Bike ride from Vadodara to Somnath, Dwarka,Rann of Kutch

Tripoto
21st Nov 2021
Photo of Bike ride from Vadodara to Somnath, Dwarka,Rann of Kutch by Vivek Bansode
Day 1

This was my first trip on bike for 2000Km with my wife on behalf my Marriage Anniversary.
We took one bag pack for 5 day trip so that we can have comfortable ride. We took Royal Enfield 500 cc bike on rent (Rs.1250/day) from Om Auto service at Vadodara.

Vadodara to Amreli (Towards Somnath Temple)

We started our journey after my office hours at 6pm on 23rd Nov 2021. We put Amreli as our first GPS milestone and started our journey. We had decided to reach Amreli by 12 am however it took more than that.  We went through borsad route which is 4 lane wide highway with traffic free movements. We ride by almost 100-120Km/hr and by 9 pm we took dinner break at one roadside restaurant. We had simple food to ensure we feel good on further drive. GPS showed us short cut route from Forest at 10 pm before Amreli which was extremely frightening full of forest area. There were sign boards of Animals nearby and was little scary. There was complete dark for almost 30-40 min of that part in journey. Finally we saw highway where we took break and thanked God actually. I suggest avoid taking short cut and go by highway road only even if it adding few kms. From there we reached to Amreli through highway road and stayed at Hotel Angel which charged us Rs.1800 for dirty room. As we had no other option in night and most of hotels were full we decided to stay there itself. I suggest you book online other better hotels. As this was the first day of ride we felt body ache but was acceptable.

Vadodara to Borsad road

Photo of Amreli by Vivek Bansode
Day 2

Amreli to Somnath Temple and then to Dwarka

We left our hotel at 7 am in the morning without bath and just got fresh. The onwards journey in morning was very eye Catchy due to greenery and sunrise view . By 9am we started our ride in Sasan Gir forest as part of route where we were instructed to not stop in between due to roaming animals. We literally say leopard in just 10 feets passing our route luckily he didn't looked back to us else we would had tough time. We also saw deer, monkeys, peacock, rabbits etc. By 10.30 am we reached Somnath Temple where we took room to get bath and fresh ourself. We got simple room at INR 300 per hour only there we kept our bags till we return from temple. We first went to old temple with less crowd, then we went to new one where we had to submit our bags, camera, mobiles etc as it's not allowed inside.
The temple is one among the 12 jotirlinga and attraction to every pilgrimage visiting, temple is very huge and beautiful constructed. I felt satisfaction by watching SomnathJi linga "Har Har Mahadev". I felt the positive vibes of Shiva in the chantings.
Further we left Somnath by 2 pm and had lunch nearby the highway towards dwarka route. The journey from Somnath to Dwarka is very mesmerizing as you will drive along the beaches, costal region with so many wind turbines beside the routes.
At the time of sunset I was luckily riding from Porbandar, I would say I felt like I am not in India. It's soo beutiful and pleasant to drive through. Water everywhere and a beautiful city on it. It is also place of Sudama (God Krishna's Friend). Further during the ride we stopped for tea break at a roadside place were we met few local people. They were to decent and down to earth, very friendly and helpful. They were talking to us in gujarati language only and helped us to know more about the location. They urged us to visit 3 km away Harsiddhi Mata temple also which we did.
Further we booked hotel Ginger Dwarka which is 6km away from dwarka. It costed us around INR 2.4Kight, the hotel is very clean and relaxing. Beutiful view of dwarka from windows. We took our halt at ginger.

