A Visit to Mumbai

[Continued from Saputara, Gujarat's Own Hill Station] Mumbai, formerly Bombay is the capital city of Maharashtra and is one of the most populous cities in the world. Mumbai constituted of seven islands where the fishermen were the main inhabitants. Today, Mumbai is the commercial and entertainment capital of India. Altogether Mumbai has a tropical climate with a little variation between the summer and winter temperatures. It also experiences a lot of rainfall during the monsoon.

Gateway of India

We woke up early in the morning because we had to catch the Flying Rani Express which was scheduled to leave Surat at 05:25 am. On reaching the station we saw that the train was almost ready to depart from the platform. It was a double decker train. We took our seats in the upper deck. Our train started its journey towards Mumbai. We reached Mumbai Central at 10:10 am. From there we took a taxi and went to search for hotels near the Mumbai CST Terminus (Victoria Terminus). There we booked a room at Hotel New Bengal. Our hotel had three restaurants namely Zaffran, Howrah and First Floor. In the afternoon we had lunch at the restaurant Howrah. It mainly served typical bengali cuisine. The food was quite good. That evening we went to see the Gateway of India, one of the most popular attractions of Mumbai. The structure was built to commemorate the visit of King George V and Queen Mary to Bombay to attend the Delhi Durbar in the year 1911. The last British troops left India through the Gateway in a ceremony on 28 February 1948. On the way we saw the Flora Fountain, now renamed as Hutatma Chowk. After spending some time near the sea coast we came back to our hotel.

Saputara, Gujarat's Own Hill Station

[Continued from My Visit to Daman] Saputara is the only hill station of Gujarat and it is still unexplored and unspoilt. Saputara is situated in the Sahyadri range and has an altitude of about 1000 m. The name 'Saputara' is derived from the Snake God worshiped by the tribal people and translates into "The Abode of the Serpants". Nature has blessed Saputara with picturesque landscapes, hills, table-tops, lakes and water falls.

Echo Point

We had planned to visit Saputara earlier so we had inquired at the bus stand the day before our journey about the bus timings. The next day we went to the bus stand of Surat. On reaching the bus stand we found out that the 8 o' clock bus had left earlier and so we have to wait for the next bus at 9 o' clock. The bus left Surat and went on its journey towards Saputara. It went over crisscrossing the river Ambika. Then it went through a road which was surrounded by dense forest. This was the Vansda National Park, one of the most unexplored, old and dense forest of India. Many types of animals are found in this forest including leopard, hyena and chital, jungle cat, Indian flying fox, wild boar and many other animals. On the way to Saputara we also saw many tribal settlements. We reached Saputara at around 2:00 pm. There we booked a room at hotel Chitrakoot and also had the lunch there. Gujarati and Jain food was served at the restaurant and the food was very delicious. In the evening we went to have a look at the local market which sold many goods from honey to camel leather shoes.

My Visit to Daman

[Continued from Visit to Tithal] I started my journey from Valsad. We boarded the Sayaji Nagari Express from Valsad Railway Station at around 11 am and reached Vapi at 11:20 am. From the adjoining bus stand, we boarded a bus which took us to Nani Daman. On the way we crossed the check post. Atlast we reached Daman. On reaching Daman we saw that there were many types of public transports like bus, taxis and auto rickshaws plying in the city.

Nani Daman Fort

Firstly we went to book a hotel. After keeping our luggage in the hotel room we went to have our lunch. After having lunch we went for sight seeing. We booked a cab and it took us to Nani Daman Fort. This fort is situated on the north of Nani Daman. Although this fort is quite small, there are schools, radio stations, market, hotels, tourism centre and even burial grounds situated within this fort. The main attraction of this fort is the large gateway to the fort facing the river. Then we went to Jampore beach. It is a very pleasant spot and one can even plan a picnic on the shades of the Casuarina groves. After that we went to Mirasol Lake Garden. It is a wonderful place with two islands connected by a bridge and surrounded by a lake. There are provisions for boating in this lake. Other attractions include the toy train and video games.