Delhi - Bhuj Drive

Preparation for Bhuj

A trip to Rann of Kutch during the Rann Utsav days was certainly on the bucket list for me for a long time. So I was really excited as the trip neared. This time three of us, i.e. me, my wife Deepali and son Prajeet wear geared up for the trip. After reading the reviews on Google, my Son was ok for the road trip part of it, but my Wife continued to insist on air travel upto Bhuj.

Our old family friends of Leh-Ladakh fame joined us in tow (Ashish & family) making a grand convoy of two vehicles (A Mahindra Scorpio and a Maruti Ertiga).

The choice for route was as follows:-

• Delhi-Palanpur-Bhuj

Plan was to make Bhuj the centre of all activities, including trips to the Rann and the Harappan site Dholavira, and therefore a 4 day accommodation was booked at Bhuj and one day transit accomodation was booked at Palanpur.

Following preparatory activities were undertaken:-

-Booking of accommodation at Palanpur and Bhuj.

-Preparation of a first aid kit

-Purchase of sufficient eatables for on-road use.

1^st Day Delhi to Palanpur

Being full of enthusiasm and energy on Day 1, it was decided to cover the max distance on Day 1. Therefore Palanpur at a distance of approx 830 kms from Delhi was arrived at as the destination. Much to the discontent of the family, the journey started as planned at 0615 hours on Thursday (04 Jan 18). By 0630, we hit the NH8 heading to Jaipur. However the starting day happened to be one of the coldest days yet with temperatures hovering at 8 degrees and roads immersed in dense fog. The drive up to Manesar Toll took almost 2 hours due to massive snarls on the road. By 1045, we managed to reach Jaipur Bypass. Thereafter the snarls on the Road eased.

Breakfast was a quick south Indian in Haldirams on the Jaipur E Way. The trip thereafter was uneventful. Lunch was at nondescript Dhaba on the Ajmer E Way. Sunset was around 1750. By 1850, we touched Abu Road. By 1915, we breezed past the Rajasthan – Gujarat Border. By 2000, we were in front of the Hotel Lajwanti at palanpur.

The Palanpur - Bhuj - Rann Drive Day (2^nd Day)

As planned, after packing up, the drive started at 0800. Google showed the time for a 350 kms drive from Palanpur to Bhuj to be about 5.5 hours. But on the onset of drive, the perfectly smooth 4 laned roads with hardly any traffic was the perfect setting for us.

It looked like the vehicles had their own plans and they soon were constantly cruising at 130 kmph. And by 1230, we had struck the outskirts of Bhuj. We reached the designated destination for the day (VBC Jain Guest House) by 1300 hrs. The VBC Jain guest house is a facility run by the VBC Jain trust and provides decent accommodation and messing facilities to the needy at reasonable rates.

After settling down in the room, we proceeded for lunch at a non-descript Dhaba. By 1600, we were again on the Road heading for the white Rann, at a distance of 72 kms. Again the roads were good and we reached the tented city in Rann (venue of Rann Utsav) by 1730. Thereafter we proceeded to white Rann. After making entries in the BSF register, we walked down to the seemingly endless vistas of salt. The sunset at white rann was sight to behold. The sunset was at 1811 hrs. However the moonrise for the day was at 2211 hrs, which was a fit too far fetched for us, so after spending about 2 hours in the white salt desert we started back for Bhuj. Incidentally, Deepali cut her customary birthday cake in the midst of the white desert. The drive back was smooth and we had our first taste of Gujarati Thali for dinner.

3^rd Day Bhuj Local Sightseeing

The 3^rd day started a bit slowly with late wakeup. Plans included visits to some local tourist points and some shopping for the ladies.

The breakfast at the Guest House consisted of Poha and Chai. The first destination for the day was Prag Mahal and Aaina Mahal. The places were ill maintained and offered no value in particular. Nevertheless, since we were in Bhuj, they needed to be visited. The SwamiNarayan Temple on the other hand stood in all its grandeur. The temple, though of modern construction, incorporates some ancient heritage art.

The first destination for shopping was at Bhoomi Handicrafts. The place is always overcrowded. However we realised that the place offers the best prices and the maximum choice in comparison to other places.

For Lunch we had decided to hit Prince Hotel for its Gujarati Thali. However, the place was full of some convention attendees and seemed to have preference for seating. So, we opted for the first floor of the Hotel, which incidentally hosts the only Non-Veg Restaurant in Bhuj.

