Best way to reach Chitrakoot?

gianni66

Having to travel from Varanasi to Chitraktot with a quick stop-over in Allahabad, I have the following options, after that I arrive in Allahabad at 12:25:

- from Allahabad take a direct bus to Chitrakoot, it seems there are several buses, but I don’t know the schedule and if I can find a bus travelling after sunset (if I want to spend 4-5 hours in Allahabad);

- from Allahabad take a train to Chitrakoot, departure 19:30 arrival 23:45; quite too late though, and I should also reach the town from the station, which is some km. away;

- from Allahabad take a train to Manikpur, departure 16:30 arrival 18:30; from Manikpur I should then look for a bus to Chitrakoot, I have not found any indication of such connection, and it would also be an evening bus.

It seems that the direct bus from Allahabad can be the best option, any suggestion or experience?

Thanks: Gianni

Jorge Reverter

From Allahabad go by bus to Chitrakoot. From Manikpur you can also go by train to Chitrakot but the train leaves the station quite late, I did it last Nov 2006. The railway station in Chitrakot is not in the town but 5 km away, there are shared big rickshaws to Chitrakot when the trains arrives.

In my opinion best option in Chitrakot is the Madhya Pradesh Bung. in front of the river and the ghats. There is also a Uttar Pradesh Hotel but quite far from the ghats where the life goes on.

Jorge

steven_ber

EDIT - cross post with Jorge (5km...I must have got off at the wrong stop)

I think you're taking a risk relying on train 8631 to get you to Allahabad by 12:25, it starts it's journey in Ranchi some 16 hours before it's due to get to Allahabad, I wouldn't be surprised if it arrived in Allahabad 2 or 3 hours late.

Can't really advise about trains, none look ideal (as your not travelling on a Mon or Wed), so a direct bus from Allahabad to Chitrakoot seems the best option.

Caution is advised when arriving at Chitrakoot train station, the locals are a bunch of thieves and they have no shame as they board the train or put their arms through the bars to steal anything they can see.

Don't make the same mistake I did when trying to get from the train station to Chitrakoot, I thought it was only a km or so, it's no wonder I got a strange look from the cycle rickshaw guy, it was only about 5 kms and 30 minutes later when I saw a sign (at the turn off from the main road) saying 'Chitrakoot 7km' that I realised the mistake, the poor guy was knackered by the time we got there, I felt so guilty that I give him Rs150.

Back the thieving locals, I they were so bad that I caught them on camera, they had no shame at all......

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....serious though, you have to watch your stuff, they're everywhere and they 'raid' the train when it arrives.

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gianni66

Great Steven!! While reading, I was first thinking "Oh, my God, I've never read such a bad sentence about the Indians from Steven... he should have had a very scary experience with them in this place!", and subsequently "But... isn't it too risky to go to Chitrakot alone? maybe I have to reconsider...".

However, I am used to travel in AC classes, so these bloody thieves will have no way to steal my bottle of water!

gianni66

By the way... last year in Haridwar I've risked to loose everything (and become a desperate wandering across the roads of India...) for one of these little thieves... I was taking a picture from the top of a hill where a big temple was, and I didn't mind that I had a bag with coconut and sweets to offer tied to my pocket belt. The little thief arrived in a nanosecond stealing the bag, and also trying to take my pocket belt, with EVERYTHING (money, passport, airplane ticket) inside!


That day I've learnt something more about the "little gorgeous monkeys" in India, especially not to go around with something commestible with me where they are around!

And some days later... climbing the road to Bundi Fort... have you ever been walking one hour completely alone but with a BIG monkey who follows you all the time and stares to you constantly?

steven_ber

Oh yes, there is a really nice walk from the east of Jaipur up the footpath to the Monkey Temple, great views and loads of cute monkeys everywhere, so I took this walk to view the sunset from the top of the hill, but what follows sunset? - darkness, and now I had to walk back down the long dark footpath, those monkeys suddenly didn't look so cute.

gianni66

Back to the transportation issue now!

Steve, you're right about the possibility to have a big delay on the train to Allahabad, I had the same concern checking the schedule (I've learnt to try as much as possible to take trains which start their journey not too far form my station), and I've concluded that the best option is the train 1094 mahanagari Exp, which originates in Varanasi JN and leaves at 11:30 reaching Allahabad JN at 14:40.

In this way I would have however very limited time to spend in Allahabad, so I have maybe to skip this destination and go directly to Chitrakoot.

