Trotting across the white desert , in my favorite skirt, under a full moon sky!! ahh i have dreamed it so many times. Being a lover of hills, i rarely chose a destination that is hot, i have major problem in braving the heat of beaches or plains, it just depresses me somehow.
So the story goes like, my best friend was getting engaged with her gujarati beau in Anand (Gujarat) and there was no way i could avoid it. Traveler at heart that i am made good of the opportunity and Gujarat became my next travel destination! (shouts yayyyyyyyyyyyyy!!) It was the time for Rann Utsav and it made me pretty sure that the universe just conspired this travel experience!
Screening away the other parts of the trip, i confine my story within the borders of the state. If you're in Anand there is only the Amul factory with visiting time between 2 to 4 pm, A Museum and the Sardar Vallabbhai Patel Memorial on the Anand-Sojitra Road. It is a small, quiet and peaceful town!
26th of December was the engagement and the trip commenced the day after! I had previously booked a room in Kutch for 28th so leaving me only one lag day to visit other places. Champaner is considered a world heritage site certified by UNESCO which is around 87 km from Anand. So I take a bus from Anand bus stop to Hallol. An auto or car will take you to Champaner. There are seven sites to visit, so booking a vehicle for the day should be the plan. A cab for the day costs around 1500 you may bargain further.
The whole visit will take around 3 hours to complete. The driver drove to the Mataki Temple which is high up the mountain. A few stairs to climb, pay a fee of 113 for the return ropeway, stand in the queue and zooooooooooooooooooooom go up and up the ropeway only to find there is lot more climbing to do. There is a long walk up the slope and then a plight of steep stairs navigating up to the mandir!
ON way back the Saat Kaman stands tall, its like a wall with seven arches on the slope of the mountain. Other places include the Jama Masjid (beautifully carved structure showcasing both Hindu and Muslim architechture, a must visit), Kabootar Khana, One minar Mosque and One eye Mandir!
By evening my visit was completed and I headed off to Baroda for my Bus to Kutch!!! Hallol to Baroda is an hours journey while Baroda to Bhuj is an eight hour journey by bus. I spent some time in the city hogging on pizza, roaming in the garden, visiting the church and pampering my feet with fish spa!
Dropping at Bhuj, i got a car that took a thousand to my place of stay in Kutch, the Rann Homestay. Finalllyyy much awaited Kutch! Hell tired from the journey i dozed off to sleep. It was one in the afternoon when i woke up! The sun beaming high up in the sky, no sign of cool weather, the tents swaying to the tune of the wind, sight of arid spaces all around, but the best view out of my bhunga or hut was the lunch being laid out in buffet! chawal, roti, ghee, gur, two types of sabzi, daal and papad! Filling my tummy with as much food as possible, i got dressed to visit the white desert! since the home-stay was far, i had to avail some conveyance. at the site, one needs a permit from the tourist facilitation center and pay 100 per person to take you up to a certain spot from where again you got to walk or ride the camel/camel cart to view the white desert ultimately!
it was sunny and bit hot too even in December. there is a view tower from where the whole expanse is visible. it is truly and incredible sight to encounter. stretches of salt as far as one can see, the water on it only makes it glisten under the rays of the sun! there are folk singers engaged in singing and helping tourists with the pagri/turban! i came back to my room and navigated back only in the evening to shop, eat and watch the cultural shows! at the homestay after a hearty dinner, around the bonfire, over a conversation i learned that the beauty of sunrise on the white desert is a lifetime experience! it was 10.30 already when the folk singers came by to sing for us. they sang bollywood number in their style...it made me go wowwwwwwww!! the staff was also providing tea too....and oh my gawd i am falling in love with this place! happy me goes to sleep promising to wake up early next morning!
so the alarm goes 5.30am...snooze.....snooze..snooze...6.30....yawnnnnnnnnn....just 5 mins more! so i wake up at 11 am sharp and with sure hope that the sun has risen and dint wait for me! phew! i still had hope since this day and night would be my last here, which buys me 1 more morning to keep my promise to myself to see the sunrise. the day is spent visiting the kala dungar, a car will take an hour to reach the place. beautiful view specially of the beach and the dholavira island!
there's another place of the BSF, the war memorial and the India bridge. i went there, the journey is what i liked the most. i found these fishes washed up and dried on the sides of the road. photography inside is not allowed... so no pics to post!
that about took the day, in the evening again i went shopping! :)
next day i do wake up like an obedient girl at 5.30 and make my up to the white desert by 6.30. the sun rises late by around 7.40 here. but the gradual awakening of the sky and the resplendence is a sight impressed in my memory for lifetime truly!
the plain white stretch gradually starts glistening by reflecting the early morning rays falling from above. spectacle it is!
this was my last day at kutch and due to lack of conveyance i had to make my way back in the back of a truck! lol but it was cool and an experience!
my bus to mumbai was from bhuj, so i use the time to visit the musuem, prag mahal and the aina mahal which was once inhavited by Bajirao (the one in love with Mastani). Go up the Big Ben replication, be amazed by the mirrored ceiling, ivory gates, decorated walls, stain glass paintings from those time and many more
ahhh ummm my awesome awesome trip comes to an end! some quick info for ur trips:
1. there is no facility for cab as such from kutch. get ur cabs booked from bhuj that is the cental location
2. a drivers number 9913178433 -pappu for cab service from bhuj
3. rann homestay 9408619043 directly call and book a room by account transfer, costs very less.
4. aina mahal prag mahal - 12.30 to 3 is break time
5. bhuj to mumbai bus service by ashok travels was rather poor and was very late
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