Posted by Nitin Maheta | February 10, 2020
Comments: 4
I am back with the second part of my previous article, where I mentioned about my experience from Rajkot to Hingolgadh. In brief, I would like to say again that I traveled with my Travel buddy Mr. Bhavesh Sondagar and we stayed at my maternal uncle's home in Jasdan.
Now, it's about my second day, which is 29/12/2019, where I will talk about my experience from Jasdan to Alan Sagar Lake and Bhimora.
Jasdan
After exploring Hingolgadh, we came back to Jasdan and spent our night at my maternal uncle's home. We planned to wake up at 5 in the morning, but it was so cold that we couldn't be able to make up our mind. It is about the winter season, and when you visit this place during winters, you will experience the extreme cold, which is different from that of the cities. You can feel the difference in the weather can through the smell of the air itself. After a long time, I had a deep sound, peaceful sleep. And we woke up at 8 in the morning and left home at 9 for Bakhalvad village, which is 5 km from Jasdan. This time my maternal brothers, Anil Mandir and Bhavesh Mandir, along with my brother-in-law, Gautam Chanv, accompanied us.
Posted by Nitin Maheta | February 07, 2020
Comments: 0
I am back with another experience of my next trip to Hingolgadh, Aalan Sagar Lake, and Bhimora. It was exactly after 13 days of coming back from the Statue of Unity. Together with my Travelling Buddy, Mr. Bhavesh Sondagar, we planned that he would travel from Surat to Rajkot. From Rajkot, I will accompany him for the next 60 kilometers to Jasdan. All the places we planned to visit, that is, Hingolgadh, Aalan Sagar Lake, and Bhimora, were near to Jasdan. And my maternal family resided at Jasdan. And this time, we not booked any hotel room but stayed at Maternal Uncle's home.
Rajkot to Jasdan (60 KM)
Saturday- 28th December 2019
Bhavesh took a bus from Surat at 5 in the evening on 27th December 2019 and reached Rajkot around 7 in the morning the next day. Around 8 in the morning, we both left for Jasdan and arrived around 10.
We both had lunch at my Maternal uncle's place and then went for Hingolgadh.
Jasdan to Hingolgadh (18 KM)
From Jasdan, my cousin brother, Bhavesh Mandir, accompanied us to Hingolgadh, and thus, we needn't have to use Google Maps.
While traveling, we had a great look at an old railway station, which is closed now. We clicked a few pictures there.
So guys, are you following me on Instagram? If not yet, please do follow me @nitinmaheta. I want you people to get the instant updates, as publishing the articles and uploading the videos take time. And I do come live on Instagram and even post stories and posts on the feed.
Coming back, we left from the old railway station to Hingolgadh after clicking a few pictures.
Posted by Nitin Maheta | January 19, 2020
Comments: 7
In my very first article, I talked about how I started Travel Blogging and Vlogging. I always loved traveling around, and I visited a lot of places, but I had no thoughts of writing a blog of my travel experiences and no videos as well. So, when I started Travel Blogging, the first place I visited is the Statue of Unity.
This article is precisely my 3-day plan of the visit to the Statue of Unity.
In the beginning, I and one of my friends, Bhavesh Sondagar, planned a 2-day trip to the Statue of Unity. On 13th December 2019, Friday Morning, it was proposed that we both will reach the place, Kevadia, by any means, place where the Statue of Unity is situated. Bhavesh planned to come to Kevadia by bike from Surat, and I planned my trip through Bus from Rajkot. Then we expected that after reaching the place, we would book a hotel for the night and visit the Statue of Unity on the next morning, 14th December 2019, and will leave the area by evening for our hometown.
