After tea and biscuits at 715am, we start off to see the birds at the lake. It would be nice to report a good night’s sleep, but the beds were rock hard and the imam was ranting till past 1am. One of the other guests, an Indian expat living in New Zealand, tells us that the new mosque was built with Wahhabi money from Saudi Arabia, as are most new mosques in India. They bring a more fundamental form of Islam than Indian Muslims practise, and this can cause conflict both with local Muslims and with the Hindus. So it can become another source of tension between the communities. She said that over the last few years since the Wahhabis moved in, the number of little Hindu shrines has much increased in the village, as a ... read more

A quiet day. We start at the Naulakha Palace, part of the medieval Darbargadh or fortified palace complex of Gondal, which was the original seat of the ruling Maharajahs. The main building was built in 1748, and is ornately decorated with stone carving and ornate jarokha balconies. It’s not clear where we go, and the only person visible speaks no English. We climb the steps up to the first floor of the main building, but everything is locked. As we descend, a young man greets us and starts to open up the various rooms of the palace. The main building was the Maharajah’s residence, and houses a large durbar hall with stuffed leopards glaring snarlingly down from the four corners. Most of the other rooms and buildings are devoted to little collections of items either commemorating ... read more

At 5.15am the next morning we drag ourselves out of bed. We have slept well, but sleep has been disturbed intermittently by what sounded like rats trying to eat through the wall by our bedhead. Our gypsy sets off at 5.35am and we repeat the rigmarole at the ticket windows. This time the driver does not assist and David does it on his own, with a sharp pair of elbows to help. Into the park and it is very cold. We have our fleece sweaters on but forgot our gloves. It is magical though to be going through the forest as the sun comes up. Suddenly, we see three or four jeeps on an adjoining track. Our guide yells to a ranger he sees, and tells us we have permission to join them – they are ... read more

The Portuguese came to Daman and Diu in 1535 and formally established it as a colony in 1537. It survived independence in 1947 and was only annexed to India in 1961. It was the longest surviving colonial rule by any European power. The historical centrepiece is the Diu fort, about 15 minutes from Nagoa beach where our hotel is. It was completed in 1547 and is a formidable structure, with double walls on the landward side and a moat, and the sea on the other three sides. It is seemingly not curated in any way, and there are no signboards or any explanatory boards, just a useless map at the entrance. Form the moment we enter the fort, we are assailed by “hello one photo please”, all requested perfectly politely by respectful youths, polite young girls ... read more

We’re heading south now towards Diu, a coastal resort. It’s too far to drive in a day so we’ll stay one night in Bhavnagar, 4 ½ hours away, with a stop at Lothal Harappan. Lothal was a major port, trading and bead making centre under the Harappan or Indus Valley civilisation from around 2400BC to 1500BC, so before the arrival of the Aryans in India. The Harappans were trading along the Silk Road long before the concept existed, buying copper from Oman and Afghanistan and selling beads and other goods as far west as Turkey and Egypt. They used standardised weights and measures, and installed mains drainage and sewage thousands of years before the Romans. The towns were built on a grid pattern with all dimensions of roads etc standardised. The town of Lothal is thought ... read more