Exploring The Diamond City Of Surat | Bookosmia
Hey everyone, your best friend Sara here! Welcome to my ‘Places with Sara‘ section 
I can’t wait to pack my bags and head out. Until then let’s read through these wonderful travel memories from kids. Let’s keep our wish lists ready!
12 year old Meher Gandhi, a Bookosmian from Vadodara introduces us to the diamond city of Surat and its sparkling sights. Do you also have a travel story? Tell us!
Meher goes to Navrachana International School Vadodara (NISV) and is a student of Centrestage Young Orators.
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My parents had four days off from their busy and hectic schedules. My brother and I had our winter vacations. Mom and dad made quick decisions. And Voila! Here we were on our way to Surat.
We drove down. The weather was quite pleasant and we enjoyed our journey so much that even a one-hour traffic jam could not dampen our high spirits.
We stayed at a local’s place, in their apartment, as a guest. Though the room was a little cramped for the four of us, we still managed well. The hosts were caring and made sure every possible thing we needed was made available to us.
We started exploring Surat and we began with Gopi Tadav ( Gopi Lake). I would recommend this place, as it is great fun for all age groups. It is a beautiful waterfront, with exciting adventure rides and scrumptious food counters. All the rides were super fun.
The next morning, we visited the aquarium. It is a must-visit place and I highly recommend it. The aquarium is massive and covers more than 25,000 square metres. It houses a wide variety of fish and more than 1000 species of marine creatures. Right from teeny tiny fishes to humungous whales, sharks and dolphins.
There are informative placards provided and each tank which tells you a lot about the fish. One of the main attractions is the shark tank. It is huge and has seven sharks. It is definitely worth visiting because of its scenic beauty. I assure you, you will immediately fall in love with the aquarium and marine life!
Surat is a city that is known for its diamonds. How could we miss visiting its famous diamond museum? The diamond museum had a lot of information on how the diamonds were discovered and their significant history behind them.
I found that a little boring but seeing the lustrous diamonds was fun. Next, we also visited the science centre, although it was a hurried visit I found it very fascinating. We could perform fun experiments and see visual representations. We also saw the planetarium there. I would recommend visiting this place especially for science lovers like me.
We visited the Dumas beach. While there are a lot of beach activities like banana rides, para sailing etc, I really wish it would be cleaner and more hygienic.
We also went to the Surat fort. I would highly recommend this place. It was a lot of fun seeing places inside it like trapdoors, massive rooms and learning history through movies and placards.
Food is the highlight of Surat city. No tourist can leave Surat without trying out its lip-smacking food and the various multi-cuisine restaurants it has.
And that’s how a spontaneous trip to a nearby city turned out to be a lifetime experience for my family and me.
