Last week, I and my husband went on a vacation to Kutch. It was a nice trip and I think it would be good to share my experience in this post here.
Let me give the due credit to Mr. Amitabh Bachchan first, as it was his persuasive statement 'kuch din toh guzaro Gujarat mein' that prompted us to plan a trip to Kutch.
I had always wanted to travel to Gujarat. The colorful land seemed too tempting to the traveler in me. Thus, we set off for the trip on 14th Jan. It was a long journey from Mayabunder to Bhuj (nearest airport to Rann of Kutch).
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| Outside View of Bhuj Airport |
Right at the arrival at the Bhuj airport, we forgot about our long journeys and reveled in the beauty of Kutch culture.
We spent the evening lazily in our hotel room and had a family dinner at my cousin's place who currently lives in Bhuj. It was Uttarayan that day and the entire city market and other places were closed. So, we practically had nothing to do or visit that day in Bhuj.
Next morning we started off for Rann. Kala Doongar is on the way and about 80 kms from Bhuj while Rann is about 150 kms from Bhuj. But since the roads are nicely built and the traffic is minimal, one can reach Rann in about 2 hrs or slightly more.
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| Thats Kala Doongar on a Hill Top |
We stopped by Kala Doongar and I loved the place. It is basically a hill top which gives a panoramic view of Rann. Kala Doongar is a hill top and thus cool breeze greets you there with full warmth.
It was quite mesmerizing to sit there and look at the vast spreading, non-ending Rann. From the hill top, the horizon actually looked like the 'end of world' to me similar to the one shown in the Hollywood movie 'God Must Be Crazy'!
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| Rann of Kutch as seen from Kala Doongar |
From Kala Doongar, we had a drive of another hour or so and we reached Rann festival. Just a few kilometers away from Rann, Gujarat Tourism department holds a camp with few tents and that is the very famous Rann festival.
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| Way to the Rann Mahotsav |
In the Rann festival camp, tents are built for a day or 2 days stay and there are couple of stalls that sell snack items and handicrafts.
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| Handicraft stalls at Rann festival |
As outsiders, we were not allowed to enter the tent area or click its pictures but I clicked few pics of the Mahotsav. Honestly, I am too impressed by the Mahotsav.
Initially, we had also applied for tent booking for 2 days through a travel agent but he informed us that he could not get the tents booked as they were running full. It was a slight disappointment for me but when I reached Rann and saw the Mahotsav, I realized that for a person to see Rann and Kala Doongar, one day is more than sufficient.
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| Exhibition at Rann Mahotsav |
If you are planning for a trip there, make sure to get the bookings done as soon as possible. From the Mahotsav, we headed to the Rann. It was magnificent. A vast spread of white dry salt. No wonder it is called the salt desert. For almost half of the year, the area gets covered with water and turns into an island and that is why it is shown in dotted-dashed lines on Indian map!
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| Way to the Rann |
The 'Rann of Kutch' is fascinating. One gets spell bound by its vastness, seclusion and enormity. It is also well known for its sun set view but we had to rush back to Bhuj, so we decided to watch the sun set at Kala Doongar.
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| Getting Clicked at Rann |
You can also experience the joyful ride on a camel's back in the Rann and that is an absolutle traveler's delight.
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| Camel Ride at Rann of Kutch |
On our way back to Bhuj, we went back to Kala Doongar to spend some time on the hill amidst sun set and a charming breeze. But to our utter disappointment, we couldn't watch the sun set as it got cloudy and Surya Dev refused to show us his glowing face!
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| The cloudy sun set at Kala Doongar |
We reached back Bhuj and took a long sleep only to wake up next morning to get ready for Gir! To be continued in the next post.
