11th January 2011, 16:19
| #16 | |
| BHPian  Join Date: May 2007 Location: UP 16
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| re: Raiders of the Rann: A Kachchhi Kaleidoscope (Gujarat) Hey Harsh, another cool one mate! And I am real glad that I am gonna have a planning guide when I get to Raid the Rann. Totally empathize with the "getting bored with the straight roads" feeling. On a recent trip of mine to Bikaner, even I decided to take my off-roader Esteem for some sand drifting to break the monotony. Though was praying not to get stuck all the time!  Quote:
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11th January 2011, 17:31
| #17 |
| BANNED Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: Bangalore
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11th January 2011, 17:43
| #18 |
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11th January 2011, 18:50
| #19 |
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11th January 2011, 18:56
| #20 | |||||||
| BHPian Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: New Delhi
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| re: Raiders of the Rann: A Kachchhi Kaleidoscope (Gujarat) Quote:
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. P.S: Don't worry about your trip, i'm pretty sure you'll plan it nicely. And as for the missing bits, I'll help you out  Quote:
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If you are headed in that direction, and want my GPS tracks, I'll be glad to share it with you. Last edited by .anshuman : 25th January 2011 at 18:06. Reason: Extra smiley removed. | |||||||
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12th January 2011, 12:24
| #21 | |
| Senior - BHPian | re: Raiders of the Rann: A Kachchhi Kaleidoscope (Gujarat) Quote:
Please send me GPS track --Ramky Last edited by tsk1979 : 12th January 2011 at 12:27. Reason: Removing email address as its visible to everyone including bots. | |
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12th January 2011, 15:29
| #22 | |
| BHPian Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: New Delhi
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| Day 2: Palanpur - Zainabad - Little Rann of Kachchh - Zainabad (175km) - Part 1 Quote:
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Day 2 Log begins - Part 1 We got up pretty late the next morning, thanks to our decision not to set an alarm. But it was good that we slept late since we got up fresh. More importantly, Aarti was feeling much better, and that was a relief! After a quick breakfast and tea at the hotel, we left around 11 am. We were expecting several photo-ops during the day, and hence I’d cleaned the lenses in the morning while Aarti was still getting ready. We decided to head straight towards Desert Coursers, the resort where we were booked for the night in village Zainabad, and abandoned our earlier plan of going to Suigam and Nadeshwari temple in the Greater Rann, since that would have become hectic, and moreover, we may not have been allowed to enter the Rann in the first place by the BSF. In hind sight, that was a good decision. Of course, reaching Zainabad early also meant that we could catch the sunset in the Little Rann, which was very tempting. Our planned route for the day was to reach Zainabad via Mahesana, Modhera and Dasada. An hour into the drive, I was trying to capture the excellent roads we were driving on, when I realized that something was wrong with the lens. It was completely fogged out. After fiddling around a bit, the problem still persisted. And it was not one lens, but both.  Excellent highway from Palanpur to Mahesana I got pretty anxious, and called our friend KD who is our "go-to-guy" while on the road. He advised us to keep the lenses in the sun, and said that they will start de-fogging immediately. I also called Doc Pushpinder (pushpinder) who advised that I should call Tanveer (tsk1979) for all technical related matters. Tanveer too advised me to keep the lens in the sun, although not pointing directly at the sun, and to get some silica gel and a zip lock bag. Keeping the lens in the zip-lock bag with the Silica gel acting as a dessicant would help remove the moisture within the lens and reduce the problems in the longer run. The challenge was now to get my hands on these items in rural Gujarat. For now, I kept both the lenses on the dashboard in the sun and hoped for the best. The de-fogging started immediately, and I cannot express how relieved I felt! I later realized that some moisture must have seeped in into the two lenses while I was cleaning them, and swore to be more careful the next time onwards. With the lens fog behind us, we moved further towards our destination for the day. Till Mahesana, the expressway is fantastic, and beyond that the state highway till Zainabad too is awesome, despite being two laned and undivided. When we reached Modhera, I was super excited to see the Sun Temple, and took Aarti to the wrong one, despite her saying repeatedly that this temple couldn’t possibly be the Sun Temple. She was right (as the better halves normally are ), but I did manage to get a couple of decent shots there! Anyway, we did finally reach the real Sun Temple, and it turned out to be quite charming. It was difficult to shoot at the location though, since the Sunday picnic crowd was difficult to get rid of in each frame. A short while later, we decided to move on towards Zainabad.  Undivided two laned highway from Mahesana to Zainabad  False alarm sun temple  Beautiful patterns in the false alarm sun temple  Stairs leading to the Baoli (a wide well) in front of the (real) sun temple  Front/side view of the sun temple  Back/side view of the sun temple  Interesting patterns on the inside  These are called Chaggars and are omnipresent in the region. | |
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12th January 2011, 17:49
| #23 |
| BHPian Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: New Delhi
