Apologies for the naff title of the page but it details the next few days which involved quite a bit of travelling. The first, a day trip to the world Heritage site of Champaner, then the following day north to the ancient capital of Patan and the Rani Ka Vav stepwell and Modhera Sun Temple and then my two days at the Little Ran of Kutch with the Desert Courses.

9th February

For today, I had decided to go to the World Heritage site of Champaner. As it is 150kms from Ahmedabad, some two and three quarters of an hour driving, I decided to splash out on a taxi. I have to say it was rather difficult to arrange with the man at the hotel, language problems again, so I was relatively surprised to find my taxi man waiting outside the hotel at the appointed time after my breakfast of cornflakes.

As an aside, I’ve now hired quite a few taxis for the day in India and I believe that most , if not all the drivers have been Muslims. As it happens most security guards are Sikhs. Interesting. This one, Khalid Ahmed was no different. He told me that the booking was actually through Lalubhai Travels and I have no hesitation in recommending them as I used them again the following day. So we left on time at 8am and it gave me another experience of India’s fairly new highway system – dual carriageway with two lanes in both directions. However, rather than a slow lane and overtaking lane most of the traffic, heavy lorries, were evenly spread over both lanes and sometimes there were three vehicles abreast. Bonkers but thankfully not too much traffic so we made the 150kms in 2.5 hrs.

Sultan Begada built the fort in around 1485 and made it his capital. There’s not too much left apart from a scruffy village inside the old walls but there are some interesting buildings including the very impressive mosque. We drove through the entrance gate which was covered in scaffolding to the very small ticket office (considering it is a World Heritage Site). However, similar to other sites now in India they don’t sell tickets on site, you have to do it all online. Fortunately I had my Indian virtual SIM. There were no other tourists about.

Just beyond the ticket office is the very impressive Sahar Ki Masjid, thought to be the private mosque of the ruler built in the late 15th century.

From here a quick wander through the scruffy village to the Jama Mosque

The mosque dates from 1513; and construction was carried out over 25 years. It is one of the most notable monuments built by Sultan Mahmud Begada. The Mughal architecture is said to have drawn from the architecture of the Sultanates, which is a blend of Jain religious connotations and workmanship with Muslim ethos; the large domes are indicative of such a mix. Restoration works were carried out in the 1890s. The entrance is through an ornate portico.

I also made a little video:

From here I followed a narrow path between some scrubby fields to find the Kevada Mosque

And from here possibly a kilometre or so from the main mosque into the jungle I found the Nagina Masjid. I had lost the few tourists but I found two ladies with children digging a trench while three men, presumably security guards, played cards in a very ornate pavilion. Much whiter than the other mosques it has lost the tops from its minarets but there was a stairwell for me to reach the roof.

Like all of the buildings here, the detailed carving was amazing. Hindu craftsmen working on an Islamic building.

I climbed up some very dark stairs in the minaret up to the roof. Time for another video:

And then it was back to meet Khalid at the entrance to the site for a bit of lunch. Time for another thali but this time the photo shows the prices in Gujarati. Very similar to modern western numbers and in fact Western numbers are derived from Indian script via Arabic. Also India was the first place to use the number 0, vital in the decimal system. The numbers depicted are 140, 180 and 200.

Just before we set off for Ahmedabad, time for one more site, Sakar Khan’s Dargah on the edge of town.

More photos from my day in Champaner here

10th Feb 2026

After a breakfast of cornflakes and coffee I packed my stuff and met my new driver for the day who was to take me to the Little Ran of Kutch where I was to stay with the Desert Riders. But on the way I had two major sites to see, both near the ancient Solanki capital of Patan. The first was another World Heritage site, the Rani Ka Vav stepwell. It was built in the 11th century by members of the Solanki dynasty but it was silted over and buried for centuries after floods in the 13th century. It was rediscovered in the 1940s and fully restored in the 1980s. That is why the sculptures look as fresh as they were carved over 1000 years ago. The stepwell is not all that obvious when you enter the site…

The second site was a bit further south near the town of Modhera and aptly titled the Modhera Sun Temple. Built around the same time as the stepwell by the Solankis, it is a Hindu temple but one of the few dedicated to the Sun, Surya (the other more famous one being in Puri, Odisha).

In common with Hindu temples of the period, quite a few raunchy sculptures a bit worn from time.

From here we headed off to our final destination for the day, Zainabad and the Desert Courses lodge.

While travelling through India I always try to identify what crops are being grown. Usually in February in a lot of India you see chickpeas (gram), millet(jowar) and cotton but here I also saw fields of castor oil, cumin and fennel.

On arrival I was met by the boss, Dhanraj as an old friend despite the fact that I had only been in tough with him briefly by email. And in fact in my few days at the lodge he was the perfect host and made my stay hugely enjoyable. Of course I had come for the wildlife and after an afternoon tea, Dhanraj suggested I join the other guests on a evening safari to the Little Ran. I was joined in the jeep by three Aussies and a couple of Italians.

The Little Ran is famous as the last refuge of the Indian Wild Ass and we saw quite a few of them. We also visited a family who were camped out on the Rann to pan for salt. They showed us their small tent and the salt pans. However, we were also there because this family had been putting out a little food near their tent and most evenings a couple of Desert Foxes came to visit. That evening was no different.

Then back to the resort and my “kooba” (hut!) It was actually very comfortable.

11 February 2026

The previous evening we hadn’t actually been to the proper sanctuary, where we had to pay and this is where we were off to the following morning. In typical Indian fashion it wasn’t wholly clear how much we had to pay but it turned out to be 3500Rs divided by the six of us (€5 each) in the jeep. This time the focus was on the birdlife. Again, we weren’t disappointed.

Those are just a few of the birds we saw. For more photos from the Little Ran of Kutch see here

So a fantastic couple of days at the Desert Riders, highly recommended. As it is pretty much in the middle of nowhere, Damraj very kindly arranged for a private bus which runs from Ahmedabad to Bhuj to stop for me, so that was a bonus and that is the subject of the next post in Bhuj and about!