Saturday, August 22, 2009

kutch trip 14-16 august 2009

14 September 2009 – Friday (Ahmedabad to Bhuj)

It was a frantic day. I had to attend a meeting in the morning & we still hadn’t started preparations for our trip. I finished my meeting by 12, which was late, & Nitin still couldn’t find a spare tube for the bike or a footpump. So, while he searched for the tube, I took over the footpump department & went till Mirzapur auto market, where I finally found it. Both items are absolutely essential for a bike-trip into desolate areas. I din’t want to be pushing a punctured monster of an enfield in the desert & we couldn’t have left the expensive machine.

Having found both items, we had a light lunch at my place & left into a cloudy sky threatening to pour any moment. Our exit out of Ahmedabad was greeted by a very light shower. Nitin’s enfield quickly zoomed to 80 kmph & stuck to it, lapping up miles at the go. I started to feel uncomfortable in the cramped pillion seat, especially with a heavy rucksack on my shoulders. At Sanand, we were shocked to find a large mass of people on the road, and we could hardly move forward. It was Janmashtmi and apparently there’s a famous Krishna temple at Sanand. The bike crawled its way out of a 2km stretch packed with people, push-carts, crying children, honking trucks and revelers just sitting on the road median…

After Sanand, the road was more or less empty, and the bike quickly regained its pace. I received a heavy blow on my bums each time we went over a pothole. Its interesting that the machismo’s seat is such that the rider cannot feel even the largest of the potholes, while the pillion can feel even the crushed gravel on the road!! To add to it, the seat is small & one has to seat upright or risk being toppled over at a pothole! This was to become the sore point of the entire trip…

We stopped at Viramgam bypass to stretch our legs, before proceeding to Dhangadhra. There was a spurt of sudden rain & we pulled over to don our windcheaters. Just as we started, it stopped raining and a furious sun bore down with all its heat directed at us! We were sweating inside the jackets & had to stop again to remove them. A second spell or light showers came shortly & we didn’t stop this time!

As we reached Dhangadhra bypass my bums were sore & I was in absolute pain. We stopped for tea and snacks. The green and storeyed landscape we found as we had left Ahmedabad was now reduced to large masses of scrubland. I was surprised not only to find large masses of agricultural land, but also large & small water bodies strewn all over the terrain! Wild grasses and seasonal plants covered every inch of soil, all except the road! It was a magnificent sight for a barren wasteland! This was Prosopis infested territory, but the native flora was giving a commendable fight!

Some distance from Dhangadhra we came across a seasonal stream filled with water! The locals had built check-dams and retained the stream as a reservoir. I took the bike from here & we touched NH-8 coming from Morbi. We refueled the bike and a short ride later we found ourselves amidst one of the most amazing scenery! The highway cut across endless expanse of salt-pans! In either direction, the salt-pans touched the horizon & the road was dead straight! He open expanse between the sea & land gave rise to immensely powerful local winds & it was a tad difficult to stand! Even the bike was riding at a slight tilt of a degree or two! Imagine the bullet being affected by wind!! It was nearing sunset and we conducted an extensive photo-session.



The bike wouldn’t start! I had put it on side stand & forgot to turn the fuel valve off, and now the carburetor was filled with fuel. After too many kicks, Nitin could finally get it started, but it was coughing and stalling all the time. It was dusk as we now raced towards our destination. After the salt-pans it was windmill land! The highway cut through scores of wind-farms and Nitin couldn’t resist another photo-session. It was past-dusk and we were still 120km from Bhuj, tired & I had a sore, painful bum. From the salt-pans to Bhachau is a great 4-lane stretch of highway. But from Bhachau to Bhuj is a winding hardly 2-lane stretch of country road. We drove in the dark, Nitin refusing to slow down on the uneven tarmac, resulting in many painful moments for me. It rained briefly & as we put on our jackets, it stopped again!

We finally reached Bhuj at 9.45pm and stumbled our way to the hotel. Nitin wanted a sumptuous dinner at a famous local restaurant and we waited in queue as I tried to keep myself awake. We finally got a seat at 11pm, only to be told that the unlimited menu was not available. We ordered some food & gulped it down in large mouthfuls! I fell asleep watching television, and Nitin trying to chat with me. My bum was swollen and pained at slightest touch.


15 September 2009 (Kalo Dungar & Banni)


We woke up at 7 and got ready quickly. We had tea and bought some snacks for the road. Today we were headed into the desert: Banni grasslands and Kalo Dungar. Outside of Bhuj we came across undulating terrain completely covered with seasonal flora! Just 20 kms later, we were in kharapat: salt-affected land. It was empty land with scarce scrub vegetation till one could see! The land was soft and cracked up due to the heat. The wind was at its extreme worst, and it was difficult to handle the bike. As I took over the bike, I found it shuddering in the wind. We kept going into the endless wasteland.


We took a left from the main road for Banni, and came up on a small country road. After crossing quite a few bhunga (mud-house) clusters, we reached the last village before the desert: Dhordo. As we crossed it we entered an endless grassland, and a BSF checkpost checked our further advance. One could see 4-5 types of grasses all over the land, and a similar number of shrubs edging it near the entry. It was a magnificent sight, and one could only imagine how this entire area turned into a white desert in summer! I remembered the Kalahari documentary Nitin had given me, where the desert turned into a dense oasis. This was no less! We came for the desert and found an endless grassland!!!

