Small town sort almost on the Maharashtra and Gujarat border and a union territory. Evidently there were things that Daman used to be famous for - its cheap booze (and its proximity to a dry state) and a smuggling haven. So people from all over used to get there to drink and shop. Now the shopping part is gone though the drinking remains.
We read in a few magazines and the Outlook traveler’s 52 weekend book and thought Daman to be a great place to go to for a weekend trip and also perhaps do a photo shoot along with.
Days of visit: 7th Nov - 9th Nov 2003
Getting to Daman
So, here we were, starting on a late Friday afternoon. Its a 185km road trip to Daman, but the sour point is the condition of the roads in some stretches and the way people drive in our country. One can perhaps expect truck drivers and the like to be miserable...and they are not that bad. The horrendous drivers are people who are in cars and especially from Mumbai. Till the time one hits NH8, one feels the same for the BEST bus drivers.
Anyways, you are to take the Western Express Highway, and then the NH8 all the way to Vapi. Then turn off leftwards towards Daman. There are no signs on the highway after you enter Gujarat. Your landmark is a flyover on the national highway. Do not get on the flyover, but remain on the service road and turn left from the first stop lights and just keep driving straight till you get into Daman.
Be careful on the highway, since very suddenly on many spots you will have oncoming traffic and the two carriage ways are combined to one. There are broken patches on the NH as well.
If you are going into Nani Daman, you will be taking a left from a teen rasta (a t-junction), which is after a chaar-rastaa (which is a four way stop light). Before all this, of course, you will cross the police check post as you enter Daman. The roads are bad, really bad, so be a bit careful if you are driving into Daman after nightfall. The roads are bad enough in places to ruin your suspension or even to hit your muffler if you drive a low slung car.
We stayed at Cidade de Daman, which is on the northernmost part of Daman on Devka beach. If you are going to Devka beach, keep going straight from teen-rasta till you get to another t-junction which has a sculpture of a hand holding a torch. Take a right there and follow the road till you reach Devka. The torch thingy place is called the Mashaal chowk.
The town and sights
Frankly there is nothing much in the town to do. Its a small town, which is gradually falling to pieces and has seen better times in the past. Its a moribund town now. Places which you might have read about in books might have gone shut now, as we found out in a few places.
What you see in plenty all around town in liquor shops. There evidently used to be large liquor shop called the Liquor Word, which was sort of built like a booze supermarket. Gone. Some of the restaurants that were recommended to us...gone again. So if you want to buy booze, just go buy it anywhere. Its much cheaper than in Mumbai because of no excise, lower sales taxes (Daman is a UT, remember?). But you can not legally bring back the booze because you will be crossing Gujarat (Which is a dry state) and also if you are bringing alcohol back to Mumbai, you need to pay duties at the toll check post when you enter Mumbai or even when you enter Maharashtra.
But in any case, if you do sit at a restaurant to eat and to knock down a few, the prices of alcohol would come in as a pleasant surprise. Premium run (at least in India) or premium vodka would push you back Rs 45 - Rs 60 for a large drink. At that rate the barman’s propensity to substitute your liquor with cheap stuff is rather low...unlike in Mumbai. And this is what Gujaratis flock to Daman for.
There are two forts in Daman, on both sides of the Daman Ganga river at the mouth of the river. The Portuguese forts are nothing to write home about and are pretty similar to our Bandra fort at land’s end. Really! After having read travel brochures, I had carried some b/w film to shoot with. No use. There are some fishing boats tied at the jetty which will hold your interest for about five minutes. There are a couple of lighthouses (old and new) on the other side of the river which you could look at, but again will not hold your interest for too long. Though I have a thing for lighthouses, but I still say this.
There are churches in both the forts. If you have not been to Goa, and have not seen the churches in Goa, these will be nice things to see for you.
People will tell you lots about Devka beach, but if I needed to see this, I could have just opened by living room windows to see the black rocks on the sea, right here in Bandra. There is another beach down south called Jampore, but that is not too clean either. So give both a pass.
Staying at Daman and your meals
The hotels are nothing to write home about, but then compared to Mumbai they are cheap and spartan. We stayed in rooms for Rs 1000 a night at Cidade de Daman. Evidently the happening hotel is Miramar which does get booked quickly. SO you need to reserve at least a week in advance. The restaurants around are like whatever, but the food at Cidade de Daman has not given me an upset stomach. Not yet at least. The restaurant at Daman is supposed to be the best one around with lots of sea food etc etc. Well, Outlook traveler lies or the author has been fed.
There is another place called Oliaji’s Dukes. We went there for a drink and wanted to prospect the place for dinner. The meat in the kebabs was undercooked and that did it for us.
Going around
One of the days we ventured to Silvassa. Well, there is nothing there at all, perhaps more because the river there is partially dry and thus the hotels are empty too. Ras, Kamats and Daman Ganga resorts run hotels here. The last of the lots has fairly okay food, and is the only decent looking place.
While coming back to Mumbai we thought we would stop by at Bordi and Dahanu. Going by the 52 weekend guide by Outlook Traveler and the Upper Crust magazine, this is about the Chikoo capital of India and of course this is chikoo season. There is plenty good parsi food available, even to walk-in guests. The beaches are fabulous (and 17km long at Bordi). In Bordi evidently you can get Lobsters (at Rs 250 - 280 /kg) packed in ice and transported to Mumbai. Heaven, paradise etc.
Well, more reason for me to believe that Upper Crust and Outlook have had these reviews sponsored. The Parsi joints are closed except two who will need you to order food a day in advance. The Bordi beach is 17km long, but dirty. The sun is glaring hot. There was one eating place open in Bordi and one in Dahanu. We found not one fruit seller in Bordi and no one selling chikoos. There was no fish market.
So we ended up eating at Kohli’s Beach Side hotel at Dahanu. Its dhaba food and was fairly non-spicy and good. This place also has a hotel with a small pool. The rooms are clean and nice but a little pricey for Rs 1000. If this place were closer to Mumbai, this could be a good place to get to during the weekend and kickback and carry on your illicit love affair (if you had one).
Verdict
Give Daman a pass, give Bordi a pass and give Dahanu a pass too. Don’t bother with these places, there is plenty to visit in our country and life is short. Oh one more thing, try not to trust travel magazines and books published in our country. Sad, but true.
Elbow Room
But, maybe the place looks nice during rains.