lothal@this-sunday.com

.. I had realized on Saturday that Sunday was going to be same old story, getting up, breakfast, TV, heavy lunch, a 4 hour afternoon siesta, lazy evening, dinner at a place chosen by others, sleep again..

This is no life for me, so I started for Lothal, 80 km from Ahmedabad. On way, I filled up my coffee flask for the 1.5 hour journey. Made some sandwiches, as my Sahil also tagged along. Road after Changodar was awesome, we soon arrived at 'Gallops' for a nice chai, halted for a while, took a left and drove 40 odd kms on Bhavnagar highway.

Dad & Sonny have great chemistry!! he enjoyed every moment of the drive, I enjoyed seeing him enjoy. He is turning out to be a perfect future traveler. Along with him, he brought a pair binoculars, drawing book, charcoal pencils, and his favorite Lays - American style Cream n Onion packets. He sipped 'Appy Fizz' in between and smiled at me occasionally saying, "this is life daddy". I smiled... and said "yeah baby, enjoy...".

Overcast sky greeted us with an occasional shower, rain started pouring prity heavy as we neared Lothal. I would have missed the sharp left for Lothal, had not my baby shouted.. 'daddy yaar, left le, left le.. tu kidhar jaa raha hai", he is a  perfect navigator :) 

The 7 km inroad was through semi-arid plains, rain created a wonderful sight. We finally touched Lothal at 11:35.

As we read the board, we got to know that it was excavated between 1955 & 60. and was the southern most outpost of Indus valley civilization, dating to 2300 BC !! and was one of the most unique lock gate dockyard... perhaps the greatest maritime architecture from ancient world. Standing here and one can feel the hustle-bustle this port town must have had ages ago.

Lothal means - the mound of dead. A massive flood destroyed this township in 2350 BC. In the remains you can see the foundations of the dockyard, the granary, paved roads, and an amazing drainage system to take care of storm water. A mud brick wharf helped in cargo movement. The jewelery and other artifacts recovered during the excavation as kept in the nearby museum.

A must visit place for all. It can be done in a day. Gujarat Tourism has a cafeteria here, but not up to the mark.

As i conclude, I remember a nice quote by Robert Louis Stevenson.

“For my part, I travel not to go anywhere, but to go. I travel for travel’s sake. The great affair is to move.”

Day ended with a gripping finals between Span & the Netherlands.... Spain won .. woohuuuu !!!

Overall... a perfect day :)  Next Sunday... it will be Sun Temple at Modhera.