Heat, monsoon and the road to Palitana
Seasonal notes for a Somnath taxi to Palitana: summer starts, monsoon slack, and winter pilgrimage weeks.
Saurashtra changes the same road. Summer wants an early wheel. Monsoon wants slack for a slow truck. Winter pilgrimage weeks fill the Somnath hotels and the lane outside them. Palitana is a stairway at dawn. Bhavnagar is the night halt that makes the climb possible.
On a Palitana day of about 280 km via Bhavnagar, leave the margin in the morning, not at the toll plaza in the afternoon. A same-day climb after the drive from Somnath is how groups miss the steps.
An AC cab is the whole fleet, which matters from April onward. In the rains, do not stack a safari, a fort and an aarti into one unbroken hope.
Tell the desk the month, not only the date. A January Dwarka week and a July coastal week are not the same conversation.