[Bluebird_7]

Image that screams the plan:


Nearly a month passed since i traveled to Tarkali and the thought of doing a long road trip started brewing. My bluebird has run-in for 3k plus KMs so i can be more carefree on revving the engine freely. The next obvious dilemma is what place, and whenever i think of a holiday, snow clad mountains is all that i could dream. But since the trip was being planned for winters, avoided the mountain calling. Having recently traversed the MH shoreline, beaches was not a consideration. For fairly long time, considered covering Coorg and Ooty but somehow the plan did not materialise. Then Mr. Bachchan was back again like every year crooning 'Kutch Nahin dekha toh Kuch nahin dekha'. Now Gujarat was on the table being considered. The initial plan was to travel to Kutch and North Gujarat. When my parents got to know of the plans, they chipped in and asked to include Dwarka and Somnath as well since they wanted to visit these places. So the plan changed to Saurashtra and Kutch. Made itinerary and revised it multiple times to ensure i get to travel to the maximum places in the stipulated time. The only exclusion i had to do was LRK. I know you all would think that to be stupid, but the thought process was to avoid covering it in haste. LRK is best enjoyed as a leisure retreat so it will be planned exclusively on an extended weekend.

Then it so happened that my wife could not get leave from office and my parents expressed inability to join due to health issue. So from a trip of 5 mortals it became a trip of me and my birdie. I was determined to execute my plans and my cousin agreed and i got someone to spot the 'chai tapris'

Once the travelers were final, booked the hotels online and paid the tariff beforehand to get confirmed booking since its the holiday season in Gujarat. Maximum bookings were done from GoIbibo, some from MMT and Yatra. Below is the detailed Itinerary and hotel information:

D-1: Mumbai to Vadodara, Hotel:7 Apple, Tariff:1205, Feedback: Good, though i literally just slept at night and left early morning.
D-2: Vadodara to Junagadh via Ahmedabad, Hotel:Harmony, Tariff: 1822, Feedback: Much cheap than i anticipated, not recommended for family though no issues faced
D-3: Junagadh to Gir to Somnath,Hotel: Vrajbhoomi, Tariff:3547, Feedback: Good, quite close to Somnath temple.
D-4:Somnath to Dwarka to Jamnagar, Hotel:Svasti 3B, Tariff: 4074/2 nights, Feedback: Good, Nice food, close to highway
D-5:Jamnagar to Narara to Jamnagar
D-6: Jamnagar to Bhuj, Hotel:Shiv Lake, Tariff:4884/3 nights, Feedback: Very basic but Good, no food service, good location to visit the city attractions
D-7: Bhuj to Lakhpat/Koteshwar/Narayan Sarovar/Mandvi to Bhuj
D-8: Bhuj to Kalo Dungar/White Rann to Bhuj
D-9: Bhuj to Dholavira to Mehsana, Hotel: Caravan, Tariff:1334, Feedback: Good, right on the highway
D-10: Mehsana to Patan to Modhera to Ahmedabad, Hotel: Grand Vinayak, Tariff: 5855/2 nights, Feedback:Good, right at the intersection of NH 48 and NH 47
D-11: Ahmedabad to Balasinor and Ahmedabad
D-12: Ahmedabad to Mumbai via Daman for obvious reason

The hotel selection criterion was basically for night halt with basic amenities(AC/TV/Hot water) and car parking. Except of Harmony at Junagadh rest all are good for family too. With the itinerary finalized and booking done, got the second free service done 1 week before the trip, other than the usual stuff, Android Auto arrived just in time. Next was to arrange for the supplies and emergency stuff. I break the requirements in below. Images for reference.

1. Medicines


2. Emergency Stuff



3. Toileteries


4. Snack and Drinks



5. Travel Gear



All packed up, i printed the GMap of all the selected routes so that in case of connectivity loss, i can refer to it as well show them to locals and get some directional sense. But thanks to Sr. Ambani and Mr. Birla i never had to use it though Mittal Sir left us disappointed. So if you travel to rural and far fetched places in Gujarat the connectivity performance is Idea>Jio>Airtel. Additionally great thanks to GMaps we literally never asked for directions and though at times it suggested some bylane detour we never ran on auto-pilot and used our judgement before taking the route. So if you are travelling to the places i traveled in Gujarat you can trust GMaps with route.

