[lionell]

Originally Posted by Gannu_1

The SUV was parked outside the same hotel we were staying at but we couldn't get a chance to interact with them. This was an LHD X-trail but it bore Chinese (or Mandarin?) number plates in a blue background. A go-pro cam was also attached to the front windshield.

Guess what. I was in Jodhpur during Diwali and saw this very same Nissan near the railway station road.

[W.A.G.7]

Hey, that's a beautiful travelogue. There are some very beautiful places in Gujarat. Thanks for sharing. The pictures are beautiful too. Which camera do you use? Btw, I always wanted to see the step well ever since it featured in the Gujarat tourism ad (Amitabh Bachhan ad). 5 * rating for your thread.

[drmohitg]

Great travelogue. We usually do not even realize how many places are there to visit in most of our cities. Really great clicks.
And the highways around this state are just mind blowing and you feel like really keep on driving. I have travelled in both directions from Ahmedabad i.e. towards Rajkot/Jamnagar and towards Surat/Mumbai and the roads are excellent throughout.

[Gannu_1]

Thanks guys. Appreciate it.

Originally Posted by lionell

Guess what. I was in Jodhpur during Diwali and saw this very same Nissan near the railway station road.

Woah nice! Which means they drove to Jodhpur on Sunday because we did not see the car that day evening when we reached back at the hotel.

Good luck to those folks. Hope they have a safe journey.

Originally Posted by W.A.G.7

Which camera do you use? Btw, I always wanted to see the step well ever since it featured in the Gujarat tourism ad (Amitabh Bachhan ad). 5 * rating for your thread.

I use a Canon 600D with its stock 18-55 IS II lens and a 50mm prime lens. I badly missed a zoom lens during the visit to the zoo. My friend captured those blackbuck images after crossing the railing and holding the cam lens against the fence.

And yeah, Big B is the brand ambassador for Gujarat Tourism so he was at this stepwell for promoting it sometime ago. Here's a snap from Google Images:



Please visit this place when you visit Ahmedabad.

Originally Posted by drmohitg

We usually do not even realize how many places are there to visit in most of our cities.

And the highways around this state are just mind blowing and you feel like really keep on driving. I have travelled in both directions from Ahmedabad i.e. towards Rajkot/Jamnagar and towards Surat/Mumbai and the roads are excellent throughout.

Agree wholeheartedly on both counts. Looking forward to these roads once more when we do the Leh trip next year.

[rutvij]

You seem to have done good homework before embarking on your journey. Glad that you enjoyed you trip. Keep coming back and send PM if you need suggestions for place of stay or food.

[Gannu_1]

Originally Posted by rutvij

Keep coming back and send PM if you need suggestions for place of stay or food.

I badly miss the Baroda-Ahmedabad expressway after driving around in the city now! A colleague was planning a trip to Jaipur sometime early next year. Appreciate the gesture.

PS: Are you the same aviation enthusiast who goes by the ID rutvij?

[yosbert]

Originally Posted by rutvij

Keep coming back and send PM if you need suggestions for place of stay or food.

Can I also take up that offer . I need some tips on a quick Ahmedabad day tour I am planning.

[rutvij]

Originally Posted by yosbert

Can I also take up that offer . I need some tips on a quick Ahmedabad day tour I am planning.

Sure yosbert. you may pm me for that.

[The Great]

Originally Posted by Gannu_1

Hey guys, I thought of penning a travelogue (more like a pictologue) on our recent trip to Ahmedabad during Diwali

Have car? Will drive! [/center]

Your post inspired me to take a halt at Ahmedabad during my recent road trip to Kutch.

Initially the trip was planned direct from Mumbai to Mandvi (kutch).
Me, wife my 2 kids and my Honda City ivtech. This road trip was intended for a religious ritual. But then after going through your post I decided to make it a fun road trip.

Instead of directly doing Mumbai Kutch, we reached Ahmedabad and proceeded to Gandhinagar for our night stay taking a break.

The next day morning, almost 40/50 peacocks gave us a surprise by visiting the garden beside our stay. Gandhinagar is really such a great place and the roads are extraordinary - world class. The bad part, no one follows red signals, there is no concept of looking in rear mirrors for lane changing, people are naive that driving their scooters directly from 3rd lane to 1st lane may cause harm to the traffic behind. But in general they are very friendly.

Indroda Dinosaur Fossil Park and Zoo made the children jump with joy as I had not told them where we are going, this took almost 3 hours for us to fully enjoy and we skipped the Botanical gardens here, this was followed by lunch at Saffron Infocity, and then we proceeded to Kankaria Lake.

Now this place is not to be missed if anyone is near Ahmedabad. The whole lake is surrounded with Full fledged Amusement Park, Butterfly Park, Zoo (not the Indroda zoo, this one is different), Kids Zone, Laser Shows, Speed Boat rides, Robot Shows, Food courts, Train rides, gardens etc etc. It is unbelievable that the whole area is so clean and well maintained and the people also don't litter carelessly here. In my opinion one full day is required to explore only Kankaria Lake.

The notable part is that the roads are carpet. This is one of the best highways of India. The Mumbai Vadodra patch is also slowly and steadily becoming a perfect driving highway, Vadodra Ahmedabad highway is a drivers paradise. Cruise control took over here for a longer time. I wish the toll collection systems in our country get upgraded to the likes of Dubai saving time and fuel.

All in all the kids got so much charged up that the next day when we proceeded for Kutch, they were very jolly throughout trip.