Rann Ride : Day 1

You've been riding, you've been riding quite awhile, child Keep on riding You've been jiving, like a peacock that's your style ooh-ee.

DISCLAIMER : No Pics of this ride as I didnt have a Didgicam and my Nokia 5800 was robbed recently.

One Tuesday evening.

Me : Amma , Kal bike leke Ghumne jaa raha hun.(Mom, I am going on a ride tomorrow)
Mom : Kidhar? (Where?)
Me : Rann :)
Mom : yeh kya hai? (Whats that?)
Me: Kucth mei Desert hai .
Mom : Kitna din mei wapas aayega aur pappa se poocha kya? (When will you return and did you ask your dad?)
Me :7-8 days mei return and i'll inform dad once hes home .

The ride eventually began on Thursday , with a strict warning to return by Sunday night . You don't dare to disobey Indian Parents .

Thursday, 9th June, Morning :
The Ride finally began !!! And I was on road by 6:30 Am . I had no idea where in Kutch I was heading towards . It was a boring ride till Surat with around 15 flyovers being constructed on this stretch . Somewhere after Manor the flag fell off from the bike , picked it and packed it up. After riding for around 4 and half hours stopped at Hotel Hare Krishna for Brunch , some 20kms before Surat bypass @ around 10:45.
The same old menu card with no new items and unwillingly ordered Handi Biryani and Lassi .

Now without knowing where to head ,  I rang up Mr. Jugal Tiwari , who runs the Center for Desert and Ocean, CEDO , in Moti Virani .But, he was out of town and advised me to stay at Mr. Devji's Resort in the Little Rann , near Dharangadhra.The Biryani arrived , it was the sweetest biryani I ever had . Big mistake ordering such dishes in Gujarat . Called home to inform the status . Cross checked the route to Dharangadhra, with the Hotel owner.

Most people in Gujarat dont know the distances and they will confuse you in all possible ways . Always ask the truckers for correct distances in this part of India.

There are two routes to Dhrangadhra
1.Baroda-Amdavad(120)-Viramgam-Dhrangadhra(120 from A'bad) - Choose this route if you have a car. It will be quicker by an hour

2. Baroda bypass - Vasad(18) - Tarapur(35) - Bagodara(55) - Limbdi(42) - Surendranagar(25) - Dharangadhra(35)

I chose to follow the latter as per Mr. Hotel Owners advise.
Again hit the road at around 12 pm , stopped every 45 mins for a butt break .
By now, the Sun was at its peak and i was feeling sleepy . 15kms before Baroda , i found a deserted Bustand with a shade . Parked by bike besides and slept for half an hour there .

Got up and started again .A boring ride till a few kms before Bagodara .On the way i saw a lot of Muslim people walking on some pilgrim . They were coming from all directions , looked like some Julus.
Few kms before Bagodara , strong winds hit me from the left and almost threw me out of balance . Never before i had experienced such strong winds , not knowing that they were going to give me company till Limbdi. On both sides of road were dried farms .

The winds grew stronger and tougher on the Bagodara - Limbdi stretch and this was the first time since morning I was enjoying the ride . Whenever i tried to overtake a truck from its right , the bike got sucked towards the trucks and as soon as I overtook them the wind would hit very hard at me . The first few time regaining the balance was difficult and then it became a ritual.

My target was to reach Limbdi by 6PM and Dharangadhra by 7PM . The search for a petrol pump that accepted credit cards meant that I would reach Limbdi by 7 PM . As per the locals there was still an hour of daylight left , so no problems. Refueled and started towards Surendranagar. The roads got narrower but were butter smooth . For the first time since morning I had to face traffic . I never imagined Surendranagar to be this big . It had 2 MALLS . I was completely surprised by the charm of this place . It took me 15 minutes to get out of this city. Sun was yet to set and Dhrangadhra was still half an hour away , reached there @ 8:00 PM .

Dhrangadhra welcomes you with the sight of huge gates with Indian Military inscribed on it. Dhrangadhra is a military cantonment. Called Up Mr. Devji Bhai to ask for directions to his Resort . He said that it was still 40 kms away and immediately i asked him for an alternative place to call it a night . He directed me to his Guest House cum Home . His wife (Auntyji) showed me my room . The room looked like an artists den . Many canvases,frames and painting around . Unpacked myself and my stuff , called my mom to inform my status and got to know that my grandma went mad at mom and dad for letting me do a solo . Mom made it clear that I will have to be home by Sunday.

I had to decide whether to hit Nakhatrana or Dholavira , the next day . Nakhatrana would require 3 days  and Dholavira would only require a day , hence zeroed in on Dholavira for the next day . Had a bath and hit the bed with an empty tummy.