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| Day 2: Palanpur - Zainabad - Little Rann of Kachchh - Zainabad (175km) - Part 2 We reached Zainabad around 3:30 pm, just as the owner of Desert Coursers, Mr. Dhanraj, was getting ready to take the people staying there for a desert safari. He said that the jeeps were leaving in 12 minutes, and that if we wanted to join them, we’d better hurry up. We gobbled our lunch, and wondered whether we could take our own car along with their jeeps. However, he insisted that a permit was needed to take our car in the Little Rann of Kutch (LRK), and that there was no way that we could get it then. He added that even if we did manage to somehow enter the LRK, the babul (shrubs) there would ruin the paint on our car. We’d seen shots of people taking their car into the LRK, and weren’t totally convinced. Also, none of the logs I had gone through mentioned anything about permits to enter the LRK. We decided not to join the safari, but instead to take our car and try our luck. Of course, we kept this to ourselves. Once the jeeps left, we checked into our cute ‘bhunga’ shaped hut, freshened up a bit, and then took off, armed with the directions marked on our GPS. Bhungas, for the uninitiated, are mud huts with a peculiar architecture found in the region. The huts at the resort are quite nice and comfy. There are also big, clean bathrooms attached to each hut. We headed towards Jhijhuwada, a village 15 kms away, and then after that proceeded toward the LRK after crossing a salt farm. We spotted a track going west, and consulted our GPS markings from Google Earth. It seemed to be the correct direction, and my gut feeling said that this track would definitely lead us to the LRK.  A poor oxen with one horn missing from its head.  A Salt farm near Jhijhuwada village  Workers at the salt farm calling it a day  Shrubs dot the road moving away from Jhijhuwada We took the cut, and followed the tyre marks. We were hardly 10 minutes into our off-roading when we spotted a beautiful, brown animal family, and were lucky enough to capture them on camera. We first thought that they were Neelgais, but then ditched the idea since they were not blue at all. However, thanks to friends back home, we now know that they were in fact Neelgais, and that a female Neelgai is not blue and has white marks on her ankles.  The entire family of Neelgai, only women and children ;-)  Beautiful creatures  Running away, camera shy After clicking the Neelgais, we tried to go into the actual Rann by going pure west, but could not do so thanks to the shrubs blocking our path. As several shrubs scraped Kiyang, I was sure glad that I’d taken the extra effort to get the second round of Teflon coating done just before leaving. A word of advise to people entering the Little Rann - stay on tyre marks while entering the Rann as there are few tracks which allow cars to enter. There are just too many shrubs to deal with otherwise. The same goes while exiting the Rann too. However, while one is in the wide open, make your own road.  Aarti volunteered to climb up to get a better view past the shrubs  To the open LRK lying hidden from us because of the shrubs. As we went further towards the Rann, we met some Khurs, and were thoroughly delighted at having spotted them, more so because they look almost identical to Kiangs found of Ladakh! We chased them a bit, but could not get good shots.  Khurs, also camera shy  Running away  It's quite difficult to get close to them We thought not to disturb the Khurs any more and headed further west deeper into the LRK. Finally, after another 10 minutes of driving, we found ourselves in the wide open. It definitely was a sight to behold! Dry, parched land stretching in all directions, with not a soul around, and the sun waiting to set. I had a shot in mind – Kiyang with the setting sun in the background – and made sure that Kiyang was in position when the moment came.  This was the evening sun, wonder how the mid-afternoon sun in summers is like!  A settlement of salt-farm workers deeper in the LRK  Wide expanse of nothing  Tyre tracks in the Little Rann  Parched earth, a defining characteristic of the LRK We took several shots, enjoyed the sunset, and then started back towards our resort. To ensure that we do not lose our way while going back, I’d marked some positions on the GPS, much like Hansel and Gretel dropping bread crumbs, as both Aarti and I joked later.  Safari - beauty shots  Safari - beauty shots  Safari - beauty shots  One of the few couple shots of the trip, courtsey the tripod.  Safari - beauty shots  Safari - beauty shot and the sunset  Sunset in the LRK Our plan for the next day was set – we intended to drive through the Rann, making a east to west run, and probably come out north, crossing about 100 km of the LRK in the process. That meant that we would probably be in the middle of the LRK during lunch, and hence asked the resort guys to pack some lunch for us the next morning. Also, I noticed a bird-enthusiast with a 400mm lens hanging in front of him at the resort, and he unbelievably had a ziplock bag and silicon pouches to spare and the heart to give it to me. We had dinner, which was average, and then called it an early night since the day had been long. The bed was not too comfortable, but the room was overall nice and clean, and the whole place had a good vibe about it.  The dining area at Desert Coursers, Zainabad  A shot of the 'Bhunga' from the outside |
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14th January 2011, 13:09
| #24 |
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14th January 2011, 15:54
| #25 |
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15th January 2011, 05:22
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15th January 2011, 16:55
| #27 |
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15th January 2011, 17:44
| #28 |
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15th January 2011, 17:47
| #29 | |||||
