Exploring the Rann of Kutchh

Leoniec

Hello!
I am planning a trip around the Rann of Kutchh in mid-December and was looking for some advice.
I usually travel alone via local buses or by foot as I find it easier to meet with locals this way. However it seems that there are few local buses around the Rann. Ideally I'd like to visit the following villages: Lakhpat, Jakhau, Naliya, Mandavi, Khavda, and Dholovira.
Is this realistic or do I need to look into hiring a car??
I saw that someone has cycled the Rann before, and the distances do not look that horrendous, is this an option in December?

As far as accomdation goes: I'd ideally love to stay out in the villages; does anyone have contacts with whom I could stay for a night? I'm not a fussy traveller (by any means: have stayed in a family hut in the Western ghats (with the rest of the 20+ person family) and in a Saddhu's river cave near Gangotri.)
I'm willing to pay of course, just I prefer to stay in rather remote places rather than the larger towns and then drive by.

Any help would be appreciated!

Thanks

Leonie

vonkla

Welcome to IM

We were there early this year with a car+driver and stayed some days in Bhuj. Frome there we visited some of the places on your list. With the car it was over four and half hour to Dholavira and I doubt if there is an bus to it.
I have read some where that there used to go a bus to Khavda, we went also to that area. You know that you need a permit for it?
See bhuj - permit to see tribal villages

__________________
.
See our travel journal Mumbai-Dehli in three months

Jorge Reverter

I've been in the Kutch region last February 2006. To visit some places you need a permission, it takes only half an hour and I think was given at the Collectorate in Bhuj. To Khavda and most of the places mentionned you can go by bus from the bus stand in Bhuj. If you are in the road any driver will take you, to hire a car with driver is expensive and probably useless if you are traveling alone. The tribal villages in the Banni Area (Hodka, Dhordo etc) are interesting. Khavda is the gate of the Rann of Kutch but not that much ineteresting. I loved Mandvi and Mundra in the coast but specially Mandvi.

Jorge

Leoniec

Just by way of follow up in case anyone else is thinking of heading to this area of the world: I'd highly recommend it, the people are simply fantastic. They are incredibly kind and friendly: expect to be invited into their homes for tea, lunch, to hold babies, see their decorations and pictures (take pictures - they often insist upon it). Bar a handful of villages which have been comparatively more exposed to tourists (like Kavda and Ludia), the kids won't follow you demanding foreign coins or school pens.

Transport: it's very easy to get around Kutch. There is an excellent local bus service (although the more remote places often have just one bus a day). Jeeps ply all the routes and will readily stop and sqeeze you in. Also as a westerner standing on the roadside you will attract lifts from Goods Carriers, private cars and police bikes.
Hiring a scooter is a good way to see some of the villages and rather off track temples near Bhuj (Sumraser Sheikh, Dhrang, Kotay etc,)

Places I'd recommend: Narayon Saravor, Koteshwar, Lakpath (sunset), Karo Dungar (sunset), Dhordo, Bhirendiyara, Than (consider staying at the top temple for a night).

Accomodation: Gangoram in Bhuj was great. Also see below for info on the local guide in Bhuj (who also offers a homestay).
Outside of the official tourist 'resorts', some of the villagers readily ask tourists to stay with their family: such as Arjun Velji in Bhirendiyara, Sonia (the only English speaker) in Dhordo and Achaa in Ludia. It's not too difficult to find them as the villages are small and people are very helpful. As far as paying goes, I always bought handicrafts from the community. The items come in various sizes so it should be manageable on most budgets: though I couldn't justify haggling them down. They really are excellent pieces, all handmade and take months to create.
Devjibhai's (details in LP) Koobi huts by the little rann ae fantastic and well worth the cash! The novelty of life in a Bhunga runs out after staying in the villages however you don't share these huts with 8 other people and the peace and privacy provides a welcome respite!

Bhuj itself is a lovely city to wander around, not too much traffic and hardly any hassle! If you'd like a local contact/guide, then I'd recommend Kuldip Gadhiv. He's an excellent host with fluent English, full of enthusiasm and fantastic spirit. He can show you the city along with guiding you around the kutch itself if you'd like to be sure of accomodation and a welcoming reception in the villages. Also as a local he knows lots of hidden temples/villages both in the desert and by deserted beaches!
Contact: desert_adventures@yahoo.com or +919328299666.


Health warning!

For the sake of the wonderful people in Kutch, please only travel this area to meet the people, live with them and create memories. They are a highly skilled, hardworking, musical and proud people who will readily welcome you in, show you their lives work, cooking, songs and dances. Bring a frisbee or similar game to play with the kids and you'll be adopted as a 'sister' or 'brother' in minutes!

Then take your pictures, not of the stereotypical tribal village scene but of good friends you've met!

iwanttogoback

leonie

what a lovely post = thankyou for sharing. and thanks for coming back to update us.

some friend spent time in bjuj and had similar stories of the generosity and friendliness of the locals.

beata

Hello, Leoniec,

Thanks for your reassuring post about Gujarat.

