Saputara on Motorcycle

In reality Sunday August 24 was my first day in Saputara, Gujarat’s own hill station. I was out of bed by 5 am as usual and started my morning walk from the circuit house. The difference here was that I had an umbrella in my hand and no particular road to walk, unlike in Ahmedabad. It was Janmastami, a holiday.
Just near the ST stand, I met a group of three couples. They were looking for some place to refresh themselves. I was not able to help them as I had no idea. A little ahead I saw a luxury bus parked. Its passengers were going through the daily chore of brushing teeth and washing face while some snacks and tea was being prepared on a stove.
I picked up the busy Saputara Nasik road and after the bridge on the lake, I turned to the right and I was on the ropeway road. I was alone. Whistles of different notes and scales was like birds flirting with me. Occasionally, some bird hovered over me in a seductive style luring me to take path to the trees on the left side of the road. I made a round trip and reached Tourism guest house for tea.
Here I met the group that had asked me for a place to refresh. They recognized me. I learnt that they had no accommodation as Saputara was full and they were staying in the Innova in which they had come from Rajkot. They would continue to roam around in their car and return home in the evening. Holidays are the days when there is no accommodation available in Saputara and hundreds enjoy the hill station with their own accommodations on wheels.
I feel that some cloak room facility with toilet and bathroom can be of a great help to tourists both budget tourists and those who want to hang round in adventure spirit.
Around 9 my local guide Ramesh Chaudhary, Talati of Saputara was there to take me around the place. He had borrowed a motorcycle of a friend with whom he shared a room. In Saputara, most of people live without family. They are government employees and prefer to keep their families in cities. On holidays, when people come here, they either go home or bring their family here. So everyone lives here like a tourist. Ramesh was also to go to his village in the afternoon.
I asked him just to move round the places of tourist attraction to save his time. I had met a person Pandu in the Tourism guest house. He had told me about Nanda’s temple and said that it brought good luck to his village Navagam. He was talking about the Ganesh temple after the echo point. Guardian secretary S K Nanda had helped villagers a lot in building the temple right from the selection of land to the idol and the direction of its installation in the temple.
It was a case where people and places have different identity. For villagers, it was Nanda’s Mandir! I went there and found number of tourists having darshan of Dakshinavarti Lord Ganesh.
From here, my next point was the Governor’s hill. Here one can enjoy the beauty of Saputara in the ropeway. Rs 40 for a 20 minute return ride is worth having. It is such a steep climb to the Hill that buses stop halfway and many drivers have to negotiate their gear controls to maintain forward journey. And as I feared, my friend Naresh stopped the motorcycle and I got off the vehicle and walked the climb.
It is called Governor’s hill because there was a plan to have Governor’s residence here. But the plan did not materialize. However, Saputarat’s elevated point got a name Governor’s hill.
On Governor’s hill, it was just fun and frolic. Spirit of bonhomie floated in the air with the clouds. A group of young tourists had deck of their car on and they were dancing. Light showers made it rain dance. Some were having camel ride while some other enjoyed horse ride. Sweet corns and tea vendors made good business. What was noticeable that these vendors did not charge extra, better than the lot at Saputara circle who fleeced everyone.
I wanted to cross the border just one kilometer from the Saputara circle. Naresh took me to Hathgad in Maharashtra, five kilometers from Saputara. His friend has a shop there. He and his family told stories about Shivaji who used to stay in the fort while moving towards Gujarat. Stories of long tunnels from the fort has the usual charm of such stories associated with most of the forts.
Just across the border, some major hotels of Saputara have wine and dine facility. Certainly a nice way to offervale added service to the customers of dry Gujarat. Many from Surat come here with the one point agenda of boozing like north Gujarat and Saurashtra crowd going to Mount Abu in Rajasthan.
We returned to Saputara. I forced Naresh to have lunch with me before going to his village, a bus journey of about four hours. He took me to a Dhaba of his choice and we two had a sumptuous lunch for Rs 70. I am not sure whether his friend offered some concession or it was a usual rate.
After some rest in the circuit House, I began the second leg of round the Saputara on leg. I had to meet Yogesh Goswami who has artist’s village here. I did no him as a friend of mine Mandeep Kaler who was here with tourism office couple of years back had given his reference. I felt like getting myself shaved. We tend to appear good before strangers and probably that the reason for looking for a barber.
In the morning while going to Hathgadh with Naresh I had learnt that there is only one petrol pump in Saputara. It is near the border. People going to Maharashtra take petrol from here because petrol and diesel are costlier in Maharashtra. My search for the barber took me to Santosh, the only barber in Saputara. His shop is in a corner of the New shopping centre. Since this is the only shopping centre, a group of about three dozen shops and eateries, I did not feel like probing details of the old shopping centre.
In the evening, it was raining. I had reached the lake to enjoy boating, but could not go for the ride because of the rains. I had three rounds of special tea while sitting under a shelter at a corner of the lake. I thought of trying a fast food centre at the lake. Rates were not much. I had to order three different snacks to get a feel of some stuff in my belly. It never happened in Ahmedabad, nor was it an effect of hilly water. The catch was in quantity.
There is nothing like local food at the eating joints, though roti of Nagli and pickle of bamboo are the popular varieties of Dangis. In such a case, I think Buffet system of Gujarat tourism of Rs 60 is a good choice when one is not fussy about food in travel. Even otherwise, Gujaratis look around for Gujarati food when they go out of Gujarat.

