Run to the Rann Part 1: Ek Musafir, Ek Hasina & Ek Raahgir's RannVenture

KUTCH, GUJARAT….the very name resonates in one’s mind as a majestic, royal state…with a rich & deep history…a vastly varied topography…culture & heritage at each step. When we think of Gujarat…we think of a Lion. It is then no wonder that Gujarat Tourism uses a Lion as it’s mascot…royal, regal, stately & with a majestic aura!!! Of course, even in the map, Gujarat as a state, looks like a lion’s head, when it is roaring!!

We had wanted to do Gujarat much before Mr. Amitabh Bachchan rapped to us the many, many, many places we can see & explore in the state!!! However, Mr. Bachchan did affirm our resolve to take out time & “spend some time in Gujarat” J J J (Wonderful ad by Gujarat Tourism by the way, one of the most “ahead of its times” campaign by any state tourism in the country).

So, this time, when we had to finalise a destination for our Christmas Break, we immediately zeroed in on Gujarat.

The challenge however was that we had just 5 days in hand, to drive from Delhi to Gujarat & be back!!!

Now that is quite a drive!!! If one is driving from Delhi to Gujarat, not only one has to cross Haryana, but also Rajasthan & reach one end of Gujarat to be one with The Great Rann of Kutch!!

We were always enamoured by the sheer vastness & fantastical landscape of Rann of Kutch, so it became our first choice as a destination in Gujarat. Since we had just 5 days in total in our hand, we had to zero down specefics of our itinerary very meticulously & follow it, so that we can maximize on our very limited travel time. Therefore, our Kutch itinerary read somewhat like this:

·      DAY 1 (24^th Dec): Start from Gurgaon to Udaipur – 650 kms

·      DAY 2 (25^th Dec): Start from Udaipur to Devpur Homestay, Nakhatarna – 602 kms

·      DAY 3 (26^th Dec): Start from Devpur Homestay, Nakhatarna to Rann Utsav, Tent City, Dhordo – 107 kms

·      DAY 4 (27^th Dec): Rann of Kutch, Dhordo to Palanpur (a night halt on Gujarat-Rajasthan border) – 430 kms

·      DAY 5 (28^th Dec): Palanpur to Gurgaon – 780 kms.

Now, of course, we are crazy, mad travellers too J J…so while we did meticulously plan our really exhaustive itinerary, we are also lovers of random detours!!! So, do not take this as the absolute set itinerary, because there will be some surprises on the way too J J.

Much to our relief, we were joined in our “Run to the Rann” expedition by Hasina’s brother ,Raahgir!!! With 3 people willing to drive, we divided per day driving schedule to 2 hours per person, so that one person is not exhausted too much as 600 odd kms of drive per day can be quite daunting!!

With all things set, we could not wait for year end to approach, & our holidays to start!!! J J

In a few days it would be Christmas eve…and we would be on the road!!! Far..far away from the maddening city life & on the highway!!! Into the wild & untamed, but gorgeous countryside…ready to observe, explore & be one with ourselves!! With this lovely thought, the last few days of working in 2014 were getting over soon, and the day for our “RannVenture” came upon us!!

Luckily 24^th Dec morning was a clear day & with a spring in our step we started off for our holiday at 6.30am!! J J J.

However, a few minutes into the Highway & we encountered a thick enough fog!!! Thankfully traffic on roads was miniscule and we could comfortably drive maintaining an average speed of 40km/hr, which isn’t thrilling, we know, but in fog situation it is a safe drive. After all speeding foolishly & then getting into an unprecedented bad situation is not exactly our idea of stating a good holiday!!

The Great Indian Truck Art!!

Around 8.30am we stopped at a dhaba (locating which was a task, thanks to the fog) for some breakfast!!! Nothing is more welcome than the sight of hot smoking Aloo Parathas, prepared freshly, with chopped onions, coriander, green chillies and whatnots, hot off the tawa, with copious butter just sizzling away on them to glory…only to be washed down by cups after cup of hot & sweet adrak chai (tea) of a Haryana dhaba!!! (attach pic)!!! Who cares for biting cold after that?? Holiday is already here, isn’t it!! J

With our morning apetite whetted quite happily, we were back again on the highway. The fog had cleared a bit, but we still got it till Neemrana (Alwar, Rajasthan), which was quite surprising. Nonetheless, post Neemrana, the fog gave away to bright & clear roads & we sped up our speed to appropriate Highway mileage and put on some songs!!! Ahaa…the party was on!!!

