Our Gujarat adventure officially kicked off when my husband and I flew from Hyderabad to Ahmedabad. Landing at Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport—managed by the Adani Group and ranked India's 7th busiest airport—the arrival lobby absolutely blew us away. It was meticulously designed to showcase Gujarat’s vibrant culture and heritage, instantly immersing us in an authentic regional vibe.
From the airport, we checked into our room, dropped off our luggage, and headed straight to the Statue of Unity in Ekta Nagar, about 200 km away. The monument is closed every Monday for structural checks and deep engineering maintenance.
You can see the statue from far away. Standing at a monumental 597 feet, it is officially the world’s tallest statue—nearly double the height of the Statue of Liberty! It stands right on the Narmada River, facing the colossal Sardar Sarovar Dam.
The monument is a massive tribute to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, India’s "Iron Man" and its first Deputy Prime Minister, who successfully integrated 562 fragmented princely states into a unified Indian Union after independence.
Honestly, after seeing what it took to build it—24,500 metric tonnes of steel frames and 6,500 bronze panels engineered to survive fierce 180 km/h winds and Seismic Zone IV earthquakes—I thought "Iron Man" was an understatement. Unlike most giant vertical pillars, it features a unique architectural design with a narrow base and an irregular, active walking pose.
Ticket Options at the Statue: SOU Entry Ticket (Rs 150 Adults / Rs 90 Kids): Gives campus access, the base museum, and free internal shuttle buses.
Viewing Gallery Ticket (Rs 380 Adults / Rs 230 Kids): Includes all basic features plus elevator access to the chest-level viewing gallery.
Express VIP Ticket (Rs 1,030 / person): Bypasses all the massive elevator queues. If you are travelling on a weekend or a festival day, we highly recommend buying this to save time and energy.
By the time we finished exploring the state-of-the-art museum detailing India's freedom struggle at the statue's base, our stomachs were growling louder than the speedboats on the Narmada River.
We popped into a local eatery nearby to try Farsan (the collective Gujarati word for savoury snacks). In Gujarat, snacking isn’t just a pastime; it’s a way of life.
I am very fond of Dhokla, so we ordered a platter of Khaman Dhokla—fluffy, steamed savory gram flour cakes topped with mustard seeds and green chillies. It looks like a bright yellow kitchen sponge but tastes like juicy, sweet-and-sour heaven.
Alongside it came Khandvi, a literal work of culinary art: tightly rolled, paper-thin layers of gram flour and yogurt that practically melt in your mouth. We topped it off with Patra—taro leaves coated in a spicy, tangy chickpea paste, rolled, steamed, and pan-fried to crispy perfection.
Fully satiated, we headed up to the Viewing Gallery. We zipped up inside the statue in a high-speed glass elevator that took just 30 seconds. The open panoramic deck accommodates up to 200 people, providing gorgeous 360-degree vistas across the Satpura and Vindhya ranges and the dam.
On our way out, we passed the Wall of Unity. This highly symbolic, 50x15-foot rammed earth wall was formulated entirely with soil gathered from 169,078 Indian villages during the project's historic nationwide Loha (iron) collection drive.
As we walked past, I heard a visitor proudly telling his wife that even their village had taken part in it too.
While we had to walk a lot, there were plenty of travelators to aid anyone having difficulty. At 7:30 PM, the entire bronze statue turns into a giant projector screen for a 25-minute light and sound show narrating the history of India's unification—an absolute must-watch!
The surrounding area hosts over 30 tourist attractions connected by free, air-conditioned shuttle buses, including
For Nature Lovers: A massive 375-acre Jungle Safari zoo, a cactus garden, and a beautifully manicured 17-kilometer Valley of Flowers.
For Kids: The world's first tech-driven theme park for healthy eating, featuring a miniature electric "Nutri Train" with VR games.
For Adventure Seekers: White-water river rafting at Khalwani Eco-Tourism or a romantic Ekta Cruise boat ride down the river.
The Unity Glow Garden: India's largest organic labyrinth (the Maze Garden) that lights up after dark with thousands of glowing, LED-illuminated animal installations.
Our final stop took us back to the heart of Ahmedabad to the Atal Bridge. Opened in August 2022, this is India's first pedestrian-only steel truss bridge spanning the Sabarmati River. It has already drawn over 77 lakh visitors, and it was easy to see why.
The design was inspired by the traditional kites flown during Gujarat's famous Uttarayan festival. At night, the bridge undergoes a magical transformation with a dynamic LED lighting sequence that makes the whole riverfront sparkle.
The bridge features four expansive, transparent glass floor sections. Looking straight down into the flowing river beneath us was thrilling!
To prevent heavy congestion, a standard entry ticket of Rs 30 allows for a 30-minute stay, and security enforces a strict limit of 3,000 visitors per hour on the deck. Cricket bats, footballs, skateboards, outside food, and pets are strictly forbidden. Casual smartphone photography is highly encouraged, but professional shoots require a commercial permit.
The defining characteristic here is contrast. The food manages to be sweet, salty, tangy, and spicy in one bite—mostly because a bit of jaggery is sneaked into almost everything, including the savoury dishes! My husband spent the first ten minutes trying to figure out why his spicy curry tasted like dessert, and the next twenty minutes demanding a second helping.
We feasted on Sev Tameta Nu Shaak (a spicy, tangy tomato curry topped with crispy, savoury chickpea noodles) paired with warm, buttery, flaky Theplas.
We also loved the Gujarati Kadhi—a thin, silky, sweet-and-spicy yoghurt soup flavoured with ginger and green chillies that felt like a warm therapeutic hug for our stomachs.
The best part? The waiters didn't believe in waiting until the end of the meal for dessert—sweets were served right on the plate next to the spicy curries! We scooped up dense, saffron-infused Shrikhand with hot, puffy puris, and washed it down with Basundi (rich, thickened condensed milk loaded with pistachios).
Almost all the restaurants operate on an "all-you-can-eat" model. Servers walk around with copper buckets and do not take "no" for an answer, viewing an empty spot on your plate as a personal insult! Ultimately, we discovered that refreshing buttermilk was our best friend to cool our palates and aid digestion.
What a massive, beautiful, exhausting first day in Gujarat!
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