Herbal steam bath of Mangubhai

Despite all my efforts to have the best time management, I reached Saputara around noon. The moment I reached the circuit house, there was Mangoobhai waiting for me. He is Bhagat, a herbal healer. Dr. Deepak Acharya who is working among Bhagats of the Dangs had arranged my meeting with him. Deepak recently published a book on tribal herbal medicines along with Anshu Shrivastav. The book is a treasure of tribal formulations and traditional herbal herbal practices.

Dr. Acharya, a botanist, initially worked with herbal healers of Patalkot in Madhya Pradesh. These illiterate but masters of medicinal plants and herbal therapy are known as Bhumkas in Patalkot while in the Dangs Bhagat is their common name, says Dr. Acharya. Infact a long talk with Dr. Acharya inspired me to visit the Dangs and further talks with Dr. S K Nanda, guardian secretary, the Dangs, finally brought me here through my adventure journey.
I asked Mangoobhai about his way of diagnosis and treatment of patients. He said that if patient knew about the problem and had medical diagnosis he depended on that, otherwise Nadi parikshan was his way. His Nadi parikshan is not limited to the vein of the hand. He would put his hand in a typical form at the heart, base of the throat and the lower brain portion of the circle.
70 year old Mangoobhai is candid. He says in half of the cases he was right. Arthritis, kidney problems are some of the areas where he is the best, he says. Mangoobhai Bhoye has studied upto fourth standard. His two sons are also with him in his profession. His son goes to Nasik and Surat once in a fortnight. Earlier Mangoobhai used to go.
In Nasik, a man has given him accommodation. He was very pleased by Mangoobhai's treatment of his daughter who had paralysis. The girl was cured and her father asked Mangoobhai to visit Nasik to treat people of the pilgrim place. Similarly, a heart patient has given him space in Surat for his fortnight consultancy for the benifit of the people of Surat.
He lives in Shivarimal about 21 kilometers from Saputara. I decided to go to his village and see him in action. We had Lunch at Purohit Hotel, the first private hotel of the Dangs set up in 1982. He did not want to eat anything and he preferred to be with Natubhai Purohit the owner of the Hotel who also happens to be his regular client.
The moment we came out, a lady accosted Mangoobhai. She said that she saw his vehicle and stopped to meet him. Otherwise she was going to contact him, according to her. She had sprained leg and wanted Mangoobhai to treat it with his herbal lotion. Mangoobhai pointed out that for that she would have to come to his village. She got into the vehicle of Mangoobhai. His son was driving it.
On the way, I asked about her. She was principal of Ritumbhara School and had great faith in Mangoobhai. I asked her if she was Ramila Patel. This surprised her. I told her of meeting with the Principal Anoopsinhji Parmar in the Bilimora- Saputara bus in the morning. He had given her reference as a reliable source to know about Saputara.
At times we meet people so accidentally that the world appears to be very small! But there are also cases when people from the same area do not come across each other for years. These are called the vagaries of life!
His clinic in the village is in the herbal background, green. Here I learnt about his herbal massage and steam bath. A person was taking steam bath. His steam bath machine is an excellent innovation which adds to the natural herbs and shrubs.
After about 20 minute vigorous massage of oil of herbs and shrubs, one is made to sit on a chair in a wooden box. Steam is generated in a tin box having herbal water in it. The steam bath session is of 10 to 20 minutes depending in the strength of the individual.
Explaining this, Mangoobhai says that people with gastric problem find it very difficult to sit even for five minutes in the first session. Later on they can sit for long. All this for Rs 170. Mangoobhai says that the massage and steam bath have a general effect on the body besides special effect on people with all kind of pains. He says that it reduces weight also, about a kilo per massage. Though the weight loss is small, it is permanent, he says.
Judging my curiosity, Mangoobhai made me have have massage and the steam bath. I can say that I really find myself very light for the next two –three days. Today when people come to Kerala for the herbal massage, they can come to Saputara also. Infact, Gujarat Tourism can market Dang herbal massage as its speciality and these Dangis can get good price for their knowledge of herbs and skills of massage.
Mangoobhai has his two sons, his sister-in-law and several other relatives in the job. His nephew Ashok while giving me massage said that it requires someone like a relative to do all sundry jobs to make the business success. Buses between Saputara and this village are few.
Ramilaben's husband came on a motorcycle and she had left. I and my local guide, Talati of Saputara, Ramesh Chaudhary, were with Mangoobhai. We missed the last bus of 6 pm in intimate and educative conversation with the master healer Mangoobhai and his sons. Even otherwise there are not many buses. We waited on the road to get lift in some truck. None stopped. Ultimately, Mangoobhai's vehicle dropped us back to Saputara.
Local transport is a major problem in the district and either you should have your vehicle for smooth movement or you should have the patience to enjoy the stillness of life in the picturesque Dangs with its hill station Saputara.
In the Circuit House, I wanted a room having view of the valley. But there was no such room vacant. Nilesh, the manager, was quite apologetic that he could not get me the room of my choice. I had taken the help of Nanda to get accommodation in holiday season and Nilesh was sorry that he was not able to treat the guest of Nanda who is more than a guardian secretary to the people of the district.
Nanda meets people mingles with them like a local. He has created a sort of record by being the guardian secretary of the district for more than a dozen year. No other IAS is known to survive as guardian secretary of a district for so long.
For the next two days, I used a bench in the compound to have the look of the beautiful valley from there. I sat outside watching the beauty of Saputara. Hotel Vaiety, at a great height, looked like something hanging like a luminous UFO of the story books.

