thanks bro, its been many days since i updated the log... its rolling now...
Thanks bro..

Day3



A vibrant day, started with the hunt for petrol pump & ATMS nearby hotel. After filling petrol, we headed straight to Pingaleshwar, an isolated beach lined up with an array of windmills right from the first diversion to the beach.



A beautiful beach, with very less tourists, but with steep seashore. We somehow managed to bring one of the bulls to the seashore riding and pushing though the loose soil. The Silver Electra of Dushyant was shining in bright sunlight was our centre of attraction and main Photography subject for quite some time.

After this adventure and few more photo shoots along the beach side and country side, we headed to the Ancient lost town of Roha. This place is said to be haunted and its atop a small hill.

Roha is one beautiful place , but in ruins.


There is one temple and a Darga sideby side. The architecture is confusing, with remains of Havelis, arches and domes.

Swaroop mentioned his Phone picking up Pakistani Tower in his first ride to Roha. Whole toegher the place was spooky and not a single soul to be found within few kms.


After this adventure, we headed to the lost port of Ancient India.



Kot Lakhpat or just Lakhpat.

One of the busiest ports with its own merchant administration and earnings to challenge any other ports of the world in its prime time, with Huge walls build around it. Lakhpat was a beaming city of trade. Now losing its prime importance due to the alleged change of course of the river-

First we got into the Gurudwara, roamed around the beautiful garden. then we hit the village area nearby to see the Darga and beautiful tombs of Lakpat. After that we headed to the top of the fort wall.



There we got to see the guards of our border- the BSF, friendly natured guys from BSF helped us to see the Rann and where the border starts with their Binoculars.


We witnessed the Sunset from the BSF observation centre atop the wall of Lakhpat.

After sunset, we called up to see if the caretaker of the famous tomb of the Fakir,Ghaus Mohammed, who was magical figure in his times, healing many illness.

Another notable structure is Sayyed Pir-no Kubo or Dome. We got back to the ground again to witness the orange full moon rising.

A superb scene to put in 3 short words. I tried my best to do a light painting with the bikes headlight, moon in backdrop and 2 bikes lined up..


It was getting late for us to reach Narayan Sarovar. So we got on our saddle, took our luggage from Gurudwara, bid farewell to the Kind heart-ed guys there and rode off to Narayan Sarovar.


the journey was chilling one, with big curves and two laned pathway, leading through beachside for quite a long distance.
After almost 1 hour we reached the destination, logged in our rooms, rushed out to find late night dinner, which we had to break into a dharmshala.

Thanks bro, the fire was ignited and the trip log flows out


Day4

Early morning ride to the West most tip of India, the tip Kotteshwar, where we had company of a large number of children, from countless number of tourist buses.




After the sunrise, and brief photo shoot and a light breakfast, we headed to Kuhareshwar. There we found a very old temple, which is said to be 5000 years old.




After this we rode of towards Hodko, the village famous by the name Shaam E Sarhad, a symbol of beauty, unity and entrepreneurship.


Our lunch was arranged here, and we got delayed and reached by around 3pm. But there was no delay for our lunch and the team at Sham E Sarhad was more than friendly. A lovely place to enjoy the Evening with your loved ones.


A vibrant lunch, and short rest time, we were excited to go to the white Rann or Dhordo. It almost gave me goose bumps to see the Monster trucks or Tatra being driven along with us by BSF at Dhordo.



But our fun was limited as Riding on the white rann was denied because some stupid riders got stuck the day before and had to be rescued by BSF at 3am in the chilling temperature of Rann. Its not that tough to decide whether the groud beneath you is solid enough to take the bite of a motorcycle. But its so stupid to see people test their guts knowing how bad they can fail.



Bikes were parked out at the last boundary and there we had to walk or take the camel cart ride.


Two of us decided to walk, but other three later jumped into the cart and followed us. In between we also jumped in the cart and did some good photography.



It was really a kool place to chill out, where the complete ground from one end to other looked snow white, just like reflection of the sky, a beautiful place on earth. I wish to be there on the full moon night.



