Khamir Guest House, Bhuj

Khamir Guest House, Bhuj  is the last post in my Kutch hotel series. Khami is an NGO which was established after 2001 earthquake. Kutch was a last minute trip for me. Then you may wonder how I found out an NGO to stay with which charged 700 rupees per night in peak season? Part of the credit goes to the internet, it is through searching for homestays on the net, I found Devpur Homestay. Once I turned up there, the owner Mr Krutarthsinh Jadeja planned my entire trip! He recommended Khamir to me.

I stayed there on my last night at Kutch, as I had to take a bus from Bhuj to Ahmadabad, from where I had a flight to Delhi. As I said Khamir is an NGO and they have a handicrafts shop near the guest house. The stuff is good but steeply priced. I actually went ahead and bought a duppata which cost me more than many of my salwar kurtas! And as duppata is pretty gorgeous, I have to get a suit made for it! I can sometimes go bonkers over shopping.

The room, as I said in the video too, was reasonably clean. It was a big room with two single beds. I used both the blankets as the nights used to get chilly. The bathroom could have been a bit more clean but it was OK, nothing to be seriously worried about.

They have a canteen which closes at 5.30 pm. The staff also goes home at 5.30 pm. But some people remain at night, which includes the kitchen staff. I barely managed to pay the rent as the staff was about to leave when I arrived!

There were a bunch of school kids along with their two teachers staying there as well. The kids, particularly girls, had a good chat with me. Two of them could speak Hindi. They belonged to an unconventional school setup where they studied along with helping with household chores as well. They were bright kids.

In the evening I tried to walk around but stray dogs could sense my fear and barked at me like nobody’s business! It was the school boys staying there who chased them away from me.

The dinner was a simple Gujarati fare. The place is far away from the main city and attractions. If I head that way again I would stay at Khamir for its reasonable room rate.

PS. The first picture is of Chhatedi in Bhuj, do check it out.