Century of Rest Houses of the Dangs

The Dangs, area which has world’s best teak known as Indian teakwood, is dotted by the rest houses. For the officers of the Forest Department and tourists they are there like the forests of the Dangs and its teak trees.
These rest houses were built between 1904 and 1908 and thus they are completing 100 years this year. Today, officers of the Department, politicians and their relatives are the frequent visitors here. In sanctuaries, nature lovers also stay here provided the room is vacant.
No one knows the reason for building the rest houses. No doubt they offered temporary base to the Forest officers on the job. Gujarat Tourism Minister Jay Narayan says that these rest houses are generally at an average distance of ten kilometers. He says that the common mode of transport in the Dangs in those days was elephant and the elephant could walk about ten kilometers a day.
Guardian secretary of the Dangs, S K Nanda, says that these rest houses are at important timber points where the officers could keep a check on the things.
DFO C K Sonwane has a very interesting story, though I have not found any corroboration. He says that the rest houses were built in view of the possible visit of the queen. She did not come, but these rest houses were built.
I think this was mainly because it was in 1902 that the Forest Department got direct control of the Dangs. Through an order of December 8, 1992 , the administration of the Dangs was transferred from the Collector and Political Agent Khandesh to Collector and Political agent Surat.
At the same time, to check the wanton destruction of the forest wealth, Bombay Government appointed the Divisional Forest Officer ex-officio Assistant Political agent in the Dangs with powers of a First Class Magistrate. As a result the effective administration of the District was passed on to the Forest Department. And this brought rest houses in the existence.
Log Hut of the Forest Department in Saputara is one of the best places to stay. And like anything beautiful, it is in short supply, just two luxury rooms! The photograph in the story is a view from the rest house of the Mahal sanctuary. Here one can hear Purnia flowing round the year with the sound of the water giving a natural thematic background to the chirping of birds sometime punctuated by the sound of vehicles passing over the bridge .

