Coast to Coast 2021: Morbi to Porbandar

I started exactly at 6 am. I wasn’t sure that I would be getting chai at that time but I did found one. After giving the body some charge, I was off to Porbandar via Dwarka.

It was pitch dark and I had to ask for directions for my road ahead till I exited the city. I was headed to my first checkpoint on the road towards “Pipaliya”. That was around 17 km. On my way, I narrowly escaped hitting an “Asian antelope” as they were crossing the road. My aux lights helped me in throwing light on them so that I could react in time. It was close call and once again showed the dangers of riding in dark and unknown areas.

At first, due to dark conditions, I missed Pipaliya and went ahead. As I rode further, I noticed that something wasn’t right. I had ridden way over 17 km and could not see the board. After stopping and asking the correct way, people told me I had overshot by 5-6 km. I had to turn back.

Now, I took a right turn after reaching Pipaliya and headed towards “Amran”, which was my next checkpoint on the map. The roads became single lanes and the condition deteriorated as I progressed.

Soon after, I witnessed the most magnificent sunrise. Sun rising above wheat fields. It was a beautiful sight to see.

My Oxfords were at 100% heat level as the cold was still there. On top of that, the visibility had dropped due to the sudden arrival of fog. The fog lasted till I reached Jamnagar city.

Long before reaching Jamnagar, I had started to get hunger pangs and so the breakfast point was fixed at Jamnagar. But, entering the new city for the first time and that too in rush hour is always confusing. I missed finding a decent breakfast joint and just as I was about to hit the highway again exiting the city, I found a well decked up Food truck on my side. It looked promising and I immediately pulled over. They were open and the owner heartily welcomed me and helped me finalize my breakfast menu.

I took right towards Nageshwar Temple before Dwarka. The last time I had visited Dwarka was in 2017 where I had come to attend my friend’s Wedding in Porbandar (I was to stay at his place today). I had forgotten to visit the Nageshwar Temple (One of the 12 Jyotirlingas). And hence, with this tour, I had planned to check it off the list.

After the Darshan was over, I cooled off with some tender coconut before proceeding towards Beyt Dwarka.

My first impression of going towards Beyt Dwarka was that I would have to take a boat leaving my bike on this side. The mere thought of keeping my bike on this side while I went off to Beyt Dwarka did not digest as the luggage was on the bike. I was worried. My initial plan was to keep the bike safely with some shopkeeper while I went to the other side (I had done like this in Omakareshwar, MP while visiting the jyotirlinga). But, things turned out to be exactly different.

When I reached the ferry line, people told me that I could take the bike along with me to the island. That was a huge relief for me. I was happy and nervous at the same time as this kind of activity was the first time for me. I and my bike are sailing on the boat!

At around 5 pm, I came back to the bazaar where the Dwarkadhish temple is located. I had to keep all my belongings at the counter as nothing was allowed inside. Hence, I was not able to take photos. The total tour of the temple lasted for good 30 mins following which I started my journey towards Porbandar.

The ferry also took time as the right kind of boat was not available which could take me and my bike safely towards the other side. For that I had to wait almost 20 mins.

After reaching Dwarka, I was in double mind whether to continue till Porbandar (my stay there was fixed) or to stay in Dwarka as it was pitch dark. After going through an early morning experience, I didn’t want to take 2nd risk in less than 24 hrs. But, Milan’s big brother assured me that the roads were good and hopefully “these” big animals ceased to exist on this stretch. Also, Dwarka was very expensive.

So, Porbandar was done and I still had 1.5 hrs of riding to do.

There was almost Zero to Nil traffic on the Dwarka to Porbandar stretch. I almost did non-stop and reached around 9:30 pm.

We had dinner after I got freshened up. It was the largest fish platter I ever had at dinner. Almost 5 types of fish. After a long day and being a seafood lover, it was like heaven while having dinner. That evening was the longest time till date on the table as the fish kept on coming even though I refused. Sunil was way too generous while serving. I thanked Milan’s mom for preparing such a lovely and tasty dinner.

Sitting on the sofa, we chatted about the things and the journey and in that time Milan’s dad too came and the discussion went further.

Late night, we went to Porbandar Chowpatty to move our bodies after the heavy lunch. Due to covid restrictions, the Chowpatty looked deserted and it was closed. Spending some time there, we return via a longer route and back towards home.

I was tired and I was on the road for more than 18 hours. And on top of that, tomorrow also I was going to start my day early and with that, I slept around midnight.

Tomorrow I was planning to head towards Bhavnagar with no sightseeing in between.