Kutch Nahi Dekha to Kuch Nahi Dekha! Yes, this is the magical white desert Rann of Kutch. We have heard this line many times in television ads from famous actor Amitabh Bachchan while advertising for Gujarat Tourism.
Current Prime Minister of India Shri. Narendra Modi when he was chief minister of Gujarat wanted to do something for the local people of Kutch and adjoining areas to uplift them. So, the concept of Rann Utsav took birth and a 100-day festival was started in the winter season(November – February) every year, which is now a very popular travel destination for domestic and international tourists.
Kutch is a district in the state of Gujarat sharing a border with neighboring country Pakistan and is known for handicrafts, white desert, beautiful beaches, and another famous place is the Dholavira which is an archaeological site belonging to Indus Valley civilization (next in my bucket list).
We also wished to visit Rann of Kutch after seeing and hearing all the stories from a lot of people, knowing their experiences about the white desert, sunset view, Kala Dungar and other places in Kutch. We started our biggest road trip from Chennai and covered many states and cities to reach Manali to experience snow for the first time. While coming back to Chennai we took the route from the western part of India covering Amritsar, Bikaner, Jaisalmer. You can check my travel vlogs on my youtube channel.
We thought of visiting Rann of Kutch while returning from Jaisalmer but nothing was finalized and fixed. All that was depending on the situation of lockdown due to COVID restrictions. We were monitoring the situation of every state wherever we were crossing from. While in Jaisalmer we decided that we will visit Rann of Kutch to attend Rann Utsav but we had not done any bookings till now. The stay was 1 week after over the weekend and we started to book a tent for 3 of us. I started to check for the availability of the tents and we landed on the website https://www.rannutsav.com/, they do booking for the most famous and luxurious tents i.e The Tent City, Dhordo.
From the above-mentioned website, we did the booking for a 1N/2D package for 3 persons(2 Adults, 1 Kid). By the way, this is not the official website of Rann Utsav, we got to know this after going through a bad experience which I will tell you later. We started from Jaisalmer for The Tent City, Kutch which was at a distance of 757 Km from our starting point. We decided to take a halt at Ahmedabad but reached Gandhidham which was completely new for us, never heard of and it took us around 12 hours. If you are at Gandhidham and wish to eat authentic Gujarati food then do try thali at Shree Ram Restaurant which will cost only Rs.120. Three of us enjoyed our mouth-watering food a lot which you can see in this video.
The next morning, we started towards The Tent City, Dhordo which took us around 3 hours. The roads were not good till we crossed Bhuj and the views after that were very scenic through the barren lands and narrow roads. We reached the location by 12:30 PM and had a good check-in process. Our luggage was collected at the main entry itself and was sent to our tent. The Tent City is the most luxurious place to stay in Kutch and a very big property which you will realize once you enter the tent city. You will see e-rickshaws, golf carts, etc all around you because without them you can’t go from one place to another place. Young ones can manage to walk but this facility is very useful for old age people who might accompany you.
After taking the tour of our tent we went to have our lunch which was really good. You will have a royal experience the same way you get in a 5-star hotel at every step you take in the Tent City because you have paid a lot of money to them 😀. We took the 1D/2N package for Deluxe AC Swiss Cottages for which the below is the itinerary and this will vary based on the package you select.
- Check-In
- Lunch
- High Tea
- Visit the White Desert
- Dinner
- Breakfast(Next Morning)
- Check Out
The Goof-up:
While walking in the tent city premises after lunch we had a goof-up. We sat on the wrong bus at the wrong time which took us on the tour of Kala Dungar which was part of other packages. It was a very funny and stressful situation because we could have missed our white Rann desert visit due to this goof-up. We reached Gandhi Nu Gam which is a village known for its handicrafts quite far away from The Tent City. Somehow, we managed to come back with the help of officials of the Tent City by ambulance.
It was already around 5 PM and we didn’t have much time to go for high tea so went straight to the assembly point from where we took a bus to the white desert. This was the most reliving time since we have now boarded the bus to the magical white desert of Rann of Kutch.
This was like dream come true for us and were waiting to reach the white desert. The bus took us to a point from where the camel carts were waiting for us. Since the bus couldn’t go on the wetland so camel carts were used to take all the tourists towards India’s largest white salt desert.
As we reached the white desert we couldn’t stop ourselves since it was something extraordinary for us like we had experienced to see snow for the first time in Rohtang Pass in Manali, golden desert in Jaisalmer, and now white desert in Rann of Kutch.
As the time was passing, the sun was ready to say goodbye for the day leaving behind the most beautiful sunset one can ever see.
Here, you can spend the most wonderful time of your lives with your loved ones and create a lot of memories to cherish. Other than this, you can also do a lot of activities in the white desert, like ATV rides, camel carts, paragliding, traditional photoshoots, etc. We spent a couple of hours there checking out beautiful sunset taking a lot of photos and vlogs.
Finally, it was time to leave the white desert with all the memories which we made there with a promise to return sometime in the future. It was now time for dinner and then experienced amazing Gujarati traditional and cultural activities. If you like to travel and want to see travel vlogs then check out my youtube channel The Tourer Family.
How to Reach Rann of Kutch?
You can reach Ran of Kutch from any type of travel mode:
- By Road: You can take bus services from nearby major cities like Ahmedabad, Vadodara, etc and by car from any part of India. We love to do road trips and travel mostly by road.
- By Train: You can take the most convenient mode of travel i.e Train. The nearest train station is Bhuj and from here you can take an auto or taxi to reach your accommodation.
- By Flight/Air: There are many flights from major cities to Bhuj and from here you can book a taxi.
Where to Stay at Rann of Kutch?
There are many options to stay at Dhordo to visit the White desert. If you want to experience the most luxurious stay and local Gujrati traditions, cultural activities then “The Tent City: Rann Utsav” would be the first option. Other than this there are many premium and budget options nearby.
How to Book The Tent City?
You can book your stay and packages at Tent City using below websites:
- https://www.rannutsav.net/ This is the official website of Rann Utsav.
- https://www.rannutsav.com/ This is a travel agent website where we had a bad experience but ended well.
- Other travel websites.
Hope this blog would have helped you to know about the most amazing place to visit in India. I am looking forward to know about your experiences.
Excellent coverage! Recommended to stay for two days as the visit is incomplete without seeing Kala Dungar. Plan to return via Bhuj so that Dholaveera is also covered in the same trip because a separate travel plan is not very practical. It’s a long drive to Dholaveera from Bhuj requiring one complete day.
Thank you very much, Sunil. Yes, Kala Dungar is also a good place to visit, Dholaveera is on my bucket list now, maybe next time. Thanks again for your time!
Hello there! This blog post couldn’t be written any better!
Going through this post reminds me of my previous roommate!
He continually kept talking about this. I’ll send this article to him.
Pretty sure he’ll have a very good read. I appreciate you for sharing!
Thank you!
A very good article. Bookmarked this site and will visit again for more goodies.
Thank you!