[jaysmokesleaves]

DWARKASHISH > JAI SHRI KRISHNA.. the code word in Gujarat. Shatters the ice and can get you almost any kind of assistance, sometimes from the Lord himself!!

The temple of Dwarka too has changed completely from what i saw and remember of the old days. But it still has some old charm left and is a good experience. I had eaten mudd laddoos from here many years ago(as Prasad).... coz Krishna used to eat them. Anyways Krishna grew up and realized that mud is not good as part of the diet and stopped, so we refrained from mud laddos too.







They change the main flag at the temple in the evenings(maybe in the morning too). We caught the flag changing process in action. See the man on top of the small platform who just changed the flag. If he falls from there, he will surely land straight at the feet of Lord Krishna.
















The parting shot.




DAY 4 takes us to MANDVI .. TO BE CONTINUED

[jaysmokesleaves]

Originally Posted by harjeev

@jay
wonderful travelogue!!! I really liked your "Spiti loop" travelogue too and am glued to this one!
eagerly waiting for the updates!!!

Thanks Harjeev.

Originally Posted by pradipk

It provides little ease to the opposite drivers and is "must" part of registration process. I don't remember exact chronology but in gujarat law was to put Black strip on the top horizontally, 1 inch black spot in the center of head light, yellow strip on the outside vertically (I too removed from my car when I took it to Bangalore ).

Hey very nice thread. It reminded me my good old memories. My hometown & other places. Keep up logging more details with Pics. BTW I too have one photo of "Chakda" from my recent trip which I can put after searching in my laptop.

Thanks,
Pradip.

Thanks Pradip. I did see many vehicles in GJ without the yellow strip. Feel free to upload your çhakda' pic on this thread, when you find it.

Originally Posted by sen2009

Hey Jay, is the Safari giving troubles again?
You left the Outskirts of Somnath but couldn't yet reach Dwarka?!
It's been three days man... drive a lil faster!

Sen'da!! Thanks for your motivation, ive been bogged with work and simultaneously grappling with 15mb size pics..., different file formats, converting and then selecting them. All part of the process of learning the nuances of photography. Your motivation is very encouraging... Dont think I would continue posting without it esp after the trouble ive had posting when I started. It totally broke my rhythm.

Thanks a ton!


@ADC >> Those retractable blinds cost me around 200 a piece. I prefer these to putting film on the rear glass.

[happy.tripathy]

Great travelogue Jay !!! I am eagerly waiting for the part when you reach the "Rann of Kutch". The Rann is on my 'to go' list since many years, I am hoping to do it in this or the next year.

[sen2009]

Originally Posted by jaysmokesleaves

Sen'da!! Thanks for your motivation, ive been bogged with work and simultaneously grappling with 15mb size pics..., different file formats, converting and then selecting them. All part of the process of learning the nuances of photography. Your motivation is very encouraging... Dont think I would continue posting without it esp after the trouble ive had posting when I started. It totally broke my rhythm.

Thanks a ton!

Hey Jay,
As much as I appreciate your words, I have to say that the motivator is rather you and not me. Had it not been your's and ADC's spiti loop, I wouldn't even know about those places.

And, now the Gujrat Coast!
Being the narrow minded snob bong I am, I wrote off Gujrat coast just by visiting Daman. It's through your story that I am discovering that there indeed is clear blue sea, which I till now believed to exit only on the east coast.

And, what I especially like is your style of approaching things differently, in a way that heart desires. Take the Chakada for example. I appreciate the touch of detail and the inclination of looking at what's beautiful rather than what is known as beautiful.

Keep going.. I am waiting for you at Mandvi.



PS :- I have not exactly forgiven you for not writting about your fantastic journey to see the breeding of Olive Ridley turtles and as a an act of retribution, I may not return your tow rope.

[smsrini]

Originally Posted by rjstyles69

Whats the myth behind the YELLOW TAPE/STRIP thingy in Gujarat ?

Long long ago, the indian motorists had options.. a Fiat or an Ambassador. Some privileged few had more options - a standard herald, dodge kingsways, the impalas.. etc.,

These cars did not have the high-tech headlights we see these days..xenons, projectors etc., with precision focus. In those days roads were single carriageway-two lanes, so to avoid the headlight glare hitting the driver coming in the opposite side, the IMV act or rather the RTOs of each state came up with different solutions.

