Kutch, Gujarat

The moment I came to know about my sister getting posted to Gandinagar in 2016, my mind wandered off and instead of thinking about how she will shift and settle start thinking about how it opens up a new gateway of Gujarat. Gandhi Nagar or Ahmedabad is convenient base to explore Gujarat. There were two main circuitous routes which were possible taking a base at Gandhinagar. One around North which is known as Kutch and one south which is known as Saurashtra region. For this trip we decided to go to Kutch and visit Rann of Kutch, then go to extreme west of Gujarat and wind our way back to Mandvi and then come back to GandhiNagar. Bhuj is the centre of Kutch region and convenient base to explore Kutch region. The erstwhile Kutch princely state was based here in Bhuj.We decided to fly down to Ahmedabad from Pune. The flight just take one hour and we live close to the airport. The flights too are cheaper and timings being convenient. We took off from Pune on 23rd Dec 2016 late night. This was my first time to Ahmedabad. We had a SUV at our disposal for this trip. I was looking forward for this road trip.

Map of the trip

Kutch region which is known for its arid geology which leads to a unique culture. Due to geography and geological activities, a lot of area is covered by shallow marsh connected to the sea which is rich in salt. Thereby there is hardly any greenery or features like hills. The land is flat, arid, brown or white, extremely hot in summer. However, that has led to unique way of living in these parts known as Kutchi culture. We have seen several advertisement about them with Amitabh Bachchan and it seen frequently in movies and is very popular with foreign tourists. The region has long boundary with Pakistan along the marshy land which is inhospitable thereby it hardly features in any conflict with Pakistan. The region continues to Sindh region in Pakistan.

24-Dec 2016
We started late morning from Gandhi Nagar with today's target being only to reach Bhuj which is around 300km from Gandhi Nagar. We did not have to enter Ahmedabad and bypassed it to join the main highway NH947 towards Bhuj. We got to see the sprawl of Ahmedabad city with construction going around of buildings, roads, flyovers. NH947 had 4-lane, well paved tarmac till Maliya bypassing towns like Dhrangadhra, Sarkhej. At Maliya, we took a break at Gurukripa hotel Sugar-n-Spice restaurant which is a good point to take pitstop. I was eager to taste Gujarati food and was not disappointed.

Gurukripa hotel Sugar-n-Spice, good pitstop to take

From here, we took a right turn towards Samkhiyali. After Maliya terrain changed suddenly. We were going over a long bridge and there were salt pans and maze of high-tension wires and towers. There were mounds of salt collected around some pans. When I checked back in Google maps, this was due to a wide basin of Hudson or Kutch creek which we pass going over Surajbari bridge. This is the only bridge which connects Kutch to Saurashtra or main Gujarat. The drive provided panoramic view of the creek. After that we reached Samkhiyali where there is a toll booth. Then we bypassed town of Gandhidham, Anjar and finally reached Bhuj at 6pm. Due to two major ports Kandla and Mundra there was lot of truck traffic. After checking into the hotel, we took a round of the place nearby. The town was like any other chaotic town full of traffic, lights, shops and not very clean. There were roadside shops selling Kutchi Dabheli which is popular snack even in Pune. You can know more about it here. Found another name for it which is Mandvi Doubleroti.

Roadside shops selling Kutchi Dabheli and Mandvi Douberoti

25-Dec 2016
Next day we woke up early and went to Bhujiya fort atop namesake hill overlooking the Bhuj town. We climbed the stairs all the way up to the Temple which is highest point in the fort. The fort is now in ruins but has decent history of wars being fought. The fort walls ran long over undulating terrain reminding of Wall of China. This being winter time and warmth of morning sun was apt for such exploration. The climb was welcome for kids and good start of the trip.

Outline of Bhujiya Fort from hotel duing sunrise

Temple on top of the fort

Fort walls running over hills

Fort wall against Bhuj town

Fort walls running running over hills

View of Bhuj town from Fort

After that we packed up and had breakfast typical of Kutch region - fafda and jalebi with raw papaya chutney at a road side shop.