Always Independent Dangis

The Dangs was never part of British Rule even though the British were present in the Dangs as elsewhere in the country. This may sound strange but is a fact. Four Rajas and 10 Naiks of the Dangs were always fighting those who tried to interfere in their rule.
They would set Indian teak wood rich forests afire whenever they feared any exploitation by the British. The teak wood was needed for ships for Royal Navy. This forced British to get the forests on lease by pampering the Rajas of the Dangs.
District Gazetteer of the Dangs observes “The conquest of the Dangs was not primarily by force but by the outstanding personality of Sir James Outram, who visited the area as a young man and won the confidence of inhabitants, raised a Bhil Corps which in 1827 numbered 600 rank and file and suppressed plundering.
Divisional Forest Officer, C K Sonwane, young IFS with a probing mind, says that Outram knew Dangi very well and Dangis regarded Outram as one of them. Obviously, this quality helped him raised Bhil Corps and made them fight their own Dangi brothers.
Dangs had continued to be a foreign territory subject to the Rights of the British Government as a lessee. The administration of the Dangs was run under the Foreign Jurisdiction Act. This position continued till the merger in the Indian territoryas a part of the Bombay State in 1947.
No merger agreement was taken from the Rajas on the ground that they were too illiterate and were not able to understand the implications of any agreement signed by them.Their consent to the merger was presumed by the Bombay Government.
Interestingly, the Rajas whom Government of India considered illiterate and did not consult they gathered at Ahwa on January 25, 1947 and opposed the decision. They even passed two resolutions against merger in the Bombay State.
The question of the rights and privileges of the Rajas and Naiks was decided in 1954. They ceased to be rulers and became political pensioners under the Rule. This pension is paid even today in the Dang Darbar held around Holi. Collector pays this pension to them.

Tips to make Saputarat a tourist's heaven

Saputara is great. It does not require any artificial tourist attraction. But the tourist facilities at Gujarat's own hill station lack human touch. It has museum, but it remains closed on Holidays when people come here.

It has biggest government accommodation for tourists, but it costs more on the days when crowds of tourists come here. This is the only place where there are two rates every week. On Monday, Tuesday ,Wednesday and Thursday it is off season and so lesser tarrif while on the week ends starting Friday it is "on season" and so double tarrif. Even in this if there is holiday on off season day, it is with double rate.

A little change in the tourist services can make the tourist experience a happy one. These tips do not need much expenditure, but it can turn Saputara experience of a visitor something to be repeated to be relived.
1 Literature about Saputara describes it as the only hill station of Gujarat. It is a fact, but expression like Gujarat's own hill station will be more meaningful and brand generating coinage.
2 People must have all the necessary information about Saputara and around to have a good travel experience. Website of the State Transport must be kept updated about tourist destinations.

3 No private luxury bus goes to Saputara. All buses to Nashik and Shirdi go through other route. Private bus operators should be persuaded to take up Saputara as a must destination.
4 Saputara bus stop should be repaired and fenced. There should be tourist friendly information. Controller's cabin has advertisements of private company. It should be replaced by Sap[utara centric information.
5 Saputara circle should have information about sightseeing places in detail instead of the present signages.
6There should be a big place at the circle to meet the need of tourists for toilet and bathroom. A clock room facility here can make any tourist travel free and light even if he is not willing to go for hotel accommodation.
7 Vendors at the circles should be encouraged to talk positive about the place so that passer by visitors are tempted to prolong their stay. This is true for Tourism and circuit house staff and others involved in the hospitality industry here.
8 Hotels, restaurants and other eating joints should be asked to promote ethnic food like rotli and papad of nagli and bamboo pickles. They can have dangi food festival during the peak period when Saputara crowd overspills on footpath and crammed in cars.
9 Gujarat tourism has anti tourist tariff pattern. It should be immediately changed keeping the economy budget tourist in mind.

