Connecting the dots...

 

The plan for the day was to see the Sun rise at the Rann then check out from the hotel and head to Dholavira. Forward from Dholavira we decided that we could drive to Mt Abu or to Udaipur if possible.

This was our last day at Dhordo. The previous evening, we were informed that a guide would accompany us to the Rann to see the Sun rise. With the Sun rising at 6:30 am, we were asked to be ready by 6:15 am.The Rann is just 5-10mins drive from the resort. After a glass of hot tea, we were off to the Rann.

 

The terrain around the resort is flat and one can see nothing but flat barren land far far away. This is also how  the Rann looks except that the surface is white in color resulting from the evaporation of the water.

There is a BSF (Border security force) check post just as you enter the Rann. The army staff stationed there takes the permit and hands it back to us on the way back. One can walk on the Rann all the way to our neighbouring Pakistan - of course if alive ! The Army has an active presence in this part of the country.

 

The Rann of Kutch - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Rann_of_Kutch 

 

 

It is like driving on a lake bed. Depending on the receding of the water and the stage of drying, vehicles can drive into the Rann as far as possible if the surface has dried.There are no pucca roads since you are driving on a dried lake bed. But there are well marked roads formed by the flow of vehicles. It is best to drive on these. Since we had a guide with us, we respectfully followed his instructions.Our vehicle had a low ground clearance and there were a few humps / bumps that hit the under carraige of our car(Honda Civic). We roughly drove around 2kms into the Rann and parked our vehicles on the Rann to see the sunrise. Oh what an awesome sight it was...

 

 

 

We checked-out of the hotel at 9:00 am after breakfast heading towards Dholavira. We requested them some packed food for the drive. Since they did not have the necessary disposable packing materials, they made arrangements for heavy breakfast (Aloo Paratha) for us :-) 

The drive to Dholavira had some unforgettable moments which i will share in my next blog.

 

To be continued…..