Tales from Bhigwan

Tales from Bhigwan

#Sunrise#Wooden Boat ride #Flamingoes.

#1.          On a wintry weekend I decided to head out to a rural town in hinterland of Maharashtra near to the town of Sholapur called Bhigwan. The town on its own has no significance but what is significant are two villages Kumbhargaon and Diksal which are nestled among the backwaters of Ujni dam.

#2.          The shallow backwater coupled with the climatic conditions have resulted in the creation of an aquatic habitat perfect for the various migratory birds like the greater Pink Flamingoes , stork,Black drongo and the Eurasian spoonbill.

#3.          So I set out towards Bigwan, a small dusty town situated on the state highay connecting Pune with Sholapur. The distance of Bhihgwan from Pune is around 100 Kms. From Bhigwan one needs to leave the highway and turn left to go towards Kumbhargaon which is one of the two main sites from where one can hire a boat to take oneself out to the bird habitat.

#4.          The journey should be planned in such a way that the boat ride should commence just at the sunrise or few minutes after that so that the climatic condition is ideal for bird watching. As the day moves on it is going to get hotter and the exercise of bird watching gets more demanding, hence early mornings are always preferable.

#5.          I stayed overnight at Baramati which is 40 kms from Bhigwan so that I did not have to drive early morning and was able to reach the village just after sunrise. Another point to note is that in case for those who are serious about bird watching with photography, pls hire a single boat for which one needs to tie up with the local contacts in advance as boats are limited.

#6.          Breakfast as well as lunch can be arranged in the village itself so the basics of the trip are covered up. It is advisable to take a personal vehicle as the village is at a distance of 08 km from the Highway.At Baramati  one can also visit the Siddheswar Temple dedicated to Lord Shiva. This place is the the sugarcane region of Maharastra and one can enjoy the delicious drink at the numerous road side stalls set up on the highway.

The visuals follow …

KUTCH EXPEDITION 2014 : HOMEBOUND

#  DAY VI &VII : BHUJ-VAPI-MUMBAI

# I started the day early as I had a long way to cover and my target was to reach Vapi,Gujarat. The route was nothing special and involved basically drive on the National Highway via Bachachau towards Ahmedabad and thereafter using the NE 1 move ahead to Baroda and then catch on the NH 8 which would take me to Vapi. I had a break at Vapi and started the next day towards Mumbai.

# This concluded my visit to the Kutch region where I had the opportunity to see many interesting and unique structures different from the usual tourist circuit and planned the full trip on my own catering to each place uniqueness  , hopefully it was a fruitful insight depicted by me.

THE JUGAAD :)  

AS I WAS GOIN FAR WITH EVERY STEP I REALIZED I HAD NOT CLICKED ONE ANS THEN THERE THIS WAS ! 

SALT PANS  

Kutch Expedition 2014 : Sunset on the White Desert

# So on day V as i bought the steaming INDOMITABLE  to a screeching halt after a cannon ball run through the backyard of Kutch , i was fortunate to witness a sunset matchin the ones that i had seen on my many sea voyages ... do have a look at the visuals

Kutch Expedition 2014 : Day V , towards the western extremities of the country and highest point of Kutch

#  DAY V : Bhuj-Vighokote

# Today was going to a significant day as me and the INDOMITABLE were supposed to reach right up till the Indo-Pak International Border at BOP Vighakote. The route was not clearly defined anywhere and I had no references other than something known as India Bridge which was the entry point for those wishing to reach Vighakote.

#  So the first way point was to reach Bhindiarya , where the diversion to the left took one to the town of Dhorodo as well as to the Rann Utsav while straight ahead if one marched , it would lead to places like Kalo Doonagr as well as India Bridge.

# By 0900 hrs  I was at Bhindiarya where I purchased my entry ticket for the Rann Utsav and thereafter proceeded ahead towards India Bridge which was 40 km ahead. On this route one would reach a small town called Khavda where one has to take a left diversion.I reached India Bridge by 0945 hrs and the morning winter was stretched across the bridge onto the dried out Rann. The bridge can be visited by tourists however one is not permitted to cross the bridge without permits. The bridge is the final one prior to the international border with Pakistan hence probably it is known as India Bridge.

# As I had the requisite documents in place I was able to cross over and announce myself at the TCP on the other end. Out here after a detailed scrutiny I was asked to proceed ahead,. Vighokote lies far ahead from this place deep inside the arid lands which is dotted by bunkers all over.

# The road goes through a BSF war memorial called Dharamshala which was a reminder of the sacrifices made by so many to defend this country , the road was narrow and broken in places with the tall grasses encroaching upon the road itself. 

# It was a total surreal experience to drive on this part of the country with each step getting one closer to the border which was too real and not like the touristic one at Wagah or the not so distinct one in Ladakh or Himachal . Out there it was totally demarcated with definite barbed wire fencing and watchtowers and bunkers. This was real deal.

# I will not be going into specifics with respect to the details that I saw on this road as I am not sure abt the security related issues  but it was the experience of a lifetime to reach right till the International Border which was merely a feet away and the highlight of the entire trip . The road was totally devoid of any kind of traffic and the red colour INDOMITABLE definitely invoked reactions from those who were guarding our borders.

# It was early afternoon by the time I was back to India Bridge and thereafter I turned towards Kalo Doonagr to visit the ancient temple of Lord Dattatrey who walked this earth hundreds of years back. The route to the temple which is situated on top of Kalo Doongar becomes extremely narrow in the last 04 kms leading up to the summit and is quite tricky to drive upon. The site is also the highest point in the entire Kutch region and on a clear day one can see the entire Rann of  Kutch spread out for miles around merging into the horizon.

# After paying my respects at the temple which also has a folklore of Jackals visiting this temple every day evening since the time Lord himself walked out here , I turned back towards Bhindiarya for I had to visit the great white desert.

# It was a literal race against time as I wanted to be in the white desert while the sun was setting so I gunned the INDOMITABNLE to eat up the miles ahead. Flying through the lonely road I kept my place in the race against the sun and eventually bought the steaming INDOMITABLE to a halt at the entry to the white desert.

# For those who wish to stay the night there, the government has set up tent city which caters to shelter as well as food and then we have the Rann Utsav where the entire finery of Gujrat is showcased in terms of handicrafts, clothes , food and other categories. I was interested not in this but in being with nature so I moved ahead till the people became scanty as I wanted to feel the moment of the sun setting over the horizon and the white desert change its texture and brilliance with each passing moment , neither was I disappointed with the spectacle which followed as the visuals depict.

SACRIFICES BY SO MANY AND SO LITTLE REMEMBERED BY THE COMMON MAN  

FREE  !!!!

FLIGHT GAY AND FREE  

ALL ALONE !!! 

ELEPHANT GRASS  

PROFILE  

LORD DATTATREY TEMPLE AT KALO DOONGAR