Statue of Unity, India - Dec. 2021
After Covid-19, this was our first family trip in December 2021. Me, Pranjal, Aadi, Sushma Tai, Chani, Vaibhavi, Aarya, Kavya and Amma - we are nine who always organize trips together. This time we decided to travel by train with a reservation. I remember, the last time we traveled by train in 2011, exactly 10 years before when we went to Goa in May 2011. I and Vaibhavi were planning the trip. We checked the availability of trains and we were already too late for reservations. We decided to go to Vadodara, stay in Vadodara for one day then go to the Statue of Unity, stay there for one day and returned. Vijay bhauji - Vaibhavi's husband also joined us.
Mumbai to Statue of Unity
We reserved tickets for the Saurashtra Express train. We traveled to Vadodara and stayed in PM Regency Hotel. It was just 5 minutes away from railway station and we booked it after going there. The facility and food were good.
The next day we roamed around the city and did the shopping. 😁 We planned to visit the Palace but it was closed. Do not visit it on Monday. There was one Rajasthan fair. We bought many things from there including saree, cloths, household things, jewellery, food items etc.
Where is Statue of Unity
Statue of Unity is located near Kevadia, Gujarat. We caught a bus from Vadodara to Kevadia and reached Statue of Unity. It's an amazing place. You need to book the tickets online. Traveling by bus is free of cost from one place to another. The whole area is built on a large place having world-class facilities for the tourist. We visited at Christmas and new year's time, so it was crowdy.
Important Instructions for Visitors
1. Tickets can be booked online in advance.
2. There is a provision to book offline tickets for the same day by Credit / Debit card only.
3. Offline tickets can be booked at Shreshth Bharat Bhavan.
Places to visit near Statue of Unity
1. River Rafting
We did River Rafting first. It was a thrilling experience. We all did it the first time. I scare of water but thought to overcome my fear and I took the right decision. They trained us first for rafting. They taught us some sign language and safety tricks. The trainer told us that this river rafting was moderate - not so risky and not so easy. There was one 50+ aged lady in our group. I took inspiration from her that if she could do it, why can't I?
Then we proceeded to visit other places and the Statue. We had an online booking for all the places and the time was mentioned on all the tickets. So we had to rush to be there in time.
2. Jungle Safari Statue of Unity
We visited Jungle Safari Zoo there. It was awesome. Aadi had a good time there. Several animals well dwelled in the zoo. There was a reptile park also. We could not see the bird park due to less time. Aadi wanted to see it badly but somehow we convinced him.
3. Statue of Unity inside View
We booked the tickets for the Statue of Unity and we need to reach there in time. We went up in the statue by lift. We waited almost 2 hours to get into the lift. We read the history of Unity over there. I was very mesmerized by the whole history. We had a view from the chest of the statue. The view was splendid.
We already had been to Al Burj Khalifa, Dubai, the tallest building in the world. So Pranjal was not so amazed by the view. Aadi was thinking about Bird Park which he missed out on. I was also expecting more but the view was very simple. The statue is hollow inside and we could see big pillars and the structure only. It was a little bit disappointing.
4. Glow Garden Statue of Unity
We visited Unity Glow Garden in the late evening. Everyone loved this new concept of the garden. We had a good time together, taking photos and videos. I felt very refreshing over there and liked the artwork.
5. Cactus Garden Statue of Unity
We could not get a hotel there. So we preferred a homestay in two bungalows. The next day, other members went to the Children Nutrition park for the children. They had a lot of fun there. I and Chani visited Cactus garden and Ekta Plant Nursery as we both share our love for plants. You can see Sardar Sarovar Dam on the Narmada river backside.
6. Butterfly Garden Statue of Unity
We had a short and fast visit to Butterfly Garden due to shortage of time. I couldn't take photos over there.
Statue of Unity nearest Railway Station
Same day night, we caught the Mumbai train from Kevadiya railway station which is the nearest railway station from Statue of Unity. We traveled the whole night and reached Borivali early morning. It was an excellent trip for 3 days which gave us the pleasure of travel, sightseeing, shopping, thrilling and much more.
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