Gujrat gaman

Today was the last leg, a travel of 300 km to Ahmedabad, which had been our starting point. We were up at 6.30 am at Khadir Homestay, the sky quiet and dark, while the waking household stirred around us. Speaking to the owners yesterday, it looked like tourists did not stay much at Dholavira, preferring to stay at Dhordo, or better still, return to Bhuj after a day’s outing, but my route-designing principle (never return the same way) had made for this new routing, which was all to the good, actually. Aunty-ji put together some excellent poha, and that, coupled with some ginger tea, was as good starting rations as any. Leaving Dholavira (8.30 am) If we wished, we could have seen a grand sunrise while driving east out of Dholavira, but I had no clue this would be the case. At 8.45, we were a bit late for such antics. The sun was already a bit high in the sky. The drive out was a surreal peaceful one, with miles of well built roads whizzing through villages. These...

Two solid days of pampering at the Bhuj wedding had given us a really overdue break. A high-end Gujju wedding is something to be seen, and insights into the slightly different Kachchhi rituals made watching the proceedings interesting. By the way, if you are talking to a Bhuj resident, you will soon realise that their memory is divided into two distinct segments - before earthquake and after earthquake. The shakedown in 2001, measuring 6.9 on the Reichter scale, claimed 20,000 lives, and another 150,000 were injured. More than a million buildings were destroyed. Our host for the wedding had also lost their house. Bhuj has sprung back once again, and the Earthquake Museum is a stark reminder that Bhuj stands on the tail of a snake (a story for some other time). Nonetheless, since we were unlikely to step into Bhuj in the near future, we took our car out yesterday for a quick spin to three touristy places in Bhuj. Below are the top picks as far as pics go. ...

Today we were going to vindicate our initial purpose of coming to Gujrat. A close friend’s daughter was getting married in Bhuj on 1st and 2nd Feb. The daughter had sternly admonished that under no condition were we to miss even a single function, wild ass or no wild ass. So we took stock of how to arrange a quick getaway from Little Rann. Leaving Little Rann (6.30 am) Yes, that is what it required in order to reach the haldi venue in Bhuj at 11.00 am. Morning starts late in the western states of India, and at 6.30 am it was pitch dark and decidedly chilly. The lady-boss had got up at 5.30 am to make theplas for us, and that, combined with fruits , made a heavy picnic bag. She took it nonchalantly, saying anyway morning safaris leave at 6.30 am, so she was used to it. But then, she did not send them off with a hot meal. Very decent of her. Breakfast just anywhere (8.30 am) As soon as it struck 8.30 am, we stopped the car near a ramshackle tea shop, ...