Day 2 (Dec 24, 2010): Mumbai to Vapi

As expected we had woken up late. So the earlier plan of leaving at 6 am failed. Destination for the day was Vapi where Dhaval (another friend) stayed and to be put up at his place. It was around 180 km. The day was going to be easy and we could afford to get a little late.

It was 9:30 am by the time we left. In no time we had hit the Ahmedabad highway. The traffic had started picking up. But we had space enough to keep moving. Half an hour later we reached Dahisar, where there was a long traffic jam and we were stuck. The bad start had got a little worse here. It took us around 45 min to get out of the jam. Sigh, what a relief once we got out! We thought it was wise to take a quick break and relax a bit before we moved ahead and we did.

The highway - NH8

We were out of the city limits now. After crossing the Vasai creek, the highway had gotten broader and almost empty. We were now enjoying the ride. The landscapes were changing rapidly. Greenery at places was so abundant that it hurt the eyes, while many a places were barren. We crossed a few rivers and creeks on bridges that varied in size. Most of the road was well done and the ride was smooth. Loads of trucks we found here, which blocked our way several times. So the speed we had caught up went down to something like 20 kmph. We then overtook and gathered momentum to be blocked by yet another and the game continued. It got a little irritating at times, but then we enjoyed the ride negotiating these trucks and overtaking them. With the feeling of being superior to them we reached Dhaval’s place at Vapi around 2 pm. 

Traffic on the highway - a different view!

We freshened up and spent quite a while chitchatting. I was meeting Dhaval after years. He never knew we were to come biking and when he happened to know, he said “Duniya mein pagal logon ki kami nahi hai” (The world is full of weirdos like you). 

Around 5 pm we set out for Daman. We went over to the jetty at Nani Daman. It was a beautiful evening. We had reached just before the sunset. We climbed up the fort walls to see the sun go down. The jetty, loads of ships and the vast sea everything seemed to be so scenic. Lost in the attractiveness, we helped ourselves with some street food and then headed to Janzibar for dinner.

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