Rajkot to Vadodara (300 KM)- My Experience of Traveling in a Bus
According to the plan, I boarded a Volvo bus on Friday morning, 13th December 2019, at 8 a.m. and left for Vadodara from Rajkot. The bus took 6 hours in reaching the destination; that is, it was 2 p,m. and believe me, I had never seated in a single place for this long ever. After 1 hour of travel, I felt like de-boarding the bus because it was dull. But I had to because we had already planned before. So, I started chatting with my friends over the phone, read a few articles online, watched videos over YouTube, and this drained my phone's battery to 60%. The first mistake I made is that I forgot to carry the power bank. And after realizing this, I turned off the NET of my phone, kept in the pocket, and started looking out of the bus window. After some time, when I checked my watch, I came to know that it's not been 1 hour and I am not able to do anything to pass my time. And the person sitting beside me was sleeping peacefully, or else I would have had a conversation with him. I also tried to sleep, but of no use. I even skipped my breakfast because it was a bus journey. And this way, I reached Vadodara at 2 p.m., but it took 1 hour more to reach the Pandya Bridge, where I had to de-board. So, sharp at 3 p.m., I reached my destination, and honestly, I was happier while de-boarding the bus rather than being happy about reaching the place.
For me, traveling on a bus for 7 hours long was the most annoying thing. And it is because I was going alone and wasn't able to use my phone because battery issue and I forgot to take my power bank along. But all the way, I was excited that I am visiting the Statue of Unity.
Now, I took an autorickshaw from Pandya Bridge and reached the Bus Station. Just in front of the Bus stand, my eyes caught a look of a restaurant, and I couldn't be able to control myself, and since I was hungry, I ordered a Gujarati thali and had a lip-smacking food. It was okay in taste, but I was hungry, so it worked.
Vadodara to Kevadiya (85 K.M.)- by S.T. Bus
By 4 p.m., I reached the Bus station and waited for 1-hour long for a bus to Kevadia. I took a bus at 5 p.m., and it took 2 hours to reach the place. I was full of excitement, and these 2 hours went so well that I didn't even get to know-how. Isn't it exciting? Yeah! So, I reached Kevadiya at 7 p.m. sharp from where the BRG Hotel is just 1 km away, and the Statue of Unity is 7 km away.
BRG Budget stay Hotel in Kevadia
My friend, Bhavesh, reached Kevadia 5 hours before me and searched for 3 long hours for a hotel and finally booked a home in the BRG budget stay hotel. When he reached the hotel, he did share a few pics, and I asked him to book a room in this only. This hotel has 350 rooms, but all were booked when we asked for one room booking. In the meanwhile, Bhavesh left BRG hotel. While searching for another hotel, he came across one person advertising the BRG hotel, who helped us in getting a room booked in the same by directly contacting the Manager.
The person who helped us with booking a hotel room named Mr. Mahendra helped us a lot in booking a room and even shared a lot more, including free bus service. I will talk about it further.
This way, Bhavesh booked the hotel room, and all I had to do is reaching the BRG hotel from Kevadia.
BRG Budget Stay Hotel (Kevadia) Review
I felt at peace, and I got time to relax after reaching the hotel room. I loved the infrastructure, facilities, including room service. The hotel room was clean, and the bed, along with other furniture, was excellent. I have no complaints or any negative thing to mention about the hotel except the hot water. And that too was missing because there was some maintenance work going on. Still, the room service people helped us with the same.
Cost
The cost per person at BRG is 470 INR (including taxes its 526.66 INR), and this isn't a bad deal according to the facilities we have been provided. Charges for the Ac or non-AC rooms were the same, so it's your choice to choose.
Food
BRG hotel has a restaurant, Hotel Plazzo, which serves lip-smacking food. The hotel is just in front of the reception. They had only a few options on their menu, which needs improvement, other the quality of the food was excellent.
We ordered Khichdi, Punjabi Kadhi, Buttermilk, Butter Roti, and Bhindi Masala. Khichdi and Bhindi Masala was good in taste, but Punjabi Kadhi made my mood off.