In gujarat, they asked the owners to paint the right half of right headlight yellow. Over time seeing the bikini sizes reduce, drivers started to reduce the size of this yellow patch, and today it is a mere 1 inch strip of yellow!

Other states had the top half painted black.... and so on...

Sorry for going OT.. could'nt resist.

[amit_3306]

Just awesome snaps.... never seen before such blue colour water... n really Gujarat has lovely coastline...m looking forward to head there soon...
What would be a good time to visit this area ??? considering the hot summer and rains..

[sudev]

More OT but the RTO's are morons who do nat understand how light beams (bulbs, reflectors and lenses) and especially dip beam works. With most of the cars/trucks using half cup design in the bulbs the dip beam is reflected only from the top half of the reflector+lens. When 50% of this is covered with black (or yellow) strip the dip beam becomes very poor. End results most of the drivers only use head beam - absolutely contrary to aim being sought to be achieved. Unfortunately no one is addressing this problem and personally I've had tiff's with many cops who wanted to paint or sticker the headlights. May be collective push from TBhp can result in better understanding and hopefully stopping such moronic implementation and acts.

See some schematic explanation here Headlamp - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia or look up How Things Work.

Sorry for OT looking forward to the rest of the journey. Driving on to lonely far away sandy beaches is full of potential problems and it is best to have two vehicles so that help, if needed, could be arranged.

[rjstyles69]

Originally Posted by smsrini

In gujarat, they asked the owners to paint the right half of right headlight yellow. Over time seeing the bikini sizes reduce, drivers started to reduce the size of this yellow patch, and today it is a mere 1 inch strip of yellow!

Well that's what caught my attention. Yellow strip and a headlamp painted half yellow makes sense. I pretty much know the older rule of the headlamps being painted half black here in town. Still the funda of the right half of the headlamp beats me.

[maddy42]

Well gujarat seems to have a beautiful coastline and to say the least the water is clean

Anyone knows why the water in Daman is dirty brown!! Was disgusted and to say the least lots of people were playing in it!

[akbaree]

Beautiful is all I can say. Thanks very much for sharing.

[Digitonsam]

Awesome pics mam. I did this coastal route last diwali and had a blast. Did you happen to take dwarka jamnagar route, I hpoe you didn't miss the gigantic RIL refinery its visible from 25 kms away. BTW I also hope you didn't miss the shanker mandir 15kms from bet dwarka. Its 30 mts tall huge statue of god shanker built by late gulshan kumar fo TSeries.

[mayurpalav]

Jay & Jatin,

Good to see the travelogue and the pictures.
Simply amazing.
Next time, when Jatin is down we'll have him cook Maggi for us.

Cheers
MP

[Urban_Nomad]

Awesome pics coupled with fantastic narration. Thanks for sharing Jay.

About the cannon with the 7 km range ....... I would not bet my money on what the guide says. I remember a guide giving us details of the famous "Jaiwaan cannon" in Jaipur. He said that the cannon was fired only once for testing (that I can believe). But then he also took us to the side of the fort to show us "which area was the cannon fired at". Me and my family went "WOOOOOOOOOOO, kitta cool". Later we had dinner with some of dad's friends who were Jaipur locals. They said the damn thing (cannonball?) landed god knows where. That guide did not know his elbow from his behind.

[keyurshah]

Just before dozing out for the day, I thought of checking the site for some interesting travelog. But you disappointed me Jay.

Its 1.30 in night and I have been patiently reading the log and enjoying what you have pasted. The excitement is all building and what I find at the end - you have still not reached the "Rann"

Its gonna be a very long night for me for sure. I did click refresh twice after reaching the end, in hope of remote chance that you have uploaded a new post and pictures. :(

Well, don't tadpavofy us more and drive lil fast.

Excellent one Sir. Now, I have something to plan out for a break in early June. Lets see how it goes.

Over to you sir, please go ahead and enthrall all of us. We await.

[jaysmokesleaves]

Originally Posted by happy.tripathy

Great travelogue Jay !!! I am eagerly waiting for the part when you reach the "Rann of Kutch". The Rann is on my 'to go' list since many years, I am hoping to do it in this or the next year.

Thanks. hope you make the trip. Its a memorable experience.

Originally Posted by sen2009

Hey Jay,
As much as I appreciate your words, I have to say that the motivator is rather you and not me. Had it not been your's and ADC's spiti loop, I wouldn't even know about those places.

And, now the Gujrat Coast!
Being the narrow minded snob bong I am, I wrote off Gujrat coast just by visiting Daman. It's through your story that I am discovering that there indeed is clear blue sea, which I till now believed to exit only on the east coast.

