It Leaves you speechless….and then turns you into a storyteller
Western Gujarat is famous for its village life and Rann of Kutch. Rann of Kutch is primarily divided in 2 parts – Little Rann and Greater Rann. The former is best known for its spectacular landscapes, while the latter one is a hub of wildlife and salt farming.
After a sumptuous dinner at Manek Chowk Night food market in Ahmedabad we started early to Little Rann of Kutch. This place is about 130 Kms from Ahmedabad towards western Gujarat.
PART 1
We stayed in Little Rann at a place called “Desert Coursers” a small place of about 15-18 Hutments being run by a gentleman Dhanraj in SurenarNagar, about 125 kms away from Ahmedabad. Desert Coursers is about 20 kms away from Wild Ass sanctuary. This sanctuary is about 5000 SQ Kms and is only place in world where you can see endangered Wild Ass in full glory, other place is Tibet where intermittently they are spotted. You can also spot various birds, foxes, and if you are lucky can see Hyena too.
Desert Courses, Surendernagar
The drive in Little rann needs to be done very carefully, inside rann land is muddy and marshy and can be dangerous as vehicles get stuck.We saw few packs of wild ass and few beautiful birds.
Next day we started driving towards Great Rann of Kutch. It is about 350 kms from SurenderNagar and we stayed at village Hodka where Rann festival is held every year, its about 60 kms away from Bhuj.
Drive from surendernagar to Rann of Kutch is through good single lane roads which are drivable and enjoyable after about 100 kms once we are out of human habitation.
I intentionally avoided Tent city considering all tourists all across india come and stay there. You have few places there – White Desert, Kalo Dungar, we also added a nearby Bird Sanctury “Chhari Dhandh”. About 3 days there can be comfortable to do all these things easily.
White desert is amazing and I can vouch that I witnessed World’s best sunset at this place, its mesmerizing and throws amazing colors considering white Rann below. Bird sanctuary drive is about 50 kms and 30 kms is through deserted place, I didn’t find a single vehicle both ways. Could see at least 40 varities of birds, you can easily spend 2-3 hours soaking in natural beauty and calmness, even Hawks are visible very closely.
White Desert
PART 2
In second leg of Journey we stayed at Bhuj city for 4 days. Real Kutch is beyond Bhuj though, Day 1 we visited Mandvi- a small town about 70 kms from Bhuj where you can see ship building and get into any ship being built, Vijay Vilas palace is reasonable place to visit but highlight is Vijay vilas private beach. This beach is perfect, quiet, serene and clean. Slow waves are comfortable, you have an option to stay in resort too, we missed it, as I was not aware of that. Its spread in 70 acres and you can see wildlife while walking- we saw Chinkara/ Hare/ Fox/Deer. Worth staying one night.
Second day was a long drive but beautiful roads and absolutely no crowd made my day.
We drove further west and after visiting a local deity ( Mata Nu Madh) , drove to Lakhpat Village ( Last Village of India on this side)- Lakhpat fort is isolated and there were only 2 -3 vehicles when we reached there. You have one Gurudwara there which takes care of Guru Paduka of Guru Nanek Saahib. We had Langar there and took blessings.
Next stop was Koteshwar Temple ( Supposed to host Shivlinga which Ravana Carried in Treta Yuga)- This Temple is three side sea and one side Highway. Near to this, is Narayan Sarovar which is equivalent to Pushkar sarovar in Rajasthan and Mansarovar in Tibet as per Hindu Mythology. Almost 100 kms of this drive passes through ‘Narayan Wildlife chinkara sanctuary’ though places is primarily Bushes and Marsh Land .
Third day we kept for local Bhuj and shopping of Handicrafts – Chhatri is worth visiting for 1-2 hours and Gujarati Thali made it a relaxed day.
one different site you must visit is ‘Dhola Veera’. It is Harrapan Site and largest Harappan discovery in India. We drove 210 kms one side to get there but its worth all the effort for few reasons. One reason is Amazing drive and second due to place itself.
Local Tribes and Lakhpat Fort
You can see – Dhola Veera Site, Fossil Park, and white desert without tourists ( A kuccha Rasta near GTDC Resort will take you there). Could see foxes, birds and chinkara there again.
I took my kids to a tribal village too. “Dhaneta Jatt” tribe and “Rabari Tribe” is famous for their traditions but they avoid meeting outsiders and clicking them is strictly prohibited particularly Dhaneta Tribe.
Rabari Tribe has deep Tattoos on Arms, neck and back which you can see in few pics they are Hindus and approachable if they know you. Dhaneta tribe is famous for nose artwork, they are very rigid and don’t allow photos at all, I could click only 1-2 snaps, they are Muslims.
Things to remember
1. Avoid venturing near water- Its Marsh land, my Fortuner got stuck just below road as I ventured near water ( took me 30 minutes of struggle to bring out).
2. Keep Tanks full and drinking water handy- (on the stretches as long as 50-60 Kms Sometimes I found no shops/no Petrol Pump).
3. We drove about 1400 Kms from Ahmedabad and Back in 8 days.