We ordered the food at 7:30 p.m. and got it served around 8:30 p.m. It got late because we entered and ordered the food before dinner time, and the restaurant was empty. So, it okay to deal with the same because Bhavesh accompanied me, and time went off well.
Feedback
The employees at the reception weren't well aware of the available rooms, and they informed Bhavesh of no-room availability without checking it before.
After having dinner, we went back to our hotel room and slept peacefully and were excited for our next day's visit to the Statue of Unity.
DAY 2
14th December 2019, Saturday
We both woke up early in the morning and got ready to visit the Statue of Unity, which is one of the gigantic statues in the world. Between, we didn't book the tickets for the Statue of Unity because we had the information about the ticket counter there.
We came outside the hotel and had tea with biscuits, left for the Shresth Bharat Bhavan from where we had to buy the tickets for the Statue of Unity.
The ticket rates start from 380 INR, which includes the bus service; another ticket rate is 1030 INR, which includes everything which you get in 380 INR ticket. The only difference is you don't have to wait in the long queues.
We didn't get the Tickets
We went to the ticket counter and found out that all the tickets for the day have been sold out. I even checked the availability of the tickets online, but my efforts went in vain. The person at the ticket counter suggested booking a ticket for the next day so that we don't miss out visiting the Statue of Unity on Sunday. So, we did book two tickets there and then without failing.
We booked the tickets online for the time slot from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. So, this way, we got one more day to explore Kevadia. We extended our hotel stay as well.
We met our guide, Mr. Mahendra, who helped us with booking the hotel. He arranged a free bus service for both of us, which we used for the entire day.
He told us about the Orange colored bus, which is started by the Government for the visitors who stay in Kevadia and visit the Statue of Unity. This is a particular promo service by the Government. Soon, the official tickets and booking will be available for the same. So, we were lucky enough to have a free ride. And even we had tickets for the next day to the Statue of Unity.
We traveled to the free bus service, which took us through the route of Kevadia Colony. We captured beautiful pictures of the views, and spent the entire day traveling, views of beautiful nature, photoshoots, and video shots.
As we failed to get the tickets to the Statue of Unity on Saturday, we started exploring the nearby locations. Though the next day was Sunday, yet we managed to book a ticket.
Tent City Narmada-1
The bus took us to the Tent City Narmada-1, where there is nothing special but just a tent city which is developed for staying purpose. The view of the place is fantastic for photography and videography. You will find a small bridge, cold water, and a small construction site.
The people of the Kevadia colony are helpful, including the guards and the guides. Meeting new people on the way and while visiting places is quite fun. And here too, I met a security guard. He gave us the information which no one shared.
The next spot, the bus took us, is the Khalwani Ecotourism for River Rafting. We have to step walking down to the place. This is a special place for river rafting, but unfortunately, when we visited, there was no water.
A post shared by Nitin Maheta (@nitinmaheta_official) on
Here we found another beautiful place, which seems to be a dam with a bridge over it and Narmada water. This is a lovely place combination of green trees, blue sky, river, mountain, and road. I found this place beautiful and fascinating.
The bridge is constructed with iron and wood above the river. Only ten people are allowed on the bridge at once. And believe me, walking down the bridge and clicking the pictures of the impressive view is fantastic.
On the River Rafting road, you will also see a beautiful park with tents, a place to relax, and have fun. The tents are being named as leopard, lion, etc. We had a stay for some time and then we moved to our next place.
Tent City 2
Tent City 2 is a luxurious place to stay in. This place has a high stay cost, which is around $100 per night, and they provide visitors with three different night stay packages.
The bus then took us from there, and we visited our next destination, Sardar Sarovar Dam.
Sardar Sarovar Dam
Here we met a lot of people, and the main attraction of the place is the Dam. The bus takes us to the viewing point 3 and got more information about the Dam from the guiding room.
The Statue of Unity is the tallest in the world facing this Dam. Even this Dam is viewable from the Statue's viewing gallery.
