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Gujarat Tour Diary: Day 02 | Satara to Mumbai

(If you have come to this page while searching for some travel related information of Gujarat, I suggest you start from Day 0 of this travelogue.)

 We stayed at my uncle’s place in Mumbai.

Early morning we finished our daily chores. We were out of the hotel room by 6.30 am. We had our breakfast in the city itself and resumed our journey towards Mumbai.

As I told yesterday, these highways are famous for Neera Juice also.

{Neera, also called sweet toddy or palm nectar, is a sap extracted from the inflorescence of various species of toddy palms and used to quench thirst. Neera extraction is generally done before sunrise. It is sweet, oyster white in colour, translucent, high in nutritional value, and susceptible to natural fermentation at ambient temperature within a few hours of extraction. Once fermented, Neera becomes toddy.

The drink is popular on account of its high nutritive value, delicious taste and agreeable flavor. Its production requires neither mechanical crushing, as in the case of sugarcane, nor leaching, like beet-root; it is obtained by slicing the spathes of the coconut, sago, and Palmyra palm, and scraping the tender most part, just below the crown: Wikipedia}

The shops serve it chilled. The neera is stored inside a vessel. And commercial ice pieces are kept outside the vessel, touching it. So the juice remains unadulterated and remains cool. We drank a couple of glasses of them to quench our thirst.

 

Neera Juice
BPB enjoying Neera Juice

My uncle and his family lives in Mumbai. (Dear Uncle – I am not disclosing your identity here, and you know why). We had planned to stay there for the day. So we again took the help of Google Maps to locate his flat. Oh, the life becomes so easy with your own car and Maps App. We were at his place without asking anyone about the route and without wasting even a minute.

In the evening we went for a short Darshan of Mumbai city. My uncle had some work in Mahindra 4 wheeler Factory. So we also got an opportunity to visit the factory and its assembly line. I had driven Mahindra vehicles for more than 40000 kms. They are rugged, robust and economical. In fact today Mahindra is the only Indian company which manufactures 2, 3 and 4 wheelers.

Mahindra Factory Mumbai
Inside the Assembly Line of Mahindra 4-wheeler factory, Mumbai

 

Mahindra factory mumbai
Mahindra has a wide range of vehicles to offer

 

 

After the visit, we went on a drive on Bandra Worli Sea Link.

Bandra-Worli Sea Link
Bandra Worli Sea Link in Mumbai

{The Bandra–Worli Sea Link is a cable-stayed bridge with pre-stressed concrete-steel viaducts on either side that links Bandra in the Western Suburbs of Mumbai with Worli in South Mumbai. The bridge is a part of the proposed Western Freeway that will link the Western Suburbs to Nariman Point in Mumbai’s main business district. The sea-link reduces travel time between Bandra and Worli during peak hours from 60–90 minutes to 20–30 minutes: wikipedia}

After this, we came back to my uncle’s home. Excellent dinner was prepared by my aunt, and we relished the same. Through this travelogue, I thank my uncle and his family.

It is always better, if your known person resides en route, in these types of long journeys.

Total distance covered: 264 kms.

Click to read Day 03 of my Gujarat Tour Diary – Entering Gujarat through Valsad, Dadra & Daman
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