Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
From Tribes to Palaces
We left Bhuj after breakfast with new guide, Niru, for the five-hour drive into the once
Princely State of Gondal. Niru, is intelligent, speaks wonderful English, and extremely
amenable to suggestions. He ranks among the 10 best guides we've ever had the pleasure to
travel with, and filled heads with Gujarat facts on the long drive:
Gujarat's wealth comes from agriculture, textiles and pharmaceuticals. Important
products are: castor oil (used in soaps, inks, paints, conventional medicines and plastic
goods); and cotton. Throughout Gujarat, we passed fields of castor beans and cotton; laden
cotton trucks heading towards cotton gins; migrants in the fields picking cotton.
“Vibrant Gujarat” is the Indian Government's new catch phrase;
Gujarat has the longest coastline in India, stretching 1,600 kms/994 miles, and two, import-
ant fishing ports;
Gujarat is
“Dry,”
no alcoholic beverages, and 75% pure vegetarian (hope our systems can
adjust);
Gujarat has ample water thanks to its many rivers that drain from east to west, through the
state into the Arabian Sea; and
Gujarat is filled with what I repeatedly called, "Camels.” Hundreds of camels pulling
carts down the road. At one time, we must have seen 15 camels in a row hauling goods,
followed by a procession of Nomadic Rabaris. Kutchi Rabari migrants were on the move
to new pastures. Heavily laden Camels, clomping along the edge of the highway - pots on
poles, worldly goods dangling, decorated with fringes, pompoms, and canopies. Colorfully
dressed women, men and children, in front and behind this caravan, herded sheep and goats.
What a sight! Corrected by Niru, I now know that they are "
Dromedaries
" or, more cor-
rectly,
DromedaryCamels
because they only have
onehump
. You probably knew this. We
did not.