The reason behind the face of the Statue of Unity facing towards the Dam is the dream of Sardar Patel; the Dam should be constructed. From the viewpoint 3, you can easily view the Sardar Sarovar Dam.
Valley of Flowers
The next destination is the Valley of Flowers. This place is beautifully crafted with beautiful flowers, and even the Statue of Unity is visible. The flowers have been sown in the 250 hectares of area. The flowers are the only main attraction of the place.
The Statue of Unity
This is the final destination the bus will take you. We couldn't be able to visit the place because we had a ticket for the day after. Still, they allowed us to enter through the main gate, and we managed to click a few pictures.
Our day ended with this, and we came back to our hotel. Since we spent the entire day traveling, we were tired. We had our dinner, and in no time, we both slept.
DAY 3
15th December 2019, Sunday
So, finally, the day when we visited the Statue of Unity. And the best thing is 15th December, which is the Death Anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.
World's Tallest- The Statue of Unity
The main gate entrance doesn't have much security, but if you have the bags, then you have to go through the proper security process. Avoid taking tobacco or cigars with you, as it is prohibited in the place.
Wall of Unity
Once you enter the place, the left side wall is made of soil, which is collected from 169000 different villages of India. The slogan was exciting. This wall spreads a great message about Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, a man who united the states and called it India. The word on the wall is written in English, Hindi, and Gujarati. This is interesting as if foreign people visit the place, it is easy to understand.
Ticket Verification Place
We booked the tickets online from the official website, soutickets.in, and timing we selected was 8 a.m. Since we had the tickets, we weren't in a hurry.
Here, I have mentioned the ticket copy from the online booking. If you book a ticket online, then it will look like this.
It was Sunday, a public holiday, and a lot of people were standing in a queue at the verification gate. Each ticket has a barcode that gets scan at the entry for verification. This whole thing lasted for 1 hour.
When I saw the Statue from the road, it looked a smaller one, but surprisingly it is too big. WOW!
We entered in at 10:15 a.m. and reached the museum, audio, and visual gallery.
The Museum, Audio-Visual gallery
This place is all about the visuals from the life of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. It also has a short movie, identical small Statue, and a feedback counter.
An interesting thing about the museum is that it is just under the main Statue and can withstand earthquakes measuring on the Richter scale of 6.5 within a radius of 12 km and a depth of 10 km.
The image above is the feedback counter, where you can share your experience. Just behind the counter, you will find a small identical Statue of Sardar Patel with audio, visuals, documents, and historical information.
Queue at Lift
Just behind the face there is a feedback counter and behind it, there is a round pillar with a lift that takes the visitors to the chest part of the Statue (45th-floor). There are two different rows, one is individual, and the other one is for the groups.
If you have the express ticket, then you need not stand in the queue. You can directly enter the lift. And this is the only difference between the general ticket and the express ticket.
Viewing Gallery
The best thing about the lift is that it takes 30-35 seconds to reach to the 45th floor. Isn't it amazing? This is the place where you can enjoy viewing the beautiful sight from the viewing gallery.
What to see from the Viewing Gallery
The main attraction from the viewing gallery is the Sardar Sarovar Dam. A beautiful view and the primary reason behind the Statue facing the Dam. The horizontal line in the image below is the Sardar Sarovar Dam.
We met a lot of people here who were excited about visiting this beautiful place, and here's the best shot with them:
A post shared by Nitin Maheta (@nitinmaheta_official) on
What's Next?
We were already inside the Tallest Statue in the world, and it was time to view it carefully. From there, we went back to the lift and came down to the museum and took another elevator, which took us to the other part of the Statue.
Here we viewed the foot and toe of the Statue, which looks quite more significant. And you can imagine how tall the statue will watch from here.
My Experience
So, its time to say GoodBye to the Statue of Unity. I spent three days here, and it was awesome. Waiting for two days to get the view from the Viewing gallery is worth it.
