Roadtrip Day 9: Surat to Ahmedabad via Kevadia (Statue of Unity town) (March 17, 2021)

The day I felt the real north Indian heat first time during my trip, getting my first thumbs up from strangers & unexpected welcome at petrol pump

Since the previous day was no-ride day for me, I was up early & got ready to leave by 7 AM. As mentioned in my previous post, I had decided to visit Statue of Unity only if I am able to start early, as the total distance will become 300 km+ . In the past, I seem to have struggled with 300 km+ distance ride on a single day.

The previous day, I had a long conversation with 2 bikers from Kerala, Nikhil & Justin, at a tea shop which was at the ground floor of the building where I was staying at Surat (The dorm name was Be Happy AC dormitory). I had struck a long conversation with the owner of the place as well. He is an old guy from Rajasthan who has been running the restaurant for around 9 years. He told me that the building used to be a cinema hall in the past. He saw me when I was about to leave & then I decided to have one last tea with him. I got so engrossed in conversation with him & his past life, that I did not even ask his name. He is one of very genuine & happy old man, that I have ever talked to. I decide to write about him & wish him luck for his future.

I started my ride at around 8 AM. I was a bit surprised to see ‘real heavy’ 2 wheeler traffic in Surat that early in the morning. If a Bangalore based guy tell you ‘heavy traffic’, you can understand the gravity of the statement. But surprisingly, my side of the road was devoid of any major traffic, which was a relief.

Morning at Surat was misty. There seems to be an elevated path which took me out of the city limits fairly quickly. I also caught a glimpse of the path from my camera.

I soon hit the ‘Golden Quadrilateral’ road & as expected, met with heavy lorry/truck traffic. Before I become fairly disappointed with the ride & considering the primary purpose of the trip was to enjoy the journey & not the destination, I stopped on the road side to look for alternative. There was a an alternate path (right turn) just before Kosamba that Google was suggesting. I did not hestitate to take the path.

It turned out to be a great decision. The road was fairly wide & I was able to do 80 kmph on the road. It was also countryside road so that ride was pretty enjoyable too.

After around an hour of ride, the surroundings have started to become a bit arid.

But the villages have not disappeared & it has become more scenic too.

After almost 2.5 hours of ride, I had my first glimpse of Statue Of Unity. Just opposite the entrance, I saw a person waving for me to get in. I thought it to be official parking spot & went in. Only later, I got to know that the official parking was further away. But to come to Statue of Unity entrance from that spot, you need to take the shuttle bus from there. But parking for 2 wheeler is free at the official parking spot.

I parked my bike in the shade. I was concerned if the parking folks will allow me to leave my luggage on the bike but it was a pleasant surprise to see that the parking guy himself recommended to do that. He first gave me a Rs 50 ticket & on arguing that the guy who waved to me to go inside quoted Rs 30, he quickly changed it. Only later I figured that since it was a private/unofficial spot, I could have argued for even lesser amount.

I was told that the ticket has to be bought online. I joined the queue at the entrance & decided to buy the ticket in the queue. I asked the guy standing in front of me for the website & eventually he offered to sell one ticket to me. The place had multiple ticket classes - regular entry ticket to see the statue from outside, an express entry or something using which you can take the elevator & go to the chest level of the statue & have the view etc. I did not have much time so wanted a regular entry ticket & the guy had one spare ticket which he sold to me.

Except for security check process which felt rushed, the rest of the experience inside, felt very much like a developed country experience. Signboards at every nook & corner, moving walkways, high quality shades, escalators, provision for drinking water - they all reminded me of tourist spots in Singapore.

In the pictures & from far, the statue seems like a big statue. Only from closer distance, you realize the magnanimity of it. Then you realize how the tallest statue in the world feels like. Pictures do not do justice to it. You have to experience it in person.

After completing the visit, I was out in like 30 min. The foodcourt etc inside were also fairly top notch place.

I decided to ride till the end of the road & figured I can get a view of Sardar Sarovar dam there. There is a valley of flower too, but I decided to skip. It was 12 & I have started to feel the heat. I decided to laze around a bit at the food stalls close to View Point 1 so that I do not have to ride in the heat.

