Road trip around Gujarat part 2
Anya checks out local biker style
One of the towns we visited was Bhuj out in Kutchch. Much of this area is salt flats which flood during the monsoon season. At this time of year it feels a bit like driving through the desert and the glare off the salt is intense in the more remote regions. Many of the people out here were traditonally nomadic and they are famous for their handicrafts like embroidery which were originally created for significant like events like birth, marriage and setting up home. These days most stuff is made for tourists and the antique pieces are either worn out or criminally expensive.
What I like about this area is that life is really tough and this has created a ‘wild west’ feel to many of the towns and everything seems to have a slightly extreme edge to it. The bike Anya is sitting on is the Kutchch workhorse and is used for lugging people or goods across the dead straight roads for miles. It is astonishingly noisy and based on an ancient German engine (probably pre WW2 by the look of it!). Like most things out here, it looks like a prop left over from a Mad Max movie.
Tribal boy's head dress.
A head dress like this was given to children at 6 months - hence the tight fit!
Everywhere she goes Anya is the object of extreme curosity. A bit unnerving, especially when men keep grabbing her and taking photos of her with their mates. The evidence here seems to be that she is getting used to it.
Anya shows the big boys how to pose for the camera
On the way to Bhuj we stopped off at Diu which was an old Portuguese colony much like Goa. No foreign tourists to speak of, but it does have a beach as well as old Christian churches and a b
Portuguese prison
The beach is even better when you should be at school doing maths!
Sunesh 'The Hoff' Patel
A taste of luxury in Diu - a hotel with a pool
Of course, it wasn’t all fun – Dad made everyone go and look at old ruins as well:
And worse than that, an old fishing village which really stank!
swordfish (oops, sailfish, of course!) minus its sword
One that should have got away...