10 There should some organised system for getting vehicle for sightseeing. Some taxi stand with big board at Saputara circle can help tourist get vehicle as in Mount Abu and other places.
11 Museum and other government managed tourist attractions should remain open on Sundays and other holidays . At present holiday crowd is not exposed to Museum and other places.
12Mobile connectivity is a major problem. Signals vanish quite frequently. Tower network needs to be strengthened.There should be cyber cafes and more PCOs to meet the need of communication.
13 Major hotels like Anando and Chitrkoot have opened their bars in Hathgadh in the adjoining Maharashtra, just five kilometers or so from the border. These joints are advertised in Saputara. It is undesirable.
14 Bhagats- herbal healers of the Dangs are well versed with medicinal herbs and shrubs. Some of them even offer massage and steam bath. They can be promoted to make Saputara a new destination of medical tourism like Kerala. Government has already provided a platform to these bhagats through Bhagat Mandli in Ahwa with budget for operation infrastructure.
These are the measures that do not require money. We have to change the way things are there. But it will have a telling effect.

Journey to Saputara - an adventure

Saputara, Gujarat's own hill station has great potential for adventure sports. Its eco tourism circuits offer adventure to nature loving tourists. But for me going to Saputara itself turned out to be a great adventure. Stay at the hill station added to my thrill as every moment was filled by adventure. These man made challenges were at times more tough than what nature has created in Saputara and around.
I decided to go on August 15, holiday, to fully experience the charm of the hill station. There were three holidays in a series and some creative brains had turned it into a mini vacation of five days by taking one leave. So it was a full crowd holiday. Trains were running late and I thought that bus was a better option. Only State Transport buses go to Ahwa and Saputara. No one seems to know why no private luxury bus goes to Saputara, Gujarat's own hill station.
I checked bus timings from the internet as I could not make anyone lift phone in the inquiry. It appears that IT savvy staff of the State Transport wants people not to use outdated telephone system. You keep on trying the inquiry telephone number, it can be a good pass time if you have patience. In the timetable on the website it is quite interesting to find that Vadodara –Saputara route shows more buses coming from Ahmedabad as compared to Ahmedabad – Saputara route. Inquiry at the window shows much less!

Ahmedabad- Saputara shows four buses while Vadodara-Saputara shows 11 buses of which nine are through Ahmedabad ! If you want to find out timings of Saputara-Ahmedabad buses from the internet, you can't. Saputara does not exist in the from column of the chart!!
I reached at the bus stop at 5.45 as there were two buses for Ahwa at 6 am. (Ahwa is the district headquarters) One can go to Saputara via Ahwa or by changing buses on the way. There were some other passengers also. After 6.30, I made an inquiry at the booth. I was told that bus will go. Others were also waiting. They had the coolness of the Saputara simplicity of trust of tribal in their approach and I also followed them. At 7.40 a bus Ahmedabad Saputara came. Before I could reach there, it was full. It had come from Nehrunagar, part of Ahmedabad.
Fellow passengers kept on reassuring me that bus would come. Same was the positive attitude of the controller at the booth. I really took it as a patience building personality development exercise. By 9.45, I lost all hopes even as others continued to reassure me. I must say that we Indians have great patience. All continued to chase every coming bus to find out whether it was bus to Ahwa, But no one disturbed the authorities .I resolved to develop some foolproof method next time and made way back to home.
I am also an Indian with great faith in positive powers. Next day when police announced success in serial bomb blast case, I felt that probably it was because of this that I could not go to the Dangs, the district which has Saputara. Finally, I decided to go by train. I inquired with many, but did not get a definite route of train to make my trip least time consuming. Ultimately, I got into Gujarat queen and reached Valsad past midnight. Somehow I managed to get a bed to sleep in the government Vishramgruh (rest house).

Next morning, it was another series of experiment, when people gave me strange look at Valsad ST stand on my query for bus to Saputara. Interestingly, Saputara is just 130 kilometers from Valsad. The man in the inquiry told me that there was only one bust at 9 am. At that time, it was 5.45 am. It was difficult for me to convince him that I had seen more than one bus to the Dangs in the morning on the website. There are six buses on the web timetable on Valsad- Saputara route. Most interesting is the fact, that the 9 am bus mentioned by the Controller is not shown in web time table.
I had some sense of direction and some names in my mind as I had done lot to research for coming to Saputara.I got into a bus going to Ahmedabad. I met principal of school of Motivalzar, Anupsinji Parmar who had been going to Vansda for the last 28 years. Vansda is on the way to Ahwa and Saputara both. He became my guide. We got down at Chikhli. He said that there were some long distance buses. He continued to tell me that he was a Rajput and his village Kukeri and Chapaldhara had maximum number of teachers in the Dangs. Every house had three four teachers in these villages dominated by Rajputs. For the journalist Yogesh Sharma it was a great creative achievement.
In the meantime, he drew my attention to a local Bilimora- Saputara bus and said that I should get into that bus without waiting for the express. Journalist in me said that like a good student I should have experience of traveling in local bus and learn about local people. By now, I had told Anupsinhji that I was a writer. This saved me of suspicious looks the word media invites from people. Now people can tell you how media works and what it should do. They say all this in quite a patronizing way.

