Gira Falls, Saputara, Gujarat

Weekend was only two days away and I had still not made up my mind as to where to go exploring. Thankfully my predicament was solved when I overheard my colleagues sketching a plan to go biking to Saputara. Now, I had a bike and I had a future plan of going to Saputara too. So I jumped in. Saputara is about 160 kms from Surat, meaning, the earlier we started the better. Getting up at 4:15 in the AM is always a challenge. But when it comes to travelling they are only minor inconveniences. The other two bikes and their respective riders and pillion-riders assembled at our rendezvous point by 5AM. Without further ado we hit the road a.k.a SH168. The first break we took was after crossing Navsari and taking a left deviation towards Chikli. Riding a bike in Gujrat at 5AM on a March morning is no walk in the park. The biting cold of a chilly morning makes your fingers (and any exposed part of your body) go numb. My fingers were so stone-numb that I lost the sense of touch in them. Not wanting fall behind on the planned schedule, we were back on our saddles. Next stop was Gira Falls.

It would be fair to say there was no water in the “falls”. Nevertheless there was standing water in the levee built near the falls. This standing water provides a great mirror image of the rich green cover and the vast sky. On a good monsoon, the 30 m high Gira Falls is a sight to behold, they say. But there’s also a different kind of charm associated with a dried-up waterfalls. The rock formations taken shape from years of battering by the gushing waters is truly fascinating. The surprise package however was a sparkling Sunrise. It was quite magical to see the Sun rise from behind the woods. It was one of those very rare occasions during my travels when I could actually witness the Sun rise.

We would have spent a little more time there had it not been for the wish of getting a steaming cup of tea to get rid of the numbness. Pretty soon we were back on the highway and sipping a hot cup of tea and trying to regain the sensitivity of our hands.

Getting-there: Surat->Navsari->Chikli->Waghai->Giramal Village.

Must-Do: Visit during the monsoon to witness the glory of the falls.
Must-Don’t: Littering and misadventure.

My Rating: 5/10