It was getting late for our return, and we rushed out to get to wards KalaDunger. The twists and turns were so fun fledged to ride on. After filling petrol from the local dealer, and somehow reaching the last petrol pump, we got on towards KalaDunger.

It was getting late for our return, and we rushed out to get to wards KalaDunger. The twists and turns were so fun fledged to ride on. After filling petrol from the local dealer, and somehow reaching the last petrol pump, we got on towards KalaDunger. The black hill top in Kutch facing the Great Rann. We did not want to miss the ritual of inviting the Foxes with prasad.


look carefully to see the wolf on the circular stage.
Luckily the Aarti got delayed as there was a BSF senior visiting the temple, and we reached by around 6.30, just before sunset. We got to click the beautiful sunset and added bonus of witnessing the Foxes which came to eat the prasad kept for them. This particular ritual is one of the rarest in earth, where a wild animal is called by ringing bells and offered prasad.

The view form the hilltop adjacent were beautiful, where we met another couple, Captain Rishab & Pallavi. After explaining our experience, they also got along and decided to stay there at Kaladunger.




The dinner was served in no time, with a glass full of Chass. During the dinner the moon rose, and another breathtaking scenery.

We got out in the chilly weather to stroll along the walkway and enjoy the starlit sky. We tried to capture the long exposure shots of the vibrant near Full moon, but the winds were against us. Heavy chilling winds blew from every direction and making tough for us to enjoy the stay for a long time.


After spending few minutes, we decided to move on and take rest. I tried some more to take some long exposures, but it was not easy. Finally decided to drop it and grab some sleep.

thanks bro

The view from the view point at Kaladunger

Thanks to Capt.Rishab and his better half Pallavi for chasing those pigeons for this shot.

A tiny bird.

The second last day and longest journey, started with early morning ride towards Vigakot border, reaching there before 7.30am. But here we had sheer bad luck as our entry permits had signature of senior officer only on the list of names, not on the list of vehicle numbers.




a sign post at Bhirandiyara


So we had to call up the officers at BSF HQ, Bhuj and request them to give instruction to the field officer posted at Indira Bridge. We spend a grueling 2 hours witnessing the BSF trucks, locals who work in the border area, and the trained Dogs of officer cadre- being pampered by its instructor.

Finally the good news came and we were ready to roll, but the call of stomach reached the brains. We headed straight to the BSF canteen and gorged on whatever snacks available, nothing much, just Maaza and Namkeen.

After the snacks, we headed straight to the BSF outpost- Mohan BOP 1111- or the boundary outpost opposite pillar numbered 1111.

There are pillars which represent the international boundary between India and Pakistan, where even pillars maintained by Pak and Odd by Indian side. It was great to see very friendly BSF officers, who came with us to the observation tower and explained the importance of the border protection, the new fencing, how signaling is done and small border issues are sorted out.

We rode till the fence on Indian side with the BSF officers. After the fence it is No Man’s Land.

It was almost 3 in the evening when we finally turned back, and we know it’s gonna be tough to reach our goal. So we had to ride fast opt for shortest route to reach Dholavira. Yet again the lack of a short stretch of road thought the protected Rann, made us to ride a really long distance. We rode though the village- Kunuriya- where the film Lagan was shot.

Then again through the Epicenter of 2001 Earthquake that shook Kutch - Loadai village.

After a long ride we took a small tea break at Dhaneti, where the small break got big as a puncture was observed in Dushyant's bullet. The same was fixed in a nearby shop and we were ready to roll. It took us more than few hours to reach Rapar after passing though a volley of rough patches. We reached Rapar at 1.00am in the morning, where we were advised not to cross the Rann towards Dholavira in the night time. So we decided to stay at Rapar, and it was so late to find accommodation also. A few guys at the Chai wala helped us find rooms and we thanked them for their help. Finally we got to catch some sleep.



a to do map for anyone who wish to travel to this side..
A new petrol pump {hp} opened at Khavda, so u may need no carry extra fuel & its a boon other than to fill in grey petrol that we had to use to get back.

