So now it was time to make ourselves to the westmost part of the country the one known for the white desert (refer previous blog for details where moving from )
It was almost 2:00 pm and we had planned to reach Bhuj that day by evening and it was still showing around 290 kms more. So without wasting much time we rushed to the car.
We decided to have our lunch in car itself while driving, but was bit exhausted and with car AC on and driving on straight highways sometimes makes you a bit dizzy , so we decided to take a break in a dhaba at around 3:45 pm, where I had simple daal rice.
Once tummies were full it was time to speed up as fast as we could as I wanted to avoid drive at night time. Just overtaking countless trucks and with some singing by myself (as battery charge of mobile was low to play any songs and sadly car charging point was not working; neither FM radio had any frequency). It was almost 5 pm by than we got a checkpost where we were stopped to have a formality check as were we were heading to area prone to high security (also our car had other state, Karnataka, registration ). The police Sir’s were very kind, they checked the car and luggage and let us go with wishes to enjoy the journey and Rann Utsav :).
In mean while we forgot to make sure our car was running out of fuel, and luckily just meters ahead we could find a Essar petrol pump. We refuelled the car to max capacity it holds and the guy at the petrol pump was kind enough to help us by allowing to charge our mobile phones which was almost drained out by than.
We just took washroom break here and waited for some time for our mobile to get charged a bit and also Sun was about to set , so we could have a glimse of the view and capture it as well. We also inquired some information about Kutch their food habits, source of income and some fun facts.
And again the journey began to dodge the truck traffic and make the way towards destination , we were already in Kutch district but were still 100 kms away from Bhuj,
When natural lights started fading away and the beaming head lights of trucks from opposite side comes roaring at you, it was quite hard for me, so decided to take a tea break and get ourselves refreshed and what can refresh more than a cup of tea 🙂
There wasnt any Gujurathi snacks out there so didnt eat anything as we had some home made chakali’s and ladoos (wherever you go your Mom will make sure the snacks made by her will always accompany you :D). From this stop itself we booked our hotel and than slowly made ourselves to the highway ready to cover up remaining 35-40 kms.
But hardly 10 minutes later there was a diversion from Highway to go to Bhuj. I was happy assuming there wont be any more Truck traffic and we could reach earlier than expected only to find the patch of road was under contruction and was not good. At slow pace started moving ahead with some FM songs for our company. Mid way we could see a huge ship like structure with lights all over it, only to find when we reached nearer that it was BKT tyre factory.
And once we entered the city Google maps fooled us with another wrong location of our hotel, we called the hotel manager and somehow after roaming around city searching for hotel location, checked into hotel. We reached around 8:30 pm.
The room was clean except for the washroom where most of the taps were corroded giving indication of salt water.
The water was way too much salty even to have a face wash, so got some drinking water to get fresh. By now we were tired and exhausted after travelling around 412 kms, so without wasting much time we had our dinner in the restaurant at ground floor. Had normal Gujurathi Thali and Fried rice with lots of buttermilk (so much that we even parceled it in empty water bottle). And it was time to say bye to another memorable day.
Next day early morning woke up, brushed teeth and just washed face and hands and skipped bath as having bath was a big no with this salty water. Filled some empty bottles with filter water as a precaution as we were moving towards a more saltier land.
Got ready, loaded luggage back into the car and went ahead for what the tour was started for, to witness the Great White Desert :).
All excited we started at 8:30 am and decided to cover first the top most part of Kutch that is Kalo Dungar. Making our way through barren lands on both sides and beautiful road and colouful banners from Governement inviting to celebrate the Rann utsav. We couldn’t resist to have a stop for some clicks.
Since we didnt had our morning tea and breakfast I was very much hungry and searching out for much needed tea, before found a small tapri where had some tea. The climate was pleasant, it wasnt too cool not hot.
As we made ourseleves ahead we reached a bit crowded area. The name of Village where we had arrived was Bhirandariya village, known for various artifacts and milk Mawa.We took a stop just to eat some mawa, it was really delicious and one must definately try it.
We called our Guest house owner where we had pre booked our stay near Rann utsav and he told us that we need to take permit to enter the Rann utsav due to close proximity with Pakistan border and for other security concerns.
We reached the checkpost which is in Bhirandariya village itself. we could have taken the permit online itself but since we didnt had our rent a car number beforehead, we decided to have the permit from location itself. There wasnt any queue and the officers handling the permit process were really fast and we could get the permit within 5 minutes. We took permit for one day as we were staying only for one day, Also this permit is valid till next morning.
Permit : Per head Rs 100 / day and Rs 25 / day for 2 wheelers and Rs 50 / day for 4 wheelers.
At this very junction there are two roads one left moving towards Rann Utsav and second one straight heading to the top most area of district. We headed straight to witness our first destination of the day.
