Ride to Asar Maa beach

The threat of rains was looming on the horizon. I had half a mind to skip the ride on sunday.
A couple days back, while discussing our next ride destinations, suketu told me about a beach just after mandvi, where a lot of pink crabs have been spotted. this was told to him by a friend.
I tried to look it up on google and found a place called Asar Maa beach about 15 kms from Mandvi.
As usual, not much information available about it on the internet. Thankfully google maps had a pretty good route and we decided  to go for it.
This time around, there was just me and suketu for the ride, shivi was busy elsewhere and could not come on this ride. So we decided to meet up at mundra circle on sunday at 0530 hrs and take it from there. The route we decided would be adipur-bhadreshwar-mokha-koday-mandvi-nana layeja and back.

It was completely overcast when i got to the mundra circle and there was every chance it would start raining, but i decided "what the hell" if we get wet, so be it and kickstarted the ride.
Suketu was there at the same time, we had a quick tea and started moving. This route generally has a fair bit of truck traffic, but i did not expect much until we reached Mokha, about 35 kms away.
Traffic was pretty light, it was a bit dark too, so we decided to keep it to 60 kmph till daylight.
We reached Mokha in  about an hour, but since it was still to early, the only tea shop located there was yet to open up. So we took a breather and decided to push on, looking out for any other open tea house on the road. Till mokha, the road is 2 lane and in decent condition.
Once you cross it and get to the toll road though, it is nothing short of excellent. 4 lane roads for the next 20 odd kms, just a light smattering of traffic and the perfect conditions for riding.
A nice wind had started blowing and it was pretty bright by now. There were 3 flyovers under construction when i had last gone on this route. This time round, they were all operational.
Since there was not much traffic, we were riding in tandem and the roads were so good, we went upto
80kmph on this leg.
We did find a tea shop near the corner of mundra and mandvi bypass, so stopped for a bit.

Next leg was a straight shot towards Koday, where we planned to stop for a quick breakfast.
This leg again was awesome to ride on. still no sign of rains. Average speed of 80 kmph maintained on this leg too. The roads are 4 laned till the village of Nani Khakar, then onwards its a 2 lane road.
We were having so much fun riding, that we did not think to stop and take pics of the awesome roads, the twists and turns and the lovely flyovers.
It is a really commendable job done by the NHAI on the NH8A, which runs through this area.
We got to Koday within no time and enjoyed standard sunday fare of Fafda and Jalebi, this time combined with a pretty good chutney too.

This stop was only about 14 kms from Mandvi and our destination was another 10 odd kms from there, we decided to do a straight shot to the temple.I have been on this route a number of times, so there was no need to take help from the GPS. Once we crossed mandvi and got to the fork in the road, one leading to the vijay vilas palace and the other one towards Pingleshwar, i switched it on. It
was a straight 10 km run and once we got to Nana Layeja village, it was a tight left turn, another 3 kms through the village and on reaching a small marker stating "Ashapura Mataji temple" 2 kms up the road.
This whole leg is single metalled road with not much traffic. Completely covered with greenery on
both sides. Again lots of places for a photo op, but the ride had been so much fun, it did not feel like stopping at all. The end of this road is at the Ashar Maa Temple.
It is located at a height with a few steps. This is pretty much the only man made thing you will see for miles, everything else is either the sea or the dense vegetation.

From the temple, you can see the great blue sea in the distance, although this day it seemed pretty violent. paid our respects at the temple and started walking towards the beach which is a good 500 mtrs from the temple. I noticed that half the way, the terrain was good enough to take our bikes along. So back we went, got kaiser and rode as far as we could so as not to get stuck in the sand, which was very soft.

After parking the bikes, we had a short 200 mtr walk to the beach and once you get there, it is nothing short of amazing. There are absolutely no footsteps of anyone having been here recently and its like you are the first one to discover this place. although many may have been here but sadly, as with most places in kutch, it is not known to most people. almost 98%  of the people i spoke to before coming here had never even heard of such a place.
Some of the pictures we took were brilliant. There was a low tide, so we decided against wading into the water, deciding instead to stand at a distance and just take in the view.

