The ride to Somnath; the stay in Somnath
Having checked in a hotel in Khanpur Road in Ahmedabad, the first half of the day was spent in the room, fairly big. THe visit to Camp Hanuman was accomplished in fareed bhai's auto, the return journey in jalabhai desai's auto. Both these automen radiated a confidence that we find on fewer occasions. It is during these rides i come across Spices of Awadh eating joint that has come up near relief road. In the evening leave for Ahmedabad railway station from where the Somnath Express departs from Platform 10 at 10.15.
Viramgam comes at 11.25, Surendranagar 12.55, Junagadh 4.35, Keshod around 6 and Veraval 6.50 am. In Veraval, there is Just one overbridge at the railway station and to access that from your coach one has to walk almost half a km. In view of this there are some who try to cross over to Platform One through tracks.There are no other overbridges and this situation does not look handy. Even porters are hard to find at Veraval railway station, the scene no better at Delhi Cantt station from where we boarded the train. IN the train we came across one Mr Parekh who has with new ideas as his assignment tool. The mandate of the firm, with new ideas, was to organise events that made the residents of the state seek tourism spots in the state itself instead of vying for other states/directions.A family with Junagadh as its destination was in the coach and so was another gentleman who had completed just under seven hours the ride from Veraval to Ahmedabad in the morning in a personal car and was returning to Veraval by the same train. Howsoever good the roads be, the frenetic speed at which the journey is accomplished should be avoided.
A scooter ride costing 100 rs takes me to Somnath Trust where i am told the room can be availed after 10. Better to seek accommodation in Hotel Shivam. Initially the room allotted had four beds to it, the same changed to two beds late in the evening. It was a Friday when we reached Somnath. A good part of the day was spent inside Somnath Temple. There is an order to the proceedings inside the temple that we all relish. Except for faint noises here and there there was enough momentum to the stay inside the temple. In the evening as i set out for accommodation point, the Bhabha restaurant opposite the hotel is the ideal point for meals.Curd from here is really good. Here a word of praise for Kadi Ben working in Shivam Hotel in Somnath, who radiated a different level of energy. Similar word of praise for Ameera Ben working in Prakashbhai run bhojanalaya in Dwarka and Ram Jeswani in Ahmedabad. Ram Jeswani was helpful in dropping me to Ahmedabad railway station when we were stuck in relief road, a traffic jam that would have taken hours to disperse. His ability to navigate the narrow alleys next to relief road and confidence in reaching the station a little before the train was to depart could not be missed.
As for the stay in Somnath, there were enough meeting points and enough deliberations. As we head towards main bazar prabhas patan we come across
In shopping complex we come across
Having checked in a hotel in Khanpur Road in Ahmedabad, the first half of the day was spent in the room, fairly big. THe visit to Camp Hanuman was accomplished in fareed bhai's auto, the return journey in jalabhai desai's auto. Both these automen radiated a confidence that we find on fewer occasions. It is during these rides i come across Spices of Awadh eating joint that has come up near relief road. In the evening leave for Ahmedabad railway station from where the Somnath Express departs from Platform 10 at 10.15.
Viramgam comes at 11.25, Surendranagar 12.55, Junagadh 4.35, Keshod around 6 and Veraval 6.50 am. In Veraval, there is Just one overbridge at the railway station and to access that from your coach one has to walk almost half a km. In view of this there are some who try to cross over to Platform One through tracks.There are no other overbridges and this situation does not look handy. Even porters are hard to find at Veraval railway station, the scene no better at Delhi Cantt station from where we boarded the train. IN the train we came across one Mr Parekh who has with new ideas as his assignment tool. The mandate of the firm, with new ideas, was to organise events that made the residents of the state seek tourism spots in the state itself instead of vying for other states/directions.A family with Junagadh as its destination was in the coach and so was another gentleman who had completed just under seven hours the ride from Veraval to Ahmedabad in the morning in a personal car and was returning to Veraval by the same train. Howsoever good the roads be, the frenetic speed at which the journey is accomplished should be avoided.
A scooter ride costing 100 rs takes me to Somnath Trust where i am told the room can be availed after 10. Better to seek accommodation in Hotel Shivam. Initially the room allotted had four beds to it, the same changed to two beds late in the evening. It was a Friday when we reached Somnath. A good part of the day was spent inside Somnath Temple. There is an order to the proceedings inside the temple that we all relish. Except for faint noises here and there there was enough momentum to the stay inside the temple. In the evening as i set out for accommodation point, the Bhabha restaurant opposite the hotel is the ideal point for meals.Curd from here is really good. Here a word of praise for Kadi Ben working in Shivam Hotel in Somnath, who radiated a different level of energy. Similar word of praise for Ameera Ben working in Prakashbhai run bhojanalaya in Dwarka and Ram Jeswani in Ahmedabad. Ram Jeswani was helpful in dropping me to Ahmedabad railway station when we were stuck in relief road, a traffic jam that would have taken hours to disperse. His ability to navigate the narrow alleys next to relief road and confidence in reaching the station a little before the train was to depart could not be missed.