We're going there next week for 3 weeks. Our itinerary is: Ahmedabad, Little Rann of Kutch ( Mr. Devjibhai's place), Modhera, Patan, Kutch with Bhuj and villages, Palitana, Junagadh, and then, if we still have some time left (which I doubt), we'll see.

I'm just working out our itinerary in Kutch, and as you mentioned, and as some guidebooks say too, there are some craft villages around Bhuj that have become rather "commercial" - we'd like to skip them and go rather to other places. Is Mr. P.J.Jethi from Ganagaram hotel reliable? Can he advise us where to go and what to see objectively? How did you visit the villages in Kutch - did you rent a car or did you use local buses?
We're very interested in textiles (I'm learning weaving myself) - especially in different techniques of weaving and embroidering.

We'd like to visit some local markets (weekly or daily markets) where we could see some local productions - do you know any?

How long did you stay in Mr. Devjibhai's place? We don't know it is possible but we plan to take a bus or a train from Ahmedabad about noon and go to Dhrangadhra (normally it's 3h30), then immediately go to his place there and take his taxi or whatever he proposes to his bungalows (I think it's 40 km) to be there in the evening and to start a jeep safari early in the morning the following day (he sent me a mail telling that this day there will be another couple of tourists so we could share the price of the jeep).

Sorry, I've so many questions - it's quite rare to meet somebody who has just travelled in Gujarat !!

Thanks,

Beata

iwanttogoback

hi beata

i assume that whilst in patan you'll be checking out the double ikat weaving at the patolas?

Leoniec

Lovely to hear you're visiting Kutch!

Just a quick comment on your itinery: it may make more sense to go to Patan and Modhera first and then on to Bhuj from Dhrangadhra (Devjibhai's town place) or Halvad (closer to his Koobi huts) as this is the main Bhuj to Ahmedabad road and the bus service is very frequent(one an hour I think). This also answers your question on buses from Ahmedabad to Dhrangadhra, they leave every hour at least. Devjibhai (and his son) are very accomodating and will probably drive you out that evening. Also the day trip can start in Dhrangadhra and finish up at the Koobi huts (the actual tour starts at a point nearer Dhrangadhra). That's whay I had to do and I arrived into Dhrangadhra at 11am. They really are very helpful that way!

As for the Kutch villages: If you're interested in textiles, then I'd definitely recommend visiting Kala Raksha in Sumraser Shiek (http://www.kala-raksha.org/). The volunteers there have good English and will show you samples of the stiching of each different tribe etc. The handweaving itself is created in each village throughout Kutch and in most of the ones I visited, the women were eager to show you their work. Also if you stay for any lenght of time in the one place, you'll see the women at work.
As far as some villages being more "commercial": I found this in Kavada and was told that Ludia was the same.
In the smaller villages closer to Bhuj (from Sumraser Sheikh south to Dhrang, Kotay, Dhorai) They are probably more used to tourists but then again I have nice experiences there: I guess it really depends on where you stop and who you meet!
Dhordo was a nice place and one of the villagers, Sonia, has good English, is eager to practice it and will show you the stitching!
As for markets, I heard the market at Anjar is excellent: didn't make it though. The street markets near Gangaram Guest House in Bhuj are full of crafts and I picked some up here. It's more satisfying though just to go into the villages and buy directly from the villagers (note: it's not just going to the seller, the money is shared between the whole family/community). Sometimes out in the villages, the pieces are only half finished (i.e. the front of a cushion cover). Places like Kala Ruksha in Sumraser Sheikh and Banni-Craft in Bhirendiyara have more completed items.

As far as getting around goes: I hired a scooter for a day trip around Sumraser, Dorai, Dhrang, Kotay and back to Bhuj. Fantastic freedom with it! The buses go once a day to each of these villages but I'm sure there are jeeps connecting them.

For the rest of Kutch I took buses/jeeps. Basically you sit on the side of the road, dust yourself off when something comes along and flag it down. I never had to wait more than 20 minutes and even Goods Carriers stop for you. A car would give you absolute freedom of course but you miss out on all the bus banter!

Jethi at Gangaram and his brother at Ainal Mihal are both very helpful but I don't know that they'd recommend villages to go and see, perhaps if I'd have asked them directly they would have but for me their advice was more general. They were objective and PJ Jethi at Ainal Mihal is an absolute expert on the area! His book on Kutchh was particularly good.

Finally: there's a few mela's planned in the next few weeks. I know that there's one in the early new year in Sumraser as I was told by one of the volunteers. Ask at Ainal Mihal in Bhuj or maybe Devjibhai. It'll well worth diverting your travels to experience one of those!! Also the kite festival is on in January (16th??) the kids in Ahmedabhad and Bhuj were all preparing as I travelled there but it may be statewide and it's definitely something to look into!

Happy travels!!!

rushie82

The kite festivle you talked about is called Uttarayan or Makar-Sankranti. It is on January 14th each year and its a big deal for gujaratis. Go to any big cities of Gujarat on this day like Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Surat and get yourself invited to someboday's terrace. location is very important. Generally action is more vigorous in the old parts of the city where houses are more clustered together and everybody will be on the rooftops. The scene will be spectacluar and experience u will never forget. Thousands of people everywhere on the roofs and thousands of kites in the sky with loud music being played on some rooftops accompanied with cheering and shouting. After flying kites whole day ppl blow up firecrackers at night.