Googled the temperature profile across places in Gujarat and packed some warm clothing, though i never felt the need to use it while the locals were wearing jackets ! Maybe it has to do with my Northern roots that i do not feel much of a chill but all hell broke loose while doing Ahmedabad-Gandhinagar run when we saw a bunch of young men sitting around a bonfire near toll plaza with outside temperature reading of my car showing 21 degrees . Could not click the picture as i was in a toll lane with cars honking but boy that was a scene not to forget !

Loaded everything in the car except for the eatables and went to sleep. Next morning is gonna be special, in fact afternoon, since i have a meeting to attend in the morning and hence will leave by afternoon. And yes, no Gujarat trip preparation can be complete without the yellow tape beautification of the headlights. Even though the rule is abolished i took no chance and yellow electric tape did the trick. Still i saw many new vehicles with some yellow film at the corners with dealer name etc. in Gujarat, so i guess the vehicles are still delivered with the genius idea which rendered the static bending headlights/cornering headlights ineffective.

The photos are clicked using DSLR,iphone and MotoG5.

The journey begins !


D-1: Mumbai to Vadodara

The plan was to leave office in the afternoon around 2 and reach Vadodara by 10 pm. Got the PUC done in the morning (leaving no stone unturned), attended the meeting and left around 2:30 pm from BKC. As usual the entire stretch till Vasai creek was snail pace traffic, post which the roads open up and traffic is easy. The only irritant is multiple toll booths and since the sections are operated by different companies i could not get a single ticket till Vadodara. Fasttag came as a thought to my mind but on most of the tolls i saw non-Fasttag cars also queing in Fasttag lanes thus choking it with 'chutta' transactions, so it seemed the only benefit of Fasttag is of no manual transaction at the tolls, i maybe wrong, fasttag users please confirm.

The first break i took was after Manor, at Avadh Kathiyawadi. The food was good and tea was refreshing. There are multiple food joint along the entire highway and one need not plan or time stops beforehand, since you will find a decent place within 15 mins of thinking of a break.

My Birdie


Paper Dosa


After this halt, took a couple of tea breaks to let the feeling sink-in that the vacation has started and i am going to have a long road-trip with my prized possession !

Finally reached hotel in Vadodara around 11 pm. The new bridge over Narmada is open and no traffic jam now. The bridge was beautifully lit and was a treat to watch.

Birdie with yellow mascara after days' run


Hotel in the morning


D-2: Vadodara to Ahmedabad to Junagadh

Woke up around 6:30, got ready and drove out of Vadodara by 7:30 towards Ahmedabad, where my cousin from Delhi was supposed to join me. Reached Ahmedabad by 9:00 am. NE1 is superb by any standards. Picked up my cousin and we drove off towards Junagadh via NH27/NH151. The roads in Gujarat are fabulous, what i liked the most about the roads of Gujarat is that they are predictable, either they are superb or average or bad. Very rarely you will find that the tarmac is butter smooth and all of sudden a pothole pops out of nowhere. So one has better control and surprises are reduced. The only exception to my statement if the Bhachau to Bhuj highway, with full of surprise deep potholes. Used maximum swear words on that road. You will find many places to eat on this highway, for food we trusted reputed names like Honest and Sugar n Spice due to hygiene (avoid falling ill on a long roadtrip), for tea we trusted small local stalls due to taste. The hit ratio of having good tea is highest in Gujarat that i can vouch for. Most of the places we had wonderful tea. Only issue was the quantity, in general tea is served in puny paper cups. After a few times i would directly ask for 3 tea to be put in glass. In many of the places including Bhuj the vendor would pour the tea such that it overflows into the saucer and then one is expected to drink from the saucer. It reminded me of old movies. That was some sort of an experience i enjoyed !

First Honest of the trip





Happy Me




The drive was uneventful, took lots of breaks, being a vegetarian and addicted to tea, i was in fairyland enjoying my break from office. By around 5 pm we reached Junagadh, checked into the hotel, deliberated on visiting some places in and around city but figured out that we would not be able to make it before their closing time. So instead decided to take rest and rejuvenate the body. Slept around 6:30 pm in the evening to get up only next morning !

