Saturday, May 25, 2013

Kutch Travelogue: My Week Long Trip To Kutch, Gir and Diu

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).
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.

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'!

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.

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.

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.

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!

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. 

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.
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!

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.

Read more…

Remembering Mahatma Gandhi on His Death Anniversary


Mahatma Gandhi on his death bed

On my last trip to Gujarat and on my way to Dwarka from Diu, I stopped by Porbandar to visit revered Mahatma Gandhi's birth place.

Mahatma Gandhi's ancestral house

Porbandar is a small town, just like any other Indian three-tier city. As I entered the city, I continuously had images from the cult movie 'Gandhi' directed by Attenborough, flashing in front of my eyes. Since childhood, I have been fascinated by Gandhi's lifestyle and his ideology. I admire him not only for what he did for his country but also how he did it.

On entering Porbandar, I was surprised or rather disappointed to notice that there was no sign of any of Gandhi's picture or the mention of his name anywhere. Throughout Gujarat, one gets to see the respect for respected Patel but hardly of Gandhi.


In entire Porbandar, the only place where I saw Gandhi's statue was right outside his house at a circle.

Well, why Gandhi is not so famously popular in his own state of birth is another topic of discussion and though I have much to say about it, I leave it for some other time. As of today, lets just pay our homage to the great man who gave us what we needed the most - peaceful independence.

These are some of the pictures that I clicked during my visit to his place, which is now like a museum of his pictures.

To begin with, let me first show you the picture of Mahatma Gandhi's birth place. In his house, the exact place where the man first saw the world is marked with a Swastik, holy sign in Hindu mythology.
The exact place where Gandhiji was born
The picture that comes to one's notice upon going upstairs in his ancestral house where his pictures are kept is this one -

Gandhiji with Kasturba in their younger years; photo taken in 1914
These are couple of other pictures that I captured.


One of the last photographs of Mahatma Gandhi; he was walking to a prayer meeting at Birla House- Delhi; Photo taken on 29th Jan, 1948

Gandhiji with Charlie Chaplin; photo taken in London, 1931

Gandhiji with 6 yrs old Indira Gandhi; photo taken in 1924



Jinnah and Gandhiji in Mumbai in September 1944



Gandhiji's last prayer at Birla House, 29th Jan, 1948

Read more…