Fun filled Roller coaster roads made our way towards the top of the hill – Black Hill (Kalo Dungar). There are many road side vendors over here who will rush right at the parking either for camel ride or dress up in Kutch tradition for photographs. And few vendors renting binoculars (cheap quality zoom) to see Pakistan border :).
Since tourism is only the source of income for this people , we wore turbans and took a binocular(which was of no use) and started walking a few steps up towards the viewing area. It was a bit foggy and to our not so lucky day, we couldn’t see the border. We clicked some pictures and just roamed around. By now it was around 12 pm and sun was right above our head and wasnt making roaming easy, we just sat in the shade for some time.
Forgot to mention but before moving towards the viewing point took blessings of Lord Dattatreya. There were some rituals going on inside the temple. Google an interesting fact about this temple 😉 which I didnt witness :(.
To beat the heat we had some sugar cane juice and just checking the artificats being sold rushed towards the car parking (first time in the tour didnt rush towards car for next destination but for AC.). Drank some milk shake inside car as phone started ringing from our Guest house owner to check whether we will be coming for lunch.
Without wasting more time we set our maps destination to our Guest house location – Dhordo and started our journey but just few miles moving down the hill on a flat road we found a board as posted below and being an Engineer had to try it on our car. So stopped the car and tried three times but it worked once. (Didnt take much risk as with Engine off brakes weren’t active.)
By now it was 12 :30 pm, so quickly moved ahead. I was hungry as well because had skipped the breakfast. And thanks to Google maps we could find a shortcut to Dhordo village and this shortcut road was one I will remember forever. I dont think photos does any justice, but it was the start of white desert on both sides and plain straight road. I didnt wanted to stop, but couldnt resist again and had some snaps :).
After having the teaser I was all but excited to see the main White desert and with that excitment moved towards the Guest house. and to answer why Guest house : firstly wanted to stay with localites and understand their culture and gulp some home made food and secondly the Tent City which is a virtual city set up for Rann Utsav is way too expensive.
As we had our first sight on Bongos (This are traditional huts made from mud and cow dung and decorated with small mirrors and traditional paintings. ), I was really impressed by its look and it seems the local family owning it themselves had decorated it.
Bongo stay : Rs 2200 / day including Lunch Dinner and Breakfast and most important lots of Love from beautiful local families 🙂
Bongos were really clean and was the attached washroom. I quickly checked if water is salty or not and to my surprise it wasnt.So quickly had a bath and by now it was 2:00 pm and my stomach was cryng a lot. So after getting fresh gulped some delicious home made Kutchi food.(Only thing I felt good as well as bad was the family members were waiting for us and were to have their lunch after us).
I just ate way too much. Our plan was to leave to Rann Utsav once Sun start showing its magic light at around 4:30 pm. So I decided to take full advantage and had a nap till 4 pm. Just slept on bed laid outside the bongo with breeze flowing around.
And to our surprise (wasnt aware while booking it before) uncle owning the property was a traditional folk singer and he used to perform for Rann Utsav. He also insisted us to wear some Kutchi dress and we werent hesitant to try it. So now we were all dressed up in Kutchi style. Aunty helped my sister with all the matching jewellery and other stuff. Also aunty prepared for us the much needed tea.
After getting all set and all excited stepped out at around 4:45 pm towards the Rann. It was hardly 2 km from place where we stayed. Enroute we could see all the banners and flags well decorated and giving the vibe of some feast. But for me more than the feast it was the white Desert that my eyes (with glasses :D) were tempting to see :P.
Before entering the Rann area there is a checkpost which checks the permit.And finally ticking one more place from bucket list we entered the Desert area with large land of white salt on both side and we driving in between.
Even though I had seen it in Videos or photos but in reality it looks completely different and its impossible not to have a wow expression on your face.
As Sun started to descend with every minute the colour of the sand reflecting the light would take a different colour and it was beautiful to see. We walked along the white salt, but since Rainy season was extended the land had not dried up completely.
Walking clicking pics we spent around two hours before we remembered that Guest house owner uncle had mentioned he had a programme at the function arena and he would be singing , so we rushed to that place.
He made us sit on the dais and also dedicated a song for us :). It felt special.
It was fun to clap (people were doing traditional garbas, but I am bad with garba steps so clapping and enjoying the music with white background dimming into darker shade.)
It was around 7 pm and Moon light started taking effect . There is a viewing tower setup to see the entire white Rann (Desert) from a height. We didnt enjoy the sunset from this tower as were more busy to walk around over the salt land and capture the memories :). To see the moon light effect we went up the tower and moon light was a pleasure to see but it would have taken a best effect at around mid night when the moon would be just right at top of us. But this is when we got to know that the entrance gets closed at 8:30 pm itself and open for 2 hour slot (from 10 pm to 12 mid night) only on Full Moon day and we had reached a day before :(. So thought just see whatever colours we could see of the white dessert turning into beautiful shade of moon.