After the Lunch, we proceeded to Bhujodi. The ladies did shopping at the various outlets along the street.

In the evening, we met our first Gujarati acquaintances in Bhuj. Mr Rajvir and his family hosted us to Tea and tasty Dhabelis. After sumptuous snacks, we were led to “Chhatedi”, the ruins of the tombs of the erstwhile Kings. Incidentally, the entire structure was damaged during the earthquake in 2003 and was never restored. The structure in its good days also hosted as the setting for scenes in movies “Refugee” and “Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam”.

After the visit to Chatedi, we moved once again to The Hotel Prince to finish the unfinished business of Gujarati Thali. But when the Thali arrived, we were over awed by the size and contents of the Thali. The promise of unlimited contents could never be tried as we were full the moment we saw the variety in the Thali. Nevertheless, I tried my best to do justice to the INR 225 I had to spend for the Thali. There were almost 10 different varieties of subjis, Dahi-vada, Rasmalai, Suji ka Halwa. The rotis and Bajra ki Rotis in Ghee and Jaggery were delicious. In the end, I had to finally give up. Deepali found happiness in photography (read selfies) with the contents of the Thali and with the waiters.

4^th Day – Bhuj - Dholavira

By 0700 in the morning we were on the road again heading for the ruins of ancient civilization. Google Maps indicated a drive duration of 3.75 hours for the destination, which was at a distance of 200 kms. The roads were generally empty and were in satisfactory condition.

We were warned earlier that the vehicle had to be fueled and enough money taken from the ATM, before the drive as the route to Dholavira was through wilderness, with not even water available after “Rapar”. Accordingly, we prepared ourselves.

In about 2 hours we reached Rapar and stopped for breakfast. Whilst regular restaurants at Rapar followed a time regime of 1100 to 2100 and did not cater to breakfast, roadside eateries, gave us sumptuous Dhoklas and Jalebis. With our hunger satisfied, we commenced our onward journey.

And soon, we were passing through white deserts (salt pans). The serenity of the drive in midst of the desert was amazing and provided us with numerous opportunities for photo shoot.

By 1115, we reached the Dholavira Tourism Resort, which incidentally was at a distance of 500 meters from the ancient ruins.

After a quick check-in and Lunch, we proceeded to the excavated site of Dholavira. The site is supposedly the 3^rd largest township after Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa. The specialties were the 12 large Reservoirs and an effective water management and filtration system including a state of art rainwater harvesting system. The citadel, upper town, middle town, lower town and the large stadium are all impressive. A walk around the stadium took almost 90 minutes. Thereafter we proceeded to the Museum, which we thought could have been better.

At 1630, we proceeded to the fossil park at a distance of 9 kms from the Resort. The park boasts of some samples of fossilized wood, which have been dated as 1.7 million years old. We were also rewarded with a glimpse of flamingoes resting far away in the lake. The next stop was the BSF BOP and sunset point. Here again, there was nothing more than to watch the Sun set away by about 1830. On completion, we accompanied the guide to one of the village houses, showcasing handicrafts. Deepali was quite impressed and purchased a few wares.

By 1930, we had our dinner and retired for the day as the next day was an early start.

5^th Day Dholavira to Ajmer

We started early in the morning and were on the road by about 0630. By 1030, we reached Palanpur. The drive back was smooth, with us touching a speed of 120/130 kmph most of the time. The distance of 737 kms was covered in 11 hours. By 1730, we had reached the Hotel Chitwan on the Delhi-Ajmer National Highway.

6^th Day – Ajmer to Delhi

The 580 odd kms journey from Ajmer to Delhi was planned to be completed in one day. Accordingly, we started our journey by 0700 in the morning. The route was to pass through Mandi, Bilaspur, Chandigarh to Delhi.

The roads were ok. By 0930, we hit Mandi and found a cozy place for Breakfast. After a liberal dose of Aloo parathas and tea, we hit out again. By 1200, we had crossed Bilaspur and were heading for Chandigarh. The Google maps made us pass right through Chandigarh, Mohali to NH at Ambala. By 1530, we were happily munching in KFC for a delayed lunch.

We were happy that there were no undue delays till the time and expected to reach Delhi by 1930.

We started from KFC by 1600 and found the traffic on NH to be manageable. There were no serpentine cues at Toll ways and by 1845, we reached Azadpur Mandi, from where we had to enter the ring road. Surprisingly Delhi roads seemed to be empty and by 1920, we were back to our Home at Sardar Patel Marg.