Connecting the dots...

 

We decided to make a second attempt crossing the bridge. If unsuccessful, we decided to head back home. We enquired with the travel desk at Ginger. Help comes from unexpected corner :-) At 6:30 a.m i called up the travel desk agent on his mobile, who gave us an alternate route(Via Golden Bridge) to cross the Narmada river. We were told that since trucks and heavy vehicles were not allowed on Golden Bridge, we could expect a lesser traffic jam crossing the river !

 

View Larger Map

 

After just 4hrs of sleep, we hit the road. We had made a decision that if we were not able to cross the river, we would turn and head back to Mumbai !! Breakfast - bread, jam, banana and juice in the car as we headed towards the dreaded "bridge across the Narmada river". The entire route was very serene, with paddy fields on either side. It was 8:30 am when we were just a kilometer away from the bridge. we could see a long single lane of traffic line with cars ahead of us. It was exciting to realize we were finally going to head towards Bhuj . The 18th century bridge is still handling the 21st century traffic !!

 

Also called "Golden Bridge"

 

With a big sigh of relief we crossed the river and joined back NH8. Excited to be back on track enroute to Bhuj, we took a break at a food plaza. The food plaza had Dominos, Subway, Cafe Coffee Day and a Honest restaraunt. To our surprise, subway here did not serve egg dishes. The most crowded place was a self-service outside Nandini restaraunt selling local Maharashtrian food. We had hot and fresh bread pakoras here.



The highlight of the drive for the day though was Mahatma Gandhi expressway- NE1 .To read more about it - NE 1 - Mahatma Gandhi Freeway . A word of caution - There is no petrol bunk in the entire stretch until almost 10kms before exiting the expressway !!!


 As we drove farther and farther away from Ahmedabad, the traffic was thinning down drastically to the extent that we were the only car on the road. The day was getting dry and hot.



As we were nearing Bhuj, we could see factories(smoke puffing) along the highways. One hour before Bhuj we missed a turn and we had to take a detour through some village roads which pushed our arrival time to finally reach the Kutch Rann Resort @ 7 :30 pm.

 

 

 

Kutch Rann Resort, Dhordo - 

True to everything they say about their services mentioned on their website - Clean bedroom, bathroom, good Kutchy food and a friendly staff. The breakfast was a simple affair but the lunch and the dinner were more elaborate. The reservation for Kutch Rann Resort, can be made only on their website. The Manager of the resort  (the only person who was affluent in English) was quick in responding to many emails which we exchanged, before our departure. We had reserved ourselves a Non A/C Bhunga,since it was the only room available at the time of reservation. 

Beware of bugs at night. We could not close the windows completely. There were gaps in the main door inspite of being locked. Make sure the light outside the main door is switched off before leaving the room for the day, otherwise you will be welcomed by a swarm of flies at night :-) The lighting inside was not enough for book reading though there are bulbs everywhere in the room. There are enough sockets for cell / camera charging. Our room had a wall fan and the gentle breeze from the windows kept the room cool.