By 2pm, we were somewhere between Jaipur & Ajmer & stopped for lunch!!

Post lunch, it was a run to Udaipur. We were trying our best to reach Udaipur by 8pm, as we were really in the mood of a nice dinner by the Lake Pichola with wine & spicy Rajasthani food!! Raahgir in particular wanted to try Laal Maas, a traditional Rajasthani mutton delicacy!! Our restaurant of choice was the lovely Ambrai at Amet Haveli. Hasina called up Ambrai while we were driving to book a table. Unfortunately Ambrai was fully booked for 24^th & 25^th Dec & we could not get a table!! It was quite a surprise as we have frequently heard of restaurants in West being booked like this, where you have to wait for days for a table; having that experience in India was new!!

A very dejected Hasina called up at the hotel, Mewar Haveli, where we were putting up, to check if they could possibly suggest a place for dining by the lake & get us a reservation. The hotel manager very sweetly informed that Mewar Haveli is indeed on the Lake itself & hosts a rooftop candle lit dinner overlooking the Lake & its beauty!! Not only that, despite being a vegetarian restaurant, they agreed on ordering Laal Maas from a nearby good restaurant & serving us. They also agreed to buy a bottle of wine for us & assured that we can have the dinner we want!!! That was music to our ears. Just the mere promise made us speed up much happily to a lovely evening that would await us in Udaipur!!!

Unfortunately, a small road trip snag, set us on a rather longer path to Udaipur, thus delaying us by 1.5 hours to our destination. Just before Ajmer comes a road where on the left is a flyover that is pointing towards Chittorgarh & Bhilwara and the straight road is pointing at Ajmer. We were confused whether the straight road will lead us to Ajmer city & the road to the left might be a bypass route, making us avoid city traffic & reaching earlier.  Therefore, we checked with a few locals & they told us to take the Chittorgarh & Bhilwara route to reach Udaipur!! NEVER TAKE THAT ROAD…if driving to Udaipur, unless you have a desire to visit Chittor!!

The road in question has many diversions, goes through single lane State Highways & is a much longer route. We did not have any particular problem en route, it’s just that by the time we reached Udaipur it was 9.00pm. Had we followed the earlier road, we could have easily reached Udaipur by 7.30pm – 8pm, despite the fact that the roads from Nathdwara to Udaipur are are construction.

The area where Mewar Haveli is situated is quite happening, with a very good crowd roaming the bylanes. It’s quirky, eccentric…with lovely graffiti wall art, kitschy cafes & curio shops at every turn. It would have been nice exploring all these had we reached on time, as we were frankly not much tired. Dividing driving time equally amongst 3 people helped each person to take a nap comfortably in the car & reduced stress as well.

But we reached at 9pm, and after settling in our cute little room, went to Mewar Haveli’s rooftop at 9.30pm.

Everything took a turn for the most lovely & gorgeous from that moment on!!!

Udaipur…oh Udaipur!!! What a romantic & lovely city!! The view from the hotel rooftop was breath taking!! Mewar Haveli is one of the many hotels that are dotted on the edge of Lake Pichola, & practically all hotels in that circle have a rooftop dinner facility!!! Can you imagine this vista??!!All hotels lit up around a spectacularly gorgeous lake…a different sort of party happening on every rooftop. Music wafting from all rooftops!! It was an elegant mish mash of Bollywood numbers, old English tracks, soft jazz music, classical. In the middle of our line of vision we could see the beautifully lit up & majestic Lake Palace hotel, standing regally in the middle of the lake, like a fabled Ivory Tower, so removed from others….a thing to be looked at, admired, fawned upon from a comfortable distance!!! It was pure magic!!

We sipped wine after wine, taking in the ambience, music & the wonderful crowd around us…very comfortable in the crisp & cool weather, made warm by a desirable bonfire near us. It was such a beautiful treat for driving non stop from morning to night. Just what we wanted!!! The hotel staff was sweet enough to delay our food a bit & not pester us continuously. We did not make them wait too much either, & had our food. The food was absolutely fantastic & spicy washed down with sweet red wine.

