[vittal]

Brief Summary of the trip – from Bengaluru to Ahmedabad, Kutch and Pandharpur

Distance travelled during the trip: 4079 Km

Places Traveled during this trip: From Bengaluru to Mumbai, Ahmedabad (Akshardham, Adalaj vav, Sabarmati Ashram), Little Rann of Kutch, Bhuj, Kalo Dungar, India Bridge, Dhordo – White Rann of Kutch, Vittal Rukmini Temple at Pandharpur and back to Bangalore

Other places to visit in Kutch Region (not traveled by us in this trip): Mandvi Beach, Mata Na Madh (the famous temple of Ashapura mata), Narayan Sarovar, Koteshwar - the western most civilized point in India with BSF checkpost as Pakistan is just 30km or so away, Lakhpat (42 km away), Hazrat Peer Dargah, Gurudwara at Lakhpat, Chhari Dhandh (wetland reservoir - watch from the tower), Patan Ran Ki Vav (Queen's well), Shahastraling Talav (Pond with 1000 Shivlings), Patola House - Patola sari is famous in Patana, Museum Dholavira, largest Harappan Valley Civilisation City in India, Wood Fossils Park, Modhera Sun temple, Nirona (Rogan Art, Copper Bells, Lac Work), Nakhtarana (Tie and Dye), Khavda (Pottery), Bhujodi and Ajrakhpur (Block Printing), Dhordo and Hodka (Leather, Quilts, Mud Mirror).

Mode of Transport used for our travel: our XUV 5OO car, self driven. My wife and I together shared the driving

Total number of days: 08

Best time to travel to Kutch: is during the winter season. The temperatures can drop to single digits and the days, though hot, are pleasant. Horseback rides and camel rides across the Rann are an ever popular activity.

Among the most stunning places to visit in Kutch is the Rann of Kutch, which is the actual desert region. This place is beautiful, especially in the evenings. The Little Rann houses the Indian Wild Ass Sanctuary, which is among top tourist places in Kutch. The Wild Ass sanctuary hosts apart from the Indian Wild Ass, Flamingos, and a great many migratory birds such as Pelicans and ducks. The Rann is divided into the Great Rann and the Little Rann, each with its own attractions.

The Great Rann of Kutch or White Rann of Kutch is a vast landscape, all white as far as one can see, dazzling white salt encrusted desert plains. This vast landscape which is one of the world’s largest seasonal wetlands when inundated with water in the monsoons turns into a salt-impregnated flat land in winter.

Trip planning: Equipped with taking lots of photos with our DSLR, we ordered GoPro Hero 5 Black with 64 GB memory card at Mumbai and had it delivered at Mumbai itself during the evening so that we could record our drive along the Rann of Kutch. It’s been a good decision to buy GoPro as the recorded videos in 4K has just been excellent.

I had planned for the trip to Kutch few years ago but could not cover the far Western part of Gujarat as we have had few trips to Dwarka, Somnath, Porbandar with our parents and parent-in-law. It is normal for people to travel to the desert regions in Rajasthan specifically Jaisalmer, and Dwarka / Somnath also attracts more tourists than compared to this part of Gujarat / Kutch. The Gujarat Government now has a yearly festival known as Rann Utsav for 4 months from Nov to Feb.

XUV was serviced during that week after our travel to the 276 Paadal Petra Sthalems or Shiva Sthalams covering 33 temples in the Trichy & Tanjavur belt during the month of December 2017. Our XUV was now ready to undertake this long travel to the regions of Kutch, the Western part of Gujarat.

We had a long trip plan up north of India after almost 2 years. We had loaded the car the previous day so that we can have an early start next morning. Our usual travel items include Tool kit customized for our XUV, sufficient water bottles, our clothing, bedding, medical kit, music CDs, mobile chargers, laptop, DSLR and sufficient memory to take photos.

The food in the Kutch: Gujarat being mostly a vegetarian and a dry state (no alcohol severed), made it convenient for us as pure vegetarians to walk into a restaurant as we had plenty of options to select a restaurant. Kutch is completely vegetarian and has influences from Jainism and Brahmanism cuisines. The authentic local cuisines include Bajra nu Rotlo (Roti made of Bajra), Khandvi, Dhokla, Khakhra, Fafda, Jalebi, Sev and much more. Most of these cuisines are often accompanied by a glass of Lassi or Chaas as a refreshment drink. The tourists can quench their sweet tooth with the widest ever variety of sweets available here including Ghevar, Malpua, Basundi and much more. We had the taste of this variety of delicious food at Ahmedabad in Toran for dinner and the next day lunch at Patan restaurant, apart from traveling within Bhuj.


