Travelling to infinity and back.

Travel tales about India’s largest salt flats — The Rann of Kutch

Image is owned by the author

This article is based in B.C.

I mean, Before Corona times :) When travelling equalled adrenaline and experiences equalled wealth.

One such travel experience is that of me visiting The Great Rann of Kutch. An isolated, white desert. Rann stands for desert.

The irony about Kutch, a small town situated in the West of India is, it is a place of contrasts.

The barren land stretched for miles makes your eyes thirsty for greens. The weather is unforgivably hot and arid. The ground has cracks from withering under the heat.

A lot of the land of Kutch is also quick-sand. No wonder then, you get a sinking feeling when you first enter this place.

But what Kutch loses in its geographical limitation, it makes up with its penchant for colourful art and equally warm and colourful people.

Various kinds of localised art forms thrive in the Rann. Some families have been making copper bells for generations, others have been making a form of art called ‘Lac’, and yet another family (world renowned) makes paintings like Tree of Life, from a mix of colours and castor oil.

A local artist who has been creating copper bells for decades. Image owned by the author

Copper bell art — image owned by the author

Tree of life art created using mix of paints and castor oil — one of these was gifted to President Trump by Indian PM as well. Image owned by the author

I was amazed to see how locals make up for the vanilla surroundings by pouring vibrancy into their art forms. Mirrors, trinkets, colourful embroidery, and whatnot. I picked up one bed sheet from this place and it lit up my home like a rainbow! Beautiful and intricate.

The array of colours leaves you mesmerised. Image owned by the author

Pillow covers, bags, blankets and whatnot — Image owned by the author

colourful roof of a home — Image owned by the author

Another interesting aspect of Kutch is of course it’s white sand desert. The first time I stepped foot on the vast expanse, it was literally as if I was stepping foot on the moon.

Miles and miles, no soul in sight. You could run, scream, jump, shout. And you would just have the entire white land to yourself. It was a beautiful feeling. To know you are such an insignificant human on the face of this earth.

The vast expanse of the white desert — Image owned by the author

As the sun sets on the white sand — Image owned by the author

We had to tread carefully as I said, a whole lot of the white desert is deceiving quicksand waiting to suck you in. This is also why the western borders of India are comparatively inaccessible to the enemy across borders. The white sand makes the invasion of any sort, impossible.

The real beauty of the white desert, however, is unveiled at the moon-rise and fall of the night.

When I visited, it was luckily full moon day. As the moon peeked from over the clouds, the white salt glistened like little diamonds, all over the place. The desert lit up in the shades of pale silver and blues.

Our experiments with the dark — Image owned by the author

It was a sight like never seen before. We lay down, facing the skies. Stars above us, diamonds beneath. Could we ask for any more magic?

To add icing to the rather salty cake :), was the amazing food in the region. The food here is rich in ghee (clarified butter), spices, oil and tastes rich and delicious. It is unlike anywhere else within India as well.

A nutritious Kutch lunch. Made to perfection with spices and sweets. Image owned by the author

My stay was also at an eco-friendly resort, which did not have ACs or too much electrical equipment. But it had lovely airy spacious royal tents and clear blue skies which you could never get enough of.

My stay, the Sham-e-sarhad resort. Image owned by the author

Inside the grand tents of Kutch — Image owned by the author

A beautiful temple adorns Bhuj, a city few miles away for Kutch. Image owned by the author

So next time you feel like experiencing infinity, I invite you over to Rann of Kutch in India. It also has some of the best stay facilities, great roads and lots of shopping worthy art.

Add it to your after corona bucket list :)