Kutchi snack of Fafda, Jalebi and raw Papaya chutney

From here, we got onto NH341 road towards Dhordo village which is gateway to Rann of Kutch. The entire landscape was scenic with flat, brown earth around with very little vegetation. We passed along Bhuj airport which is also an Air force station. There are direct flights to Bhuj from Mumbai. At one point the adjoining ground was vast and without a trace of grass and cracked up earth. We took a stop, drove on the ground just to experience the vast expanse with main road being distant. The road heads due North towards Khavda. To go to Rann of Kutch, one has to take left at Bhindariya village where there is a permit office as well for obtaining permit to visit Rann of Kutch. The road from this point seemed to be freshly paved with signages for Rann Utsav for welcoming tourists. Tourism in significant part of the economy of this region.

Smile you are in Kutch

Vast expanse of cracked earth

Turn left from here to Rann of Kutch 

Fresh paved road to Rann Utsav

We had booked ourselves with Rann Kandhi Resort in village Gorewali which is a bit earlier than Dhordo. It turned out to be good decision in the end. I had looked up resorts at Rann of Kutch and found this one to be value for money and decent reviews. I was tempted to book accommodation at Rann Utsav which is bang at Dhordo and in the middle of fair or mela than comes with it but found it too costly and found reviews where people complained about crowd and disturbance due to festival. When we visited the fair, we couldn't agree more. Due to Rann Utsav there was huge paraphernalia of stalls, fair, security, lights, cacophony and hustle-bustle. We had booked two Bhungas or huts as it is called in this region for us. All meals are included in the price. The resort is owned by Veerabhai & his family who confirmed the booking on WhatsApp after I transferred the booking to them. We could park our vehicle next to Bhunga which was not the luxury with stay at Rann Utsav.

Rann Kandhi at Night

Bhungas for our stay

Rann Kandhi

Rann Kandhi

The food was served in buffet style but traditional Kutchi variety all vegetarian. The food was awesome all throughout. There was also an evening one-hour program where local artists performed. For this they would light up a bonfire and put mattresses or daris around for guests to sit. This being December month, it was quite cold in the evening and morning due to open expanse though days could get hot but pleasant.

Rann of Kutch is a shallow water body which gets flooded by sea water and then dries up in leisure producing salt crystals. The salt crystals are white in color which makes the whole area appear white. That's why Rann of Kutch is also known as White desert. The Rann completely dries up only later in the summer. By December it was not completely dried up and some patches were wet and slushy but it still appeared white in patches and the patches where it had not dried up, would reflect the sky. The combined view is nothing but heavenly, no horizon.

Information about White Rann

Now, one would imagine, how does one see, view and appreciate Rann of Kutch which is a wide flat plane. Which is the point where one goes to admire Rann of Kutch. The good news is there is a point like that. Govt. has built a tall metal structure with platforms from where one can view and admire great expanse of Rann of Kutch.

Tower at White Rann

To visit Rann of Kutch from our Rann Kandhi, we had to come to Dhordo or Rann Utsav where there is a narrow road flanked by Rann Utsav on both side to come to a checkpost. Vehicles are not allowed beyond this point. The viewing tower is around 1 km from here which one can walk or ride the many camel or horse-pulled carts. There was considerable crowd and carts were having a field day. Lot of people had spread onto the ground from the road to tower and from tower itself onto the white desert as far as they could go on foot. We tried to walk on the white desert which still had water at certain patches. To avoid shoes getting dirty, we tried to walk barefoot but the salt crystals stung our feet and it was very difficult to walk. One could feel the water being high on salt concentration just by touching and smelling it. We collected some big salt crystals as souvenir. From the tower, one could feel the curvature of the earth as well rounding up on the edges. Due to water being shallow, may be an inch over the surface and being clear of any impurity, there was a mirror reflection people as if they are walking on water.

