suvali beach hazira

We intended to stay at Hazira for a night and then go on to Surat. The reason is that Hazira has a small Bird Sanctuary or at any rate a place designated at Bird Sanctuary and it has extensive area under mangroves. This did not happen. Hazira does not have hotels. Hazira is merely a port extension of Surat. Staying in Hazira would not have made much difference as the Bird Sanctuary is a very small place and access to the mangroves is not that easy.

We travelled to Hazira/Surat from Bharuch/Ankleshwar along the coastal road visiting several small but beautiful places along the way. It was cloudy but we could still enjoy the serene beauty of the countryside.

Fungii growing on cow dung.

.Our stay in Surat was a disaster caused by continuous rains. Apart from this we did not find many places of interest to us in Surat. There are those two cemeteries- English & Dutch.

The Dutch one is quite interesting. The tombs are real big. The Dutch Company must have ben spending a lot of money on their directors, living or dead.

dscn5407

Currently the Government of India is spending money to restore the tombs.

the people doing the restoration work are from Rajasthan. The marble slabs and other decorative work on the tombs is of Rajasthani origin.

Surat has an aquarium but photography is prohibited inside. Fair enough.

The old fort of Surat is undergoing extensive renovations and repairs. It is expected to be preserved as a monument and museum after the restoration. We could see some exteriors.

Near the Fort, Surat has a pedestrian bridge across the River Tapi which is used extensively by Suratis for their morning walk.

Hazira is out and out an industrial town and port city. Nothing much of interest to us in the current travel programme. We pass through the town and the Bird Sanctuary and then visit Suvali Beach.