Well -- our five days in Bhuj have come and gone, as have another three nights in the far north of Kachchh on the Banni grasslands. Our programme has been very full and while I mastered the internet system at the Hotel Prince in Bhuj, we left the next day and there was no interenet connect at the romantic but isolated tent camp up north, Shaam e Sahad.
Even for a Kachchhi winter, the weather has been unseasonably warm - up into the 40s, and probably more humid than usual, following a late finishing monsoon season. This means that we are seeing Kachchh at its very greenest with wetlands really wet - but it is also energy sapping and we are struggling to keep up with our programme.
Bhuj is the largest population in the Kachchh region - I can't tell you the population off hand, but imagine something which has the size feel, say - of Goulburn or Wagga - a large rural centre. I have chosen my pictures carefully. Bhuj was very substantially damaged by a severe earthquake in 2001. Much of the old city was destroyed and there has been a lot of new building - and yet at times you blink and feel that you have strayed into a mediaevel or bibilical centre. Where donkey carts vie with motor bikes and 3 wheeled taxis, where necklace wearintg cattle sleep comfortably on the median strip in the midst of peak hour traffic - or where a line of veiled traditional women appear round a corner with their water pots on their heads.
We were met at the airport by the "purple people eater" - the purple themed 19 seater bus, which is our home away from home for our three week trip. By now it is looking very fine as we have begun to add our own gaudy decorations, bought at street stalls, to the interior. It is airconditioned and extremely comfortable and spacious - but edging our way down narrow lanes in surrounding villages, with the people eater's own distinctive horn blaring to move aside stray cattle, goats and water carriers, peering over people's back fences ... it feels a bit like a space ship landing. Faces appear over the fences, children begin to crowd around - and we seven Australian women must look like creatures from outer space. While mobile phones are everywhere, outside the city, there is little sign of television.
We are fortunate to be looked after by the knowledgeable and charming Kuldip Gadavi. Kuldip lives with his family in Bhuj but has studied in England. He is our translator, cultural facilitator and all round protector. To date he has always managed to ease our path although we sometimes stray into areas which are culturally difficult for him ... We also have Carol Douglas, the tour organiser, with us at all times with her extraordinary knowledge of Kachchhi handcrafts and handcraft people.
I hope to send further blogs about some detailed areas of our Bhuj stay - some of the interesting vehicles, old city, handcraft places and rural villages visited - along with Leslie's birthday on the last night of Navrati, when we joined a huge crowd dancing the night way in the centre ring. I feel extraordinarily privileged to have the opportunity to visit a place where so many old traditions remain and hope to share them with you.
Dinner awaits and I don't have time to reread or proof this - so apologies for mistakes which grate!!
Robyn