Horse & Camel cart, transport of this place

Toursists spread out on White Desert

Watch tower reflecting on crystal clear water of the white desert

Looking back from tower, towards Rann Utsav/Dhordo

No Horizon, hanging in air

White salt crystals spread out

Sunset at White desert

26-Dec 2016

The plan for first half was to visit Kalo Dungar, India Bridge and come back by lunch. To go to Kalo Dungar we drove to Dhordo and after crossing the Rann Utsav, took a right onto an immaculate, single lane road which flanks the Rann of Kutch desert and joins the highway from Bhuj at Khavda. The road is mostly straight and with featureless expanse of brown earth on both sides. One could see an oncoming vehicle from very far and has to get down to shoulder to let it pass but there is absolutely no traffic here. The road must have featured in number of movies. A little further from Khavda, we took a right onto road to Kalo Dungar.

Road to Khavda

Distant structure visible over featureless desert

Kalo Dungar is the highest point around 700 meters in Kutch. It is a group of hills with a Dattatreya temple on top flanking another shallow, marsh known as Rann of Kutch lake. The northern boundary of this marsh is border with Pakistan. The hills have a little desert vegetation of cactus, babool and kikar which gives it a little green look. There are camel rides available from parking upto the temple. A little away from temple is the view point for the lake. One could see far but due to haze it was not visible that far. We just tried to soak in the views.

Road to Kalo Dungar with top visible 

View point at Kalo Dungar 

Low hills with desert vegetation around Kalo Dungar

View of the Rann of Kutch lake 

Hills around the Rann of Kutch lake

Rann of Kutch lake

We came back to main road to Khavda and went upto India-Pakistan bridge which is a bridge on top of channel connecting Rann of Kutch lake to White desert. At the other end is a checkpost where after permit, one is allowed to go to Shaheed Smarak which is BSF Was memorial. The same road goes to India-Pakistan border which is 65 kms for which one has to take special permission. One is not allowed to take photograph all along the drive and of India-Pakistan bridge and memorial.

While returning from India bridge we took a detour to Gandhi-nu-gaam which is a model village setup for handicrafts and other village produce make of wood.

Decorated Bhunga

Traditional houses at Gandhi-nu-gam 

Gandhi-nu-gam

In the evening we were back at White desert do have our final view of the place. Today we hired a horse-cart and enjoyed the ride. The driver shared tidbits of lifestyle of people around including them. He was one handsome guy whose attire and looks resembled people from Sindh province of Pakistan.

Horse cart driver

Ship of desert

Sunset in Rann of Kutch

Going back to Rann Utsav

Performers at Rann Utsav

Rann Utsav

27-Dec 2016
Today we left Rann of Kutch and returned to Bhuj and went around Bhuj. While returning at one point we saw a water body with exotic birds like flamingo, cranes etc. We stopped there to admire them for some time. After coming back to Bhuj we checked into our hotel which was on the ring road.

We first went to Kutch Museum which had rich display of Kutch region. There is a lake called Hamirsar lake in Bhuj town which we crossed couple of times. Then we went to Prag Mahal palace which is a grand palace of Kutch princely state built in Italian Gothic style with a clock tower. Prag Mahal palace is opulent with huge rooms, decorations and paraphernalia or a regal living. The there are rooms depicting lifestyle of that time and a huge ballroom where gatherings must be happening. This is where the Lagaan film's shooting happened during dream sequence of Bhuvan dancing with Elizabeth in British outfit. Finally at the top of the tower is a huge bell. One can see whole Bhuj from here as it is in the middle of the town.

Entrance to Prag Mahal

Prag Mahal Palace

Staircase in Prag Mahal palace

Durbar Hall at Prag Mahal palace

View of Bhu town, Bhujiya Hill and dilapidated Aaina Mahal

Adjacent to Prag Mahal is Aaina Mahal. Some portions Aaina Mahal palace was destroyed beyond repair in 2001 earthquake, however one can admire the craftsmanship from the outside in the form of intricate jharokas which were built. Some portion of Aaina Mahal palace was restored and now is museum. Aaina Mahal gets its name due to numerous mirrors hung on the walls and around interspersed with ornate carvings and decorations. Apart from that it displays the bedroom, music room, court room and other old pieces of arts, paintings, arms, palanquin etc.