Dont write off anything in India. There is magic everywhere, if you can see it... and hidden treasures in the most obscure of places.. even in Bombay itself. Ofcourse, the flavours are different.

And, what I especially like is your style of approaching things differently, in a way that heart desires. Take the Chakada for example. I appreciate the touch of detail and the inclination of looking at what's beautiful rather than what is known as beautiful.

Thanks for the appreciation.

Keep going.. I am waiting for you at Mandvi.


I hope your not staying at that shady hotel that we put up in. You might just get kidnapped and sold as a slave to some sheik as a freebie for the dhow he just bought.

PS :- I have not exactly forgiven you for not writting about your fantastic journey to see the breeding of Olive Ridley turtles and as a an act of retribution, I may not return your tow rope.

You can keep the tow rope, I hope you never have to use it though.

Originally Posted by sudev

Sorry for OT looking forward to the rest of the journey. Driving on to lonely far away sandy beaches is full of potential problems and it is best to have two vehicles so that help, if needed, could be arranged.

Sudev, you are certainly right. But for me, a journey includes all the potential pitfalls included in the process of stretching my luck. As such, the experience and the pleasure of such wanton stupidity is absolutely immense. But most of the time, I know from experience, that things Ive done in the spur of the moment have always turned out with a positive outcome, and as such I have self defined personal limits which allow me to push a little beyond 'perceived possibility'.

Originally Posted by akbaree

Beautiful is all I can say. Thanks very much for sharing.

Thanks.

Originally Posted by maddy42

Well gujarat seems to have a beautiful coastline and to say the least the water is clean

Anyone knows why the water in Daman is dirty brown!! Was disgusted and to say the least lots of people were playing in it!

Maddy, the Daman part of the coastline is a disgrace in comparison to the rest of the GJ coastline. Even the sand in Daman is almost black, and we rather not waste out time wondering why, when there is so much beauty elsewhere to discover.

Originally Posted by Digitonsam

Awesome pics mam. I did this coastal route last diwali and had a blast. Did you happen to take dwarka jamnagar route, I hpoe you didn't miss the gigantic RIL refinery its visible from 25 kms away. BTW I also hope you didn't miss the shanker mandir 15kms from bet dwarka. Its 30 mts tall huge statue of god shanker built by late gulshan kumar fo TSeries.

Yes, we did the Dwarka Jamnagar route(coming up). I have had the fortune of being inside the Jamnagar refinery a long time ago. We did give th Shankar mandir a miss.

Originally Posted by mayurpalav

Jay & Jatin,

Good to see the travelogue and the pictures.
Simply amazing.
Next time, when Jatin is down we'll have him cook Maggi for us.

Cheers
MP

MP. Jatin only cooks maggi if you can take him on a 3k+kms drive in a Safari. Until that time you would be better off buying him a McD burger yourself.

Originally Posted by Urban_Nomad

Awesome pics coupled with fantastic narration. Thanks for sharing Jay.

About the cannon with the 7 km range ....... I would not bet my money on what the guide says. I remember a guide giving us details of the famous "Jaiwaan cannon" in Jaipur. He said that the cannon was fired only once for testing (that I can believe). But then he also took us to the side of the fort to show us "which area was the cannon fired at". Me and my family went "WOOOOOOOOOOO, kitta cool". Later we had dinner with some of dad's friends who were Jaipur locals. They said the damn thing (cannonball?) landed god knows where. That guide did not know his elbow from his behind.

All guides interpret history differently and add their own opinions to it. The love to exaggerate and must be taken at face value unless your guide is PART of that history... even then your guide will exxagerate.

Originally Posted by keyurshah

Just before dozing out for the day, I thought of checking the site for some interesting travelog. But you disappointed me Jay.

Its 1.30 in night and I have been patiently reading the log and enjoying what you have pasted. The excitement is all building and what I find at the end - you have still not reached the "Rann"

Its gonna be a very long night for me for sure. I did click refresh twice after reaching the end, in hope of remote chance that you have uploaded a new post and pictures. :(

Well, don't tadpavofy us more and drive lil fast.

Excellent one Sir. Now, I have something to plan out for a break in early June. Lets see how it goes.

Over to you sir, please go ahead and enthrall all of us. We await.

Thanks for your patience Keyur and glad u liked what you saw & read. Will post sometime today.

Cheers,

Jay