Some Teasers of the trip


Summary map of our trip from Bengaluru to Kutch and Pandharpur


Enjoying the lunch at Kohlapur with the famous Vada Pao


Adalaj Vav at Ahmedabad








The highest point in Kutch wherein one can get a magnificent view






Walking on the White Rann of Kutch




Taking a Photo at the top of the step post mounted at the middle for people to get a view of the white Rann from top






Vittal Rukmani Temple at Pandharpur




A short cut - Road from Kalo Dungar to Dhordo White Kutch Rann Utsav

[vittal]

Day 1: 25-Jan-2018

Summary of the Day:

Distance traveled during the day: 1002 Km

Time taken: 15:00 hours

Route taken: Bengaluru to Mumbai via Tumkur, Chitradurga, Dharwad, Belgaum, Kolhapur, Satara, Pune, Lonavala (NE2), Navi Mumbai





We started for trip to Kutch via Mumbai. We left home at 5:15 am, took the city route through Bengaluru to Tumkur road as it was early in the morning, with less traffic (unlike long traffic jams during normal day). We also wanted to keep ourselves updated with the latest news as 25th was declared Karnataka band and we had to travel across the whole of Karnataka till Belgaum.

Since it was a 15:00 hrs long journey from Bengaluru to Mumbai, we avoided many breaks enroute and carried bread, butter, jam for breakfast to have it while driving.

The north Karnataka region Dharwad is famous for its peda and Belgaum for Kunda. Both are milk and jaggery based sweetmeat. We bought some peda from Mishra peda factory outlet shop at Dharwad.

The factory outlet shop at Dharwad




We reached Kohlapur a little later than lunch time but very happy to have found our Shyam vada pav center adjoining Shivaji University, Kohlapur which served us with mega, maha vada pao 4" in diameter and piping hot tea. This vada pav joint was featured on NDTV good times. We revisited this vada pao joint after almost a period of 3 years; the earlier visit was during our trip to Mahalakshmi temple Kohlapur and Ganapatipule.


This is a famous vada pao joint of Shyam vada, covered in NDTV good times.
Lovely to be back here after almost 4 years to have Vada pao at Kohlapur




Our today’s lunch - vada pao- the Maha vada of Maharashtra at kolhapur. Having another one packed to have it while driving





We took a Sugarcane Juice break after having the huge vada pao somewhere on the NH near Karad






We did not encounter much of traffic jams on the highway and was a smooth drive throughout from Bengaluru to Mumbai, with excellent toll roads.

Petrol Pumps: I normally look for a COCO (Company owned company operated) petrol pumps wherever possible on our trip in India as they are more reliable then taking a chance with the local pumps. The information is not easily available to find out all the available COCO pumps enroute. Some I found in the routes that I frequent and keep a note of it, some in the travel forums like team-bhp and others. As we travelled via the city, I filled the XUV full tank at Koramangala IOC COCO. With a distance to cover over 1000 Km from Bengaluru to Mumbai, I had to fill diesel enroute. Further enroute filled full tank diesel in our XUV at Sushama Auto, Satara Maharashtara. The diesel price in Maharashtra is higher than compared to Karnataka.

Diesel Price: 46.55 lit @ Rs 64.45/lit at Bengaluru and 44.69 lit @ Rs 67.13/lit at Satara

We reached outskirts of Mumbai endured through the peak hour traffic, to reach our destination at Powai by 8:15 pm.


Toll Paid:
In most of the toll booths, FasTag is accepted on the route from Bengaluru to Mumbai except cash paid at
(1) Nandi Highway Hubli-Dharwad bypass road Rs67 and
(2) Vashi Toll Plaza Rs35 at 18:46



The tunnels enroute on the National Highway / Expressway






My wife planning to have these eateries during our stay in Mumbai!
Hope the list is not ever ending!!





The tunnels enroute on the National Highway / Expressway








High rise building of Mumbai metro beckoning us at dusk

[vittal]

Day 2: 26-Jan-2018 (Friday)

Summary of the day:

Distance Travelled during the day: 518 Km

Time taken: 11:30 hours

Route taken: Mumbai to Ahmedabad via Vapi, Valsad, Chikli, Navsari, Bharuch, Vadodara (NE1)


The map of route taken





We had earlier planned to have a day’s rest at Mumbai and do a local sightseeing but enthused by our plans to Gujarat our relatives also joined us till Ahmedabad. Hence we left for Ahmedabad at 9:30 am after having breakfast at home. Since it was 26-January, we had less than expected traffic in Mumbai and could cross Mumbai with ease. However, we found the highways busy as ever and as expected in the Mumbai-Ahmedabad NH48, with lots of truckers and long trailers (found some trailers carrying wind mill fins). Upon trying to buy an English newspaper, the vendor told us that the car traffic was quite high and all his morning newspaper was already sold for the day.


