Bhuj and Mandvi

Bhuj is an interesting place. The 2001 earthquake which killed about 30,000 people was in this area and there has been quite a lot of obvious rebuilding, but also a lot of broken down buildings that haven't been fixed. It's amazing how new  some of the village houses are, often built in the round style like the rooms in the hotel we are staying in. Really nice if it wasn't for the cow dung floor which never seems to be really clean... we continually have dirty feet!

On the other hand there is also a very large tent population in Bhuj.

Today we went on a day trip to Mandvi, a town on the coast about an hour or so away. Mandvi is a very old town and a boatbuilding centre. We saw huge wooden boats all being built by hand... from wood!

Once again Tarun gave me a treat by navigating all the back roads and lanes through the town... not intentionally of course, but definitely to my advantage as that's where all the interesting things seem to be.

We stopped and had a walk along the beach, which reminded me very much of the beaches in Goa. It was pretty dirty by the car park and beach shacks but further along was lovely. We walked a bit and I was quite surprised to find big wind turbines. There certainly wasn't much in the way of wind today but plenty of sun. Tarun loves the water and I think I've convinced him to come to NZ  next year... In our summer of course .

At the start of our walk it was a stop for coconut and on the way back it was chai. I like the sweet spicy stuff and this man was crunching lots of ginger and cardomon into it.

Then back to Bhuj and a visit to a craft village where I took a liking to some mud and mirror art. The man told us that it could be thrown without breaking it but I'm not going to test it. 

This pic is an example of mud and mirror art... Not at all like what I bought but an example of the technique....mine is all wrapped up.

Late afternoon is swim time. A Canadian man gave Tarun some pointers when we were in Jodhpur and his swimming is getting really good. Like most Indians he never had the chance to learn to swim as a kid and so taught himself a couple of years ago. I must admit that his progress has been fantastic and he's a very strong swimmer now....a natural sportsman I think.

I have enjoyed my time here but tomorrow it's time to move on as I have lots more to see. We only plan a day or do in advance so everything is very flexible. I love that I can travel like this and not worry about times, groups etc. Thanks Tarun for enabling me to do it this way.