Rann Utsav : A unique experience

RANN UTSAV means celebrations in the desert. It is a unique way of celebrating the Kutch's culture, food, artwork, music, dance and etc organized by Gujarat's tourism. Kutch refers to the district in western India in Gujarat state. And Rann of Kutch is a seasonal salt marshal located in the Thar desert in Kutch District of Gujarat, India and the Sindh province of Pakistan.

About Rann Utsav

Rann Utsav is an annual festival which is hosted by Gujarat tourism and operated by White Rann Camping and Hospitality. The festival starts from November till February. Remaining months the Kutch region will be filled with water. Literally, kutch means something which intermittently becomes wet and dry. 

For more information about Rann Utsav and available packages, please follow the below link.

http://rannutsav.com/

http://whiterannresort.com/ 

Basically, they have 1-night, 2-nights, and 3-nights packages, either we can choose from that or we can as for a customized package. Apart from White Rann resort, there are other resorts like Kutch Resort (http://www.kutchresort.com/) but it will not be so grand and marvelous like White Rann resort. 

How to reach the White Rann Resort

White Rann Resort is located in Dhordo, which has another name called as Tent City. All the home, hotels & resorts in Dhordo are temporary structures as the Kutch region will be dry only for four months; thus this place got 'Tent City' as a nickname. 

We can reach the White Rann Resort by our own mode of transport or we can take the complimentary pick-up and drop service arranged by Rann Utsav committee. This Rann Utsav committee has a base camp in Bhuj Railway station and Bhuj Airport and the service starts from there and they have this complementary service at a defined time by air-conditioned bus. Also, they provide complimentary snacks and water bottle after boarding the bus.

1. Bhuj Railway station
2. Rann Utsav Base camp in Bhuj Railway Station
3. Air Conditioned bus service to Dhordo

If our time didn't sync up with their defined time then on a chargeable basis, they will arrange a taxi service. 

About the White Rann Resort

White Rann Resort itself is like a small village in Dhordo. It spreads over 5000 square meters area with nearly 450 tents. It houses reception block, recreation block, indoor games like billiards, table tennis etc, outdoor games like paintball, ATV ride, segway, duo bicycle, paramotoring etc, shopping complexes, two dining areas, cultural and activity zones and much more.

Main entrance to White Rann Resort

It has few others restaurants inside the resort like dominos but I doubt people will enjoy it when tasty local food being served in the dining area. Even we could see people drawing their thoughts in a canvas in recreational center.

1. Dominos and other restaurants in the main road inside Resort
2. Recreational center and indoor games

Tents are organized in clusters from cluster A to I. Each cluster has series of tents in a semi-circle fashion. And each cluster has its own cluster in-charge who takes care of hospitality of the guests and their requests. I should admit that all employees in White Rann Resort are extremely welcoming, helping and friendly. We can completely enjoy the walk inside the resort as walkway and pavements are so neat but we can make use of 24 hours golf-cart vehicle for going from one place to another within the resort. Even we can use the free bicycle to go between the places inside the resort.

1. Entrance to a Cluster
2. Non AC Swiss tent
3. Series of tents in a cluster

It even has VIP lounges and VIP tents which will be used by public personalities like ministers, business magnate, cini peoples.

The resort has four types of tents from economy swiss tent to premium A/C tents. All tents have attached toilet and bathrooms with basic types of furniture and pedestal fan. There is no locker facility and no lock to our tent, though the place to safe it is advised not to leave valuables inside the tent when we go out.

Inside Non AC Swiss tent

For food, they provide a list of coupons which we need to produce. There is a coupon for Lunch, Hi-tea, Dinner and Breakfast. Food will be served in two dining areas in specified timings. There is no question about the quality and hygienic of food being served and obviously, the taste was awesome. During dinner, even a live lite music also organized. If you are a non-vegetarian lover then it might disappoint you, they have only two types of food, vegetarian, and jain. Jain food does not contain onion, garlic, potato etc. But trust me, lavish varieties in vegetarian food will make you forget the absence of non-vegetarian food. 

1. Food Coupons
2. Dining area

At night time, we can observe lots of police personnel in and around the resort. It has a reserved ambulance and fire engine vehicle within the premises. 

1. Craft Bazaar
2. Clock tower inside resort
3. Make in India promo
4. Golf cart for commuting within the resort

What covered as a package

  Camel ride to Rann

      Rann of Kutch is situated nearly 6kms from Dhordo village. To go to Rann, the resort team arranged for a camel cart shuttle service to ply people from resort to Rann and back to resort. The ride is an enjoyable one and must try.

Camel Cart ride to Rann

In the Rann, we can take a ride on top of a camel at our own cost. This Rann is very close to Sindh province of Pakistan, maybe hardly a 20 Km distance to LoC. As mentioned earlier, this place will be under water for the most part of the year. When the water recedes, we could see the salt deposits all over the places thus this place is called as the white desert. We could also feel the wetness in some part of the land, so we have to be very much careful while walking in this desert.

1. White desert landscape
2. Wetness in desert

  Sunset in Rann

       To observe sunset in a desert is a unique experience. After going there I understood all sunset are not same, seeing a sunset in a sea is completely different from seeing a sunset in a hill and seeing a sunset in a desert is completely different. Each has its own mesmerizing beauty. To entertain in the desert, some local folk musician will sing songs. We can enjoy dancing to their songs and can give show our gratitude by giving some money to them. Also, we can try the wearing the traditional kutch dress and take few snaps with that. 

1. Dancing for a folk and bollywood songs
2. With traditional kutch dress

Panoramic view of Rann during sunset

If went as a couple, don't hesitate to ask others help for capturing a photo. Also, extend the help to others. The beauty of white rann should be captured because it is difficult to explain in words.

After sunset, we set our way back to the resort for more fun and joy. If it is a full moon day then the moon will add additional beauty to white desert. And of course, people 
enjoy staying back even after sunset.

  Activities and Cultural

In the late evening around 8:30 cultural activities will start in the huge activity zone center of all the clusters, program will go until midnight. They do not static agenda for cultural activities but it will be like a folk song, dancing, tribal shows, standup comedy, drama, bollywood or anything related to art. The main aim of the program is to entertain the guests and to keep our country's traditional arts alive.

Cultural programs in Activity zone

  Sight-seeing in Bhuj

 One night stay in White Rann resort is not sufficient to explore completely on what it offers. With hard feeling, after breakfast left Dhorda, the tent city. The Rann utsav committee arranged for a complimentary sight seeing for places around Bhuj. First we went to Aina Mahal and Prag mahal which are 18th and 19th century palaces. After palace, we went to Swamy Narayana temple, the temple shrine was closed but we could see the architectural beauty of this marble building. Following that, we went to Bujodi craft bazaar which is famous for selling the handcrafts directly to consumer without a middle man.

1. Prag and Aina Mahal
2. Swami Narayana Mandir