I just hope someone important reads these posts of mine and does something to atleast promote these spots to the people outside. There is so much to discover in Kutch that you may not need to travel out of the district, leave the country or the state, for atleast 6 months. Such hidden gems are so many, that only word of mouth publicity is not enough. They have to be highlighted in the print media as well.

I had lost track of time and noticed we had been here for almost an hour. There was a sprinkling of raindrops now, so we decided to start back before it got heavy or constant.
On the way back, we decided to check out the SERENA BEACH RESORT, a newly opened resort 5 kms off Mandvi. The manager was gracious enough to let us walk around and have a look. It is a good spot to come and enjoy with the family. We got to know a bit about the place and what all facilities are offered there.

After this brief stop, we decided to start back home as it was about 10:15 and we had planned to be home before lunch. The way back upto the village of Nani Khakar had a bit of traffic. There were a lot of appreciative glances from passers by while we were riding.
Once on the toll road, we floored the bikes. Kaiser has by now found his sweet spot and it is in 5th gear at 80 kmph where he is most comfortable. The roads were wide enough for both bikes to ride parallel and with no traffic around, we did fantastic time and covered the next 50 kms within 30 minutes to reach Mokha Chowkdi for a breather. I have not had so much fun until now while riding on the roads. This was a totally different experience.
A quick stop for some ' Bhajiya' at Mokha and we were on the final leg home. So far the weather had been kind on us, there was a constant threat of rain but so far it had stayed away.
I was feeling lucky, until we got to Shinai, a mere 6 kms from home, when it started pouring like crazy. A good thing we did not have much of the road left to cover. So i got home by 12:30, just in time for lunch, drenched due to the rain but with a big smile plastered over my face after this awesome ride.

Where to Next......

Ride to Hajipir Dargah

I think it was divine intervention that i got another week to spend at home. i was home after 4 years to celebrate eid and it was perhaps the most fun i had recently with family. Its nice to see so many well wishers coming to meet you.
The upside of being able to spend Eid at home was that next day was sunday, so another opportunity for a nice ride.
I had been meaning to visit the Hajipir dargah on Kaiser since the time i bought it, as some of the readers of my earlier posts may remember. So, this was the perfect time and the absolutely lovely weather to ride on. I mapped out the route, which was pretty straight forward. Route passed through Bhuj, Nakhatrana, followed by 35 kms of total wilderness and then the dargah in the middle of the desert.

The total distance is just more than 160 kms, meaning a round trip of 325 kms. I wanted to try and see how fast we could get back home, even after stopping for lunch and breakfast.
So i called up the guys, asked if anyone was interested to join me, suketu and shivi agreed to come along. Since we would be travelling for a little longer than our usual distance, we decided to leave a bit early at 0430 and planned to be back home by lunch or latest by 1500 hrs.
I had packed away most of my stuff in preparation for my sailing time, so had to spend some time gathering the stuff. After the last trip, i even got my riding jacket drycleaned. When i went to pick it up, the store guy asked me how did this jacket become so dirty and muddy, it took 2 days to clean up.
I felt happy on the inside that people are wondering what on earth did this guy do on a riding jacket to make it so dirty. i told him that i have been riding all around kutch with a bunch of friends.This question in itself is a sign of the awesome time i have been having with Kaiser recently.

So, getting back to the ride, got up pretty early next day, took a quick shower, checked with the others and promptly made it to the rendezvous point at sharp 0430 hrs. The other 2 also arrived in 5 mins and we started moving. Being quite early, there was even lesser traffic enroute and we arrived at our mandatory pit stop in Ratnal pretty quickly. By now, even the tea stall guy has become pretty familiar, seeing us every sunday morning and politely enquired where we were going this time.

After this, i decided to see how long we could go in one shot, so we decided to stop again only after crossing Bhuj, another 45 odd kms. Again, not much traffic on this route also, but as the twilight started turning into sunlight, there was more traffic on the roads, especially while passing through bhuj. We did manage to pass bhuj and stopped to have some quick snacks at the junction of mandvi and nakhatrana bypass.
They only had tea to offer, so we had that and went along the way.On  the way towards nakhatrana, we passed the turning towards Chavda rakhal and Palardhuna with fond memories of the time spent with friends on earlier trips. Shivi only had a half tank of fuel when we started from adipur, so we planned to stop at the next fuel station. The next 3 stations we passed did not have petrol, so we kept going and on spotting a lovely jain temple just outside Devpur-Yaksh, shivi stopped to refuel. Even i thought to be on the safer side and fill up a bit.