In different parts of the country this day is celebrated in differnt ways. In south it is celebrated as Pongal.
Uttarayana - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Health warning: On this day lot of ppl fall down from their terraces and rooftops so be careful. Also if you are travelling in open vehicle or bike the razor sharp thread could cut your throat or your eyes and could injure you significantly.

This year the festivle might be on the 15th but I think on 14th and 15th both days it will be celebrated.

beata

Hello, Leonie,

Thanks for all the information.

I sent a mail to Devjibhai Dhamecha but he hasn't replied yet.

We know that it would be easier to go to Bhuj from his place but we want to go to Modhera for there is a Modhera Dance Festival on 18th of January. Well, we'll see....

Could you tell me something more about this guide in Bhuj that you recommend? Is it expensive to take him for a guide? Does he have a car to go and visit the villages?

Did you sleep in the villages? I imagine you payed for the sleeoing and eating, didn't you? Well, you were alone but it might be difficult for two persons - and, moreover, we are quite shy...


Thanks.

You can send me a private mail, if you want: beata.pieczonka AT wanadoo.fr

Beata

Leoniec

Sorry for delayed reply!
I completely understand that you’d want to make the Modhera Dance Festival: I’m sure it’s possible to get a bus to Bhuj from that area.
Kuldip (Desert Adventures) has a car and has a huge variety of contacts in many of the villages. He worked for a couple of disaster relief NGO’s after the 2001 earthquake and remains heavily involved in the ongoing development work in the Kutchh. He’s been to many of the more remote areas haggling over prices of cattle (for neglected eldery) or reporting on how mid-wife education projects are progressing. The value of using him (or a similar guide) is that they know the people in the village and know where you’ll be welcomed and can explain all the questions you may have about how the village works. He has a car, the charge per day is 2,000 rupees with a maximum distance of 300 kms per day (this is very competitive as previously Jethi at Ainal Mahal had told me that 3,000 was the regular rate). He charges 500 rupees for his services as a guide and this would include food and accommodation in the villages. He’s really flexible and once you let him know what you’d like to do/see he can suggest the best way to experience it. If you’d like to find out more information about Desert Adventures (like rates etc.) contact them directly at desert_adventures@yahoo.com or Kuldip Gadhvi at +911 93282 99666
I stayed in a couple of the villages and ate at many: people usually approach you and offer space in their Bhunga (often this will be a communal affair so you’ll sleep with some of the wives and girls, if you’re a woman, but I know in Ludia, Achha even has a special room for foreigners who would like to stay.) I wouldn’t say it matters that much that there are two of you. I know in Bhirendiyara, a French couple also stayed with the Velji’s. I doubt you’ll stay in the same Bhunga, though I didn’t actually ask them. As for being shy, people usually approach you and ask if you’d like tea, lunch and/or to sleep. They may not have much more English than that but they definitely do try. I guess the best thing about going to the villages with Kuldip is that the language barrier is completely broken down, I only bumped into him while getting a lift from the villages with his cousin and so instead he showed me some of the less visited sites in Bhuj and around it, we even went for some light canyoning climbed a hill overlooking the town and spend a day exploring deserted beaches near Mandvi.
As for payment for food and accommodation in the villages: where I just had tea and maybe chappati, people never accepted payment. I usually took a picture and sent it back to them. When I stayed for the day/evening, had a meal etc. I obviously wanted to give them something more. I found they didn’t like the idea of my paying for their hospitality and so I always bought a piece of embroidery or some other handicraft instead. It did work out more expensive than if I’d been in a guesthouse but the experience itself (and the handicraft) were simply worth more to me so I didn’t mind.

jayachans

hello,

We are planning to visit Bhuj in December. How far is it to the Little Rann Sanctuary? Also when you went tho Dholavira did you stay around there?
thank you
Sanjay

vonkla

We visited Dholavira on our way from Bhuj to the north of Gujarat. It took us a ride of 4 1/2 hour from Bhuj to reach it and just about the same time to go from Dholavira to Radhanpur. The hotel we had there was not very good and according to our driver it was the only one. The alternative was to continue to Patan an hour further.
For more information follow the link at the bottom of this post.

http://binualex.blogspot.com/2005_08_01_archive.html
There is a hotel in Dholavira but it was closed and as far as I understood never really opened since it was build in 2005.

See also Mumbai-Dehli in three months

Leoniec

Hi Sanjay,

I went to the Little Rann of Kutch with Devjibhai, so I took a bus to Dhrangadhra from Bhuj, (5 and 1/2 hours) and then we started the tour from there. It was about another hours drive before we got into the south eastern section of the national park. The koobi huts are closer to the city of Halvad, 5 hours from Bhuj.

I didn't make it up to Dholavira in the end so I can't help with that! Next time...

All the best!

jayachans

Thanks for the information, Vonkla. I was wondering do you need a permit to visit Dholavira from the Little Rann. Also how far a drive is it from Dholavira to Ahmedabad? Thank you for your responses.
Sanjay