The 12pm heat was taking a toll on us, and we felt dehydrated inspite of drinking adequate fluids. As we made our way back to the main road, I was feeling sleepy and was nervous lest I fall off! Back on the main road, we headed towards Kalo Dunagar. We had a frugal lunch at Khavda village & proceeded to our destination. On the way a local person told us about India bridge, the last crossing into the desert, from where military territory began. A combination of steep and rolling inclines for 10 kms took us to the top of Kalo Dungar.


As we parked, we saw the most amazing sight of a lifetime! A salt-lake engulfing 3 sides of the hill, and we couldn’t even make out where the salt-lake ended and the sky began! The entire place in the distance was misty and one could perceive the distant emptiness. The numbing effect of the stillness of the enormous lake couldn’t be broken even by the wild gale on top of the hill! It is one of those sights that one sees and stops thinking. One can only stare at it dumbfounded, trying hopelessly to make sense of it and get one’s bearings! I had never imagined this place in my wildest dreams! It was silent, but one could feel its desolation roar coldly in one’s mind, if you can understand what I’m trying to explain. It was cold, empty and vast; but not serene. It was wild, raging & roaring in some way – threatening to swallow you somehow and you would never come back! Even this large hill looked miniscule and felt threatened by the lake! Maybe that’s how they must have imagined a Loch Ness monster: a fear imagined out of empty vastness of something that makes you feel nanoscopic…


After an extensive photography session we headed towards the India bridge: to experience the salt lake at near hand. The bridge is off-limits for civilians, but the approach road is on the salt-lake too. We stopped and went down onto lake. It was soft and squishy, almost like quicksand. It was nearly sunset and the place was completely eerie. Dead fish lying at the edge of the salty water, the soft mud wherein you start sinking if you stand even for a minute, the absolute stillness, no wind, stinging silence and no movement anywhere. After a short photo-session we headed back. We hardly exchanged words on our way, lost in the sight we had just seen…

Back in Bhuj a tasteless Gujarati thali filled our stomachs enough to put us to sleep.


16 August 2009 (Mandvi & back to Ahmedabad)

We woke up at 6am, got ready, had some bread-butter and headed towards Mandvi. The terrain was undulating with numerous water bodies & blooming flora all around! It was a sight I hadn’t imagined a desert district would ever present me with! The best experiences are those that one has not imagined before, and I was in it now…


The terrain flattened as we reached Mandvi and we crossed a creek with a ship-building area into the 400 year old port-town. It was just 8.30 & we headed straight to the beach. We were greeted by a long sandy shore with windmills on one end and a jetty on another. We quickly headed into the water and splashed about. During the photo-session, Nitin’s specs were washed away by a large wave. Now he couldn’t see more than a few feet. The bath facility was closed & we decided to change on the road itself! Just was we changed, the facility opened and we took a bath to relieve ourselves of the beach sand. Since Nitin couldn’t see properly, there was no point of going to the palace. It was just 10.30 but he was famished.

So we searched for a restaurant, and were guided to a famous local place called as Osho Lodge. As we entered they welcomed us but told us that lunch would be served only in an hour. So, here I am writing about the trip while we wait. Nitin is somewhere between sleeping, staring, photographing and playing with his phone to take his attention off from his stomach pangs! It’s the third day, and we are visibly tired, with sore bottoms and completely famished! I wonder how I made the bike trip to Ladakh. Ofcourse the over-riding reason would be the intense cold that numbs every other sensation & feeling!

After lunch we decided to head straight back to Ahmedabad. It was 12.30 and our destination was a good 450kms away!!!

The trip till Gandhidham was largely uneventful, with both of us wondering how the next 9-10 hours will pass. We stopped at an exceptionally bad stretch of highway near some SEZ. After Gandhidham, we hit the NH-8, where I raced across most other vehicles. On one pothole Nitin’s wallet fell from his pocket. We stopped immediately but somebody had taken it before he could reach it! Somebody told us a truck driver took it and we raced ahead after some trucks to ask them, with no success. Another pothole & his floaters fell off! I stopped & got them for him, and we decided to stop and calm ourselves down. After a sugary tea and some rest, Nitin blocked his debit card and we proceeded. He was quite pissed off with the circumstances, and didn’t utter a word except asking how far every hour or so. I took my tired self to task, and maintained a steady 80 kmph while slowing down at all potholes to keep Nitin’s groans down. We made a few stops for fuel, water and some snacks. At dusk we were 20 kms before Sanand, and I had to put the helmet visor up as I couldn’t see with oncoming lights. But there were too many insects, and I had to drive with one hand while putting one hand in front of my eyes to shield them from the insects. Inspite of my best efforts, the insects entered my eyes and we had to stop to wash my eyes. With the continued situation, we somehow made our way home. I saw myself in the mirror – a tired man with one swollen eyelid & red eyes – filthy and unshaven… I dropped Nitin home and fell straight into bed. It was exceptionally bad day! Nitin had lost his driving license and pan card in the wallet in addition to money, and my eyelid is still swollen a week after that!

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