I must say that this is one of the best places to visit on the weekends. People of this place are helpful. So, if you are planning to visit the tallest Statue of the world, then you can ask your queries in the comment section below. I will try my best to resolve the same from my experience.
Last but not least, in the recent news article by hindustantimes.com, the Statue of Unity has been declared as the 8th Wonder of the World.
Posted by Nitin Maheta | January 07, 2020
Comments: 0
In my last article, I have mentioned that I will be sharing how to book the tickets of the Statue of Unity online, and in this article, I will be sharing everything associated with the same.
The Statue of Unity does have a single ticket counter from where you can get the tickets. But what if you reach and find out that all the tickets for the day have been sold out? It's quite disheartening.
You may get the tickets for the next day or 2-3 days after, and this can only be possible when its a holiday time. But why to take a risk when we have the option to book a ticket beforehand online.
And yes, this is the mistake I had done, and thus, I don't want anyone of you to make the same mistake. So, let's check out how to book The Statue of Unity tickets online.
The Statue of Unity Ticket Booking
Booking the tickets of The Statue of Unity online is a simple process. You have to follow the instructions mentioned below:
1) You have to visit the official website for booking the tickets for The Statue of Unity, soultickets.in
2) From the menu option, click on "Book Tickets"
3) Under the Book Tickets option, you will find 12 options, where the first 3 includes the Bus service (which will take you to the Statue of Unity and towards the entry), complimentary access to the Light and Sound show, Sardar Sarovar Dam viewpoints, and Valley of Flowers.
Other options include Boating, River rafting, children nutrition park, cycling, and much more.
But in this article, we will solely talk about the Statue of Unity tickets, which you have to choose from the first three options itself.
SoU Express Entry
The SoU express entry ticket option helps you to avoid standing in long queues while viewing the gallery in addition to the SoU entry followed by the bus service, Sardar Sarovar Dam viewpoints, complimentary access to Light and Sound show and Valley of Flowers. The price will be higher than other two options.
SoU Viewing Gallery
The SoU viewing gallery ticket gives you access to the viewing gallery along with the bus service, Sardar Sarovar Dam viewpoints, complimentary access to light and sound show, and Valley of Flowers.
SoU Entry Ticket
The SoU Entry ticket doesn't give you access to the viewing gallery. This ticket gives you access to bus service, Sardar Sarovar Dam viewpoints, museum, audiovisual gallery, and complimentary access to light and sound show.
According to me, the best ticket option is the second one, SoU Viewing Gallery, and if you don't want to stand in the queues, then you can go for Option 1 too.
4) Once you select the option among the above three options mentioned, click on the Book Ticket option, and a pop-up window will appear, asking your phone number.
You need to enter your phone number and click on Send OTP to your inbox. Once you receive the OTP on your mobile, enter the same in the box to login.
5) After entering the OTP, you will log in, and it will redirect you to the page where you have to select the date of your visit to the Statue of Unity, followed by the number of tickets you want to book.
UPDATE: I have read a newspaper lately, that many people are purchasing the tickets of the Statue of Unity online and selling in black outside the venue. And thus, one rule has been passed that each person can only book 6 tickets at a time. (Source- Divya Bhaskar (Ahmedabad))
You can check the screenshot of the same attached below.
The prices of the tickets are different for adults and children; you can select the option accordingly. Click on Next.
6) Now you will be redirected to the next page, where you have to enter the contact details, including your names, phone number, and email address. Make sure you enter the correct information because the tickets will be sent to that email address. Click on Next.
7) On the next page, you will see the cart where you can review your selection. Don't forget to read the terms and conditions, including the cancellation policy. Check the terms and conditions box, click on Next for the payment.
8) On the payment page, you will get the options to make the payment, including the Net Banking, Credit/Debit card, or SOU wallet. You can select any one option and make the payment.
