Orcha - Sep End

arijitraja

I am planning to go to Orcha Sep End. Have some Questions and seek some suggestions -
1) Is this a good time ?
2) I would be going from Delhi and some people would be coming from Kanpur. Now I want to leave Thursday night after work and be back by Wednesday morning cos I will have to work on Wednesday. How to go about this ? We plan to see Orcha and one more place (Khajuraho or Varanasi seem to be the only options)... Anyone has some itenarary in to suggest?
Shatabdi is a nice train but then it reaches Jhansi around morning 11. So i am not able to utilise the previous evening and night. Even the people from Kanpur will have same problems i guess.. they will have to reach in the night or start in the morning...
One more thing... From Orcha, can Khajuraho be done in a day ??
Places to stay in Orcha ? I have only heard abt the palace, but it will be too expensive i guess... what are the other options ??

__________________
~~~ www.arijit.org ~~~
~~~ traveloid.blogspot.com ~~~
"India is the cradle of the human race, the birthplace of human speech, the mother of history, the grandmother of legend, and the great grand mother of tradition. Our most valuable and most astrictive materials in the history of man are treasured up in India only!" - Mark Twain

julesa

i can recommend the Fort View Hotel.

Khajuraho is not reasonably doable in one day from orchha.

dilbharatmain

End of Sept great time for Orchha, should be very lush after the monsoon rains.

Many lower end and mid range hotels sprouting up around Orchha, and demand should not be too high end of September, so you should have a choice of options - good rooms fan cooled with attached bath to be found from Rs300 upwards, more for A/C.

I know friends who regularly travel Delhi to Jhansi on overnight train service, for a weekend escape, do not know which train they use, but there are several options I am sure. You may be better to get the Shatabdi Exp. back from Jhansi to Delhi on the tuesday, arriving Delhi around 10pm.

Other places of interest are Datia and also Chanderi which is a wee slice of untouched rural and medieval India. Khajuraho a bit far for a day trip from Orchha, better to do as overnight trip.

arijitraja

Thanks for the information guys,
So that means if I have to include Khajuraho, i leave Orcha Morning, reach by noon... stay there for the night and leave for Orcha back next morning right ? But what i was thinking is is there anything to do in Khaj in the evening ?

Secondly, do i need to book a room in advance or just find out one on the run ? any specific location ?

How far are Datia and Chanderi ?? And whats the mode of commute ?

Cheers
Ari

dilbharatmain

Kia Ora Ari
Have just been reading your blog on the trip to Ladakh and Kashmir, WOW, what a trip, and awesome photos, really would love to do a road trip like that some day...I did go to Leh one year in April, FREEZING, and most of the roads closed by snow so not much moving around, but the flight in and out was awesome.

Re Orchha and around the area. If there are going to be a few of you staying in Orchha, there are plenty of cars available locally for hire at normal rates. Datia is an hour drive away from Orchha. Chanderi is about 2.5 hours, but with many ancient temples to see on the way. It is 4 hours one way from Orchha to Khajuraho - but then you need a good 3 hours to explore the temples there - I guess if you get an early start from Orchha, you could do a long day trip to Khaj and back to Orchha same day. But Khajuraho can be a good place to stay over-night, there are hundreds of hotel/guest house options there. And plenty of options in Orchha too, so booking something in advance I would not worry about - unless you want the Sheesh Mahal Palace which you should book in advance, but that place really overpriced for the facilities these days.

Enjoy your holiday, Orchha/Datia/Chanderi/Khajuraho all beautiful places. Best wishes. Dil (loved the army cussing too - Madarl*nd...I am sure that goes down well in Delhi!)