He showed me pucca houses of tribal and gave me brief about his views of selective benefits of reservation policy to make sure that all people got benefit. He said that half of the tribal who got benefit and raised their standard of living were the enemies of the other half. These haves should not get benefits until the have-nots also got the fruits of reservation policy. All along the 101 km route I saw boys in jeans and girls in dresses. It was really difficult to say that adivasis were backward. The story of the eastern part of the Dangs is different, as I realised on the third day of my adventure trip.
The local bus which had started from Bilimora, 10 kilometers from Chikli, was late by an hour. There were no rains. Long buses were also late. I do not know in what conditions the web timetable and GPS systems work. Any how, I reached Saputara around noon. It took four hours for 101 kilometers. Enough to make someone boil. But, cool breeze of Saputara had a soothing feeling.
The bus stop was bus stop because bus stopped there and passengers offloaded themselves. No fencing. Dilapidated building. Holy cows with their dung all around was the great sign of our Indian culture. Two huge hordings of Chief Minister Narendra Modi with a smiling face were the welcome signs. I asked about the circuit house. Canteen boy showed me the way up the hills. I looked around for a vehicle. People stared into my eyes when I asked them. I thanked God that I was still a proverbial able bodied man and climbed the steep rise with my bags. I wonder what handicapped people without their own car or taxi would do.
I decided to explore Saputara myself. Invoked my childlike spirit of inquiry but got dumb response from people. I asked about 20 people that what is in Saputara to see. All were unanimous that there was nothing to see in Saputara. One person told me that it was good for people with "mental problems" to have rest. I really wonder what will investment of crores of rupees do in a town where no one thinks that Saputara has something to see.

Saputara circle is just half a kilometer from the ST stand. Cars and buses stop here on the way to Shirdi and other places in Maharstra and on return from there. Tourists stay just for couple of hours though Tourism Department has good accommodation.It is maximum in Gujarat. At the same time, it is only in Saputara that Gujarat Tourism accommodation has weekly changing rates. More charges on holidays. Four days in a week, it is off season and on Friday Saturday Sunday, Tourism charges double because it is tourist season. Private hotels are very costly.
I tried to find some transport to move around the places shown on the hoardings with direction. But there was none to tell what Governor's hills means or echo point has. Directions have no meaning without explanation. Later on I found that at the circle, I can hire a vehicle for Rs 300 or Rs 400 for sightseeing. But During my two days in Saputara I could not detect any such vehicle. These people have probably tied up directly with the hotels. There is no private taxi booth to contact these persons.
Making these queries, I realised that I should get myself shaved. With my misadventures with my moustaches in young college days, I trust barbe rmore for my shave. After all he is a professional while those who shave themselves can be put in the category of ametures. I found that Saputara had only one barber, Santosh. His shop is in a corner in the crowded market called new shopping. I did not try to find about the old shopping as people told me that there is only one shopping i.e new shopping.
There is only one petrol pump in Saputara on the Nasik road. If you miss it, you do not get any petrol pump for several kilometers. People say that there is Sulab toilet. Still, tourists, including women can be seen relieving themselves in open. On Saturday and Sunday night, no room was available. People slept in there vehicles and refreshed on roads. This is common on major holidays, a tea larri boy told me. Hotels are very costly and many cannot afford them.

