[vardhan.harsh]

The decision to spend our last vacation of the year in Kachchh was not easy. We’re essentially mountain people, and for us to even fathom of a holiday not in the mountains is difficult. However, both of us knew deep in our hearts that we would like exploring other areas as well, and after much debate, decided to give Kachchh a shot.

When we plan a holiday, we usually know our entire itinerary about 3 months in advance. However, for Kachchh, probably because we did not have knowledge about the area, or maybe because we were still apprehensive about the whole thing, we did not plan at all! I still did read a few blogs, but Aarti did nothing at all. Finally, towards the mid of December, she took the initiative on a Sunday, opened the map, and made a rough itinerary. And that was it! So armed with some GPS markings made over google earth, Eicher maps and a good book about Gujarat, we were off on 25th December 2010.

The journey covered 4000 km in all and it took us 8 days to do it. An overview of the journey with some photo-teasers.

Day 1: New Delhi - Nasirabad - Pali - Abu road - Palanpur (810 km).

A colorful Gujarati dinner spread

Day 2: Palanpur - Zainabad - Little Rann of Kachchh - Zainabad (175km)

A sunset in the Little Rann of Kachchh

Day 3: Zainabad - Through the Little Rann of Kachchh - Adesar - Bhuj (275km)

Chasing Khurs

Day 4: Bhuj - Lakhpat - Koteshwar - Bhuj (350 km)

A panoramic view of the Greater Rann of Kachchh, from fort Lakhpat

Day 5: Bhuj - Khavda - Vigakot Border post (GRK) - Kanthwandh - Kala Dungar - Dhordo - Bhuj (550 km)

Camels on a foggy morning

Day 6: Bhuj - Ajrakhpur - Rapar - Dholavira - Rapar - Bhuj (460km)

Ajrakh (hand-block printing)

Day 7: Bhuj - Bhujodi - Palanpur - Abu road - Udaipur (650km)

New year eve at Udaipur (Lake Palace Hotel)

Day 8: Udaipur - Chittaurgarh - New Delhi (750km)

A traditionally dressed Rajasthani shepherd

[StarVegabond]

Wonderful start, Harsh, Amazing pictures.

Gujraat + Rajasthan is on our radar roo.
your log will help me to learn more.

[ampere]

Another 5 star TL in the making? By the way, did you make any new map during this tour? (I have not forgotten the previous one!)

[hvkumar]

That was a fabulous trip, am sure it gave you both the Ranns!
The border outing - did you have to obtain any permits?
Waiting to hear more, and also details of places where you stayed.

[Wanderer78]

Amazing start and great pics. I am hooked to this one. Looking forward for more information and hope to do this trip soon.

[maddy42]

Nice pictures. The rann is like this strange no mans land which is beautiful and scary simultaneously. Lets stick to the beauty now, pics are awesome.

Rajastan palace with fireworks looks awesome!

[akaush]

Great start to another travelogue.
I have not yet enjoyed your full Leh travelogue and you have started another one. Ah i guess its nice to have something to read before i sleep.

Keep it coming Harsh. And we definitely need to catch up sometimes in Delhi, whenever I am back in India. I'll PM you.

[v&v]

@harsh, Nice photos and Startup. I am hooked to your Tlog. Rann of Kutch and Gujarat is in my radar too. Long pending.

I liked the safari photo. Keep it coming.

[MohsinRoadster]

Certainly one of the best starts for a TL ...

[vardhan.harsh]

Originally Posted by StarVegabond

Wonderful start, Harsh, Amazing pictures.

Gujraat + Rajasthan is on our radar roo.
your log will help me to learn more.

Thanks StarVegabond. Gujarat is a lovely place. You should visit it when it's cold though.

Originally Posted by ampere

Another 5 star TL in the making? By the way, did you make any new map during this tour? (I have not forgotten the previous one!)

Thanks ampere. Mr Narendra Modi has ensure that no one would ever need to make their own maps while traveling in Gujarat. We got wonderful roads even in the interiors of Kachchh. Though, some map making possibilities are there if one considers off-roading in the Rann.

Originally Posted by hvkumar

That was a fabulous trip, am sure it gave you both the Ranns!
The border outing - did you have to obtain any permits?
Waiting to hear more, and also details of places where you stayed.

Thanks a ton, hvkumar. Yes, we did have to obtain permits to visit the border post from the BSF sector headquarters at Bhuj. It was not as smooth as process as it is in Ladakh though. Will give more info on this on the Day 3/4 of the travelogue.

Originally Posted by Wanderer78

Amazing start and great pics. I am hooked to this one. Looking forward for more information and hope to do this trip soon.

Thanks Wanderer78.

Originally Posted by maddy42

Nice pictures. The rann is like this strange no mans land which is beautiful and scary simultaneously. Lets stick to the beauty now, pics are awesome.

Rajastan palace with fireworks looks awesome!

Thanks maddy42. Rann is an awesome place and a great driving experience with the scare of getting lost always there.

Originally Posted by akaush

Great start to another travelogue.
I have not yet enjoyed your full Leh travelogue and you have started another one. Ah i guess its nice to have something to read before i sleep.

Keep it coming Harsh. And we definitely need to catch up sometimes in Delhi, whenever I am back in India. I'll PM you.

Thanks a lot akaush. Look forward to catch up with you in Delhi when you are back .

Originally Posted by v&v

@harsh, Nice photos and Startup. I am hooked to your Tlog. Rann of Kutch and Gujarat is in my radar too. Long pending.

I liked the safari photo. Keep it coming.

Thanks v&v. Hope to be quick in writing the rest of the log.


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[mjothi]

Beautiful pictures. Esp the the lake palace with the fireworks. Great.

Man, suddenly its pouring Destination Rajasthan

Keep them flowing sir.

