt, 10 kms from dholavira


Drive into the little rann


Vijay Vilas palace at Mandvi


The Lakhpat fort. There is also a gurudwara here dating back a few centuries

Don't miss the Rani ki vav at patan. You could cover that and the sun temple at modhera from ahmedabad before turning west towards the little rann

[NPV]

Originally Posted by hothatchaway

Don't miss the Rani ki vav at patan. You could cover that and the sun temple at modhera from ahmedabad before turning west towards the little rann

Thanks for your detailed response.

With so much to see and this being our first visit to Gujarat, we have to pick and choose a few and skip a few places this time.

Right now our plan is to drive from Ahmedabad to Bhuj, stay overnight and next day drive to Dholavira and then check in at our place of stay in Dhordo. Will probably skip Kalo Dungar and the Indo-Pak border this time. Gmaps suggests Bhuj-Khavda-Dholavira, hope this is fine?

[hothatchaway]

Originally Posted by NPV

Thanks for your detailed response.

With so much to see and this being our first visit to Gujarat, we have to pick and choose a few and skip a few places this time.

Right now our plan is to drive from Ahmedabad to Bhuj, stay overnight and next day drive to Dholavira and then check in at our place of stay in Dhordo. Will probably skip Kalo Dungar and the Indo-Pak border this time. Gmaps suggests Bhuj-Khavda-Dholavira, hope this is fine?

Drive to Dholavira from Ahmedabad via Rapar, that way you get to experience the stretch between Rapar and Dholavira. Spend the next day exploring the harappan site and the fossil park, then drive to Dhordo. No point in staying the night at Bhuj unless you have something planned for the evening