Khajuraho Trip report

EOS

Hi! all

We are just back from a wonderful trip to Khajuraho. Travelled by own car and route followed was Bhopal - Sagar - Chattarpur - Khajuraho. 400 kms one way. Time taken 7 hrs 15 minutes
I had asked about road condition of this route in an earlier thread

Road condition from Sagar to Khajuraho

here is my update to it..

Distance from Bhopal to Sagar is 180 kms and the road is excellent. We started at 8:30 AM from Bhopal and it took me about 2 hrs 45 minutes to reach Sagar with a 15 min break at Raisen. The route is very scenic with picture book senery on both sides of the road...fields after fields of various crops on undulating land ....as if you are driving through golf courses..!!....small huts in the middle of green fields ......a solitary mango tree for shade....just beautiful...

It was 26th Jan on that day and through out the journey we saw our Republic day being celebrated with enthusiasm...Flag marches were being taken out by school children....Flag hoisting and
functions at village choupals and grounds. Took me back in time when i used to take part in these as a school kid...

Once you reach Sagar then there is a bit of confusion...no sign boards....no directions.. i had to ask atleast 5 times the way out to Chattarpur. One has to cross 3 railway crossings and if you are unlucky then you may find all three close like i did on my way back. These crossings are a real challenge of your driving skills....if you come out unscathed then hats of to you. My car had a nasty bang below at the first crossing.

It takes about 20 minutes to cross Sagar since its very crowded traffic is very slow and everybody wants to just walk on the road. Horns are of no use ...probably all are deaf and you feel like getting out of car and pleading them....PLEASE GIVE ME WAY..!!!
You have to ask for Makroni chouraha for road to Chattarpur. I later came to know that there is another way which bypasses these 3 railway crossings and takes you to Makroni chouraha directly. But I am still not sure of this....

Distance from Sagar to Chattarpur is about 165 kms and the road is pretty much OK. Patchwork has been done on pot holes and no where you will find craters on roads for which MP is natoriously famous for.
The road does gets narrow in between and it is there life gets a bit difficult when you are driving your own car. You have to constantly get down the road since approaching trucks and jeeps don't give you side. But it was manageable.

Sagar to Chattarpur took me about 3 and half hours with a break of 30 minutes for lunch. We had packed lunch from home. Stopped the car near a field with a big banyan tree...spread a bedsheet
and enjoyed the lunch with cool breeze. Sort of a picnic....I think holidays are about spending quality time with your near ones....

The landscape changes to dry land and forest in between Sagar and Chattarpur. There are a couple of Ghat sections on this route at which you have to be a bit careful. The jeeps which ply between villages are very recklessly driven.

Chattarpur to Khajurao is about 50 kms and road is good with one side newly laid. It took me about 45 minutes to reach Khajuraho from Chattarpur. The road turns left for Khajuraho from a village called Bamitha. From Bamitha there is a double road to Khajuraho. A word of caution here....this double road especially the left one as you go from Bamitha to Khajuraho has trees, electric poles, right in the middle of the road. More
dangerous are the one foot height concrete stumps of pillars just before Khajuraho. Be very careful at night...
they can rip your car in half.

I reached Khajurho at 3:45 PM in the afternoon. Total time taken 7hrs 15 minutes.

As you enter Khajuraho the five star hotels are in the begining. Then comes the hotels which face the small dry lake. After that there is the main market in front of Western group of temples and umpteen number of hotels and lodges. I checked into Hotel Payal of MP Tourism which is after the western group.
Nice clean hotel with garden and a bit away from the hustle bustle of the market. I generally prefer to stay away from the market.
The rooms were clean, freshly painted , with attached bathroom and 24 hrs hot water supply. Room rent was Rs. 690 for a double room with complimentary breakfast for 2 persons.
Both me and wife like to eat food which is not spicy and is like what we eat at our homes. Also with a kid we prefer non-spicy and homely food. Through out our stay at Khajuraho we ate at Hotel Payal only, and the food was excellent. Some guests were complaining about the service but i did'nt mind. I was in holiday mood and a 10 minute delay in service doesn't make any difference.
We were tired and took a nap of an hour which refreshed us. Went to the market in the evening. Most of the shops are of overpriced handicraft items and clothes which are available anywhere in central and north india. If you cannot stop yourself from shopping there then feel free to bargain hard. A starting price of 1/2 or even 1/3 of the quoted price may be a good start..!!