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| re: Raiders of the Rann: A Kachchhi Kaleidoscope (Gujarat) Quote:
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a) never ever shoot the dirty side of the car . b) Bucket, Mug & some soap each morning c) When shooting beauty shots, take a duster and clean the side which one is shooting. It's hard work but worth it. Last edited by Technocrat : 21st January 2011 at 21:05. Reason: Only 2 smilies per post allowed, please read the board rules carefully, thanks | |||||
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15th January 2011, 18:45
| #30 |
| BHPian Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: New Delhi
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| Day 3: Zainabad - Through the Little Rann of Kachchh - Adesar - Bhuj (275km) The next day began early before sunrise. The excitement was palpable, and both of us very quickly got ready. If everything went well, we would be through the LRK to Adesar in no time and would reach Bhuj quite early. However, the possibility of turning back after doing quite some distance in the Rann was also huge. We left for Jhijuwada at about 8:30 am after a hearty breakfast at Desert Coursers and armed with a packed lunch of sandwiches for the road. A word of advice for those entering the Rann - plan for the worst, and carry some drinking water with you.  A silhouette of a bird at sunrise  Clouds at sunrise at Desert Coursers We entered the Rann through the same cut in the road we had discovered the previous evening. The entry points into the Rann are limited because of a thick vegetation of shrubs. We were quite aware of the fact that it would be difficult to exit the Rann too, if we were able to cross it somehow in the first place. Our hypothesis was that if we reach a salt farm on the other side of the Rann, there should definitely exist a track leading to a village on or near the highway to Bhuj. Keeping this in mind, I'd marked a village called Varnu Wandh near the highway which also had several salt farms near it, which we were able to clearly see on Google Earth. To make things further interesting, we had marked an oasis as seen on Google Earth on our GPS device, so the first target for the day was to reach this oasis. We followed the initial tyre marks which apparentely were headed straight towards the oasis as our GPS indicated. The shrubs disappeared, and soon all we could see was the parched land of the Rann. As we went deeper, the Rann started to get marshier and I shifted to 4H just to be safe. I’d heard that sometimes the upper crust just gives way all of a sudden and the chances of getting stuck in mud are quite high. At least with 4H on, there was a (false) sense of security that in case it happens, we stand a chance to get out of the rut.  The first free stretch into the Rann after crossing shrubs  Soon the shrubs go away too  The signature parched land of the Rann, a "highway" towards "Oasis"  The road is not as dry as it seems, the parched soil was quite moist underneath and gave away at times. The tyre marks now seemed to go in a different direction, so we had to leave them and move in the general direction of the oasis. After driving for another 10 minutes or so, we found another set of tyre marks which were moving towards the oasis. In the Rann, it makes sense to stick to existing tyre marks, lest one intends to get stuck anywhere. These tracks led to a salt farm, and as the farm came nearer, the tracks became marshier. We decided not to head straight towards the salt farm, but skirt it to avoid the marshier patch around it. I parked the car near the house at the corner of the farm and walked towards it. The man working there came towards me and gave me the bad news that it would not be possible to cross the Rann. He was speaking in Gujarati, so we were both unable to comprehend each other completely, but as much as I could understood from him, there was some river ahead which was impossible to cross. It had been 1 hour 15 minutes since we'd taken the cut from Jhijuwada, and after coming so deep into the Rann, we were in no mood to go back. Disheartened, I gave the news to Aarti, but we both decided to at least see this river and maybe catch some interesting shots near the water body. Somehow the concept of a river through the Rann did not make sense, and we were hoping against hope that it was not true. We moved ahead.  A settlement of salt worker family The tyre tracks soon disappeared, and we were left on our own, heading towards the village Varnu Wandh based on the directions the GPS gave us. We'd chucked the idea of locating the oasis, since it would definitely be marshy there. The drive during the next 45 minutes can at best be described as exhilarating. Cruising at 60 kmph through the Rann with nothing as far as the eye could see was a fantastic experience, difficult to describe in words. Some sets of tyre tracks came up, but disappeared soon, and seemed to head in a different direction. With nothing to see at the horizon, there is little reference frame to give a direction sense to the driver. All this while, we were waiting to hit the edge of a river or a huge water body, but nothing came up. We were filled with mixed emotions, the deeper we went, the greater chance we had of crossing the Rann, however the greater the risk of turning back at the last moment. We also found a set of stone pillars erected one after the other at equal distance forming markers of a path through the Rann, although there were no tyre tracks next to them. This gave us further confidence to move ahead, and we did.  The shrub in the distance provides for a much needed frame of reference  In an otherwise empty landscape.  Sometimes one just comes across such "expressways". The soil was still marshy and we were leaving our footprints as well  These markers were quite encouraging at times.  As you can see the soil sinks once the vehicle crosses, the tyre tracks behind are ours. |
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