Amreli to Dwarka route

Photo of Somnath by Vivek Bansode

Sasan Gir forest

Photo of Somnath by Vivek Bansode

Sasan Gir - Deer

Photo of Somnath by Vivek Bansode

Madhavpur Beach

Photo of Somnath by Vivek Bansode

Somnath Temple

Photo of Somnath by Vivek Bansode

Madhavpur Beach

Photo of Somnath by Vivek Bansode

Porbandar

Photo of Somnath by Vivek Bansode

Porbandar

Photo of Somnath by Vivek Bansode
Day 3

Dwarka, Byet Dwarka & Shivrajpur beach

At 6:30 am the arti starts at dwarka hence we started our day by 6:10 am and reached there in time. I was shocked to see long queue at 6:30 am itself for attending the arti. The atmosphere was very peaceful as you hear people chanting Shree Krishna...
After taking blessings we took some more time to explore the Balram Bridge, Dwarka Beach where you will find photogenic places with Camel ride, motor ride etc. The water is silent and enjoyable. By 9 am we left for Byet Dwarka which is half hours far wherein you can drive till okha ferry point. Further there are local boats which takes us to Byet Dwarka island in 15-20 min. Byet Dwarka is place where Mira Bai took moksha in Shree Krishna's idol. Also it is place where Shree Krishna met Sudama and there is lovely story of friendship between them. We left Byet Dwarka by 11:30 and went to ginger for check out. From there we didn't able to visit Nageshwar Temple near Byet Dwarka.
We went to Shivrajpur beach by 2:30 pm, the beach is very popular due to its green serenity, clean water and numerous unique plants. We loved the beach and spent almost 2 hrs in water by riding jet ski. Due to time constraints we had to leave the beach in time.
Further we started our journey to Bhuj via Jamnagar, morbi route in night. We decided to drive whole night with breaks as the journey was almost 10 hrs in total.  The road from Shivrajpur to Jamnagar is quite bad at 20km before jamnagar the route is having multiple bridge and road construction work going. Lot of dust, I must say we got tired much in that 20 km route than of whole journey together however near Jamnagar toll the road is good ahead. Jamnagar city is center of Jio/reliance and is beutiful lightened by jio. From jamnagar to morbi we went slowly with having dinner in between.

Photo of Dwarkadhish Temple by Vivek Bansode
Photo of Dwarkadhish Temple by Vivek Bansode
Photo of Dwarkadhish Temple by Vivek Bansode
Photo of Dwarkadhish Temple by Vivek Bansode
Photo of Dwarkadhish Temple by Vivek Bansode
Photo of Dwarkadhish Temple by Vivek Bansode
Photo of Dwarkadhish Temple by Vivek Bansode
Photo of Dwarkadhish Temple by Vivek Bansode
Photo of Dwarkadhish Temple by Vivek Bansode
Day 4

Bhuj - Rann Utsav

We drive whole night by taking lot of halts as my wife felt sleepy and there was too cold to sustain speed. We struggled a lot between sleep and cold through the route after morbi, further we stopped at dhabas where we saw bornfire and took some warm heat to survive the early morning. I think the temp was not more that 15-17 degree and on bike due to wind it was not suitable for our sweaters to keep us warm. Somehow we saw sunrise till we entered bhuj. From bhuj to Rann of Kutch it is almost 2 hrs journey ahead where the roads are lonely and beside you will see the Rann everywhere. No habitats, no animals complete desert area. We reached Raan utsav - Tent City at 12 pm.
Tent city is an artificial village made with cultural touch resembles authentic Gujarati flavour. The aroma is very fun loving and enjoying. We got fresh in our luxurious tent and had buffet lunch. At 4:30 pm tent city had arranged bus for us till Rann of Kutch white desert which is almost 2-3 km from the location. Once we landed at white desert our eyes were mesmerized. We saw only white desert till the end which was shining like snow. The sunset was the main attraction, with lot of photos , camel ride we returned by 7:30 pm to tent city. With the lighting the tent city was shining from far of white desert, they had created a different ambience altogether inside the city. After dinner at 9 pm there was show and cultural program, it was beautiful time to see kutch people showing us their heritage with lot of songs, dances, activities etc. After  there was comedy night and puppet show to watch. The evening was fantastic and we forgot all out body strain due to long bike ride.

Rann Utsav

Photo of Rann Utsav by Vivek Bansode

Tent @Tent City

Photo of Rann Utsav by Vivek Bansode

Cultural program

Photo of Rann Utsav by Vivek Bansode

Tent city

Photo of Rann Utsav by Vivek Bansode

Tent City

Photo of Rann Utsav by Vivek Bansode

Tent City

Photo of Rann Utsav by Vivek Bansode

Tent City Entrance

Photo of Rann Utsav by Vivek Bansode

White Desert - Rann of Kutch

Photo of Rann Utsav by Vivek Bansode

Tent City

Photo of Rann Utsav by Vivek Bansode

Entrance of Tent City

Photo of Rann Utsav by Vivek Bansode

Bhuj to Rann utsav

Photo of Rann Utsav by Vivek Bansode
Day 5

Anjar -Gandhidam

At 9am we left the Tent city for Anjar where we had booked The Fern royal farm resort to spend our Marriage Anniversary day. It is around 2.30 hrs from Rann of Kutch. The resort is luxurious with suits made for couples. It has swimming pool, lawn area with decorative sitting arrangements. There is gym, theater, activity zone available inside the resort which anyone can access. The evening was very romantic as they had arranged artists to perform singing. We had a great and peaceful time together and was very much required to get refresh from daily routine. As we had to leave for return journey which was almost 415 km to Vadodara we slept early and on next day started by 7 am. By 4 pm with 2-3 breaks we covered 415 kms distance non-stop and with not much of hectic we completed almost 2000km bike ride.

I personally feel once in life one should have bike ride like this and if accompanied by friends will add lot of memories. Further safety and careful driving is important hence don't rush as the roads are new to us. Book your accommodation before journey to save on cost.
The total cost of bike renting to petrol to accomodation and food cost almost INR 35000 for two people with life long memories. Hope you like our trip do share your inputs if you have visited or planning to visit the real Gujarat !!