Reactions to water and food shortages: packed food and 5.2l of water; sometimes gets tough to carry them but nevermind. I have transitioned from salt to sand desert in the past week. Tomorrow I would be at Jaisalmer.
In the pics, a salt crystal from the kutch.
Every state I enter, there are hills around(attract/distract ;-)). Mount abu is one of the hottest big hills to climb in India(probably the one). But well baked and heat treated, I was in good condition to enjoy the road and the view. A quick and early start from Deesa ensured I had lots of time to roam around in Abu. The day started with a jeera flavoured road. Loads of trucks moving around with that strong smell.
The rocks at Mt Abu are way too attractive. It is a climbers' paradise but currently the climber in me is on hiatus.
The pics from the climb.
Riding 180kms through the hottest part of the country and that too with winds...feels cool(after the ride ;-) )
Crossed the tropic of cancer, not for the first time though but saw a board. Reaching the vast white desert with just white floor beneath extending till the horizon is a great experience but does not make a great pic. So in the pic is a friend from the other species.
Getting solar charged in kutch :-) Tomorrow I leave to patrol the border area again but tonight relaxing at Bhuj. For numerophiles, the news is of completing 5k kms.
In the pics: a popular hangout for deers and a small lake (puddle) and thats not snow :-)
*The last civilian
To watch the sun set. Another extreme of the country but this time the climate is extreme too. Riding through hot conditions and overloaded, I decided to carry 2.2l of water for a short journey which was a wrong decision. Detours made the ride longer, headwinds tougher and no villages made me thirstier.
The first no-ceiling night came pretty late in this tour, but was enjoying the cool evening in the gurdwara. Decided to sleep stargazing but soon 'cool' became 'cold'.
Plenty of wildlife to lookout for. Made friends with some.
Morning exploration was near the border. Once a port, but after Indus changed its course, the rann has lots of corals to hunt for but beware of quicksand at places.
2 days of air resistance...to the limit that I had to use the granny. Unfortunately the roads are too good in Gujarat and even the heavily loaded trucks are unfit to pull.
The net connectivity is unstable so blog updates will remain short and irregular.
The terrain is pretty colourful and the heat is good to bake. This is just the entry into kutch. Lots to explore and will cover it well.
The western edge of Surat is an interesting chunk of land. Mangrove forests on the map looked fascinating so I set out towards the coast. The islands just had thorny shrubs and could not find a 'convenient' way to reach there so decided to greet them from a distance. I was inside some industrial estate which I managed to trespass. While trespassing, I came across a board that welcomed me to the Das Island. Wonder how and when I crossed... the terrain has changed a bit may be due to industrial activities and it was a low tide at that time. Continued to move south waiting to move till the end and checked my position on the GPS after some time... to find myself deep inside the Arabian Sea. Not for the first time the maps showed me in the water body but for the first time I was way inside the sea ;)