D-3: Junagadh to Devaliya to Somnath

Its time to see some LIONS ! The plan was to visit GIR but the tickets were sold out before November for December so settled for Devaliya Park, which is kind of a zoo without enclosures, so animals roam around freely in a large area.

We had booked online the tickets from 10:30 to 11:00 am, costed Rs. 380 for 2. Left around 08:30 am from hotel in Junagadh.

On way to Gir

[Bluebird_7]

We reached the place around 10:00 am. The road from Junagadh till Devaliya is average and some very bad patches. Small bridges over seasonal streams are being rebuild not allowing to build the speed. The approach road is in terrible shape and narrow.

Entrance



For online booking one need to provide the printout of the booking confirmation along with the original ID details of which were provided during booking. Since we reached early, we were allotted the 10:15 am bus. The bus moves on path within the park and people jump and make all sorts of noises on seeing an animal which would scare away the animals.

The entry to the park



The first sighting, group of lioness



Sighted a fox


Then we saw what we came for, and that too 2





Deer oh deer




Blue Hues



The park also housed a souvenir shop which sells mugs, t-shirts, jackets.

Overdose of creativity


The path on which bus moves


The trip ends in half an hour. The park has a shop which sells regular refreshments. After a cup of wonderful tea we proceeded towards Somnath.

Somnath Station


Entry gate to Somnath temple


Statue of Vir Hamirji, the one who established the Rajput community in India, which was later glorified by Rana Kumbha and Maharana Pratap.



No electronics is allowed inside the temple, including mobile phones, cameras and even electronic car key. There are both manual and digital lockers available to deposit these. The crowd was significant but the crowd management was good. There is also a shop inside the temple from where you can buy literature, prasad and also make donations. Light and sound show was a good experience. Ticket is priced at Rs. 90 and totally worth it. Lasers project the history of the temple on the temple walls in the background of roaring sea and cool breeze, was a mesmerizing experience.

Temple from outside


Camel on Somnath beach


Glorious



Somnath Beach






Reached back the hotel post watching the Light and Sound show and went to sleep, next day its gonna be Dwarka.

[Bluebird_7]

D-4: Somnath to Dwarka

Got up early and left for Dwarka about 7:30 am. There was fog which impacted visibility hence reducing the speed. Also the road till Madhavpur beach is average with lots of road rebuild so progress is slow.

Madhavpur beach is clean and pristine with few roadside stalls of coconut water. One irritating thing about all beaches of Gujarat is the camel ride. I have nothing against it but these camels would litter the place with stinky poop.

Madhavpur Beach






Moved ahead and after some distance found a beach which was rocky unlike Madhavpur.

Some Unknown beach












Group of cranes near roadside water body


Reached Dwarka around 3 pm, by then the main Dwarkadheesh temple was closed. Decided to visit Nageshwar Jyotirlinga and Beyt Dwarka since the temple will reopen at 5:00 pm.

Nageshwar Jyotirlinga


After offering prayers left for Beyt Dwarka, the erstwhile capital of Lord Krishna. Reached the dock, parking is at a walkable distance, charges are minimal, i guess Rs. 20 or so. There was quite a crowd and we got on to the boat after some usual commotion in the queue.

Boats that take you to Beyt Dwarka


Beyt Dwarka


Didnt click many pics, was in grip spirituality !

Again one is not allowed to carry any electronics in the temple, since there was a long queue for depositing electronics we decided to visit the temple in turns handing over our electronics to each other.

The one way boat ride takes around 20 mins(Charge of Rs. 20 pax collected on the boat itself) and one will need 20 mins to complete the temple visit if there is rush. Came back to Dwarkadheesh temple by dusk.

Dwarkadheesh temple



Sudama Setu(suspension bridge) is built over river Gomti near the temple where it flows into the Arabian sea. One need to take a ticket at the entry of the bridge. Again it is of nominal charge.

Sudama Setu


River Gomti


Post visiting the temple decided to have dinner there itself since we had to drive to Jamnagar for the stay and we were not sure about eateries being open in night.