As for the stay in Somnath, there were enough meeting points and enough deliberations. As we head towards main bazar prabhas patan we come across
-South indian gujarati pav bhaji
- Way to shri somnath trust VIP guest house
- Gajanand Guest House
- Thakar Jayantilal Kantilal store
- Hotel metro
- Hotel metro
- Jai Bhavani Spoken English classes
- Shivam provision
- Anmol selection for ladies gents and children wear
- Jay Bhavani computer classes
- Fair price shop sabji market
- Harsh computer
- Shiv shakti kirana bhandar
- Prince jewellers
- Somnath cloth store
- Karan collection
- Rameswar Hindu Hotel
- Raj medical store, neeldeep chemist, saurashtra provision store
- Sabri general store run by ahmad bhai
- Sabri general store run by ahmad bhai
In shopping complex we come across
- Mahaveer restaurant
- Somnath bhel house
- shiv shakti restaurant
- madhav tours and travels
- bhuvaneswari tea centre
- Goswami book store
- shiv shakti restaurant
- madhav tours and travels
- bhuvaneswari tea centre
- Goswami book store
- Yatrik tours and travels
Near SBI ATM near Bhabha restaurant there is Mukta Ben running a tea centre cha doodh coffee. The tea from mukta ben tea centre is something to write home about. Ali the personnel at bhabha restaurant looked to be cheerful. Other staff at Bhabha restaurant looked equally cheerful The stay in Somnath was for three days, all days completed in the hotel which has Jawed and Jas as their personnel. Jawed with whom the interaction was long and liberating spoke in a tone that had a childish charm.The bhel from Somnath Bhel House was the best in the town and this time round i could not take tea from Bhuvaneswari tea centre , something i have repeatedly done in the past. Ahmad Bhai at Sabri general store could not be found as he had gone to attend Urs in Surat.
Somnath story done in 2012 vis-a-vis now
With a stay of three days given the rush that Somnath trust run guest houses were seeing was huge. One should lay stress on a room in old guest house as it comes for 350 rs and are spacious enough. You are lucky enough if you can get a room in the blocks that are adjacent to the somnath trust run bhojanalaya. The day i reached and waited for a room in 2012, i was amidst some who were prefering to reserve rooms in the new guest house that had recently come up. If i was not mistaken, there was a family comprising over five members and they had booked probably two to three rooms in the new airconditioned guest house and had paid 7400rs . Probably for each room the tariff may have been 1500 plus for a day with a sizeable surety. The gentleman who had come to book the rooms wanted to be doubly sure that ac rooms were being given to him and in response the trust people assured him of Double Airconditioning. The thought that could have crossed many would be the rationale for seeking such plush rooms in Somnath. There have been airconditioned rooms in the old guest house which came for 400 rs in 2007. Perhaps the ac rooms in the old guest house have been dispensed with and the ac facility comes in new guest house.
Apart from visiting the temple and roundabout the stay in Somnath saw me search for a cyber cafe which i discovered in Prabhas Patan. THis time too i could not access any other cyber point in shopping complex or roundabout.
Photographers who used to take pictures a few metres away from the temple have been clearly told to stay away from the entry/exit gate and park themselves near the amul parlour. This time too elaborate iron railings have been put as a security measure and photographers have to operate from behind iron railings.
Reservation centre but no phone booths
Shree Somnath shopping centre has new signboards and some new shops. More merchandise stores have come up. THis time as well i could find an increase in the number of stores in function.
Absence of std/pco booth in the shopping centre has been hampering the smooth movement of devotees and others. Second there are no vegetable/fruit vendors in the shopping centre either. THis time as well we could not find any std/pco booth and in the shopping centre, the functioning of computerised railway reservation centre is from 8a.m to 2 p.m.
AS for Dilsukh tea centre, Abbas the boy had gone to attend other chores when i visited the tea stall this time round. Sohaib was there at the counter.
The stay here for two nights and three days did not provide enough time to visit Veraval. Soaps of handy frame were found at Sabri store. On a Sunday left for a new destination.
THere was enough sunshine during the stay and no smog or pollution to even talk about.
Somnath story done in 2012 vis-a-vis now
With a stay of three days given the rush that Somnath trust run guest houses were seeing was huge. One should lay stress on a room in old guest house as it comes for 350 rs and are spacious enough. You are lucky enough if you can get a room in the blocks that are adjacent to the somnath trust run bhojanalaya. The day i reached and waited for a room in 2012, i was amidst some who were prefering to reserve rooms in the new guest house that had recently come up. If i was not mistaken, there was a family comprising over five members and they had booked probably two to three rooms in the new airconditioned guest house and had paid 7400rs . Probably for each room the tariff may have been 1500 plus for a day with a sizeable surety. The gentleman who had come to book the rooms wanted to be doubly sure that ac rooms were being given to him and in response the trust people assured him of Double Airconditioning. The thought that could have crossed many would be the rationale for seeking such plush rooms in Somnath. There have been airconditioned rooms in the old guest house which came for 400 rs in 2007. Perhaps the ac rooms in the old guest house have been dispensed with and the ac facility comes in new guest house.
Apart from visiting the temple and roundabout the stay in Somnath saw me search for a cyber cafe which i discovered in Prabhas Patan. THis time too i could not access any other cyber point in shopping complex or roundabout.
Photographers who used to take pictures a few metres away from the temple have been clearly told to stay away from the entry/exit gate and park themselves near the amul parlour. This time too elaborate iron railings have been put as a security measure and photographers have to operate from behind iron railings.
Reservation centre but no phone booths
Shree Somnath shopping centre has new signboards and some new shops. More merchandise stores have come up. THis time as well i could find an increase in the number of stores in function.
Absence of std/pco booth in the shopping centre has been hampering the smooth movement of devotees and others. Second there are no vegetable/fruit vendors in the shopping centre either. THis time as well we could not find any std/pco booth and in the shopping centre, the functioning of computerised railway reservation centre is from 8a.m to 2 p.m.
AS for Dilsukh tea centre, Abbas the boy had gone to attend other chores when i visited the tea stall this time round. Sohaib was there at the counter.
The stay here for two nights and three days did not provide enough time to visit Veraval. Soaps of handy frame were found at Sabri store. On a Sunday left for a new destination.
THere was enough sunshine during the stay and no smog or pollution to even talk about.
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