After this quick pit stop, next stop was nakhatrana village, where we planned to have breakfast. No prizes for guessing, but only thing available early in the morning was fafda and jalebi. Had a little bit and next stop would be straight to Hajipir.
the roads so far had been pretty good and we were making good time. Based on our speeds, i was hoping to touch Hajipir around 9 am.
On the way, there were nice spots for photography,including a sign showing the tropic of cancer passing through the area.
Having been at sea for half my life, i have crossed the tropics and equator on a number of occasions but this was a first for me , it definitely warranted a snap.

The roads leading upto Nakhatrana and near the right hand turn for Hajipir are 2 lane roads with enough room for 2 way traffic. Once you take the turn, the next 32 odd kms are on a single lane road with some pretty heavy truck traffic, both oncoming and following.
Speed on this leg was a bit slow and combined with the fact that we were travelling on sunday which is a busy day for the dargah, we moved along at only 50 kmph.
I was enjoying the weather, it was nice and windy, not too hot and with overcast conditions, no sign of the sun too.
By the time all of us reached Hajipir, it was just before 9am, exactly as we had planned. There were a few people already in the dargah and more people were constantly coming in.
It was really nice to come back after 4 years to a place which is very close to my heart and holds prominence alongwith the Khwaja Garib Nawaz and Haji ali dargah.
The place may have developed a bit but the peace and calm you feel even when surrounded by a crowd is something else.
we were lucky to hear a salaam being sung in praise of the "baba" and spent a nice time over there.
The whole journey was totally worth it.

We were there for almost one hour and started moving back around 10 am, Since the weather was
still pretty good, there was no reason to drive like crazy, so it was decided to move along leisurely and get to bhuj for lunch. On the way, we would stop where it looked like a good spot, basically enjoy the ride.

We took a breather at Nakhatrana, then lunch stop at Bhuj for some okay type food at Honest restaurant. all done by 1300 hrs and ready to get back home.

On the way back, the weather thankfully remained the same and after another couple of stops for tea and a bit of a breather, we got back home by 1500 hrs. 

this was in more ways than one an excellent sunday. 

Hoping to get one or two more of these before i have to leave for the long haul.

See the look on my face, it comes from one thing only, " My love for riding".

Who would have thought a piece of machinery can bring so much joy to a person's life, but Kaiser has that effect on me.

Ride to Tapkeshwari

The time to get back to my primary job of sailing was slowly creeping up and it wouldn't be too long before i was up on the high seas, fighting the waves and watching the awesome sunrises and sunsets which people pay top dollar to view. all part of the job for us sailors.
I had initially planned to ride upto Morbi to visit the Darbargarh palace, but things didnt pan out, so it was back to looking for other places around.
A chance meeting with a good friend, who is a well known photographer. We got to talking and one thing let to another with me mentioning looking for places to ride upto. He suggested we go upto Tapkeshwar. Supposedly this place had lovely spots for photography. So it was decided, after looking up on the maps, found out that it was just a short ride away and not too far from civilisation. This would be another short ride, 120 odd kms round trip.

The usual suspects were ready for the ride. Myself, suketu and shivi. We have had a lot of fun on rides recently. So we decided as usual, we would leave at 0500 on sunday morning and hoped to be back home before lunch.
So sunday morning sharp at 0500, we got together and started our ride. I forgot to tank up on fuel the previous day and did not want to take a chance with the fuel running out in the middle of the road. So we moved at a leisurely speed of 50 kmph till we filled up. As luck would have it, we passed atleast 6 filling stations and all of them were shut, with one of them out of petrol. Finally, we found one in between anjar and bhuj. There was decent drizzling on this leg too, which made driving all the more fun.
Our usual stop for tea at Ratnal came, we rested for a bit and started moving along, with next stop for breakfast at Bhujodi. Shivi hadn't caught up with us till we reached Ratnal, so we decided to meet up at Bhujodi.