Yep, the log was started long back and was lost in myriad mystery of rat race..but luckily I had the trip log compiled soon after completion without loosing that detail. The same was published in xbhp magazine also.


Thanks, most photos are just compressed, only those with watermarks were the edited ones, some of em printed too..

I was excited to see the White rann in the morning sun. It was Photo shoot time and we decided to get off the bikes and shoot the scenery around. It was so beautiful around, after clicking few pics, Dushyant and myself got into the salt Rann ad started making good portraits, dresses up a pole with our jackets, posed with the stick man.


Few more minutes posing with the bikes and going around the salt white Rann.


After spending a good time there we headed towards Dholavira, where we got to Toran- or the Gujarat tourism Hotel.



We first took off to see the tree fosils, where we got to see the fossilized wood, embedded in rock and preserved for a long duration, unique to the region. Then we got to see the Ancient dwelling of the age of Harappan civilization. Dholavira was the largest excavated place, dating even prior to that of Harappa and Mohanjeddaro.

Being very interested in history, i tagged along the guide to get to know each and every secret of the place. It was a pristine architecture and township laid with beauty with very high importance to use of water. Water source was guided into many channels and storage tanks, slowly guided towards the dwellings or towns inside and wells build inside.
They even had shower system, waste water removals and uniform standardized bricks. Still the culture is yet unknown to mankind and its superiority over other culture is to be admired. The script of the Saraswati civilization is yet to be tamed, which used a volley of symbols and Seals, of which many can be seen displayed in the nearby Museum.

After walking though the ruins, knowing their outstanding symmetry of architecture, and layered town planning, we headed to the museum. More information of the ancient civilization was put up here with many recovered artifacts, scriptures, standard weights, coins etc.

From there we headed back to the Toran and then towards Karni, another BSF Border out post.

A lovely place to visit though you may need to go quite a good distance off the-road.

This particular place where the Rann extends outward and one large island stands out in the middle of it, directly facing the BOP. There is a small temple near the BOP.
We headed towards the temple and then to the BOP, where the BSF guys gave us the lifeline drinking water. We dint have much time to explore, else we were permitted to walk to the island.


We had to drop the plan and head back towards Toran for lunch and later departure.

We had a great lunch at Toran and many more tourists got in by that time. The lunch was so good, that we almost took a short nap.
Sorry to miss the lady from Bangalore, I recognized you, though I dint make an attempt to talk.


It was almost time for us to ride back, by around 3.30, we started our journey back to the urban jungle of Ahmedabad.

The road took us towards Rapar, via the same Rann- where a herd of cattle was running along the Rann, parallel to the road. I knew it was as sign for me to stop by and shoot the action. I did, but lost time in stopping and cattle started to cross the road in speed.


After reaching Rapar and having the refreshments, we waited for regrouping again and then took our ride towards Maliya, then Halvad. After that it was time to ride fast and reach Viramgam, where it was almost getting dark. By the time we crossed viramgam it was pitch dark sky. The fast riders, Dushyant and I reached Sanad by around 9.30 in the night, where we waited for some time for others to join in.

Later after few minutes I had to rush out to join nightshift.

That ends our 6 day trip to explore the 7 different terrains of the Largest District in INDIA- Kachchh...a beauty of its own. I would definitely take one or more trips to this place, again when the winds are cool.



Kind regards
Ashik
Mein Herz Brennt

thanks bro

thanks bro, will add more photos later, the trip log details for 6days are already posted.

Thanks bro. You should if your mind calls to be there...
Kutch nahi dekha to Kuch nahi dekha - quoting the Big B here.


Regarding Wild Asses = well Rann is so wide to chase and see these rare wild ones- But hey I've chased them on bike, not in the Great Rann, but in Little Rann of Kutch , you see there is a difference. the Map below will help you get it.



This is the close relative to the wild ass chase, its nearly impossible to ride and shoot unless you are a gymnastic with a pro zoom lens or with a sexy pillion to shoot those asses who run pass us when we chase them on bikes.
The photo above is of Neel Gai's running away when we approached the LRK..