We noticed that inspite of having FasTag and a dedicated FasTag or ETC lane in most of the toll plaza, it was not being followed and all vehicles irrespective of FasTag or no FasTag (i.e. cash payment) was allowed in FasTag lanes, except the NE1 Vadodara - Ahmedabad Toll Plaza.


We stopped over for lunch at a Khatiavadi restaurant along the highway in Gujarat. The menu had authentic Gujarati cuisine, out of which we ordered tomato sev, chola vegetable, bataka nu shaak. Gujarati Khatiavadi cuisine is known for its spicy food and they lived up to its expectations. We soothed our flaming tongues with a piece of gur and a vati of neatly set curd.









The long journey did not seem strenuous with great company and joyous conversations. Enroute we found the stay options and booked a hotel at Ahmedabad.

We reached the hotel at 9:00 pm, took a quick refresh and headed for dinner at Toran dining which served us a Gujarati thali. The menu was dhokla, bread methi mutti, papad, pickle, kadi, undiyu, daal, 4 vegetables, kichidi, roti, thepla, bhakri, chhaas, basundi for desert.



Driving on NH8 I was pleased to notice BP Ghar or a COCO pump and quickly stopped to refuel tank full.
Diesel filled 48.83 lit @ the rate Rs68.62 / lit at BP COCO at Luvara, Bharuch Bypass, Gujarat. I made it a point to take the cash receipt at all the petrol pumps; this helps to identify the petrol pumps on return.

Toll Paid by cash:
(1) Dahisar Toll Plaza Rs35 at 10:15 am
(2) Bhagwada Toll Plaza on NH08 Rs 65 at 14:59

[vittal]

Day 3: 27-Jan-2018 (Saturday)

Summary of the day: local sightseeing at Ahmedabad

Places visited: Akshardam, Adalaj vav, Sabarmati Ashram, teen darwaja, shopping





We had a relaxed morning breakfast at the hotel. We left our hotel for local sightseeing at 9:00 am.

The walk path along the Sabarmati River is well structured, good pavement and landscape design. The Buddha statue adds to the serenity of the place. We took some photos in the morning. At the time of having lunch, we met with an Executive Office who was heading the team and instrumental in the design and implementation of the river front walk path along the Sabarmati River.


Our first place of visit was Akshardham which has ample parking facility for cars / busses. Mobile phones, cameras are not allowed to be carried inside the temple. We left all our belongings in the car, only carrying cash inside the temple. We entered the temple awed by the beautiful intricate sculptures, depicting stories from Indian mythology, was full of life. The temple was spot clean; one could feel the spiritual aura as we walked through the steps leading to the sanctum santorium of guru Swaminarayan. As we exited the temple, one should not miss the beautiful landscaped gardens and huge sculptures.


View of River Sabarmati in Ahmedabad




The buddha statue along the riverfront on the banks of River Sabarmati





After a small fruit snack, we headed to the next destination Adalaj vav or Stepwell. Gujarat has many stepwells that were used by traders, travelers and caravans along their trade routes as a place of rest and source of drinking water. It was also used during festivals and celebrations as a source of water. Direct sunlight does not touch the flight of steps or landings except for a brief period at noon. It is believed that the atmosphere inside the well is 6 degrees cooler than the outside temperature. Another remarkable feature of this stepwell is that out of the many stepwells in Gujarat, it is the only one with three entrance stairs. All three stairs meet at the first storey, underground in a huge square platform, which has an octagonal opening on top. The vav is a spectacular example of Indo-Islamic architecture and design. Adalaj vav is a 5 stories stepwell, there is no entry ticket and is well maintained by the local authorities.


















Contd..

[vittal]

Day 3 contd


Sabarmati Ashram was our next destination. One can feel a sudden gush of patriotism flowing through you as we entered the serene Sabarmati Ashram on the banks of the River Sabarmati. This was one of the residences of Mahatma Gandhi who lived there for about 12 years along with his wife Kasturba Gandhi. Walk through the ashram gives a lively journey of the Mahatma, the letters he wrote while at Yarwada Jail in Pune, unique photographs of the people who were a part of every single activity during the freedom of struggle. We had tears in our eyes while we read through the quotes the mahatma lived upto. It brought in us certain thought process and comparing our lives to what we can actually be. This is one place worth visiting to renew our vows towards our beloved country India. There is no entry ticket to the Ashram and is open all days of the year from 8:30 am to 6:30 pm.

