The Road To Diu

We spent a few more days in Delhi, and I still didn't feel 100%. I was trying to work out whether it was time to call it a day and head home...

Brock was planning to head out to Gujerat to see where Ghandi had been born and had lived, and then to head to a small island for some beach time. The more he talked about it, the more I thought that it sounded like fun. And as I was due to meet Lindon and Sam in Chennai a few weeks later I thought that I'd go to Diu, head to Chennai for a week, and then fly back with them.

So the three of us set off to Old Delhi train station – glad to be getting out of the city.

The next few days were full on crazy travelling days – total fun...

Brock, Jo, and me - enjoying some “local food” on the train:



Thanks to Brock for the photo...

From Delhi we caught the night train to Ahmedabad leaving at 3pm and arriving at 6:30am, where we jumped straight on another train to get to Rajkot to see where Ghandi lived.

View out of the train on the way to Ahmedabad:



As soon as we arrived, we left our bags at the left luggage in the station and headed out to see where Ghandi had lived. His house is now a museum, with a display on his life. Here's the outside:



Thanks to Brock for the photo...

And the main street of Rajkot:



Thanks to Brock for the photo...

After a good look around and some food we headed back to the station to get on another night train to Porbander. Luckily – because 3AC class was booked up and one of us had a 2AC ticket, we all got a free upgrade to 2AC - which was good – because (while it was frickin' freezin') it did mean a more comfortable bed, and I got a really great night's sleep.

Porbander is the place where Ghandi was born – and you can go into his house and see the spot where he popped out into the world. It's now marked with a swastika - “x” marks the spot – as it were.

Part of the building where Ghandi was born:



The sign says it all:



You're not allowed to take photos of this:



...but this is the spot where Ghandi was born in 1869.

And this is a picture of one of the four Portuguese arches that make up the main square of Porbander:



And then it was back to the bus station to get a bus to Veraval, for the train journey to Dawal, and an autorickshaw to Diu.

Just one of the many crazy things we got up to to pass the time while waiting for trains :-)



Thanks to Brock for this pic...

It was a really full on few days – but a real privilege to see where Ghandi was born and had lived – and to learn more about a man who demonstrated that non-violence works – particularly in the face of a regime that seemed intent on using violence and brutality to control it's subjects.