We got up very reluctantly around 11.45pm, as we had to sleep too. We had another day of driving ahead of us…but not before we resolved to visit Udaipur for at least 2-3 days!! It is such a well-planned & gorgeous city…and it truly gave a sweet end to our lovely day!! J J J

25^th Dec: 6.30am

Off we were, yet again, trudging out of a very sleepy & quiet Udaipur early in the morning. We had to cover a distance of 602 kms today to reach Nakhatarna, a village 40 kms ahead of Bhuj.

Bhuj will always be the centre point for travellers to halt a day before they venture out to Rann of Kutch. Reason being, if as a traveller you wish to visit India-Pakistan border, you need to stay 1 full day in Bhuj in order to get your permit made. Most hotel & resort owners are well equipped to guide you on the procedure to get a permit, else approach a local police station to get one made. Do not worry at all, as we found Gujaratis to be very sweet, polite & helpful in general.

If, however you are just visiting Rann, then your permit can be made immediately 30 kms away from Rann. The check point to get a permit made is very clearly visible & you will be stopped by police & directed to get it made before you enter the Rann.

Therefore, staying at Bhuj, or adjoining areas is the most comfortable halt option an evening before visiting Rann. We, however, chose to stay at a beautiful homestay called Devpur Homestay, some 40 kms ahead of Bhuj. Our reason for taking this detour was purely because of Devpur.

It is such a beautiful homestay that it naturally attracts you to stay there. It is the home of one of the politest & sweetest couple we have met, Kurutarthsinh Jadeja & his wife Yashodhara. We were immediately attracted to the home the minute we saw it on Tripadvisor & read only good reviews of the place. Needless to say, once booked, Kurutarth was extremely helpful in also helping arrange our stay in Rann Utsav, Tent City, Dhordo. He looped us with all the correct references & was also extremely helpful in guiding us to interesting places nearby.

So, coming back to our Rannventure, we left a very sleepy Udaipur behind & were out on the highway to Expressway Heaven!!! J J J

The Udaipur-Abu Road expressway leading into Gujarat border is such a delight to drive on (although driving on this stretch at late night is not at all advisable). It is such a treat to the senses. The roads are spectacular, surrounded by gorgeous landscape on both sides. It was a true delight & made us take pitstops to take photographs time & again.

The music was on, the roads were a dream & spirits were soaring high!!! We were practically bouncing off in the car with so much verve!! J J

Around 8.45 am we took a breakfast halt somewhere. Bye bye Aloo Parathas with butter & welcome Poha, Pakode & Veg sandwich. We were in Rajasthan now. After breakfast, we were back again on the highway & entered Gujarat.

What roads of Gujarat actually are, you get to know once you enter Gujarat. Even Rajasthan largely has good roads. But in Gujarat, roads are also tourism!!! Do not believe us?? Let us show you.

Cruising away at a comfortable highway speed on this tarmac like road was such a pleasant experience. We were vrooming away in such delight!! Imagine miles & miles & miles & miles of never ending carpet like roads & your music player blaring the best of songs…our choice was Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara’s “Khwabon Ke Parinde” & many more numbers!!! We were not exceeding permissible speed limit by any means, and why would you want to. Why speed up unnecessarily & miss the gorgeous Gujarat roads?? The beauty in the changing topography, the musings of a barren field, of tall grasslands, of sudden appearances of water bodies with lesser flamingoes and many other species of migratory birds, the simple country life passing by are your biggest companions in this journey. Isn’t this the reason why we choose to travel by road. To observe India in its true splendor; to soak in the countryside & feel a sense of equanimity wash over you; To remind you, in your day to day, cut throat, big city corporate life…that there is World beyond your 4*4 office cubicles, and that the problems we often tend to cry over are nothing when we see country people toiling with much harsh conditions & smiling back when your SLR is pointed at them!!!

Around 2.30pm we a stopped at a roadside hotel called, Hotel Sahyog, and had the Best meal we have had in ages!!! The place was clean, with neat but basic washrooms for women as well. The food was so delicious that we ended up overstuffing ourselves. Especially their lassi & masala buttermilk were to die for!!! The quality of dairy products in Gujarat is truly unmatched…obviously since Gujarat is the state that was the frontrunner in the Great Milk Revolution of India, and the eponymous Indian dairy brand, Amul is from Gujarat.