We shopped at the Khadi gram udyog opposite the ashram, which is run by a trust (not Govt. of India) and also felt excited with at the miniature charka that was being sold at the gate for Rs300. We tried our hands on the Charka but couldn’t get the skill of spinning yarn from cotton.


















We dined at Patang revolving restaurant for lunch, which is about 4.5 Km from the Sabarmati Ashram. The revolving restaurant is on the 18th floor, serves a sumptuous 36 items menu buffet. The menu was multi-cuisine, spicy enough to cater to the taste buds of localities.

















The view of the city and bridge across Sabarmati River from the revolving restaurant









The ladies in our family quickly wasted no time in enquiring about the best places to shop for bandhej, ghagras and the shop was near the restaurant. AsoPalav was a one stop shop for all ethnic wear, while I made the best use of time to have an afternoon nap. I subsequently had extra luggage of the shopping bags that consisted of the rich, deep, vibgyor coloured clothings.

We then drove towards teen darwaja, unknowingly following the GPS; our car was found stuck in one of the busiest local markets of manek chowk. We slowly inched our way through this traffic, got a glimpse of teen darwaja from a distance and finally found our way out of this through “relief” road (aptly named road).

Ladies in my family then directed me to drive to law garden, CG Road, where one can find traditional mirror work ghagras for dhandia, spread all along the street, reminding me of Janpath in Delhi. Here one can shop for ghagras that can be bought at a good bargain of half the price the shop keepers quote. The law garden street bore a festive look with rainbow coloured ghagras, mirror work, dupattas.













However one should note that this market sells machine work and mirrors that are stuck with glue and not stitched. So if one needs authentic Kutch work clothing, the best place to shop would be in Bhuj and handwork is expensive.

The grand buffet at patang left us no appetite for dinner and hence we retired for the day with fruits. The ladies made good use of the time to shop for further patola silks at kala niketan, ashram road.

[vittal]

Day 4: 28-Jan-2018 (Sunday)

Summary of the day:

Distance Travelled during the day: 420 Km

Time taken: 8:30 hours

Route taken: Ahmedabad to Bhuj via LRK (entry Bajana, exit Dharangadhra), Bhachau

Places visited: LRK or Little Rann of Kutch, Bhujodi





We left our Hotel at Ahmedabad at 8.30 am after breakfast and drove towards the Little Rann of Kutch (LRK). The drive to LRK was on a good state highway; we reached Bhajana, where we saw a signboard “interpreter, Wild Ass Sanctuary-Reception”. Assuming that this will be the entry point to the Wild Ass Sanctuary, we went and met the office person here. The person charged us an Sanctuary entry fee of Rs 500 for the car (max 6 people inspite of the fact that we were only 2 of us in the car) and also offered us for a guide at Rs 100 as there is no laid path to the sanctuary and its easy to wonder in the LRK. The Rann has 4 entry / exit points.

We did not take a guide, and set out to explore the route to the sanctuary. We drove through Patal a village, from where we sort the directions for Little Rann. There were no sign boards indicating any directions to the Rann.

We took an entry to Little Rann of Kutch from Bhajana and we need to drive further 2 km from the village of Bhajana to the Rann.


We reached the Rann that was a vast spread of dry land that had wheel marks that we followed and drove along. Near some shrubs we were lucky enough to spot a wild ass grazing along. After a few clicks, we started to meander along the desert in order to spot more herds of wild ass, we were mislead by mirages and kept us wondering. It is easy for one to lose the sense of direction in the Little Rann of Kutch. The GPS did not work as there was no mobile network coverage and we had to guess and challenge our sense of direction gazing at the sun that was right on top at noon and was no help at all. Upon speaking with the locals, we were told that the mobile connectivity of BSNL and Vodafone is good in this desert region and Jio does not have mobile connectivity in this area.


The entry to the Rann from Bhajana




Zero point entry to Rann




The Wild Ass spotted in LRK


















As we kept driving we spotted some huts where people were pumping water from a deep dug well, with the help of a generator. The motor also doubled up to grid bhajra too. The pumped water was directed to the salt bunds and there seems to be quite a lot in the LRK. They were in the middle of the desert with a hut that had a dish antenna and a little temple too. They people worked hard in the hot blazing sun to make salt.