We made double quick time reaching bhujodi and were there by 0700 hrs. Had our by now standard sunday morning breakfast of fafda and hot jalebis. Shivi caught up with us here. The distance to our destination was a mere 15 kms away and we were soon on our way. Once we entered bhuj, had to switch on the GPS since none of us had been there previously.
The mapping was pretty good and we had no trouble getting there. Enroute though, it started raining
pretty heavily and with no shelter in sight, we decided to just brave it and reach our spot, then look for a place to dry up. There was almost no traffic on this route, where we passed a couple of small villages and an army camp too.
We reached tapkeshwari temple by 0745. It was raining pretty hard till we stopped and continued for another 15-20 minutes. we found a bunch of old abandoned houses where we took shelter from the rain. By this time though, we were completely drenched. I had a riding jacket on, which made it feel 10 pounds heavier due to the rain.
All those thoughts vanished when we started looking around.

Primarily, this spot is known for the temple and is frequented by visitors, but the best part of coming here is the trek upto the top of the hill which gives incredible spots for photography. Its a good thing i decided against wearing my riding boots for this trip, or else i would never have managed to get to the top. You do need a decent pair of footwear to go up the stone walkway. It is not marked but due to the foot traffic, the rocks are comfortable for a climb.
There are natural cave like formations at the top and a good spot to relax and lounge.
The entire hill is connected all the way round to the other side, so if you are in the mood for a bit of a trek, this is a good location.

A short walk from the cave formations takes you to the edge of the hill, this is the most perfect spot to look down upon the approach road and the entire town of bhuj can be spotted from this vantage point. Its a good thing we went during the rains, the sight for truly something wonderful.Sadly people havent stopped vandalizing this lovely and quaint location. You will spot a lot of markings on the stones, totally damaging the purity of the place.

We spent a good hour walking around and taking in the morning scenery, thoroughly satisfied we took the ride. Now it was time to get back home. On the way back, the roads looked so lovely, we just had to stop for a couple of snaps.

Quick photo session done, we started out and decided to take just one stop on the way back, at Bhudia form for a quick fresh juice and then head on back home.

When i got back home by 10:30, i shared some of the photos with friends. I was suprised when some of them mentioned that we had visited tapkeshwari during school days, but for the life of me, i still cannot remember when. Its a good thing i went there anyway.
this is probably my last ride before i go back on ship and for the next 4 months 'Kaiser' will be quiet, silently wondering when we will start thumping and burning the miles again.

Till we ride again.

Ride to crocodile lake

Since my last outing to Rudramata, the weather had been pretty good, with the temperatures in mid 30s and nice wind blowing. So as was the norm, another sunday was upon us and i started looking for places nearby to ride. Now that a few people had read my blog posts, there was more enthusiasm among fellow riders of Hangout group to go for a ride.
After looking around, found the place called Chavda Rakhal, which basically means "estate of Chavda". It was a holiday retreat of the erstwhile rulers of Kutch.
Not much was known about this place and i only found one solitary post about it online, with a few photographs to accompany. Commonly, it was known as the "crocodile lake" of kutch, perhaps the only one in the area. Nobody i spoke to knew much about it, so it was all the more exciting.
The route was mapped and this time round, there were 6 riders who had agreed to come.

The planned route was from Bhuj towards Nakhatrana and we decided to start at 0500 hrs on sunday morning. By the time everyone arrived, it was 0530 and we started on our way, planned stop at Ratnal for a quick tea. Early morning meant very little traffic and we made good way travelling in double file, with Kaiser leading the way. average speed of 60-65 was maintained.
all the riders had previous experience of group ride, so it was easy to manage the ride and nobody was in a hurry to get there.

Tea stop at Ratnal

We covered the short 25 km distance pretty quickly and after a short stop, were on our way towards Bhuj, with next stop at Bhujodi for a quick breakfast. On this route too, traffic was minimal, but since we were riding with open swathes of land on both sides, had to manage very strong cross winds, which meant we had to come down to average of 60kmph for this leg.

Reached Bhujodi by 0700 hrs and the staple breakfast you can find in this area so early in the morning is nice and hot fafda and jalebis. Had our tummy full and resumed our passage, next stop would be at Chavda Rakhal. 

Since we were quite familiar with this route, there was no need to activate the GPS for this leg and we decided to switch it on after passing Bhuj. Had to cross Bhuj, which meant a fair bit of traffic leading up to the Jubilee circle and onwards to Nakhatrana. This route also leads to the very famous Mata No Madh temple of Ashapura Mataji, so sunday morning was a bit busy with private vehicles and commercial transport hindering our ride, slowing us down to 45-50 kmph.

