Gujarat Day 3 - Gir, Junagadh & Rajkot

Somnath bus stand at 6 45 in the morning wore a quiet look.  The sun was not yet out and there was a bus that was about to leave for Kapadvanj, a town to the east of Ahmedabad.  To visit Gir Forest, we had to reach Sasan, around 70 kms away from Somnath.  The bus that was leaving would take another route – so we had to alight at Veraval and catch another bus from there.  As we reached Veraval bus station, another bus was just leaving for Rajkot.  The trip to Sasan took an hour and half and we reached the Gir Interpretation Zone at Sasan by 8 30 AM. 

After a light snack, we enquired about the jeep safari.  Jeeps were sent in groups and each jeep could carry around 6-8 visitors.  There were three time zones when safari is conducted – 6 AM, 9 30 AM and 3 30 PM.  We tried acquiring permit for the 9 30 AM zone.  However, there was a huge crowd and the morning safari was already booked completely.  People were waiting in queue to book for 3 30 PM safari.  We had limited time and hence we decided to leave Sasan, feeling unfortunate of not having got an opportunity to see the Asiatic Lion.  Before leaving, we visited a display zone in Sasan Gir – that provided us information about the Asiatic Lion, Sambar, black buck and other wild animals that have made the Gir Forest their home.  

We met a few security personnel in the Sasan Gir campus who apprised us of a bus safari at Devaliya, around 12 kms from Sasan.  We were told that chances of seeing the Asiatic Lion in the bus safari were very high; however we would likely get only 30-45 mins looking for wildlife.

There were share rickshaws of a unique kind – a rajdoot bike engine attached to a cart behind – that were available at Sasan.  We caught one such rickshaw and paid Rs 200 for a return to Devaliya.  The journey through the forest road was interesting, especially in a vehicle we were travelling on for the first time in our lives.  

At the Devaliya Interpretation Zone, we purchased tickets worth Rs 105 per person, to avail the bus safari.  The bus started soon and we got good seats at the front of the bus.  Deers and antelopes caught our eye; then we saw a few caged lions.  This was far from what we expected in this safari – we wanted to see Asiatic lions roaming out in the open.  As our hopes dropped, we caught the lovely sight of two lionesses standing next to each other in the open forest.  The bus went close to the lionesses and the driver stopped the vehicle for a while.  We caught some wonderful snaps of the Asiatic Lioness.  

One lioness walked away from the bus and the driver started dodging the lioness – we understood they were stage managed.  However, the sight of a lioness so close to our bus was an unforgettable one.  A few meters away there were two lions lying down next to one another.  We observed the lions from a distance for a while; then proceeded to other routes in the forest.  Black bucks, Nilgai, wild pigs and more deers crossed our path.  

The trip to Devaliya was worth-while.  The bus dropped us at the interpretation zone and we hopped on to the rickshaw which dropped us on the forest highway; we caught a state bus to Junagadh, our next stop.

Near the Junagadh bus station, we had a Gujarati thali for lunch and caught an auto rickshaw to drop us at Uperkot fort – an attraction in Junagadh.  The fort is located at the foot of Girnar Hills and was built by Chandragupta, the Mauryan emperor in 319 BC.  The fort was besieged 16 times over an 800-year period.  There were no defined directions in the fort premises and we followed some used paths to explore the fort.  We noticed a fifteen-foot canon, two large step wells and some wonderful sights of Junagadh town and Girnar Hill at the fort premises.  

From one point, we could see temples over Girnar Hill through a telescope.  The temples included the famous Ambaji temple, Dattatreya temple and few Jain temples.  There were also a few Buddhist caves down the road, said to be over 1500 years old, but due to lack of time we had to return to Junagadh station in time to catch a train to Rajkot.  

The 100 km travel took around 2 hours and by evening we were at Rajkot railway station.  As per our plan, we were to catch a late evening train that would take us to Mount Abu, our next destination.  Unfortunate news awaited us at Rajkot railway station.  Our train was late by around 8 hours and would arrive only next morning.  Since this would affect our travel plan adversely, I decided to cancel our tickets to Mount Abu and instead booked bus tickets for an overnight journey to Ahmedabad. 

After booking bus tickets, we headed towards the famous Swaminarayan temple in Rajkot.  Located at the city centre, the picturesque temple made of pink stone had a main shikara standing 47 feet high.  The central shrine had marble idols of Lord Swaminaryan and two other swamis.  There were idols of Lord Krishna, Radha and a few Maharajs from the Swaminarayan Sanstha.  We spent our evening at the peaceful campus of the temple and headed back to Rajkot bus station after worship.  We had dinner at street side – a Gujarati thali again. 

We boarded the bus that was bound for Idar.  We would reach at 4 30 the next morning and our friend would pick us up at Ahmedabad.  As we slept through the chillness of the night, I was reminded of the magnificent Asiatic lions that stood close to us that morning in Devaliya safari.