As we drove the people cautioned us not to drive on the plastic pipes that were laid down from well to salt bunds, fearing they would break. We gently followed to avoid passing through the pipes and thereby causing any damage to pipes affecting their livelihood.

We drove along the most used wheel marks and took the exit from the desert at Dhrangdhara. As soon as we came out of the desert along the roads we noticed that the village of Dhrangdhara was green and fertile. What a contrast in the same place!

We drove along the Bhuj - Bachao highway to reach Bhuj at 4:00 pm. It took us a while to reach Bhuj as the Bhuj Bachao highway was not as expected Gujarat highway and had plenty of potholes.

It was beautiful to see kutchi women well dressed with jewels walking along. We stopped to take a few pictures, but they shyed away and we managed to convince the younger girls for a snap with my wife.





As we reached Bhuj early, my wife was keen to visit Bhujodi, the village that was home to Kutch artisans. We spent a little more than an hour at the stalls that had authentic handmade mirror work and kutch bags and ghaghras. Although the work was expensive, it was worth purchasing some stuff from here.









We returned to the hotel and had hot pao bhaji for dinner.



Few pics posted at random of LRK























We saw few salt factory on the highway, with huge salt bunds







The cows in Gujarat with huge horns





The circles in Bhuj with one of them named as Tap Circle, spotted a similar one in Ahmedabad as well

[SDP]

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing!

[vittal]

Day 5: 29-Jan-2018 (Monday)

Summary of the day:

Distance Traveled during the day: 242 Km

Time taken: 9:15 hours

Places visited: Kalo Dungar, India Bridge, Dhordo - White Rann of Kutch






One of the best photograph of the trip - A sign board welcoming us to Kutchchh with a smile !





We had an early start from our hotel at 6:45 am. The tea at Jalaram tea stall was aromatic and we warmed our selves with a piping hot tea.

We drove along the roads of Bhuj toward the Great Rann of Kutch. It was dawn and a cold morning, with temperature going below 15 deg C. We reached Banni where a forked road led to Kalo Dungar and another to Dhordo.


We had tea at this checkpost, which also had a few stalls with Kutch work on leather foot wear etc.






We can obtain a permit here for Rann Utsav at the Banni checkpost (which opens at 10:00 am) or at the entry gate of the Rann Utsav which I believe operates during these 4 months of festival season, thereby making it easy for tourists. We had bread and washed it down with another glass of masala tea.


Banni Hastakala handicraft village








We drove towards Kalo Dhungar, the sight of camels luring tourists to take a ride were all along and Kutch women used the early morning to fill potable water from distances, the women were in groups and balanced upto 3 steel pots on their head and one on the hip. They were dressed in the traditional Kutchi costume and wore rustic tribal jewellery.




The sight of camels enroute to Kalo Dungar




We parked our XUV at Kalo Dungar and climbed a few steps to the view point, to get the panoramic view of the Rann of kutch and the India bridge that lead to the border areas of India–Pakistan.









Ample parking area is available at Kalo Dungar





We spotted kutchi boys renting costumes to tourists for photographs.







A close-up of the kutchi boy with an innocent smile on his face, posing for the photograph





The mountain also has a shrine temple of Dattatreya.




A sign board indicating the Nature and Environmental preservation




Kalo Dungar or Black Mountain is the highest point in the Kutch from where one can get the panoramic view of the Kutch, sunset point, spot the India Gate, the sea.




















The camel rides waiting for tourist - one of the decorated camel in the que





Since India Gate is located very near to the Pakistan border, there is an Army post at both ends of the bridge; beyond here, only military personnel are allowed or obtain a special permit. We were told that there is no population beyond this place for about 80 Km and hence nobody is allowed to go beyond this bridge.

We descended from Kalo dungar, and drove along to India Bridge. The BSF there gave us the lovely feeling that we are protected. We had some homemade sweets that we could share with them.


The permit to reach the border (few km from India Bridge) can be obtained at Bhuj. There is one Hanuman Mandir at the border. No photography is allowed here. There is no population for a few km on either side of the countries.



We drove from India Bridge and took a short route at Khavada to Dhordo. It was a lovely drive to Dhordo with a single road and dessert on either side; few kutchi buffaloes found grazing along.





Few snaps of having a local Breakfast enroute to Rann Utsav








Contd. about The White Rann of Kutch

[vittal]

Day 5 Continued

The Great Rann of Kutch, along with the Little Rann of Kutch and the Banni grasslands on its southern edge, is situated in the district of Kutch and comprises 30,000 sq Km between the Gulf of Kutch and the mouth of the Indus River in southern Pakistan.