9) And it is done. Yes! Your tickets for the Statue of Unity has finally been booked.
You will get the tickets in the PDF format in your email. You need not get the print. You have to save the file on your phone and show the same on the entry when you reach.
Above, I have mentioned the ticket format how it will look like after you receive it.
Posted by Nitin Maheta | January 04, 2020
Comments: 0
In continuation of my last post, which I had published yesterday, I would like to introduce myself in brief here. I am Mr. Nitzz (Nitin Maheta), a professional blogger and a Passionate YouTuber. I had recently started with Travel Vlogging.
The first thing is that we all know that our existence in this big world is much more than what words can explain. And if you have this life, then explore the things around you because you have just got one experience. And this is the only reason I took a step further out of my comfort box and started Travel Vlogging. Most of us love traveling, but only a few of us know that while traveling, we should keep a few things in mind. First of all, is Security followed by which place we are visiting or traveling to, what we need to carry, the hotel pre-bookings, and much more to have a smooth and safe journey followed by more exploration of the place.
I knew that I would be traveling from Rajkot to Vadodara, followed by visiting Kevadia, the place where the Statue of Unity is situated, and it will take around 8 to 9 hours. According to the time, I started my journey by bus. We all know that Indian coaches don't have a specific running time. And thus, I didn't give any thought about my hotel booking because since I traveled through a bus, I would have been late or would have reached the place by night. We didn't plan a hotel booking. Then my friend Bhavesh Sondagar who reached the spot, Kevadia 4 hours before me searched for the hotel room, and after continuous efforts, for 3 hours, we got the one. And honestly, this is one of the biggest mistakes we do while traveling.
Here I want to say that we should have booked the Hotel and made all the Reservations before starting our travel to the place so that we can save time and explore the area.
The Statue of Unity Tickets
We both reached and stayed at the Hotel on the night of 13th December 2019, and the very next day, that is 14th December 2019, we had to visit the Statue of Unity. And here we made one more mistake as we didn't book the tickets in advance and thus, we couldn't be able to visit the place. So, if you are planning to visit the Statue of Unity anytime soon, then do make sure to book the tickets online. And if you don't get the tickets, then you need to wait for another day. So, thinking about how to book the tickets? Don't worry, as I have already posted the video over my YouTube Channel, and here I have also posted the article as well.
Video Shoot Equipment
Camera Memory Card:
After visiting the Statue of Unity, all I needed was to shoot the video. In the beginning, the video shoot started correctly, but since I had an 8GB memory card, I faced an issue. I managed to transfer all the footage to my phone and did format the memory card and started shooting again. Till this point, all went good. But when I moved these footages, the old ones got replaced. Since the names of the footages were the same, I lost more than 30 footages.
The thing to learn here is that I should have carried more than two memory cards with me for maximum storage space. Also, I should have learned about the camera settings before moving the footage to my phone because we can do the simple camera settings when it comes to the name of the footage.
Camera Battery:
My camera had only one battery, and I didn't carry an extra one. And this was another big mistake I did. I was traveling and shooting, and thus, I should have taken a spare battery so that if my camera goes off, I can continue the shoot. I didn't face any issue, but by the end of the video shoot, my camera's battery dozed off, and I couldn't be able to shoot the last few minutes of the video.
These were some of the mistakes I did on the first trip. But I purchased two new 64GB memory cards before traveling further. You might think why I bought two? Because one memory card might get corrupted. So, for a safer side, I bought two. And along with this, I also purchased an extra camera battery. And the next video shoot I did gave my best without facing any fear of losing the footages or the battery issue.
So, now let's see what more mistakes I will do in my future visits and what these mistakes make us learn. I will share all my experiences like these here. Also, I will be active on all the social media channels, including Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. So, don't forget to follow me and subscribe to my YouTube channel.
Last but not least, I would also like to have your feedback, your suggestions, your experiences if any. You can comment below, or you can even comment on my YouTube channel.
