Found a tailor today who’ll sew me new bags. Yay! Only drawback is that it’ll take him ’til Monday evening. That means I’ll only leave on Tuesday.
Also walked some more around the city center with its small streets and backyards. People are friendly and helpful. Walked into a Travel Agency that I found in a small alleyway on the first floor – kinda in a strange location. Asked the guys there about the Rann. They said there’d be no way to cross it from Khavda to Dholavira. This matches with the satellite imagery I’ve seen and one of my maps. However, the other map of mine and two guys at reception of my hotel I spoke to the other day say there’s a path or even road.
Later on I talked to a guy, Aarif, who works in a Kutchi artisan shop in the hotel. A couple years back he was in Leipzig, Germany, with some people from villages north of Bhuj, to build a traditional hut (bhunga – भुंगा) in the Museum für Völkerkunde. He gave me their names so I can visit them on my way to Khavda. They are also artisans, doing embroidery and other things. Aarif told me that I’ll definitely need a permit from the police to go to Khavda and beyond. He was pretty sure that there’s at least a footpath between Khavda and Dholavira because villagers use to walk there. He even called a friend in Khavda and asked about the path’s condition. The friend confirmed the existance but also said that police or military or whoever might deny me passage because of the Mumbai terrorist attacks on November 26, 2008 and stricter security regulations at the Indian-Pakistani border. Not exactly what I wanted to hear, but I’ll check with the local police tomorrow or on Monday.