In India's summer monsoon, the flat desert of salty clay and mudflats, which average 15 meters above sea level, fills with standing water. In very wet years, the wetland extends from the Gulf of Kutch on the west through to the Gulf of Cambay on the east.

The area was once the shallows of the Arabian Sea before geological uplift closed off the connection of the sea, leaving behind a vast lake which turns into a desert in the dry months. There are various research papers and historical information about the formation of the salty desert available in the internet.


All excited to see the signboard directing to White Desert and all excited that we are heading in the right direction to see the Great Rann of Kutch




We reached dhordo, where the Rann Utsav was on and tents were laid by Gujarat Tourism and also private tents.









The entry gate to the White Rann of Kutch











They had organized many adventure activities apart from cultural activities all through to celebrate. We spotted a few going paragliding, as we drove to the entrance of white desert.




The accommodation and meals are arranged in the tents arranged by both private and the state government, who also arrange the local performances during this Rann Utsav.





The food at Toran, run by state government offers local delicacy food “Thalis”.





We had to enter our details in the register at the entry gate of Rann Utsav, the vehicle was to be parked 1 km away from the White Rann. One had the option of going by walk, a horse cart or a camel cart to & fro upto the white Rann from the entrance gate. Gujarat tourism has also arranged for a toy train for people who stay at the Toran resort to get to the Rann and back.


The tourists are taken in camel cart to salt flats of the Great Rann of Kutch at a fee of Rs100 per head. The camels can also be hired to have a walk on the Salt flats heading to the places that are unfrequented by tourist walking. One can also take a walk from the entry gate which seems to be a good km distance.











We decided to walk and walked along the well laid road, and surprised at the sight of the salt Rann. The vast salt deposits is a real phenomenon we have never seen before, it was a worthwhile walk although it started to get very hot as the day progressed.







There is a step post mounted at the middle for people to get a view of the white Rann from top.









We got wonderful pictures of the White Rann and walked back under scorching sun.

















Enjoyed the photo shoot with the highly energetic little ones from a school in Gandhinagar





We dined for lunch at Toran dining, had a simple Gujarati thali with simple menu.


After lunch, my wife wanted to shop at the craft shops that were spread all over the Rann Utsav tents and added to the festive look and celebration.








She managed to buy some handwork kutch crafts, and also managed to get a better bargain than Bhujodi, while I sat in a platform alongwith the shopkeepers chatting with them. My wife purchased from an elderly Kutch couple who bore innocent smiles and blessed her too. Most of them are from the nearby villages, the items / clothes sold are mostly made by their wife and family members during the off-season and is sold by them during the season frequented by the tourists. Most of them have been to other states like Bengaluru Safina Plaza, Delhi Pragati Maidan / Dilli Haat.






We left the Rann tent city past 2 pm and reached our hotel by 4 pm.

Happy to have spent some time in the White Rann.

[Aditya]

Excellent travelogue Vittal - a nice write-up supported by fine images. Your report on the journey through the three wonderful states can make one feel like he / she is actually there.

Gujarat has some really fascinating places for tourists to visit, but the two places that I love most are Gir sanctuary and the Rann of Kutch. Been a while since I visited either of these places though.

The beauty of the desert is mesmerising - the sand, the salt, the sea, etc. What is really impressive is that what most people would consider to be a "killer environment", is home to a colourful community. The tourism department appears to have done a good job of converting the place into a tourist attraction.

The food in all states has its own charm. I've always felt it best to sample the local food unless one has dietary restrictions.

[zalaps]

That's excellent travelogue. You narrated Gujarat experience in the modest possible way! Thanks for portraying my state so beautiful.

Originally Posted by vittal

Bhagwada Toll Plaza on NH08 Rs 65 at 14:59

6 years of my life spent crossing this TollBooth. Thanks for bringing back those fond memories!

At the time of having lunch, we met with an Executive Office who was heading the team and instrumental in the design and implementation of the riverfront walk path along the Sabarmati River.

These buys must be from CEPT. http://cept.ac.in/ An institution which every other metro city of India envies Ahmadabad for.