After a comfortable drive on Gujarat roads (again we came on a wrong route a little before Bhuj, that threw us off our track. A Gujju, we asked for direction, was sweet enough to drive ahead of us on the correct track, so we could follow him and dropped us at the entry point of Bhuj, before waving a smiling goodluck to us!!!). We were at Bhuj exactly at sundown, which was an hour later than our intended arrival time. Hence, we missed a visit to this beautiful handicraft village called Bhujodi, that was recommended as a must visit to us by Kurutarth L L L

If you are going in the same direction, do remember stopping by at Bhujodi, which is on your route, just before Bhuj. Bhujodi, is amongst those illustrious handicraft villages of Kutch that are a must visit. It’s a gorgeous village where you can see artisans on their craft in every home & can directly buy exquisitely embroidered handicraft pieces from them. Plus the whole experience of being in a handicraft village is a must do in your itinerary if you are an art & culture lover. Observing their painstakingly exquisite art that has rocked the fashion ramps in Paris & Milan with biggest of couture creators is quite a rich experience. We unfortunately missed out on this experience, but will plan a trip solely centred on the handicraft villages of Kutch soon!!

From Bhuj, we drove down to Devpur homestay & reached there by 7pm.

We received a royal garlanded welcome at Devpur by Yashodhara…a very sweet & homely lady. Our room reminded us of our own ancestral homes back in Lucknow, and was a true delight to stay in. Our room was on the large courtyard of the homestay, & at night the whole courtyard was lit up with fairy lights & a very welcome bonfire awaited us.

We were very politely supplied with tea & coffee to take away our driving blues; and while we admired the tastefully done up home sitting by the bonfire, other guests joined us in as well. Devpur generally attracts guests who are like-minded & come with a purview of travelling. The exchange of travel tales over bonfire & coffee before dinner was such a welcome relief. We met interesting people, who love travelling the country like us, & exchanged information on destinations across India. We had the most interesting conversation with a lady, Malini, who runs an all girl travel group called F5 Escapes (www.f5escapes.com). The conversation on the changing travel scenario of India, & how Indians travellers are now constantly moving away from mass travel websites & going in for experiential travelling (our favourite topic), etc. etc. went on for happily till dinnertime. Malini shared her rich experience of working in this field & recommended many destinations to us!!! J J Finally at 9pm we sat down for a very sumptuous meal. The food was absolutely brilliant & truly the taste of home cooked Kutch food!!! There is no alcoholic drinks option in Gujarat, as it is a dry state. We did not carry any with us either, as we believe in following the law of the land, and frankly did not mind it much. There is a lot to travel than just drinks J.

A very comfortable sleep beckoned us. We could take it easy next day to Rann, as we had to cover only 107 kms on these butter smooth roads!! There was just a minor glitch…around 4.30am in the morning our sleep was disturbed by some Gujarati songs playing on a loudspeaker nearby. Apparently that is a half an hour daily thing that someone does nearby in a temple & cannot be helped. The music did shut off at 5am sharp & we went back to our deep sleep with great relief. Other than that, Devpur was a dream place to stay in.

Next morning woke us upto School!!! J J J

Kurutarth’s father, a retired principle himself, established a school in his backyard for the nearby village children. It is called “White Eagles School”, and had the cutest little kids trotting by early morning for prayer & studies!!! We clicked some candid moments with the kiddos!!!

We also took an opportunity to click some photographs of the gorgeous homestay as well.

The peaceful morning wake up call was so refreshing and set us in such a good mood.

We met Kurutarth as well, who was very helpful in guiding us with any query we had on Rann & adjoining travel options. Yashodhara, in particular, strongly recommended us some must visit places in Kutch, chief of which were, Fossil Park on our way to Kutch; Nirona – a beautiful handicraft village, Kala Dungar – a very high summit point some 30 kms away from Rann, that can give us breath taking panoramic view of the White Rann (we had to choose one amongst these destinations due to limited time); and for the day after Rann a visit to either explore Bhuj & its palaces, that would be on our way or take a detour of some 250 kms to reach Dholavira, the newest discovered site of Ancient Harrappan civilization!!!

Well, I’m sure you know us well enough by now…to know, which route we must have taken J J J J

After a large & hearty Kutch breakfast, we were off to our Rannventure!!!! White Rann…here we come!!!

Coming Up: Our Romance with the Rann!!! Keep visiting Ek Musafir Ek Hasina J