Visited in September 2021
We planned Gujarat trip this time as it was a safe option, going through recent covid cases and travel norms of this state.
For travelling to Gujarat from Delhi only thermal screening was required at the airport. Also while checking through travel agents and airlines they said nothing is required but you can carry certificate if you’re both vaccination have been completed. So we just booked the tickets, packed our bags and went to explore a new place.
Day 1: It was a 2 hour early morning flight and we reached Ahmedabad at 9am. I booked the hotel from airplane itself which I selected while searching for the same online before starting the trip. It was a perfect select as I wanted a decent hotel near airport. They also sent cab for picking us up from the airport. Hotel rooms were cozy and had all required amenities specially lift which I needed the most. Hotel also had buffet breakfast included in room tariff. After enjoying varied buffet spread of poori bhaji, Idli sambhar, fruits, bread butter, juice and etc we did some rest before starting exploration of the city.
Since we had only half day with us in the city so we selected some activities quickly which we will be doing. It started with visit to Akshardham temple, then shopping in Dhalgarwad and ending of day with finger licking Gujarati thali in Sasuji. I would really recommend this place for amazing food.
Day 2: This was the day for further travel to Porbandar from Ahmedabad airport. Since the distance from Ahmedabad to Dwarka is around 440 km so with elderly parents we decided to take flight instead of road travel. It is an hour or so trip from Ahmedabad.
Porbandar Airport is a very small airport with mostly interstate flights. Here we booked auto from outside as suggested by hotel we chose to stay in.
We ordered breakfast in the room, booked cab and started getting ready as we didn’t had much time.
Around 10 am we started our trip for the day and our first stop for the day was Shri Dwarakadheesh Temple, which is around 100 km from Porbandar.
Shri Dwarakadheesh Temple is one ofchar dhamsite. The temple had old architecture made up of huge stones with idol of main deity in the middle and surrounded by other god & goddess. There were lot of devotees at the temple premises, and we just reached on time as the temple was about to get close. Wheelchair facility is available at this temple.
After having a quick darshan at the temple we went to have lunch before further travel toNageshwar Jyotirlinga, which was around 17 km ahead.
Nageshwar Jyotirlinga is one among 12 jyotirlinga temple in all over India. The temple has an huge idol of sitting shiva. Although there was rush but we had a very nice darshan of Shivalinga here. We also managed wheelchair for my mother after lot of searches.
Our next destination was around 30 km from here.
Bet Dwarka is again an ancient temple having a deep and interesting mythological history. It was abode of Krishna during his ruling years. We firstly took a e-rikshaw from parking place and reached near sea, from where we boarded boat for visiting the temple. This wasn’t the right time for visiting the temple as temple was closed at that time and a huge line of visitor was created. But once we entered temple premises it felt peaceful.
We got late while returning from temple and due to this we had less time for our next stoppage which was a beach (Shivrajpur Beach). We witnessed almost the sunset and sat there for some time near a lighthouse as the same was soothing.
We called it a day and went back to our hotel in Porbandar, also had dinner in between.
Day 3: This was again a long day as we were also travelling back to Delhi this day and it was also my B-Day 😀
While going through coastal highway towards Somnath temple we stopped at Madhavpur beach for a quick photo-sesh as it started raining in sometime. After a good ride of 82 km we reached another Jyotirlinga which is again a site to behold.
Somnath Jyotirlinga: The temple is centrally located in large area beside a beach. Wheelchair service is available at this temple also as for old people it is a large area to walk before reaching temple.
Temple also have one lift so no need to worry about the wheelchair. After darshan I went to the beach which is again a walk as we must firstly come out of the temple premise and then again walk the same distance of temple but besides temple. There was also charge of 5-10 rupees for entering the area. It was beautiful to see temple and sea side by side just separated by a boundary wall.
We had a group pic with temple in the background as a memory for life.
Our final destination for the day was Diu Island (around 100 km).
Diu Island, a union territory. It is a small place with nice beaches and fancy café around the city and nearby sea. Decent number of people (locals & tourist) were there. After spending some time at the beach we sat at a café and ordered some snacks. We also searched for some bakery shop for a cake but found only some chocolate pastries.
Since airport was just 6-7 km from this place so we chilled here and left around 3pm for our return flight to Delhi via Mumbai.
Diu Airport is also a small airport but well maintained.
Finally, it was a time to say a final goodbye to this beautiful place and our wonderful trip.