Picnic at Wonderful Vasad Near the City of Vadodara in India

The importance of one day picnic spots have been on the increasing trend all around the world recently in view of the current economy situation. The people may not be able to afford long expensive tours that may disturb their total economic planning. This aspect has been noticed also in India due to present crash of the stock market. The one day picnic spots are slowly becoming more and more popular. As I have stayed for around 35 years in the city of Vadodara in the Gujarat state in India, I am quiet familiar with such picnic spots in the near vicinity of the Vadodara city. The town of Vasad is one of such very popular picnic spots among the people of Vadodara and even of the State of Gujarat.

Vasad is a small town, which is situated at around 15 miles away from the city of Vadodara at the shore of River Mahisagar. Mahisagar is considered as one of the holiest Rivers in India. Taking a holy deep in this River is considered very vital by all the Hindus. That is why Vasad has developed tremendously as a picnic spot over last few years. One can reach Vasad by morning passenger train that leaves from Vadodara at around 7 am and reaches Vasad at around 8 am. The visitors can straight way proceed to the bank of holy River Mahisagar by hired rickshaws or cars. It hardly takes around twenty minutes to reach the River shore from the railway station of Vasad. If you have your own car or can afford hiring a car for the full day, you can reach directly to the River shore within at the most forty five minutes from the city of Vadodara. As soon as you reach the River shore, you will be able to get a sensational view of the Mahi River in the background of the golden rising sun. The Mahi River flows here at Vasad very slowly and is having a very wide span of around 250 feet. The railway bridge as well as the road bridge is visible above you from the River bank and the view of passing trains from this bridge is really worth seeing. The people can take leisurely bath in Mahi River at Vasad. The water is not deep almost in the entire River. It is hardly 3 feet deep maximum. However, one has to be extremely careful as there are some very deep spots in the River and there have been some incidents of drowning in the Mahi River at Vasad. Try to remain very close to the shore while taking a bath. There are some small restaurants also available at the River shore serving hot tea, coffee, and some light snacks like onion rings, biscuits, and the bread.

Once you have completed the bath in the Mahi River, you can climb up the small hill, situated at the River shore to reach the ancient temple of Lord Shiva. This temple is said to be 1000 years old. There is a very large compound all around this temple. You can also get the Gujarati vegetarian lunch here at the temple at very nominal rates of around Rs.50 ($1.0) per head. However, you will need to book your lunch at the temple in advance in case you are in a group of more than ten people. Enjoying traditional Gujarati lunch with a great view of the Mahi River flowing below you is really a life time experience. You can then go again to the River shore to enjoy the boating in the River. Few rowing boats are available for boating at the rates of around Rs.200 ($4.5) for one hour. Such boats can easily accommodate six to eight persons. The people interested in relaxing after lunch can relax in the temple compound. The afternoon tea is served with light snack at around 4 pm through the temple management in nominal rates. The visitors then can take leisurely strolls in the valleys of Mahi River till around 5.30 pm. before taking up the return journey to Vadodara city. The entire full day picnic at Vasad do not cost more than Rs.80 ($2) per head including morning tea/snacks, lunch, and the afternoon tea/snack and the to and fro train fare. Thousands of people come to Vasad to enjoy the festival day of Holi to play with colors with their friends and relatives. However, it may not be advisable to visit Vasad during the rainy season in view of high water flow in the Mahi River.

We have enjoyed the full day picnic at Vasad on countless occasions and have enjoyed them all tremendously. I would strongly recommend this one day family picnic to all my friends and readers who belong to Vadodara or are going to stay at Vadodara due to other family reasons. It will surely recharge them for facing the stresses of their life once again.