Travel Buffet

Kutch nahi dekha toh kuch nahi dekha After my three-month meticulous planning and scheduling, we were all very excited to watch sunset at Kutch. We didn't stay at the Rann utsav tents where there would have been more cultural events and programmes taking place because I read a lot of bad reviews about the tents there. So we hurried back to the car from  Bhuj Chhatedi   even though we enjoyed roaming around the tombs. I insisted the cab driver to take us to Dhordo village first even after his continuous ranting that there is nothing in the village except some houses. I remembered reading a blog about an art and craft exhibition in one of the villages near the white desert and since Dhordo is the closest village to Rann of Kutch I didn't want to miss it. Even if we couldn't spot the exhibition, I wanted to see a Kutchi Village and its people before stepping into the white desert. As the driver said, there was nothing in the village except some houses and he showed...

Bhuj Chhatedi, Bhuj, Gujarat We travelled from Ahmedabad to Bhuj by over-night train and reached Bhuj early in the morning. We decided to spend the day by visiting the local places in Bhuj before we headed to the Great Rann of Kutch for sunset. First we paid a visit to the famous Swami Narayan Temple. There were so many Swami Narayan Temples in Gujarat, almost at least one in each city but the marble carved raising and the feel of being in a new city didn't stop us from visiting them. Swami Narayan Temple, Bhuj Right after that we headed straight to one of the eccentric places in India, Bhuj Chhatedi. I specifically told my cab driver about this place and even though he was a local it took him sometime to get it because not many tourists ask to go this place. Broken arch of the cenotaph  This place is a little outlandish and deserted but I always prefer to visit one offbeat place during my travel. Long before I planned my trip to Gujarat, I s...

...Continued The only reason my sister-in-law was moving forward was to see Lord Jagannath who we thought was next to follow Lord Balaram. So with that thought in mind, we waited for the red and black chariot to cross us with a wave of crowd bigger than what we felt for Lord Balaram. But there were hardly any people around and we got a good darshan of the deity inside the beautifully decorated red and black chariot. Everyone was still shouting 'Jai Jagannath' but the magnitude of the collective voice was not so much. We were so happy and surprised at the same time. And I was relieved. Subradra's Chariot at Gundicha Temple Crowd cheering for Subadra Again, I tried convincing my sister-in-law to go back home because I felt it was fine if we missed Subhadra's procession. But she said that we might not be able to visit again so we might as well get this over with. I think I panicked more than my little niece on that occasion. In my defense, I couldn...