Gujarati Thali


We started around 8:30 pm from Dwarka for Jamnagar. The initial stretch was entirely desolated with 2 lane road which was in good condition, the only problem was high beam of opposite traffic. It was the first time when at the back of my mind ill thoughts about vehicle breakdown first emerged. Probably the setting did it. Nonetheless we kept pace and on nearing Jamnagar we saw huge complexes of Essar Oil and Reliance refinery and petrochemical complex. Having worked in the second largest petrochemical complex in India, after of course this Reliance complex, i was stunned at the sheer size and magnitude. Felt a great sense of respect for Late Dhirubhai Ambani for his vision and execution capabilities.

Reached hotel around 11:00 pm and went to sleep. One routine that we kind of followed throughout the trip was to watch 'Bhabhiji Ghar par hain' whenever we had leisure time in hotel. The light hearted comedy and simplicity refreshed our tired souls.

Next day is going to be super exciting, we are going to Indias' only Marine National Park at Narara !

[Bluebird_7]

D-5: Jamnagar to Narara

It was the first time when we had breakfast in the hotel since the day was not on tight schedule. The plan was to visit Narara National Park. Its on Jamnagar-Dwarka highway so we retraced the previous nights' route and then took a detour towards Narara. There are no shops to buy refreshments or even water so go well prepared on that front since it will be an exhausting day and you will walk around 5-6 kms in the water. I do not remember the ticket charges but again they are nominal, there is separate charge for camera. Guide is essential for this visit else its just a walk in the water. Guide charges are Rs. 300. You will need one ID proof for buying the ticket.

Narara Entry


Mangrove Shoots


Starting 'The Walk' with the guide


Dead Coral




Snail


Starfish


Live Corals




Crab



Sea Cucumber


Gymnast Crab



Fish Eggs


Camouflaged Octopus


Kind of Snail


Baby Prawn


Most sought after is Puffer Fish. Its bite is fatal to humans as well.

Femme fatal: Puffer Fish


Starfish



Sea Anemone. It folds itself into size of a coin on touching


An empty Shell


This octopus is a female octopus which secrete a slimy dye on touching it.

Octopus




Butterfly Fish


Returning from 'The Walk'


Above information is as disseminated by the guide, correct me if i am wrong anywhere. It was an exhausting 3 hr walk but it was a none of a kind experience. Since we still had some time left in the day started searching for some other place to visit, decided on Khijadiya Bird Sanctuary on Jamnagar-Bhuj highway.

[Bluebird_7]

Crossed Reliance Complex once again on way back to Jamnagar.



One need to take ticket at entry point where a small exhibition hall portraying information on various kinds of birds is maintained. Its built on a good concept where one can listen to sound of the bird on pushing the button and other similar interactive systems. Only let down was it was not properly maintained.

Ticket Gate


Swamps and the birds

















Callout: I was there along with Bluebird


The place needed telephoto lens to capture the birds in clarity as the birds would fly off if i moved an inch closer than their comfort zone. Its on my buy list before next visit to such place else i will surely rent out on next tour.

[Bluebird_7]

D-6:Jamnagar to Bhuj

Started around 9:00 am from Jamnagar for Bhuj. The road till Bhachau is beautiful, but from Bhachau to Bhuj its a pothole ridden highway so one needs to very careful. The tarmac is good but deep potholes pop out of nowhere which is dangerous considering the speeds one will be doing.
I have not written much about the places we ate on routes because mostly we never found it difficult to find food along the highways so one can be rest assured about it. As mentioned before for food we trusted in Honest and for tea any local place will do !



Reached Bhuj around 3 in the afternoon and since we had time to visit some places, went first to Swaminarayan temple. Our hotel was located in the city around places of interest which made it easy to walk to them considering Bhuj is an old city with tight by-lanes and hence navigating through them and then finding a parking space is little worrying.

Swami Narayan temple








Next we went to Prag Palace. Its built in Victorian style and bollywood movie Lagaan was shot here.

