Imagine with me….
Getting off the bus in pitch BLACKness- if the high beams of the buses were switched off we wouldn’t have been able to see our hands in front of our face. we took off following the beam- presumably in the direction of the horizon
To step down from the embarkment onto the desert — the light from the mobiles was required.
Dark sand- almost black beneath you and pitch dark above you- except for a smattering of stars . we kept walking- gradually the sand turns grey to lighter and lighter till it turns white ( about 15–20 minutes) . In accompaniment the pitch black sky from turned shadowy with the horizon and land in different hues of grey. so vast was the Rann that the horizon where the sun was to rise turned brighter much faster than the edges which retained their greyness for quite some time. This huge expanse of nothingness ( aptly called the white desert) should have been eerie- but it was beautiful- pristine and untouched- made you feel glad to be alive.
Visualise white sand stretching all around you till the eye can see — sand merging with the sky which turns from black to grey to violet rust and pink and all the hues in between….and the sun rose — a ball of orange -red- a sight to behold. you just wanted to stand still and watch — be one with nature but the honking bus broke the spell — -time to return- could not stand and stare — after all we were just some kms away from the Indo Pak border.
Nevertheless- surface beauty often has hidden depths- while striding confidently on the seemingly rock solid layers of salt, my spouse stepped on a slushy bit and his foot simply sank in. Having no purchase whatsoever- he couldn’t even stop himself from being sucked in- thankfully reflexes kicked in automatically and I pulled him back. Black, oily , dense ooze- sticking to whatever it touched covered the entire foot and trouser edges.
The sea is supposed to be about 4–5 feet below the salt layer-but apparently it is not at some places.