Intricately decorated jharokas. No rectangle is carved alike.

Another view of Aaina Mahal

Music room specially made for mehfils

Ostentation decoration at Aaina Mahal

Mirrors on the wall at Aaina Mahal

After lunch we went to Sharad Baug palace which is another palace of the princely state. As the name suggested, there is a palace in the middle of garden. The palace is now museum and garden was well maintained. The place exudes old world charm of royal lifestyle one with nature. The main palace building is now closed as it is ruptured due to 2001 earthquake. There is a small museum with an enthusiastic care taker. The greenery and quietude makes the trees home to bats and bees seen hanging from the trees.

inside Sharad Baug palace

Colony of bats and bees at Sharad Baug palace

Sharad Baug palace

From here we went to Chhatardi which is a park with cenotaphs or tombs dedicated to rulers and kings who are long dead. The place was damaged in 2001 earthquake and since then it is being restored. Some of the structures are really beautiful and intricate. The lone care taker shared some story about the place. The place is adjacent to another lake which is adjacent to Hamirsar but not as grand. But the place is suitable to spend evenings in Bhuj.

Hamirsar lake with ducks

Chatri with dome intact

Slabs depicting royals

Ruins at Chhatardi

28-Dec 2016
Today the target was to go around the western part of Kutch along the circuitour route and reach Mandvi. We would go via Mata-no-Madh, Lakhpat, Narayan Sarovar, Koteshwar, Pingleshwar and finally to Mandvi. I was keen to do this entire circuit imagining the kind of views and thrill one could get to go to extreme corner of the country. We got onto SH42 and first reached Mata-no-madh which is a temple town dedicated to Ashapura Mata who is the revered deity in Kutch. We crossed Tropic of Cancer on this road which is prominently marked. There are even white line marked on the road to show where the Tropic of Cancer is passing through.

Tropic of Cancer on SH-42

From here, we drove to Lakhpat which has namesake fort. The fort has contiguous thick outer wall and occupies quite an area. There are people living inside the fort with a mosque, tombs, temple and gurudwara. The fort is strategically important as it overlooks Sir Creek which is a marshy area bordering Pakistan. BSF or Border Security Force occupies the fort and they have built watch points to keep a watch on the open area beyond the fort. People are allowed to take vehicles inside and park anywhere but no one is allowed to go beyond the fort in the open area. We climbed the fort walls and walked to certain lengths encountering those watch points with soldiers keeping a watch.

Peripheral wall of Lakhpat fort 

Watch points on the fort wall overlooking the land beyond

Large settlement inside Lakhpat fort

Vast open marshy land beyond Lakhpat fort

Entry to Lakhpat fort

From Lakhpat we turn left contouring the the land mass and come to Narayan Sarovar which we skipped and went to Koteshwar which is at the western tip with a huge temple dedicated to Lord Shiva. One can get panoramic view from here as well of the marshy land and coastline with a lighthouse.

Marshy landmass and sea beyond at Koteshwar

Koteshwar Mahadev temple 

Towards jetty at Koteshwar 

Panoramic view of the coastline at Koteshwar

From here the next point was Pingleshwar. It was already late in the day and it was doubtful whether we could reach in time. On top of it the main road goes upto Naliya from where one has to go 10 km inside to Pingleshwar town which has a temple. The temple was closed by now so we could not visit it. The beach was a little further on unpaved sandy track. I had to race against the sun to reach with still few minutes left before sunset. There was hardly anyone on the beach there except few locals. We just relaxed in the fading light of the sun and cool breeze to relax from whole day of traveling.