Prag Palace












Dilapidated Queens' Palace

[Bluebird_7]

D-7: Bhuj to Mata no madh/Lakhpat/Koteshwar/Narayan Sarovar/Mandvi/Bhujio Fort

It was a hectic schedule since we planned to cover many places doing a milkrun around Gujarat
So we got up early and left around 7:30 am for Mata no Madh. Its the temple of Ashapura Mata which Gujaratis rever and one can find mention of it in many stores/business run by Gujaratis.

Enroute Mata No Madh



The temple



Post offering prayers, we moved towards Lakhpat, which was once a sprawling port city with golden fortunes. But due to 1812 earthquake the course of Indus changed and moved towards West in Pakistan where it drains into Arabian sea presently. Because of this Lakhpat lost its shoreline and it became more of a swamp of saline water. All trade eventually died and its a ghost town now, only remnants remain of its glorious history.

Enroute Lakhpat


Notice the scratch running parallel to the back door in the image below. Some sick person did this when the car was parked in open plot opposite the hotel previous night. It broke my heart when i saw it and went into a sully for half a day. After the trip i went to 3M car care for powershine, even that could not remove it completely since it has damaged the paint. Please suggest if someone know how to remove this or only repainting is the solution ?




Entry to Fort




Carved statue on the wall


Glorious Past



Which didnt Last !


Swamp overlooking Lakhpat Fort: Pakistan at far end



Fort Walls





Forgotten History







I kind of felt sad reading about its history and how it collapsed all of sudden. Some folklore also states that it was cursed to doom since Fateh Mohammad expanded the fort walls initially built by Rao Lakhpat by plundering nearby regions !

[Bluebird_7]

Please note there is no refreshment shop near this place. Also the mobile connectivity(atleast Airtel/Idea/Jio) is poor so plan accordingly. Better to have route understanding before hand.
We spent around 40 mins here which is more than sufficient. The road was good from Bhuj till Lakhpat.

The next destination was Narayan Sarovar. It is considered one among the five holy lakes in Hinduism.

Entrance Gate


Cute Puppy


Desolation


Temple








Sarovar


Post washing the sins in the sarovar, next stop was Koteshwar which is a Shiva temple and also its the western most part of India in that region where there is a BSF outpost. All along this route we found many BSF outposts. The topography is quite like Rajasthan, dry and arid.

Entry Gate


Swamp



Temple







Towards BSF last Outpost




The initial plan was to cover Lakhpat and Koteshwar only but since we have been very disciplined in starting on time and taking minimum breaks in between we figured out that we still have time to spare and can add Mandvi in the schedule. So next stop is Mandvi.

Enroute Mandvi





Gujarat has a large population of cows unlike other states. We did not find a single herd of buffalo like in North. But large herds of cows with overgrown horns are omnipresent on rural Gujarat roads along with goats.

[Bluebird_7]

We decided to visit Vijay Vilas Palace and Mandvi Beach before heading back to Bhuj.

Many a bollywood films are shot at this place. The entry fee is Rs 50 and another Rs 50 for camera. The place also has a decent cafetaria.

Entry



The Palace









Erstwhile map of Gujarat. If you notice you can see Lakhpat had a shoreline


View from terrace of the Palace






Post Vijay Vilas we proceeded towards Mandvi beach since many a websites carried positive reviews about the place. But i found the place as average and nothing for which i will go there. It was messy like mumbai beaches, yes again camels and their poop was everywhere. We clicked a few pictures and left in 15 mins, just to remind ourselves in the future that we visited this place.

Mandvi Beach




Back to Bhuj


While we were driving back to Bhuj we started searching for places which we can visit in or around Bhuj if we reach on time. Yes we were on steroid that day

The place was finalized as Bhujio Fort. Its a tabletop fort which we noticed when we first entered Bhuj from Jamnagar. Our enthusiasm turned into exhaustion on climbing the innumerable stairs but steroid kept us going. It was a difficult hike in the end of a hectic day.

