Published On:Thursday, August 30, 2012
Posted by abg man
Journey by Road to the Rann of Kutch
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If you are traveling to India and willing to go beyond the Taj Mahal, discovering the Rann of Kutch in Gujarat can be a good option. The Rann of Kutch is about 16 hours drive from Delhi. While there are faster options to reach the Rann, you can opt for a self-driving expedition or go as passenger in one of the vehicles. It is said that a journey is more important than the destination itself- and a journey by road allows you to take in the sights, sounds and chaos that is so characteristic and in a way so unique to India.
The best time to start the drive from Delhi is around 11 PM as this allows you to avoid the traffic and pick up speed once you hit the highway to Jaipur in Rajasthan. En route you'll stop at the 'dhabas' or the highway side eateries for food and drink. These dhabas are a unifying thread in a vastly diverse country in that no matter which state you go through there will always be a roadside dhaba serving nourishing and sumptuous food at very economical rates - the difference will be in the menu which will vary depending on the local cuisine of the state.
Leave the madness of Delhi and you will enter the equally chaotic roads of the neighbouring princely state of Rajasthan. The landscape is mostly desert and brown; drive further till the border and enter Gujarat and as if on cue the landscape also changes. Barren gives way to greenery and for the next part of the journey you will drive on a beautiful highway divided by rows of beautiful flowers. Gujarat is one of the most prosperous and disciplined state in India - the roads are smooth and the people actually follow traffic rules.
Dasada
The first stop of the journey is at Dasada, about 90 kms from Gujarat's capital, Ahmedabad, on the edge of Little Rann of Kutch. The town is home to India's only habitat for the Wild Ass. The animals travel in herds and can gallop at a very high speed across the Rann. Aside from the Wild Ass, you can also see other animals and birds including the chinkara (Indian gazelle) and birds such as Steppe, Imperial, and Short-toed Eagle, flamingos, pelicans, storks and cranes.
It would be evening by the time you arrive to Dasada. Stay the night at a resort and after a much-needed rest, you will be set to explore Little Rann of Kutch.
Little Rann of Kutch
The Little Rann of Kutch flaunts a geographically unique landscape - it was once a part of the Arabian Sea but was separated from the sea by geological forces. Over time, it became a barren plain encrusted with salt and inundated with rain water during the monsoon period. Drive through the Rann and you will come across 'bets' or islets that were once a part of the sea but are today covered with scrub and grass. Look around and you will see nothing but vast, unending, flat and cracked land till as far as the eye can see, and with howling wind for company. It is one of those moments when life comes to a standstill and you want to capture the moments for ever.
Mandvi
Hit the highway again and you will then drive to the next destination - Mandvi, a prosperous city with a 400 old ship building industry to its credit. However, its main claim to fame in the pristine Mandvi beach. Dotted with thatched beaches and the pristine blue waters, you will for a moment wonder if you have been transferred to Bali or Maldives. The private beach belongs to the Vijay Vilas Palace and offers conditional access with air-conditioned tented accommodation.
Rann of Kutch
The next day set off for Bhuj and after a quick lunch (where else but at the ubiquitous 'dhaba )drive further till you reach the Great Rann of Kutch, a seasonal salt marsh located in the Thar Desert straddled between Gujarat, India and the Sindh province of Pakistan. Spread across 7,505.22 square kilometres (2,897.78 sq mi), it is the largest salt desert in the world. The highlight here is the White Rann - a saline wetland that floods up during the monsoon season. Around the month of October, the water recedes and leaves behind white crystals of salt and so what you have is a great stretch of white desert spread across some 1000 square kilometres. You need a special inline permit to enter the area, given that it borders Pakistan. Inside the desert, there is a special road for driving. You have to keep to the road because the rest of the land is we and soft and unable to take the weight of the car. The sunsets here are beautiful -however the most beautiful sight is seeing the white salt desert lit up in the moonlight - the sight is nothing less than divine.
The promotional tagline of Gujarat which roughly translated from Hindi says, you have to see it to believe it. Try a self-drive tour to Rann of Kutch on your next visit to India - you will fall short of words to describe your experience!
Preety Gupta is a professional travel writer with Journeys By Road alone of the first self-drive expedition companies in India, specializing in organising epic journeys in India and abroad. Our self-drive tours are a once in a lifetime experience as we take you through offbeat, diverse, remote and unexplored terrains in India and abroad.
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