There is a light and sound show every evening in the western group of temples. The winter timings 6:30 to 7:30 PM
English and 7:40 to 8:40 PM in Hindi. We bought the tickets for Hindi show. The show was mesmerizing with the deep baritone voice of Amitabh Bachhan (bolywood superstar) taking you back in time of Chandela rulers who built these temples. If you want to photograph the temples illuminated in different lights then take a tripod and set it up behind the chairs were people sit. But then you will not be able to focus on the narrative..!! Your next best bet is then to raise the iso setting of your cam, set the lens to max aperture and hope for the best..!!

Next morning we visited the Western and the eastern group of temples. As you enter the western group of temples you are just left awed at the sight of these huge temples surrounding you. The carvings and details are just exquisite. You are compelled to think how much effort would have gone into making these. Carving these massive stones and then placing them one on top of another without the aid of any modern equipments and cranes.....
a herculean effort and truly an engineering marvel. They have survived a thousand years of beating from the extreme weather, armies of invaders, natural calamities.....speaks volumes of what a great civilization we have been.
Temples of Love as they are refferd to are not all about Sex. Yes there are graphic and vivid portrayals of acts of Kamsutra but there are many more sculptures which are equally interesting. Each of the temple stands on a massive platform with a defined architecture. Guides are available who speak all main languages English,German, Dutch, French, japanese..... There are also audio aids available at the entrance. guide books are also available and plaques in english / hindi are there at each of the temple telling about the history and architecture
of that particular temple.

I was sitting on the stairs of one of the temples. My daughter called me and i stood up with my camera bag...
THUD...THUD..THUD....out came 3 of my lense on the floor. I had forgotten to ZIP the bag ...a most common cause of lens damage. I cursed myself and still cursing, but fortunately all three survived with minor bruises..!!

After lunch we decided to check out Pandava falls and caves. Pandava falls are about 30 kms from khajuraho in Panna National Park. The gate entry is further 5 kms from the gate where jeeps for safari go in the park. The fall is half a kilometer from the gate entry. Vehicle entry is Rs.200. However if you can walk then its only Rs.15 per person. We parked the car at the gate and decided to walk. After half a kilometer there are 100 odd steps down which lead you to the fall and the pool infront of it.
Guys believe me don't give this place a miss. Its an amazing place. Eventhough the fall was very narrow because of poor rainfall but the tranquility of the place is something to experience. We were all alone there for an hour and suddenly you are at peace with your self. hear the sound of the fall, the sound of dripping waters on the caves, the amazing sight of pool in middle of nowhere....Peace is what you experience here. I am not sure about the summers whether the fall is there but do visit this place.

Returned in the evening from the falls and decided to checkout the Chandela emporium just after the five star hotels. Most of the stuff was from Rajasthan and boy what an expensive place it was ...even the pricing was in dollars .!! Certainly not for us...fifteen minutes of window shopping and we ran backwards from there.
We were feeling hungry and my daughter was insisting on a pastry. After a bit of search we found a German bakry
run by a Nepali guy. This bakry is just next to Hotel Gautama infront of the lake. We had a Apple Pie and nut cake and it was delicious. I have never eaten an apple pie before so don't take my word for it but it certainly tasted very good . We loitered around in the market for a while then headed back to our hotel. Dinner as usual was good.

Initially i had planned to stay one more day to visit Panna national park in the morning. But with a small kid and
biting cold it was just not advisable to venture out at 6:00 in the morning in an open jeep. So decided to go back
home next morning.

Started back for Bhopal at 10:00 AM. In between packed couple of apple pies and other cakes from the German bakery!!
We Ate lunch at a road side dhaba just before sagar and boy what a lunch it was... Dal Tadka, Baingan (Brinjal) bharta...with tandoori roti....sitting on a manji (bed made from rope) with food on a patiya (wodden plank)....
too good .....Nothing beats the original dhaba stuff....your taste buds are revitalized..!!

Reached safe and sound at 5:00 PM in the evening in Bhopal.

All in all we enjoyed very much.... a welcome break from routine...!!

Thanks guys for reading this ...hope you have not fallen asleep while reading such a long post.

One more thing...Sanchi can also be covered in this trip since its only a couple of kilometers detour for Raisen. Sanchi certainly merits a dekko if your passing so near to it.....


EOS

a couple of pics from the trip

capt_mahajan

Nice report, EOS

And very nics pics

__________________
.
Humpty Dumpty was pushed.
Indiamike moderating team ..ich bin ein oneliner

EOS

thanks captain...

you certainly read fast...!

EOS