Things do to in and around Dediapada National Park in Gujarat

Dediapada is a small village in Narmada district of Gujarat is most famous for the lush green forests and Ninai falls. I visited Dediapada with a bunch of my friends (NID, Lumium) and had some crazy times together - my thumb got infected, we had to almost live on the streets and so on. Read more about Dediapada in the post below.

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So it was a weekend ahead and our options were limited. 'Our' included Manoj, Vikram and me, and later Abhishek as well. For a change I was not traveling over the weekend and no one else also had any plans of coming down to Ahmedabad. And we were all very keen on not missing out on a weekend get-away, a trip had been on the cards for a while, but somehow had never happened.So a decision was made, 'we travel this weekend'.

Finding a suitable place wasn't difficult, I located the Gujarat Tourism website and found Dediapada and all of us immediately agreed due to the presence of a large waterfall and river in the area, apart from the lush green forests and a bear reserve (one of the reasons for the title). We are basically water animals and love being submerged in water for long hours, this trip had promise of taking us to our roots.We figured out various ways of reaching Dadiyapada, and finally decided on going via Ankleshwar (Tej figured this out at the bus-stand in the day).

So this is what is to be done to reach the forests. Reach Paldi bus stand, catch a bus for Ankleshwar (10:30 pm, and will set you back by about Rs. 150 each), and sleep over the four hour journey (even if you do not have a berth to sleep). The bus shall drop you under a over-bridge on the highway just outside Ankleshwar at around 02:30 am. There would be a jeep waiting right there just for you (this is what happened to us) and that shall take you to Dadiyapada for Rs. 50 each. Sleep is generally impossible in the jeep, but the roads and the fields look nice in the pre-dusk light. Dadiyapada is approx. 70 km from Ankleshwar and it takes about two hours to reach.

The chai shop at Dediapada at 04:30 am

Posing with a jeep which we never used!

It was only once we reached Dadiyapada that we realised that there is nothing to be done there, we still had to travel for about 25-30 km to reach where we intended to - Ninai falls. It was only 04:30 am and the bus to take us there was to come only at 07:00 am, so we had a few cups of chai, took many photographs, and generally whiled away the time doing mostly nothing.

The state transport bus is quite on time, do not miss this. There is little transportation after this. You will meet thousands of school kids (an exaggeration) on the way, and in the bus. Most will stare at you and you might just end up feeling like an animal in a zoo, but its all in good faith. Beware, some older women may also give you the zoo-visitor look. Soon hills start and the mist-filled surroundings are breathtakingly beautiful. The bus will take you to Masaimot which is on the edge of Gujarat border with Madhya Pradesh.

Bamboo-mud houses are the only type we see once the forest area starts, apart from the pukka Govt. Buildings.

Kid in the bus on the way to Masaimot

After getting scared of Tej, the kid finally relented and got himself clicked

The valley as we walked back Masaimot to NAini falls (3 kms

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Trying out the crab!

Trying out the crab!

Trying out the crab...and Manoj almost gulping it down!

Beware if anyone is planning to stay overnight in the forest area, its possible, but only with a prior permission from Dediapada. Make sure you have that with you, it would be impossible to come back once you in the forest area, especially if you dependent on public transport.

Get down at Masaimot or Sagai (with prior bookings) and check-into the forest guest house, otherwise get down at Ninai falls stop and start walking into the forest towards water. Its a 5 km trek but the path is stunningly beautiful, you would find no one on the way, not even the bear which welcomes you right at the beginning through a hoarding.

Another image from the walk...

Walking towards the falls

The waterfalls were actually a surprise for us, considering the lack of water on the way (despite the greenery) we were expecting a dry moat! Within minutes the clothes were off and we were in water. What happened later cannot and should not be narrated here, even the images have been hidden away in secret chambers of our hard discs. Some can, however, be shared here. Also did some experimentation with stop motion animation, now made into a 'swami' video (not included here). We spent hours at the place, and left only when a few other tourists started coming in. The care-taker always stays with you and doesn't allow anyone to get anywhere closer to the big waterfall (apparently its extremely deep and three people have already died there).

Abhi and Manoj just before the clothes were ripped off!

Finally the Falls - Ninai falls!

Kilimanjaro Manoj...Robot/ Endhiran/ Ravan were huge inspirations for everything we did then!

HOT fun in water!

Nanga baba!

The falls from the top

The Liril boy - Vikram

Manoj - The Haunted!

Many Liril Boys :)

Manoj the rakshasa...I know, I know the titles are getting lame!

I am running out of captions now :(

The fuchsia fly - FF!

We were dead tired and caught the last bus (which crosses the turning on the main-road at 04:30 pm) in an almost dead state. No food is available except Parle G and Balaji chips, and we ate both of these in ample, while the hand-pump provided the water to drink.

Tired and hungry after a long long day.

Reaching the town, we inquired about a place to stay and found that there is only a PWD guest house and nothing else. Even the rest-house refused us entry at that time, and asked us to come later around eight. In the meanwhile, we looked around for other places to stay. To our dismay we found one lodge (Jalaram Lodge) just opposite to the bus-stand. The aunty living in the house next to the room we were expected to dwell in was highly suspicious of us, but the pigs weren't. They jumped with joy and make very heartening squeals the moment they saw us.

Somehow we were not completely convinced if welcoming pigs would be enough to make us happy in the room, so decided to give the place a miss and try again at the guest-house.


It was a collective sigh of relief when we got a suite room at the guest house - with lights, fans four beds, and running water and the delightful absence of pigs. All our depressing thoughts were immediately forgotten and some of us immersed ourselves into the pics that we took in the day, while others slept, got busy with the phones or spent time in the welcoming loo.

Tej and Abhi at the guest house

The next morning, we were promptly thrown out at eight. But we already had another destination in mind - Pinjar Ghat. Took a jeep (we splurged for the only time in the trip) and paid Rs. 150 for a return trip of 6 km (plus waiting).

On the way to Pinjar Ghat

Worms, unlikely silk!

The green foliage

Vizag dance steps...the unstoppable Tej!

Beera/ Veera/ Manoj - RAAVANA!

Tej climbing up, failed stop-motion! This was perhaps the finniest thing in the trip :)

The ghat is a beautiful place, about a kilometer of walk from the main-road. The river is much stronger here and more ominous looking. Except Tej, none was willing to get into the water. But it was infectious once he got into the stream, we all followed him. Beware of the small caterpillar-like bugs in the water, they can stick to your clothes and body.


We were done in a couple of hours, so came back to Dediapada, and caught a bus to Ankleshwar. Took another auto-rickshaw from Ankleshwar to Bharuch and caught a train back to Ahmedabad. It took only about three and half hours and we were home!

Bridge on the way to Bharuch

Tej, Abhi and Manoj in the auto

In the train

In the train again...finally we all got a place to sit from Baroda!

The journey had tired us all down. Manoj was showing symptoms of impending cold while my infected finger was getting worse with time. While we are on the subject of infected finger, let me give you a home remedy for the same. Take a lemon and hollow it from inside and squeeze in the infected part of the finger. Leave it over-night and things should get better by morning. It helped me relieve the pain by exploding the finger and taking out the pus, try this when there is no other way possible for treatment!

The journey ended but we already have plans for more trips, more forest, more water and much more fun next time.

-- Siddhartha Joshi