I started to ride back at around 2 PM. The place had a lot of other things like jungle safari, cactus park, some laser show in the night, the dam getting lighted with tri color post the show etc, but it might not be something that would be exciting for me as bike rider. I saw sign board of a budget stay which could be good for someone who intend to experience all the offerings, stay overnight & then go back the next day.

On the way back, I saw Kevadia Railway Station which looked even more glamourous than some of the small airports I have come across.

I crossed a small river channel & then came across a restaurant called River Deli overlooking the river. I turned towards it just to experience the view & had a masala butter milk there. I would recommend the place for its nice views.

Overall, the tourist attraction was a very nicely done tourist attraction on the lines of how western/developed countries do it. I am glad I did not skip it. The only bad part is the killing heat.

I started on my ride to Ahmedabad which passes by Vadodara. I knew that the road from Kevadia to Vadodara will not be one of the big highways so I should have an enjoyable ride. But I was in for a pleasant surprise. The road is a state highway, but it was a proper 4 lane road with divider at the center.

On this stretch, I was greeted by 2 car guys with thumbs up gesture. This was the first time I got such a gesture & I responded back with acknolwedging wave of hand :).

At around 4, I decided to put my cooling glasses on. I am not a big fan of ‘seeing the world through an artifical shade’ but the intense heat riding & now the sun glare comes directly in the eyes, was a tad too much for eyes to take. I guess from here on, I would be wearing my glasses during the day rides.

I soon found a Reliance petrol pump before hitting Vadodara. After fueling, I parked my vehicle on the side to have some water & one the guys there invited me inside to have tea. Earlier, I thought that he is selling tea like how Shell petrol pumps have it. But later, I realized it was a friendly gesture. Once inside, most folks including the manager of the place, Mr Nitesh Patel, started having curious conversation with me. The questions ranged from - is someone sponsoring this trip, how am I managing it with a job, how I am doing it alone, am I not scared & what not. I told them about my camping experience at Navasari Reliance Petrol Pump. It was a very pleasant experience & I decide to do a attribution to the nice folks at the station.

Reliance does not have pumps in Karnataka so I only happen to fill their petrol when I go out of Karnataka. In this trip, Reliance petrol seem to have offered great mileage to me. Someday, if I happen to be a celebrity, I would definitely endorse them. But as for now, this attribution is all I can do. Thanks Reliance folks. Please keep up the good work :).

The name of the petrol pump

It was around 5 PM when I left Reliance petrol pump. Soon I reached Vadodara & crossed it through the ring road. I came across big Shiva statue in/around Anand. I also came across Amul factory beside the road.

So far, I was seeing some excellent roads at Gujrat. So I decided to take a small road from Nadiad to Ahmedabad. This is the road between the new & old Express highway. I think it was a bad decision. The road was a bit narrow but the insect issue was a big issue on this road. Somehow I managed to complete the stretch & entered Ahmedabad. This is how my visor looked at the end of the stretch.

One of the learnings I had from this ride is to have a backup for night riding. Some night glasses or just regular glasses.

I was entering Ahmedabad from the south east end & I had to go to north west end which is house of my school friend Sameer, who has invited me to his place. Google showed me a road through the city. The traffic at Ahmedabad was chaotic but then I crossed Sabarmati river & entered a road next to the river. It was one of the most amazing city ride experience I had. The road is a bit narrow, that runs between a wide road on the left & the river on the right. It is also slightly ‘submerged’ compared to its surroundings. You experience small number of vehicles around you, cool breeze & the road passes under some of the bridges. The riding experience that had come close to this, is probably the one in US where I rode a cycle on lanes that run next to main road in California.

Later, I came to know that it is called Riverfront. I liked the experience so much that I decided to stay for one more day at Ahmedabad, just to experience it again. I did not take any pics of the view & will be doing so today.

I reached Sameer’s place at around 9:30. While unpacking my bike, one of the guys in Sameer’s apartment stopped next to me & was intently watching. I thought maybe, I have parked at his place. Later, it turned out that he was curious about me & my journey. We exchanged greetings. His name is Killol Joshi & he signed up for my blog too. Thanks Killol. I wish you would start on some of these kind of rides soon :).