Sunset at Pingleshwar 

Sunset at rocky Pingleshwar beach

We then drove to Mandvi where we reach by 8pm and checked into our hotel. The town is rather small and there are not many eateries. While searching I had looked up and found an Osho Dining Hall close to where we were staying. We had to walk through dark, dingy lane to the restaurant but it turned out to be pleasant experience. The owner is a disciple of Osho and hence the name. His staff served us the food with so much love and care which we have never experienced before. I talked to owner a little who shared that he visited Osho Ashram 30 years back and since then he has been serving people like this. This was best experience and reinforces the point that one could get great experiences at unexpected locations.

Food at Osho Dining Hall at Mandvi

Mandvi is a historical naval town of Kutch princely state. Mandvi though is on sea shore but a little inside on the Gulf of Kutch instead of bang on Arabian sea. It has a ship building industry where wooden ships are built using traditional methods. Ship building still takes place and one can witness it. The town is bifurcated by Rukmavati river flowing through it which drains into sea at Mandvi. It is in the basin of this river that ship building takes place. Our hotel was just on the road beside the Rukmavati river and we could see ship building under progress. The town has a port as well which is not used that frequently. There is a bridge over the river called Mandvi bridge which also has a stone gate called Mandvi gate. The traffic passes underneath. The town used to be a fort and its fortifications though in ruins can be seen at many places. The river with its puddles of water was attracting lot of birds like flamingoes, stork, egrets. My impression of the town due to its naval past, the town has charm and still small and quaint.

Birds, abandoned ship in Rukhmavati

Mandvi bridge with Mandvi gate in the morning

Ship under construction

29-Dec 2016
In the morning I took a stroll from Mandvi bridge all the way to Mandvi port. At the port, though there were signs of area being secure and photography prohibited but there was nobody. The port office building was closed and not a single soul. The area is surrounded by people involved in ship making business and I spotted one shop which also sells wooden ship models but alas it was closed.

Lone ship tied at Mandvi port

Ship model shop

After breakfast, we went to the famous Vijay Vilas Palace which is now residence of royal family of Kutch. The palace has a museum, provides tented accommodation and has its own private beach. The palace is a little away from main Mandvi town even now surrounded by greenery all around. Movies like Lagaan and Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam have been shot here. This fort was all over in Lagaan movie as base for British contingent. There is tour guide available at the museum who shared anecdotes about the place. The views from top of the greenery all around are stupendous. Now that I have visited Palace of Versailles near Paris, the place reminds me of that. An opulent place with green forest all around and even sea shore to enjoy. What opulent lifestyle it was for the royal family.

Vijay Vilas palace

Inside Vijay Vilas palace

Corridors inside

Dome at the top

Greenery surrounding Vijay Vilas palace

From here we took a detour to place called Godhra which has a beautiful temple devoted to Amba mata. The temple itself was made of marble and even had a model of Vaishno Devi with its hill, flora and fauna from which people could pass through tunnels and emerge as if done the climb.

Temple at Godhra

In the evening we went to the Mandvi beach. It is also known as Wind farm beach due to a series of windmills but now defunct. There was sizeable crowd and was full of recreational activities like speed boat, camel ride, 4-wheel ride. Sun took its own time to slowly come down to give orange glow and finally setting but still leaving plenty of time for the light to fade. The kids enjoyed the beach a lot by playing in the water and taking camel ride. The wind was pleasant and laid back beach, it was really enjoyable.

Windfarm beach, Mandvi 

Crowd at Mandvi beach

Camel ride at Mandvi beach

Camel ride at Mandvi beach 

Sunset at Mandvi beach

30-Dec 2016
We just drove from Mandvi to Gandhi Nagar via Bhuj. We stopped at the same place where we had stopped while coming and had sumptuous lunch. The road was so good that I was averaging 90kmph and reached Gandhi Nagar well before sunset.

That brought an end to a wonderful trip to Kutch. Few experiences which are left are visiting Little Rann of Kutch, Dholavira (the island) and Wild Ass sanctuary and visiting the place in early summer when desert is completely dry to witness whiteness in full bloom and that too on full moon night. However, that is for next time.