Once clear of the traffic, we did manage to cover the next 10 odd kms pretty quickly. This is where we started taking help of the GPS and after passing Mankuva village, we took a slight left towards Chavda Rakhal, passing through the narrow lanes of Samatra Village. 

another 6.5 kms on a single metalled but pretty well maintained road led us to a single signpost stating "Pragsar". Took this turn and another 1.5 kms of dirt road led us to a check point at the entry to the lake. There is nothing much to mark, except a couple of old stone pillars through which you had to pass through to enter.

                 
Since it is private property, visitation is charged at 10 rs per bike and 50 rs per person. Paid and went along. When we reached the spot though, it was like we had been transported to another place altogether. The lush greenery and the huge lake in front of us looked like anything but a location in the middle of the desert. There were various signposts encouraging people to not litter and maintain the sanctity of the place. The entry fee they charge is totally worth it and the place is simply amazing. A short walk up stone steps leads towards a big lake, which as per the attendant had a few 200-250 crocs in it. 

We had reached by 0830 hrs and since the sun wasnt fully beating down yet, were not expecting to spot a few crocs, since they are cold blooded and all that..... 

A nice little walking path is provided along the sitting area, which a local stray dog was kind enough to take us through. Must appreciate the fact that this mutt was with us the whole way towards the end of our walking trail and did not leave us till we were back safely. 

Place was perfect for a few nice photo ops, we spent a lovely hour just walking around,although truth be told, one hour is too less to spend here. There is a shiva temple also nearby and a few more walking trails which need atleast half a day to explore fully. Also spotted a lot of birds and an equal number of large fruit bats just hanging around the trees.We did spot a couple of crocs, although they were a bit far away, but quite clearly visible. This had been a very fruitful and satisfying trip. It is also a perfect place to spend with families on weekends, its sad that it has not been highlighted enough in the travel brochures. Hopefully word of mouth publicity will make more people aware of the existence of this hidden gem of Kutch.

 Silhouette of a croc in the centre of the screen

We were thinking of going back, when my younger brother suggested visiting another less explored area called Palar Dhuna waterfall, which was just about 20 kms away from where we were. Him and other members of the Hangout team regularly visit this place for overnight camping. I had heard about it but never visited, so though why not. The route was available on GPS but it only lead upto the trail. Again, not much information available online if you looking for it, all you will get is a couple of photos of the place.

Nevertheless, we started and since most of the rest of the group were familiar, we did not envisage many problems in finding the place.

This leg was pretty nice, roads were devoid of traffic and we got there pretty quickly. Only thing is, there is no marker or stone to let you know where to turn. There is just an old hut, with NAC Campsite, written over it. You take a right turn and onto the dirt roads. For someone who has never been to this place, it can get really disorientating, you have no idea where to go. Luckily, 3 of the guys from our group had been here, so it was not hard to find. 
The dirt road is about 3-4 kms and takes you to a clearing which is a perfect spot for camping.
The sight once you get to the clearing is simply awesome. Once again, you would be forgiven if you think you are in North India, the topography is so cool.

There is a bit of walk of about 1 km and you get to this spot where you can just among the rocks and spend a nice evening among the stars. This location is also used as a rock climbing spot for adventure enthusiasts. There is a bit of a trek if you need to all the way down near the pool. During monsoons, a lovely waterfall flows through the rocks too, which will be a sight to behold.
We spend a good hour sitting there and looking around, spotted a lot of birds, including a bunch of weaver bird nests.

It was almost 11 am by the time we left from this place, thoroughly satisfied with the effort it took to get here. Next stop would be the famous 'NEW PATEL Ice Cream Shop' in Mankuva village, a short 15 km ride. 
Took a quick break, had a lovely malai kulfi and went on our way, next stop would be to have lunch at Bhudia farm, quite well known spot just after Bhuj.

After a nice and hearty lunch, it was time to get back home. 
All the riders were pretty happy with this outing and decided to plan something again next weekend. Only time will tell where we go next.

The riding bug is slowly but surely spreading to more and more people in the group.

Until i ride again....