[vardhan.harsh]

Originally Posted by MohsinRoadster

Certainly one of the best starts for a TL ...

Thanks Mohsin

Originally Posted by mjothi

Beautiful pictures. Esp the the lake palace with the fireworks. Great.

Man, suddenly its pouring Destination Rajasthan

Keep them flowing sir.

Thanks mjothi. It's winter season, and the only season where the heat in Rajasthan/Gujarat is bearable

T-Log Day 1
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
The day before we were supposed to leave finally arrived, and Aarti woke up with a terrible cold and cough! At that moment it seemed as if this trip was not meant to be. Still, we were determined to go, and Aarti took the day off to rest and be in a shape to travel the next day.

As is tradition with us, we left early morning the next day at 4:15 am. We’d been warned by friends who’d left for a holiday in Rajasthan a few days before about early morning jams near Manesar. And half an hour after leaving, we found ourselves stuck royally in precisely such a jam right after IFFCO chowk. We tried to bypass some of it by taking a detour into the by-lanes of Gurgaon, but were unfortunately able to avoid only about 3 kms of the jam, the reason for which was a very long truck’s unsuccessful desire to take a U-turn in the middle of the highway!

We managed to clear the jam by 6:15 am, and decided to stop at McDonald’s for breakfast before we actually started our journey. Finally, at 6:45 am, with our stomachs full and the jam behind us, we zoomed away!

The NH 8 is in a terrible state, with work on in full swing to make it a six lane highway. Also, traffic was a lot, and thus our average speed was pretty less. We reached the cut for Ajmer at 9:45 am, and thereafter the road was as smooth as butter!

To reduce time, we took the cut for Nasirabad instead of going through Ajmer. The left for Naisrabad goes further towards Chittaurgarh, which is currently the fastest way to reach Udaipur. After that, we took the right towards Mangaliyawas, and the State Highway was fantastic albeit narrow. With 4 laning of NH8 in progress, our average speed till Beawar was quite slow. As we took the right towards Pali, our stomachs started growling unbearably, and we broke for lunch at the Sendra Valley Resort.

Not too beautiful to be called a resort, but clean loos & decent vegetarian food

All in all, the 450 kms took us about 10 hours with only a half an hour break for breakfast. While our average speed initially was pathetic, the wonderful road after the Jaipur bypass more than compensated for it.

All this while, Aarti was still feeling quite unwell, and hence had not driven at all. After we took a left from Barr towards Pali, the road till Sirohi is a decent two-laned highway with average speeds of 80 to 100 kmph.

The road is narrow but smooth

We reached Sirohi at sunset, and were bored of driving on straight roads since morning. Hence, we off-roaded a bit to settle our nerves, and carried on. As it started getting dark, the highway too turned beautiful as we approached Mount Abu.

Off-roading before Sirohi

Onto the dry river bed for a short while

We’d scoured the map, and decided against our initial plan of staying the night at Mount Abu, and zeroed in instead on Palanpur as our night halt.

Beautiful dusk when looking towards the hills of Mount Abu

When we finally caught the expressway at Jhadoli, we were in for a total treat! What roads! World class is an understatement. As we whizzed past several sleepy villages, we realized that we should have caught this expressway long back, and that even though it would have been a much longer route, the drive would have been effortless.

We reached Palanpur, the diamond district, at 7:45 pm, and went straight to check out the two hotels Aarti had read about in the super book on Gujarat we’d bought – the India Guide on Gujarat. In half an hour, we’d checked into a decent hotel called Way Wait, and then proceeded to have a colourful, although average, Gujarati thali for dinner. As we ate, a disturbing thought that had occurred to me before the start of the trip suddenly became a harsh reality - chicken would definitely be in short supply on this trip!

The vegetarian Thali, omnipresent in the region

Hotel Way wait at Palanpur


Loved this signboard - for Gujarati thali, turn right, for everything else, left.

Thus our first day on the road came to an end. Aarti was still not feeling well, so we decided to rest properly the next day and leave late by about 11 am.

In hindsight, I think we had taken a sub-optimal route. Upon our return, during a discussion in a thread with Tanveer (tsk1979) and Ramky (ramky1), it turned out that the best route towards the Little Rann of Kachchh would've been Delhi - Chittaurgarh - Udaipur - Ahmedabad - Little Rann of Kachchh. Although the distance would have increased by about a 100 km on this route, but better roads would've lead to eventually some saving on time and lesser risk of getting stuck in a bottle-neck.

[rjstyles69]

harsh brilliant start with the travelogue man. The Dicor with the sun in the background is simply out of the world. I would have fancied one shot with the dicor doing a doughnut and the sun exactly in the same position as shot. Nevertheless you have done justice with the camera. I am sure you have more to come and yes the Rann is what I am looking forward to .

Fellow member jaysmokesleaves had put up a travelogue about his getaway to the greater rann of kutch. Was simply blown away with the pictures.

[aryasanyal]

This is an awesome start to another legendary TL in the making. I am yet to get over your Ladakh TL and this one now...

Finally, you make your way to the largest district in the country
I am rating this 5 star rightaway.

[tsk1979]

Lovely travelogue Harsh.
Will be closely watching this. Will help me a lot with "my trip"

Originally Posted by rjstyles69

harsh brilliant start with the travelogue man. The Dicor with the sun in the background is simply out of the world. I would have fancied one shot with the dicor doing a doughnut and the sun exactly in the same position as shot. Nevertheless you have done justice with the camera. I am sure you have more to come and yes the Rann is what I am looking forward to .

Fellow member jaysmokesleaves had put up a travelogue about his getaway to the greater rann of kutch. Was simply blown away with the pictures.

I was lucky enough to get such a shot in the Rann of Jaisalmer. Safari drifting with the setting sun in background!