Bhujio Fort





Temple at the top


View of Bhuj city from the fort top

[Bluebird_7]

D-8: Bhuj to Kalo Dungar/White Rann

Like disciplined child we again were ready and left by 7:30 am from Bhuj. Please remember there are far few places to eat in Kutch compared to Saurashtra. So plan well and whenever you find a decent place its better to have a fill unless you know the place well. Also after crossing Bhuj towards Kalo Dungar the next petrol pump is only at Khavda, so please keep this in mind as well if you are running low on gas. I figured this out since i was in this situation.
The highway is good but no decent places to eat except at turn for Dhordo (White Rann)

Kalo Dungar reminded me of childhood days of watching Shaktiman, where the evil use to reside in Kalo Dungar

The approach road is very steep in places and is narrow and broken, one has to be careful and super careful if you are driving in the morning since the sun will be exactly in your face and will make it difficult to judge specially on bend. This is coming from my own experience with a heart in the mouth moment where i was blinded suddenly by the sun on a 90 degree turn.

Approach Road


Destination


Its the highest point in Kutchh


Dattatreya Temple


Black Hills and Rann Lake









The next stop was India Bridge and since we did not have the permit we could not go to the other end of the bridge towards Vigakot. But God was gracious ! We met a BSF personnel on the route and he said that he will talk to the in-charge to allow us till BSF War Memorial. The In charge allowed us to the memorial and we could not be more thankful. Our mobiles, cameras were deposited and details noted down. So obviously no pics. It was an eerie feeling once we started driving towards BSF memorial, with hidden bunkers and some old destroyed tanks. I am not sure its true but we were told that the Pakistan army entered into this area during 1971. From India bridge the international border is 80 km and no civilian resides in that range. It was a strange overwhelming feeling standing in front of the war memorial with nothing but absolute desolation in the background and complete silence.

Road to India Bridge


Along side road to India Bridge



We returned back to the bridge, took back our phones and camera and proceeded towards next destination, The White Rann !

The road from Dhordo turn right upto White Rann was double carriageway but brilliant. We reached White Rann entry point and the first thing we did was to gobble up the food since we were on biscuits and tea since morning. After satiating our hunger we went to the White Rann and we were asked to present permit. We told them we do not have the permit and the policeman noted down the car details and personal ID details and allowed us. The parking is at good 2-3 Kms away from the area where the white Rann starts. There are multiple modes to reach like camel cart, horse cart and an EV driven toy train kind of road train that we find in malls. During the Narara walk i injured my feet and it was getting difficult to walk but i persisted to walk. On reaching the desert the pain became excruciating and i had to take rest.

But the view is awesome !

Road to Rann Utsav



Where the Permit was asked


Place from where no cars are allowed( exception being local VIPs)


We were here !






Theres' a watch tower in shape of the NaCl crystal from where once can enjoy the view.





View from the top



Road one has to travel post parking

[Bluebird_7]

I had not booked stay at Rann Utsav so entry was not allowed to the tent city.

Rann Utsav Tent City



Outside of tent city there were some pavilion setup by the government to educate people on Gujarat. Also there were many food stalls and vendors selling handicraft.








Did some shopping for family more to compensate them for not being along rather than for the exclusivity of the products on sale as the people selling were not from nearby areas, they were more of traders, some of them from even different states !





All Check



Since we had some time left in the day i had Chhari Dhand and Banni Grassland at the back of my mind from previous days' research. Even though i knew its the place to be visited post monsoons when its full of water and birds, i decided to give it a try. Please keep in mind none of my 3 networks worked in that area and its a very desolate kind of a place.

Since i had visualized the map the previous night so i had some sense of direction. We went there in hope of finding some big waterhole and birds but we were dejected. In fact we had another heart in the mouth moment when all of a sudden the road ended and there was a big ditch beyond which it was all mud and sand.

After the roads ended !



We found some tracks of jeep and followed them to have some 'Fun in the Rann'






Post this adventure we came back to Bhuj had dinner and slept off. Another thing peculiar about Kutch is restaurants generally close down after lunch time to open only around dinner time even in Bhuj. So please time your meals, there is no round o clock service.

[Bluebird_7]

D-9: Bhuj to Dholavira to Mehsana

The plan for the day was to visit Dholavira and then drive to Mehsana for night stay. Its gonna be a 500+ Km drive so we were ready early, checked out of the hotel and paced towards the lost civilization. Dholavira is one among the 2 big sites of Indus valley civilization found in India, other being Lothal. Other 2 major sites of Harrapa and Mohen jo daro is in Pakistan.

