Blogs from Junagadh, Gujarat, India, Asia
December 16th 2010
25 degrees in the winter, now THIS is what i'm talking about! Can't quite believe that we've made it here, first day or two felt like I was tripping...me and akashi and shivum, finally in india, i feel like we're strong enough to take on the world! The reaction of most of the indians i spoke to in the UK about our forthcoming trip was 'You, alone, with the kids in India...are you crazy?!' Well, that first day arriving into the noisy and polluted sensory overload that is Delhi, I thought that maybe i am crazy....After an amusing journey to our hotel from the airport (akashi- 'mum, there are cows on the road, mum that car doesnt have a door!!!!' shivum - 'but where are the spitting cobras and pigs and kingfishers and monkeys and crocodiles?!'), ... read more
December 20th 2009
We headed towards Somnath Jyotirlinga temple. Somnath temple one of most important Lord Shiva temple. The history of this temple is a true proof of the Glory of India in past. Before rise of west india was richest country in the world. Christopher Columbus landed in 1492 in West Indies when he tried to reach india from west. There where specialist persons who made maps in britain who were finding sea route to reach golden land of india. Richness of Indian land have attracted Mugals,portugese and britshers. How did india became worlds richest country then? This also raises questions as to how was journey of indian civilization from apes to worlds richest country.If the temples of india were so rich, how rich would be the citizens of india in those period. Somnath is the place which ... read more
December 17th 2009
Hello friends.. Finishing our office work on tuesday evening bit early, we 4 friends gathered at borivali station in mumbai to catch 9005 saurashtra mail at around 9:15 pm. Train tickets were not confirmed yet, so i was continously checking PNR status on my HTC GPRS. The train arrived on platform, we got in and possessed our sits and said to ourself-finally we are on our way to Junagadh.. As usual as it happens in train journey, tea sellers got us up in morning. We were passing through viramgam, lakhtar area. I was surprised to see huge fields of Cotton on both sides of railway track and that to for 3-4 hours..Most of the stations on this route looked newly built though small is size. Although as per my knowledge this train route is atleast ... read more
October 8th 2009
We’re SO glad we stopped in Junagadh. First off it was 10 000 steps instead of the initially thought 7000 but what’s 3000 between fiancés?????? So we arrived in Junagadh, checked into a decent little hotel. Got some nice Thali - Vegetarian of course and then went to bed. Alarm set for 5am. We tried to sleep with all the madness outside resembling something like Swat Valley in Pakistan. Anyway, after being woken by the alarm and debating if we should sleep in and do it another day we decided to get up and get are arses into gear (with friendly persuasion from a screaming muslim man calling to pray). So rickshaw to the foot of the hill and start at step 1 we breeze up the first 1000. 1001 upwards is slowly getting painful coupled ... read more
October 5th 2009
So, hopping off the train early, to shouts of ye bye Jon from nearly half the train, I found a bed and checked that Sasan Gir Wildlife Sanctuary was indeed open early... and thankfully it was! The Asiatic lion used to roam freely across much of central Asia, but after ruthless hunting and loss of habitat, was reduced to a little over 30 lions by the 1930s. Mercifully, the Nawab of Junagadh, the local ruler, decided to protect what remained of the species, protecting the Sasan Gir forest and instigating a breeding program at nearby Junagadh zoo. Sadly, my safari didn bring any lion sightings (the President apparently saw 23... a little unfair I think), but I did see lots of Indian wildlife, including nilgar, chittal, samba deer and a jackal. Halfway through the afternoon safari, ... read more
February 13th 2008
The City:Junagadh is a maze of crowded allies and old buildings, atop a hill north of the city lies the Uperkot Fort, which is where Junagadh was first established. Riddled with secret passageways and underground caves the old city seems like something out of an Indiana Jones movie, some passageways are rumored to even lead to Pakistan! My Guide: As I was exploring the city I ran into an intoxicated guy among some bushes, which was surprising since Gujarat is a dry state(no alcohol). A local of Junagadh he enthusiastically showed me around, including the "punishment door" which is a doorway that leads to a 200 foot drop, where in earlier times outlaws were made to walk the plank. Aptly, I got a picture of the guy at the door.... read more
Who needs Tigers when you can see Lions...
Published: January 8th 2008Asia » India » Gujarat » Junagadh
January 8th 2008
First of all, Happy New Year to all of you! Now I have got that out of the way, it is time to tell a bit about our New Years celebrations in Diu... It all started with Tori and I picking up my parents from Diu airport... A very small airport it is, and we were not allowed inside the grounds... No we had to wait outside the gates... But soon after the plane landed Tori spotted my mother running out of the arrival hall waving frantically at us! They had arrived! I had been looking forward to seeing them since I knew they were coming over... This is the first time I was taking my parents on a trip in stead of the other way around... So I whisked them in an auto rickshaw to ... read more
October 1st 2007
We decided to take a slight detour from the standard travelers tour of India and head down to southwest Gujarat for a few days. We technically I really wanted to do it and Trish put up with me and all the hassles getting here entailed... Due to the obvious train difficulties we experienced we ended up spending the day at the Amedabad train station and it's vicinity and missed what would have been a chill/relax day in Junagadh. Getting here at 4:30am after a noisy train ride, our first priority was a little more sleep, followed by showers. After that we wasted no time headed over to one of the towns two attractions (for me at least...), the Junagadh Zoo. As many of you may know, I'm a science dork and love zoos. I love any ... read more