[swami69]

Great travelogue. You have taken lots of pain in narrating and inserting all the photos for us to view. Very well done and i can see that you had great fun during the trip

swami

[vittal]

Day 6: 30-Jan-2018 (Tuesday)


Summary of the day:

Distance Travelled during the day: 847 Km

Time taken: 15:00 hours

Route taken: Bhuj to Mumbai via Bhachau, Dharangadhra, Ahmedabad, Vadodara (NE1), Bharuch, Navsari, Vapi







The day before, my wife enquired with the local ladies about the local shops to buy kutch work/bandhej. We were directed to a shop near the market called Dhara handicrafts, where a third round of shopping for Bandini saree, shawls were done at a better bargain than any of the tourist places.

We decided to retrace our journey back to Mumbai the next day, as we had already been to one of the tips of Gujarat along Dwarka and also we had seen the White Rann that was the same at Dholavira, hence decided to skip these from our itinerary.

We left our hotel at 5:00 am, got an early start to cover a very long journey to Mumbai from Bhuj. The Bhuj–Bachau highway was a bad road and yet we managed to reach Ahmedabad by 11:00 am. We took the Ahmedabad Baroda NE1 via Surat, valsad.

Near Luvara we refueled our XUV 5OO tank at BP Ghar COCO (we had filled on our onward journey). As we reached Vapi, we saw earthen pots being warmed up. The boards of the road side tents read “Umbadiyu center” The name was interesting and something new and unique to this part of Gujarat. The lady Umbadiyu sellers, opened the earthen pot and aromatic cooked vegetables mixed with spices bore a very enticing look. Seasonal vegetables, sweet potato and few others are slow cooked in spiced butter milk and mixed with plenty of turmeric. Umbadiyu is a famous dish prepared in the villages of south Gujarat in India. The taste had a distinct smoky flavour and is a variant of the famous, dry version of the Undhiyu (Matla undhiyu is also known as Umbadiyu / Ubadiyu in South Gujarat).











We drove down and all along Gujarat the best places to take a break are at HONEST restaurants where there are joints of café coffee day, Dominoes and all of them have a clean toilet.







We had a pleasant drive to Mumbai and reached by 8:00 pm


Petrol Pumps: are available in plenty in Bhuj, specifically in the Station Road. It is better to top up the fuel tank in Bhuj before travelling to Little Rann of Kutch or Dhordo or White Rann of Kutch or Koteshwar / Narayan sarovar. In case of emergency, I understand that petrol / diesel is available at a higher cost in remote locations where there are no petrol pumps.

As I made a note of the BP Coco while traveling from Mumbai to Bhuj, I had an exact location of the petrol pump in map and the distance from Bhuj. Hence it was easy to locate the BP Ghar on way back to Mumbai from Ahmedabad.

Diesel Price: 43.55 lit @ Rs 68.90/lit at Station Road, Bhuj on 29-Jan before starting for Kalo Dhungar
Diesel Price: 53.64 lit @ Rs 68.99/lit at BP Ghar (COCO), Luvara, Bharuch Bypass, Gujarat.

[vittal]

Day 7:

Summary of the day:

Distance Travelled during the day: 369 Km

Time taken: 6:30 hours

Route taken: Mumbai to Pandharpur via Navi Mumbai, Lonavala, Pune (NE2), Pata, Bhigwan, Indapur, Temburni, Phata




Places visited: Vittal Rukmani Mandir, Pandharpur

Themburni via Phata to Pandharpur was not at all a good road, lots of diversions and pot holes. Going via Shetphal would have been a better option – though could not get the correct information about the road condition.

We left Mumbai at 5:30 am to drive down to Pandharpur that is a 6 hr drive. After we reached Pune at about 7:30 am, we were routed through diversions because of some happening at the city and hence lost out on time and finally were out of the city limits through hadapsar. We drove via temburni and reached pandharpur by 12:15 pm.

Couple of photos enroute to the Vittal temple about an Ashram with a huge statue of Lord Vittal






We freshened up after an afternoon nap and visited the temple for darshan at 6:00 pm. The temple was less crowded and we had a very peaceful Darshan of the Lord, standing in all majesticity “Bhaktajana vatsale”. Its usual to stand in queue for 3 to 4 hours to get a darshan of Lord Vittal. We were blessed to have darshan directly from the Namdev gate being evening hours and less crowded with devotees.

The main entrance to the Vittal Temple or Namdev dwar at Pandharpur




It was the bluemoon, eclipse day. We spent a couple of hours at the Namdev hall that was reverberating Abhangs by the varkaris. I participated in the congregational chorus of Vitthal Nama. I had to wear a Maharashtrian cap and the tala strung together on my neck. The beats and sweet name of the Lord was celestial bliss. “Goda tujhey Nama, Goda tujhey roopa”

The Vittal temple of pandharpur



Abhangs are bhakti poems composed by saint composers like Tukaram, Namdev, Janabhai, Jyandev etc. Varkari yatra during the month of Ashadi Ekadasi, the whole streets of pandharpur resonates with Vittal nama. Though this was our 7 th visit to the Vittal temple in Pandharpur, we are yet to get the opportunity to take part in the varakari yatra in Ashadi Ekadasi.