Flamingo Enroute Dholavira



Peacock


Khadir Bet






Place of Interest




The place has a museum and excavated site to visit. One should hire a guide, they charge Rs 200 for explaining the excavated site. Our guide seemed to be quite knowledgeable.






Pathway over seasonal river, water of which was once used and stored by the early civilization:


Water reservoir used to collect rain water since rainfall was very scanty:



Thick and strong walls to support 4 storey building:



Door Locking System for Main gates:


Circular homes built by later civilization:


Intricate drainage system:


Ground for hosting of events


Welcome/Good Luck symbol:


Below is the bathroom. If you observe there is a inlet for water and there is a big stone kept on the floor which actually covers the outlet. So the water would rush in through the inlet and after bath the stone was moved which drained the water and then fresh water would again come in for next bath.


Below is drinking water pool. As you can see, there is a pit in the middle which would collect the impurities and was cleaned periodically.


Below is a deep well. If you observe carefully the second picture you can see the marks created by the ropes used for drawing water on the stone.



Marks made during polishing of beads

[Bluebird_7]

Stones used for making beads


Granary


Office of Chief Researcher


Imprint of bygone eras' human feet


It seriously is a remarkable achievement of people. 5000 yrs earlier they were doing rain water harvesting, had complicated drainage system, had water purification methods and i was surprised they had pots to poop. And we, even after 5000 yrs are defecating in open.
Also the site needs better preservation by ASI, its falling off from places.

Post this history lesson of civilization we traveled towards another history, history of time and nature. We proceeded towards Wood Fossil Park, where there are numerous trees which are converted into fossil. The area was under water at one point in time.





The approach path is in poor condition.


By looking at the stone smoothed by water you can realize the area was under water sometime


The entire tree trunk is a fossil



Cave of Porcupine


Peculiar stone shaped like the actual heart, if you notice carefully i am holding a spike of the porcupine:


Its a stone in between which was a tree converted to fossil which fell off



Rann Lake



We continued with the same guide for this site as well and he charged another 200 rs. He also told me that he provides place and serve food to people who want to put tent in that area and stay for a couple of days. As of now the area is not electrified but we saw electric poles being erected. So its a good idea for an adventure seeking group !
Done with all the history, we came to present realizing we were getting late and we still have to cover 300+ KM. Please keep in mind there are essentially no decent places to eat in this entire belt, so plan accordingly. Closest you will get food at is Rapar. We survived on our emergency ration for such situations. We started towards Unjha/Mehsana and ohh boy the road was terrible till we joined NH 27. Post that the progress was smooth and somewhere along the route we had the best food of our trip. A rajasthani thali with un-matchable taste for only Rs. 60.

After leaving NH 27 for Unjha we found totally desolate narrow roads which was a scare in the night. After one of the railway crossing we noticed a group of people extorting money from vehicle drivers. As soon i saw them i pushed the accelerator and sped past them driving criss-cross in a whiz. The next scare was from the google map which kind of was hell bent on keeping us on the most lonely stretches of road. I switched off the navigation and followed the state highway through a longer route to finally reach hotel around 10 pm.

Had some refreshment and went to sleep after an exhausting day !

[Bluebird_7]

D-10: Ahmedabad to Rani Ni Vav/Modhera

Started around 8:30 for Rani ni Vav from hotel. Reached in an hour. The Vav is beautifully crafted and the work is in such a detail.

































Nearby it is Sahasralinga tank, walked to the place but it has nothing special other than the history associated with it that Bairam Khan was killed here.



















In Patan there is a private museum called Patola house, which demonstrates Patola work and its legacy. Visited it for 15 mins since it was on the way.

From there we left for Modhera Sun temple. I am told it is the only other Sun temple after Konark.

[Bluebird_7]

Similar to Rani ni Vav, Modhera is also well managed. Both places had parking, beautifully landscaped garden. At Modhera there are options of food as well unlike Rani ni Vav.















































Since we again were ahead of our schedule, added Adalaj Step well to our list. When we reached the place it was extremely crowded and it was like a best selfie and best pose at best location contest among the people. We could not click clean images of the step well.