Preplan & hotel booking info.
We got the confirmation from school regarding puja holidays on 26th so we had picked either MP or Gujarat. A little bit of googling and the destination was finalised to be GUJARAT. With a week in hand we thought Saurastra region will be the right choice. Next step was the hotel booking, Called up clubmahindra and luckily we got the booking for 4th & 5th. Once Gir was confirmed the itineary was getting clearer. Initially we were planning Ahmd - Jungadh - gir - somnath - dwarka - jamnagar - udaipur - delhi. Gir hotel confirmation made us alter the route as to the current one. Also club mahindra confirmed our booking for one night at udaipur for the 7th on the return. We had not seen the city palace.
For Ahmedabad as suggested by our fellow bhpian, i booked ginger for 2 nights got a good weekend discount. Deal @ 3300 per night for 4 pax. Double room with extra bed.
Dwarka for 3rd oct, As suggested, tried Dhamji, was full. Finally got Sree Darshan through stayzilla.com. Good rates @ 1300/- includes extra bed and late checkout. Just 500mtr from temple and 4 to 5 cars can be parked easily. Last one ie 6 which we kept as buffer , thought of booking it on the fly.
Meanwhile SS-Traveller suggested to checkout for Pirotan island or Narara marine wild life sanctuary. On enquiring we found that both will be closed till 15th of October. Finally with the help of SST got the permit for Narara on the 3rd,incase we fail to make it on 3rd we always had 6th. The catch at Narara is can be visited only at low tide, While Pirotan you need to travel by boat for 3 hrs, can be done on high tide. It requires a total 10 - 12 hrs.
Low tide at narara happens once a day either afternoon 2-3pm or morning 8-10am. You get 4-5hrs to roam around. On 3rd low tide begins at 9.am onward till 1.3o pm. Target was to reach by atleast 10 am.
Finally all booking done we are eagrly looking forward for the 1st day of October for our trip!
Day 1 - 1st october - Delhi - Ahmadabad
As usual started early 4.30 am. First stop at McD for coffee & packed some burgers.
Traffic was mild and diversion were less on Delhi - Jaipur compared to Jaipur - Delhi side.
Shahjahanpur - 06.15 am
Manorphra toll - 07:35 am
Daulatpura Toll (bypass) 08.10
GVK toll @ 08:45 am - 20 min break after the toll.
Nasirabad - 10:15
Bhilwara : 11:35
40 min Lunch break Sree ram restaurant @ 12:30 pm. Good food and their Churma ladoo was delicious.
Udaipur - 2.30 pm. NH-76 to NH-8 connectivity road is in very bad shape.
Ratanpur : 4.15 pm
Himmatnagar 05:20 pm
Ahmadabad - ringroad : 05:55 pm
Hotel Ginger : 06.30 pm.
Total distance : 955 kms @ 14 hrs.
Road condition :
Delhi - Jaipur - OK. 3 diversion after shahpura
Jaipur bypass - Overall OK. Widening in progress. 2 diversions.
Jaipur - Udaipur - Good.
Udaipur - Ahmadabad - first 100 Kms good, next 150 kms rough road.
About Hotel : Fantastic location. Behind himalaya mall. lots of eating options around. Covered parking facility. Rooms are OK as this is a business traveller hotel. Small for family but manageable. Check-in process was smooth. Rested for a hour and half were recharged.
Activity Planned : Visit law garden market & see Garba nite. Called up ramkya1, coincidently he was returning home from office. Had a quick meet with him near himalaya mall and he only suggested to visit GMDC ground for Garbha. Had an early dinner at McD in the mall and visited the street market at lawgarden and were at GMDC by 11 pm. We are astonished by the crowd there. The energy level and music was awesome. Was there till 1 am and tired returned back to our room.
Hotel Ginger & Himalaya Mall
Law garden street market
GMDC Garbha location