Taking part in the Varakari or congregational chorus of Vitthal Nama wearing a Maharashtrian Cap




The God of Pandharpur is worshipped and lovingly called by his devotees with many names in different course of the time, like Pandharinath, Pandurang, Pandhariraya, Vithai, Vithoba, Vithumauli, Vitthal gururao, Pandurang, Hari etc. The Great Saint poet Tukaram defines the word Vithoba in one of his abhangas that stands for ‘Knowledge’ + Thoba Stands for ‘form’. Thus Vithoba stands for the ‘form of ultimate Knowledge’ or ‘idol of ultimate Knowledge’.

As per our mythology the story of Pundalik is related to Vittal who just threw a brick lying nearby towards Shri Krishna for sitting as a formality and asked him to wait there till he got free from serving his parents during their old age. Hence the form of Vittal or Vithoba is God Vishnu, standing on a brick and resting his arms on his west. It is believed that Shri Krishna, Shri Vishnu and Shri Vithoba are all different names and forms of the one and the same God. Shri Krishna is known as incarnation of Shri Vishnu which took place on Wednesday (Shravan Vadya Ashtami) at the end of Dwaparyuga. Vithoba is Shri Krishna only. Wednesday is known as the day of Vithoba.

In the Sanctum Santorum of Lord Vittal, this is the only place where one can touch the Lord’s feet or keep ones forehead upon the Lord’s feet.


We watched the eclipse later, felt great to witness the rare phenomenon.

It was a very relaxed time at Pandharpur and we recovered from our travel tiredness.

Toll Paid by cash:
Kavadipath Toll Plaza on NH65 Pune-Solapur Road Rs25 at 8:35 am

[vittal]

Day 8:

Summary of the day:

Distance Travelled during the day: 670 Km

Time taken: 12 hours

Route taken: Pandharpur to Bengaluru via Bijapur, Near Kudala Sangama – Ilkal – Hosapete – Tungabhadra Dam – Chitradurga – Tumkur - Bengaluru



We had en early breakfast at Pandharpur and were ready to drive through at 6:00 am.

The highway NH50 roads from Bijapur till Chitradurga (for almost 300 km) was not at all good, rough roads, lots of pot holes, non-toll roads, road widening under progress and lot of diversions. The XUV would have had a beating of driving through these kinds of roads. It is definitely better to avoid this route and would have been easier to drive through Belgaum rather than coming from Bijapur even if we need to drive an additional 100 Km. Throughout from Pandharpur to Chitradurga we found only 2 tool booths. Chitradurga onwards to Bengaluru on NH48 or AH47 was full toll roads and the roads were found to be just excellent, with fun driving through these well tarmac roads. We faced the same issue again at the FasTag toll booths, wherein all types of vehicles were allowed via the Fastag lane irrespective of vehicles having FasTag or not, thereby delaying the exit process from these tolls.

We didn’t find much traffic as after getting into Bengaluru from Nilamangala, we got into NICE ring road. The drive through the nice ring road was definitely a blessing, avoiding the heavy traffic and jams in Bengaluru. We reached our home at Bengaluru at 6:00 pm.


Petrol Pump: Found one BP COCO at Bijapur. It’s a bit difficult to locate this petrol pump as the entrance is not exactly on the highway. While driving I found a small board of BP COCO directing to take a left turn. Upon enquiring, I was told that the entrance of petrol pump was on the highway but when the toll road was constructed, it became a bit off road and the land adjoining the petrol pump is not of the BP Ghar. It does affect the number of vehicles coming to refuel and one needs to be careful to locate this COCO petrol pump.

Diesel Price: filled 53.66 lit @ Rs 65.23/lit at BP Ghar, COCO, NH 50 Hitnalli Village, Bijapur, Karnataka

I felt an advantage of having a higher fuel tank capacity (70 lit) in XUV 5OO was definitely an asset as I could plan to refuel at the places where I could find a COCO petrol pump and not hurry up in such long drives.

Toll charges paid by cash ₹180 Tumkur to Hosur Road at NICE Ring road Bangalore


I hope this travelogue is useful for fellow travelers to drive through places in India and also to customize their itinerary on the various sightseeing locations.