Road Trip

Hi again. Back from a whirlwind trip of Southern Gujrat and Northern Maharashtra. It was a drive through terrain that was changing every 50 kms, and most of it through spectacular countryside. We commenced our journey from Vadodara; planning to visit Saputara, a smallish hill station and the only one that Gujrat can boast of as its own. Saputara lies in the heart of the Dang District, bordering Gujrat and Maharashtra. It was the first time that I travelled through central India by road, and what I found was pretty fascinating.

Though very little of Saputara is written or posted on the internet, we found it to be this quaint tranquil little place that is not very high from the sea level or difficult to travel to, and yet having all the trappings of a hill station.

The journey commenced late afternoon and we hit the highway nh8 and proceeded south toward bharuch. Thereafter we hit the actual country roads and the sight was pleasing to the eye. We were driving along a narrow gauge line and soon spotted a cute looking train making its way in the opposite direction. Then came a road junction where we had to stop and ask for directions. We treated ourselves there to pakoras which were amazingly tasty. We continued driving and stopping, asking for directions and starting off again. By the time it got dark we were at the foothills but unfortunately, we missed savouring the drive through jungle terrain of a reserved forest. Nevertheless we stopped by to ease ourselves and take some fantastic pictures of the moon playing hide and seek through the tall trees of the forest.

We reached Saputara by late evening. Though we were mindful of the sweltering heat outside, we were rarely subjected to it as the ac in the car saved us. As we got down from the car we felt a splendid and refreshingly cool breeze blowing which was actually caressing our bodies and quickly got us out of the fatigue that the journey had induced in us. It completely blew our minds as most of us hailing from different parts of the country never quite experienced anything like it.

We made some quick searches and booked ourselves at a reasonably decent hotel which also had a swimming pool. The evening we spent relaxing, partly in our room and partly next to the pool, though no one jumped into it.

The next day after breakfast we went site seeing, the most noteworthy being the table top next to the ropeway which had some of the most spectacular views of the hills and its surroundings.

We then decided to go to Nasik to the Sula vineyards before we set course back home. Though Sula also boasts of a fascinating locale, we reached there at the hottest time of the day when the sun was directly over our heads. Despite the cruel conditions, we braved the might of the sun, had lunch, played a bit of pool, and took a tour of the vineyard, saw how wine is brewed, which finally culminated with a wine tasting session. The setting there is extremely romantic and each one of us promised to bring our loved ones back.

Then was the worst part; the journey back home. Nothing much there except when we stopped for dinner on the outskirts of bharuch. Though a vegetarian joint, but again we were pleasantly surprised by their culinary skills. The bachelors also quickly refreshed their tired eyes as the clientele there consisted of pretty nubile things.