After waiting for around 30 minutes around 7:45 pm we left the dessert area to withness the Feast (Utsav) arena where there were some shops set up selling local artifacts and stalls playing some traditional entertainment :). And offcourse clicked some photos :P.
People are not allowed in the Rann area post 8:30 pm, except on Full Moon Days that too during Rann utsav allowed between 10 pm to 12 am due to high security reasons.
After some shopping we were done for the day and decided to get back to our Guest house. Reached around 9 pm, Got fresh and transfered all the photos and videos into laptop and by than our Dinner was ready. Aunty serverd some more delicious food, enjoyed the taste of everything.
By 10 pm we were done for the day and thought of going to sleep as wanted to witness early morning sunrise and had more destinations to cover next day. But to be honest Thanks to my belief in God and his blessings the best of the tour was here to come.
The Kids from and families just joined us and we did camp fire and talking about each other and making fun of one another that it was almost 11 pm and it didnt end here.
Now the elders also joined us and almost 10 people enjoying the conversation, we became so much friendly that I felt like a family now rather than stranger just a guest for a day. The temperature was deeping down rapidly as well, but campfire was there for our relief. Almost at midnight all ten of us though of having tea in chilling cold over campfire and aunty didnt hesitate. we had leg pulling on each other including the elders before we just mentioned that we missed our Full Moon light view of desert by a mere one day.
Only Sad thing I didnt Like was, Girls were not allowed to go to school which really made me sad and when I raised the concern, the family elders were on their say that it is how it happens in this place. “This Needs a change 😦 “
The owner told us to stay for one more day, but our plans were all placed very tight, But he gave a solution which I dont think i should be sharing as its a security breach and I wont be sharing any photos but let me tell you I did drive our car over the real main White desert with moon over us and enjoyed the moon light view . There is a photo in Google images which I thought is just a photoshop with filters, but let me tell you, in reality it looks exactly the same. With chilling cold and the best view of my life we came back to our room at around 2 am and directly rushed to sleep to end one of the best days of my life.
Next morning it was almost 7 am and Aunty woke us up as we had told her that we wanted to witness the Sunrise and it was to happen around 7:20 am. I was damn sleepy and decided to skip it, but somehow made my mind to get up and go. Without getting fresh , just started the car and rushed to the place. And I am not trying to exagerate but yes truly would have made a foolish mistake if I havent come to witness it.Saw the views from the Viewing tower
The view were mesmerizing, more than the views it was the colour change which I was interested in. We had the view from the viewing tower as well. And did some mandatory Camel riding 🙂 (In hurry I didnt even take my wallet and we didnt had a single penny but the Camel ride guys were so kind that they allowed us to take a ride and we told them will send money from the Guest owner. I sincerely liked the trust in this guys and would love to see all people having same faith in everyone :))
Post videos photos views camel ride it was time to say Tada to this beautiful place. My speed to almost 25 km/hr as I wanted to have a last glance of this beautiful land which is one of a type in the entire world. We reached back to room and Aunty served us some Theplas and tea to our delight. Had a very heavy breakfast and with equally heavy heart we had to bid a good bye to this beautiful family. We even bought some home made blankets which they sold for reasonably low prices, but this is only their source of income. We loaded our car back with luggage and said a Big Bye to this beautiful land of culture and memerising views.
It was almost 9:30 am and our next plan was to explore Bhuj city where we stayed before but didnt explore. So without wasting much time we set our destinations to Prag Mahal which was one of the attraction we wanted to witness.
We reached Prag Mahal only to know the other attractio Aina Mahal is just opposite to Prag Mahal. The views from the Rann wasnt going from my head and was also didnt had much sleep so wasnt much active to explore the palace, but did go and check each and every corners of this place. Even some bollywood movie scene were shot in this palace.
But sadly the interior of Aina Mahal Mahal was damaged due to Earthquake which had occured on Republic Day of 2001. We could easily see the damage from outside of Prag Mahal and cracks to the Clock tower.
We went straight up to the top of the clock tower to get glimse of entire Bhuj city (only sad part this manual clock tower was non operational post earthquake.)
It was almost 1 pm by now and with sister for your company and shopping stalls set wont please you but you need to go through those stalls. Shopping of a rare known ‘Bhandani’ sarees done for Mom and we decided to finally leave the Great district of Kutch.
Memories of Kutch is worth to be added in your life diaries. 🙂
we rushed to our car for a long drive to next destination which was almost 430 kms.
Singing off untill next destination 🙂 . Please do like and follow if you liked this travel Diary 🙂
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