Riding the Rann

The Rann of Kutch is a salt marsh located in the west of Gujarat (mainly the district of Kutch), India. It is divided into two main parts; Big Run in Kutch and Little Run in Kutch. It is located in the biogeographic region of the Thar Desert in the Indian state of Gujarat. This area also extends to the province of Sindh in Pakistan. It is actually a seasonal wetland and the word "Ran" in Hindi means "desert".

These vast salt marshes, located in western India and southeastern Pakistan, lie between the Gulf of Kutch and the Indus Delta. Per year In 1965 and 1971, border disputes were the main venues. Reading about it has always fascinated me and my desire to visit was soon fulfilled when the group " HV Kumar - Fan, Forum & Message Board " held an All India Facebook meeting at this unique place.

Incidentally, Rann is home to many wildlife, a wild donkey sanctuary and some amazing bird species. But our visit was short so we focused more on hiking and wildlife and took all the rubbish home.

After a good night's sleep and a delicious breakfast at 8:30 am, my journey to the Royal Enfield Desert Storm from Mumbai began. The trip to Anand in Gujarat was fun as I met my friends online and stayed at the hotel they booked for the first time! They are coming from Pune. It was nice to meet you and our tiredness disappeared as we chatted over dinner.

The next morning, after a hearty breakfast, we drove to Ahmedabad, the scheduled flag flying point for the event. A total of thirty-eight four-wheelers and eight two-wheelers are divided into teams led by an "O" (organization) team member who leads the team to the day's goal, Zeinadadu.

We were directed to the last gas station twenty kilometers from Zinabad and asked to refuel as there was no petrol before we set off on a dry Little Rann journey from Kutch the next day. The roads are well maintained everywhere and it is a pleasure to drive on them. The speed limit for cars on state highways is 100 km/h, on the Mumbai-Pune highway - 80 km/h! Funny but true.

After everyone checked into their residences, the "meeting" began in earnest when the names they met on the FB forum were introduced. It was a beautiful evening and after many things

A eulogy from HV Kumar, a self-made calendar with photos posted by members, followed by a delicious dinner of local dishes. It turned out that everyone had to be in their own car in order to continue their journey by 7am the next day, so most retired early and, like true travelers, everyone was ready to conquer the white desert at 7am!

It was a lone convoy led by H. V. Kumar who set out on an amazing journey through the desert.

Here the stone and the flag are less visible. Kumar has a GPS log kept by Arnob Gupta, an excellent driver who crossed the desert a month ago. Without logs, it would be very easy to get lost.

The trip was amazing. You must be careful to move in line with the convoy.

Differences here and there should avoid falls, as the ground at the edge of the road is either very soft bumps or hard breaks. Luckily we all got through unscathed and eventually made our way back down the thin tarmac road to Balesar where we stopped for a delicious heap lunch.

After lunch, the column again went to watch the beautiful sunset near Dholavira at the Karni border outpost. At the exit is the temple of Dattatreya, covered with pine trees. b

While enjoying the beautiful sunset, we were treated to a lovely Kutchi Dabeli before leaving for dinner and back to the hostel. For convenience, the meeting ends and everyone exchanges email IDs to connect.

The next morning I drove to Baroda from Ahmedabad with Vikas Malhotra, another great driver who I became friends with on this trip. The trip went well again!

I spent a wonderful night with my cousin from Baroda and we returned home the next morning.

Returning home after driving 1956 km in 4 days!

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