I must admire the spirit of order of local police. It does not allow any vehicle to stop on the road. All are asked to go to the parking zone. You can imagine the situation of travelers who cannot afford costly hotels and police does not allow themselves to be on the road. There is Saputara museum. Every publicity brochure mentions about it. But on public holidays and Sunday it is closed. These are the days when people come here. But babus secure their holiday to go home.
Then who are the persons who come and stay here. Registration GJ-5 holds the key to this question. GJ-5 is for Surat, the wealthiest and costliest city of Gujarat. More than 80 percent tourists coming to Saputara for the stay are from Surat. It takes about four hours from Surat in one's own vehicle. Obviously to come to Saputara from Surat is more convenient and cheaper as compared to Ahmedabad as it takes eight to ten hours.
A trip to Saputara from Ahmedabad and back means around 1,000 km journey. Indica with going rate of Rs 4.5 a kilometer would cost around Rs 5,000. Stay of one day would add about Rs 1500 per person. One day trip to Saputara from Ahmedabad would cost 10,000 plus for a family of four. How many can afford it. Yes on working days staying charge is little less. But then what about the cost of break on working day?
Infact, cars like Indica and Zen are not suitable for steep gradients of Saputara's hilly roads. You need four wheel drive jeep or vehicle like Tavera or Innova. But then per kilometer charge can be anywhere from Rs 6.30 to Rs 10. No need to work out the cost lest your hearbeat races in the first gear load.

The best way to go to Saputara by train is to get down at Bilimora and take a bus from Bilimora or Chikhali to Saputara. If you want to go by your own vehicle from anywhere in central, north Gujarat or Saurashtra take the rout of Dabhoi, Rajpipla, Netrang , Mandvi and Vyara. From Vyara you can take up three different routes depending on your travel priorities. This is because Baroda –Surat High way is full of obstacles caused by ongoing work of new roads and fly overs. It will take several months that the road offers a smooth journey.

The Dangs - where Lords roamed

The Dangs area with rich forests and predominantly tribal population has been the great theatre of the Epic Ramayan and Mahabharat. Though neighboring Nashik is known for its association with Ramayan, the Dangs is yet to be fully explored for its rich history wrapped up in the myths and fables. Even these stories are not known to many in the region.
Lord Hanuman whom every Hindu invokes to deal with all kind of problems was probably born here. Anjanikund is the place in the Dangs where his mother Anjani used to bathe. Lord Hanuman was the Son of Pavan (Air) and Anjani and he is known as Pavanputra, Anajaniputra and Marutinandan. Maruti is synonym of air.
There is a story that while Lord Hanuman was taking a piece of mountain Dronachal from Himalaya for the treatment of Lakshman, a part of it fell and the region was filled with medicinal plants. It is said that the plants have properties of plants in Himalaya. Richness of plant species and medicine plants of the Dangs make us think that this could be true.
Unai hot water springs also has interesting story about its origin. During winter, Sita wanted hot water for the bath. She made a request to her husband the Lord Rama. Ram shot an arrow from his bow and the Unai hot water spring came into existense. After the bath, Sita said hunai (I have taken bath) and thus it is named Unai.

Ram performed Yagna. But there was shortage of Brahimns. He called some tribals and performed Janeu sanskaar, sacred thread ceremony of Brahmins. These Brahmins are called Anavil Brahmins as they belonged to the village Anavala. The village is still there. Desai's and Nayaks form Anavil Brahmins. However, until recently, Desai's rarely had marriage relations with Nayak's. Former Prime Minister Morarji Desai was an Anavil brahim.

Sitavan is the place where Sita used to live. This area has lots of monkey's and sitafal (pumpkins). No monkey eats Sitafal (a way to show respect to Sita by the descendents of Lord Hanuman who was monkey) Sitavan has a rich patch of mangoes. Officers of the forest department say that mango trees are in the Dangs, but they are scattered. Only in Sitavan there is such a rich patch.
Shabri, a Bhil lady had offered Berriess to Lord Rama while he was passing through the forest. She had tasted every berry to make sure that all were sweet. Despite Shabri having bit every berry, Lord Rama accepted the offer and at them. Subir is the area where Shabri used to live in the Ashram of the sage Matang . This is the only patch in the Dangs which has thorny shrub of berry!
Pandava is the place where five brothers Pandavas lived with their wife Draupadi . Five caves of Pandavas here is the testimony of the fact, people claim. Hedemba parvat is the place where Hedemba used to live. She had forced married Bhim one of the Pandavas and the couple had a child known as Ghatotkach. There is a temple of sage Parshuram.

This is the place which has witnessed great activity during the period of both Ramayan and Mahabharat. The heroes of both epics lived here during the period of their exile.