[MX6]

Town of Dwarka was small in 2000. Mithapur was a bigger settlement with tata chemicals being a premier industry there.

And TBull, There's more research on our Ramayana and Mahabharata by west than our own. The only difference being that they approach in scientific methodology. Faith requires proof for them. We go so much in to faith that sometimes we lose out on the true concepts behind them.

[ExtremeTorque]

Originally Posted by TaureanBull

The town appears pretty small. But I like the temple dominating the skyline. BTW,yet to see the bike pics.

Are the artifacts recovered from Ocean displayed somewhere? I really get enthralled by the history and especially prospects of finding some conclusive proofs to prove the existence of Mahabharata and Ramayana. The western world has always disregarded the small proves we have and considered the epics as mere mythological.

There was a plan to build an underwater museum, I dont know what happened to that.

Will you be throwing some light on all these?

Originally Posted by MX6

Town of Dwarka was small in 2000. Mithapur was a bigger settlement with tata chemicals being a premier industry there.

And TBull, There's more research on our Ramayana and Mahabharata by west than our own. The only difference being that they approach in scientific methodology. Faith requires proof for them. We go so much in to faith that sometimes we lose out on the true concepts behind them.

+1 to that MX6. I didnt really see any museum where the excavated items were being displayed. I did hear that the ASI had set up an underwater excavation project that ran for a few months but the findings were deemed inconclusive.

However, its faith that drives us. Jai Dwarkadeesh!

[MX6]

Did you go to the Gopi Talav? It looks like a scene out of paintings. That's where Krishna is deemed to have performed ras leela. There's an ancient temple of Radha there which is archealogically dated to be 6000 years old.

[ExtremeTorque]

By the time we had a darshan of the lord and came out of the ‘swarg dwaar’, it was close to lunch time and too early to visit Bet Dwarka, about 30 KM away. We explored the Ghaat area where the river Gomati joins the Arabian Sea.

The Gomati Ghat


Lots of fish. You can feed them some wheat dough balls that is sold on the banks for a rupee or 2


And some pegions


I love this light house


Vibrant Gujarat


Yessss! I now know how the Arabian Sea feels


Can you see the crab?


More fish


For lunch I wanted to have the authentic Gujarati Thali. Like any other piligrim center there are various options for food. We specifically looked for one which served Gujarati Thali and closed in on one which displayed its credentials of serving only Gujju Thali prominently. I forgot the name but I think it was Hotel Radhe Krisha. Wait, every other hotel has the same name. Well, I forgot. Its on the way to Okha and before joining back on the NH8E.

My fav part of the day - part 2




Next stop was at the Rukmini devi temple, about 2KM from Dwarka. According to legend Sri Krishna and Rukmini devi went to invite sage Durvasa for dinner at Dwarka. Durvasa agreed on the condition that Sri Krishna and Rukmini devi pull his chariot instead of animals. Sri Krishna agrees and on the way to Dwarka, Rukmini devi feels thirsty and asks Sri Krishna to do something. Sri Krishna draws water from earth with his toe and Rukmini devi drinks from it without offering to Durvasa. That is when sage Durvasa curses that Rukmini devi will stay away from her husband and that there will be no drinking water available all around Dwarka. To this day, all the water around Dwarka is salty (khara paani as the locals call it) and most of the city buys water from the surroundings.

Rukmini devi temple


Post a quick darshan we head towards Okha to take the ferry to Bet Dwarka. The drive to Okha is again extremely scenic with good roads and some bird sightings.

On the way to Okha, TATA Chem - Mithapur


Egrets




Flamingo's


Unfortunately, the Bet Dwarka temple opens only at 5.30 PM after lunch.

The trawler that ferries tourists to Bet Dwarka


Some fishing trawlers


Naval fleet in the background


Art work on display at Okha


We give it a miss and head back home. Having some time on hand we decide to photograph a flock of Flamingo’s and Pelicans that we saw on the way.

Flamingo's - a bit closer. Pardon for quality of photos as i switched to VGA mode to accomodate the 256 MB card







Pelicans

[ExtremeTorque]

Originally Posted by MX6

Did you go to the Gopi Talav? It looks like a scene out of paintings. That's where Krishna is deemed to have performed ras leela. There's an ancient temple of Radha there which is archealogically dated to be 6000 years old.

Yes MX6, had been there but on another trip. I covered both Gopi Talav and Nageshwar. Sorry, dont have snaps as i lost the mobile which i used as stand in camera.

[MX6]

I have very old photos of those. Pics taken using a roll camera 11 years back. Most are rotting in Udupi. I wanted to go there in Aug to salvage and digitise them. Alas, my plans are postponed.

[ExtremeTorque]

On our way back from Dwarka, I had vowed to explore one of the salt lakes along NH8E. I tasted the white substance, and it was salt indeed (un iodized) Here are a few snaps

Salt-Salt everywhere







Flamingo foot-prints



Saw some more of the Demoiselle cranes on our way back



The ESSAR oil refinery at night



The Reliance oil refinery



Near the ESSAR oil refinery, something caught my eye. We decided to explore it the next day. That was one of the best decisions of my life. Coming up in a new TL...

[nomadabhi]

Amazing Extreme, I have plans to check out those places... but on my beloved NOMAD. so dont know when but definatly once.

[jacs]

Hey buddy, Again? Sorry I missed this thread somehow. Nice tour as usual but this time on Bike, keep the photos coming if anymore.

[ExtremeTorque]

Originally Posted by nomadabhi

Amazing Extreme, I have plans to check out those places... but on my beloved NOMAD. so dont know when but definatly once.

Originally Posted by jacs

Hey buddy, Again? Sorry I missed this thread somehow. Nice tour as usual but this time on Bike, keep the photos coming if anymore.

nomadabhi, jacs - glad you liked em. I have plans to visit GJ again early March 2011. This time i have a relatively better camera and will definitly add to this thread.

[MX6]

Aha. So there's one more bloke planning to visit in March 2011.

Good. E-T you have company.

A 100% sure Paragsachania and a 100% surprise element MX6!

[ExtremeTorque]

Arey wah MS! Lets catch up there atleast if not Pune. Unfortunately my Pune plans did not materialize as i was caught up with other commitments. My base would be Sikka, near Jamnagar. Where do you plan to put up?