If I stay on the same train, I can arrive to Manikpur at 17:08, but I don't know if I can find buses to Chitrakot from here (about 30 km.); or I can board a buis from Allahabad going directly to Chitrakoot.

The direct train from Varanasi JN to Chitrakot arrives too late... 14:30-23:45 (and it's also too slow, it would be a 9-hours journey!).

And there is still the 5-km. ride by cycle-rickshaw to add!

steven_ber

I went to catch my Varanasi - Mumbai train last November, it was departing at 15:50, when I got to the platform (about 15:15) there was a Varanasi - Mumbai train in the platform, but it was the Mahanagari Exp, nearly 4 hours late.

If you want an early option, try the following....

Train 2321 departs Mughal Sarai (about 16kms from Varanasi) at 08:30 and gets to Manikpur at 13:30, it starts in Calcutta, but the Calcutta - Mughal Sarai line is more reliable than most.

IF train 2321 gets to Manikpur on time, there is a passenger train that starts from Manikpur at 14:35, getting to Chitrakoot at 15:17.

There's also an overnight option from Varanasi to Manikpur.

gianni66

I've also found the Mughal Saraj options through www.erail.in (which is set to give all the possible solutions also using different stations close to the one you've choosen, I've noticed). It would be a very good possibility to take an early train to Allahabad (trusting that the trains running on this line are faster and travel more on time compared to the ones passing through BSB), spend few hours there and later on a bus to Chitrakoot.

My only doubt is HOW to reach MGS in time in the morning... how early have I to leave? And is it a rickshaw OK for such a "long" distance?

steven_ber

I've heard it's a slow journey to MGS, but I've never tried it myself.

rtandon

Hi,
The direct bus option from Allahabad may be the most suitable option for you.

One more specific thing I would like to mention about Chitrakoot is that you need to pay special attention to the date of your stay in Chitrakoot. I have a friend who visits Chitrakoot every month as a part of his religious schedule. Actually, I was planning to go to Chitrakoot once and he told me not to go esp. on a Full Moon Day as there are a huge number of devotees who come to Chitrakoot to offer prayers on that day, every month (28 days, rather) and the town is overcrowded on that day and also trains towards Chitrakoot are more often than not, late on that day.

Because Chitrakoot is far from railway station, you should ensure that you reach the destination before late night.

Finally - if you need any specific and practical information about the place, send me a msg (and allow time). I'll ask and pass it on to you.

gianni66

Rtandon, thank you for the advice; I've checked the dates of my trip and found that I'll be in Chitrakot on the day of New Moon, so very far from Full Moon. So, I should be safe!

And I'm also concluding that the bus from Allahabad is the best option. I'll try to leave early from Varanasi to take a convenient bus from Allahabad.

rtandon

My apologies. I forgot. It was New moon actually. (in Hindi, we call it Amavasya, the day when there is no moon visible) I mistakenly wrote Full Moon - so you need to be careful..., have the arrangements done and be prepared for crowd. If your dates are 1-2 days before / after then of course it's fine. Also if the dates of your travel fall up to 21-22 Jan, there will be more devotees esp after today 15th Jan.
Some more dates in the coming months to be prepared for crowd are:
7Feb, 11 Feb, 22Feb
6-7 March.

gianni66

Wonderful!! I'll be in Chitrakoot on 7th and 8th March!!

Nevertheless, I have already booked my accomodation at MP Tourism Bungalow, which many have reccomended as the best solution in the village, and also the train from Varanasi to Allahabad.

I am not so scared for the crowd which I can find there, just think that I will be in Varanasi on Shivaratri night. My only concern is for the bus trip from Allahabad, right on 7th March. Do you think that I can have problems on this date, or maybe most of the people will travel the day before?

Thanks in any case for your suggestions!

gianni66

I have contacted the Madya Pradesh State Tourism Development Corporation (MPSTDC) to have some information about the transportation from Manikpur JN to Chitrakot, and I have got the following response:

As per your requirement, Taxi are available easily available at MANIKPUR train Station, or you can travel by MPSRTC buses will be available at BUS STAND MANIKPUR.

So it seems that the most convenient way to reach Chitrakot is to arrive to Manikpur by train (Express train with advanced reservation), avoiding the bus from Allahabad (which could be very crowded on the day of my trip), and take a bus or a taxi from Manikpur directly to Chitrakot village (it should be 30 km. only).