India, Nov. 1 -- There are places that look exactly like you imagined them: The pyramids of Giza, the desert sands of Morocco, the mountains of Tibet. Diu, that rarely visited island just off the coast of Gujarat, holds a surprise on every corner. Step out of the airport and there's nothing but a ribbon of road by the sea. It's a road that rings the island - half of it beachy, sunlit and dotted with churches. But turn onto the other half, the part that wends inland, and one finds oneself in ancient forest. The villages here, isolated twice over, are stuck in time. Tiny shops peep out of a rainy mist. Don't let this sleepy island fool you; there's plenty to do. Visit the wedding-cake-like churches, built when this was a Portuguese colony. Check out the glorious Diu fort that juts right into the sea. Clamber aboard the museum ship INS Khukri to see how our sailors live, as they defend our seas. Set some time aside, though. Off little bylanes and down forgotten roads, unlisted gems lie in wait. Here are three. Simbor. Stop. Rewind. We're now in a time of pirates, sea forts and an angry nawab. About 20 km from their precious colonised island of Diu, the Portuguese find a wide estuary. Boats can flow up it into the kingdoms of Gujarat. "We want this," they think, and set about establishing base. Pirates maraud from time to time; this won't do. They begin to build a fort. "Do you mind," says a local nawab. This does little to deter the Portuguese. Drive down today and the tiny fort still stands on a clump of rock in the sea; so small you can walk around its perimeter in a few minutes, waves lapping at your feet if the tide is right. Most incredibly, because it was part of the Portuguese colony, it remains technically part of Diu. Walk under a white arch to notionally "cross" into Simbor. Here, alcohol is suddenly available again. Drink all you can because you can't take it with you. Walk back through the arch and you are once again in the dry state of Gujarat. Lost churches. Just off the main road at Fudam is the Church of Our Lady of Remedios. Look through the glass-paned door and a reredos - a massive, carved and still-gleaming wooden altar - still looms within. Visit for the fairy-tale views. Then make your way back to the heart of Diu and the Church of St Francis of Assisi. As congregations shrank, this has morphed from church to hospital and will soon be. a hotel. Secret beaches. Don't miss Nagoa beach. It's the fun one, with stalls and shacks along a golden strip of sand. Far-less-visited and incredibly beautiful is Ghugham. The sea falls away here, and one finds oneself riding along sun-drenched cliffs with an incredible blue ocean in the distance. Post the picture without a caption and you could pretend to be anywhere in the world. But why on Earth would anyone want to do that?...