Gujarat was never on my fav list. I know I sound a little crazy, but solely it was lack of knowledge. But to get away from the city chaos, typical office life and being a busy mommy I definitely needed that break where I could be myself. I then found a post in my Facebook about "All girls trip to the Rann of Kutch" and I immediately signed in for it. I was definitely very excited to meet all the strangers. Here is a sneak peek of what all the crazy girls have done.
We started off the day with yummy Gujarati food on the local streets of Bhuj. We have kakra with papita chutney, kutchi dabeli, jalebi, dokla and the best of the teas.
Then we headed to the Aina Mahal which was partly destroyed in the earthquake that hit Gujarat in 2001. The parts which was not much damaged is renovated and made into museum. Then it was very elegant Prag Mahal is just next to Aina Mahal and the palace was also damaged in the earthquake and to add the antiques were stolen in 2006. The palace was ghostly state until our very own Big B took interest in getting it repaired. It is even used for film shooting. On the was back to our bus we caught the sight of a lot of cows(after all Gujarat is quite famous for milk) and behind them is the beautiful Harmirsar lake.
Lunch was the yummy Gujarati thali and we headed to the Vijay Vilas palace. It was a beautiful beach resort by the Jadeja rajas. The location is just breath taking and is mostly used for film shooting and pre-wedding shoots. In fact we caught a couple doing the shoot.
The evening was at the Mandvi beach and who wouldn't like a beach. There are a few water sports started and you can also wish to take a camel or a horse ride
We headed back to the room to get some rest.
We were ready and all set for the day 2.
We started off early towards Lakhpat. On our way we visited the Koteswar temple on the banks of the sea with a BSF camp there.
From there we headed towards Lakhpat and when we entered it, it was mostly abandoned and scary. But there was a 7 kms long fort wall around the town. When we learnt the history it only made sense then. In a line or 2 the history is, the Sindhu river used to flow into the Lakhpat town and then the town was a prosperous one. Due to an earthquake it has changed it's path and ever since the land was abandoned. From the fort wall is all the salt marshy land you see. There is a BSF camp guarding the India-Pakistan border.
Inside the town there is gurudwara which provides Langar any day. We were blessed with an opportunity of doing Seva for sometime.
From there it was our favorite, the Dhordo handicraft market. We shopped and headed to the hodka village for our stay.
You won't believe how beautiful were the Kutchi Bhungas we stayed at.
All set for CampFire
Day 3 was very special. We have rented out chaniya cholis for ourselves and went to the Rann of Kutch. We were all looking beautiful. We in fact fooled a few that there was shooting going on and people have started recording.
From there the longest journey to reach Khadir bet has started.
On the way we stopped by around Rappar for the sunset in the marshy lands and it was beautiful.
We reached the flamingo resort in the evening had a campfire and a gup-shap about all our experiences.
When we actually spoke to the organizers about why all girls trip, the reply was motivating. There are a lot of girls driven by the rules of the society and it definitely encourages a few when they hear it's all girls and out of the 25 girls if 2 of them could break the glass ceiling from which they see the world, they said the trip is a success to them.
With this motivation we all finished our day.
The next morning we went to the one of the most historic places "The Dholavira Archealogical site". It was the most taught Indus valley civilisation - The Harappan culture in schools. "Dholavira has indeed added new dimensions to Indus Valley Civilisation. Our Guide Jamal Bhai was a part of the excavations.
One of the unique features of Dholavira is the sophisticated water conservation system of channels and reservoirs, the earliest found anywhere in the world, built completely of stone. The city had massive reservoirs, three of which are exposed. They were used for storing fresh water brought by rains or to store water diverted from two nearby rivulets.
Dholavira was the lake city of the great Indus Valley civilisation and here is a view of the beautiful Dholavira lake
We have ended our trip with swollen legs, tired faces, a lot of motivation and tons of memories.