Madhya Pradesh: Temples, hills, marble rocks, waterfalls, tigers and Erotic Statues.

arkz

This is a long long long post..... but exciting.

Trip log is attached as a PDF file, for those who might want to know distances and timings of road travel, may be of help

Overview: Road trip to Madhya Pradesh, covering temples, hills, rivers, marble rocks, waterfall, volcanic craters, tiger country, Erotic statues and one of unkindest roads of India.

Background: With Diwali approaching, the annual drive itch was gnawing the innards, something had to be planned and done. 14 days of leave and huge Madhya Pradesh beckoning, well that was tempting enough. My eldest son could not join in, his Cambridge exams are on; its me, my ever enthusiastic wife and Nidish, son of 13 (navigator) on this ride. The bookings were done through networked contacts & rates at Indore, Panchmarhi, Jabalpur, Bandhavgarh,Khajuraoho and Bophal, did the route-research thro. friends, TBHP posts, India Mike posts and MPTDC site, everything going green by 22nd.

The truck for the trip, a CRDe Scorpio SUV, we will name him THE WOLT (short for Wide Bolt, that's what comes to my mind when I think of the truck). We removed the last seat; gave a gaping space for luggage, bought 4/5 luggage hooks and a cargo net to tie down the luggage in the back, it was a wise decision, some sections were bouncy as hell.

23-10-2008: The check list of things included, WOLT papers, Hotel confirmation printouts, maps, GPS gear, medicine kit, 12V air compressor (courtesy my friend Joy), tool kit, torch, extension cord with 5 plug points, most hotels have only one plug to spare, (a must carry item), extra batteries for cameras and the usual stuff. This time around we took the addresses of friends there; turned out that the WOLT ensured an event free ride, touch-wood, considering the terrain we went thro., even a puncture could have been a disaster.

24-10-2008: Though we planned to start @ 5am, by the time we got rigged, loaded and kicked off, it was 640. We entered the expressway and exited thro. the Dakor/ Nadiad exit quickly after 63kms in 50 mts, the road thro. Dakor, Godhra was uneventful and smooth. Most people take the Memdabad, Godhra route, but the expressway is much faster in the mornings and tests out the vehicle early on the run, you can gun it to see if the beast is caged properly. We covered 224 kms in 3 hours, pretty good time and crossed into MP and were grossly unprepared for what came out in the shape of roads.

When friends cautioned about MP roads, I took it lightly because the MPTDC guys at Ahmedabad office were emphatic about improvements in roads and many posts at TBHP and India Mike were positive about the improvements. From entry to MP to the next 120 kms, the roads were pot-holed, bouncy as hell, no proper signages and gutted in many places. What I don't understand is the logic of patches of 5-10 kms of velvet like road and sudden moon-scapes for the next many KMS, this is beyond any rational thought; initially I fell right into the trap of speeding up when the good sections starts and fell 3-4 times into bone rattling sections on the turns and slowed down to a resigned 3-2-1-2-3 rhythm of gears every few minutes. There's no way one could avoid them or snake through them, you have to go into the craters, sea-saw thro. and try to stitch the best patch. The truckers were doing crazy stunts, heavy and trying to zig-zag on clear patches. After Jabua I found the local Jeeps were merrily going off the road into tractor tracks on the fields by the side; people were packed like match-sticks in a box, dust raising all around, but no bounces or bone-jarring thuds. We were OK as the windows were up, away from he dust and heat and relatively insulated from the elements, this went on for 25 Kms and the side roads ran out, back to the rattle-roads again.

The landscape from Jabua on was stunning, hillocks after hillocks of green valleys, animals grazing all around, people tending to them and village life chugging on. We stopped every 30 mts for 5 minutes since we had all day long and my left hands and legs were screaming for rest on and off, the stops were well worth every minute, some of the scenes are etched permanently into the brain. There was this ghat section, a ravine on one side and rolling hills all around and a road-side Hanuman temple with a saffron triangle flapping on a post, no other soul in sight; life frozen in a picture- post card!!!!!! Moments like this makes you forget all the pains and perils of the trip.

We roll-on thro. Sardarpur, Dhar, Betma into Indore, Hotel Sri Maya at 2pm after 437kms very tired, battered and looking forward to a well deserved lunch. Check-in, lunch and a short nap for 30 later, we're ready for Ujjan, Mahakaleswar trip. We need to touch 2 "Jyothirlingas" on this route; of the total 12, we have covered 6 and with these two the score would go up to 8, taking us nearer to the target of 100% coverage. The 60kms+ road up is pretty smooth, toll road and well marked but full of truck traffic. We make it in 90mts to find the temple blissfully empty, they said nobody would come around Diwali time; 3 of us, the priests and the security staff and a couple of other devotees put together there were about 25 people in the comple, bliss!!!!!! We did a slow, peaceful Darshan and sat on the outer perimeter of the temple listening to the coca phoney of the now settling down birds on the banyan tree. I sat and stretched against the wall, time stood still, my brain went into alpha waves, muslin of peace slipped down from somewhere, and I nodded off to sleep without realizing; when I opened my eyes, I had switched off for 40 minutes!!!! Felt like I had lost 40 minutes and gained 40 years; my wife and son did not want to wake me up, they were happy exploring around and then saw me awake. The ride back to Indore was OK, most people driving on high-beam and aggressively, gave them a bit of same medicine with the WOLT's fog lamps and all of 100V barrelling down was no contest. We hit our hotel around 8PM; their restaurant serves great food and their bakery nearby makes melting cakes; a full day of action, we hit bed early at 9 PM.

25-10-09: Wake up late, had a light agenda for the day only Omkareswar trip, back to hotel and rest. Lazy b'kfast around 10am and start @ 11am. Hotel has nice system, without being asked, the WOLT is washed clean, their taxi drivers very patient to explain routes, distances and details; great service all around. The Destinator GPS surprisingly has sketchy details in and around Indore, was wrong and way off track in many places, they need to re-track MP afresh.

The toll road up to Barwah, SH22, 60 kms, including the 10 kms steep ghat section was well maintained, smooth roads and signages great. We cross the Narmada river to the Omkareswar turn-off to the let, take the tree lined beautiful 13km green stretch following the river. Reach the local toll gate and were accosted by a group of 6 Pundits who offered their services for whatever we will give them, so they said. We fix the deal for Rs.50/- and asked a young one to jump in, he shows us the way to the parking and takes us thro. the new bridge, thro. the streets of usual temple town shops and up thro the steps to the temple. Again light crowd, they said transportation to this place is poor and only those who know and are stuck to the place take trouble to come, except on special days when the whole local population descends here. We were shown in thro. a side door, courtesy the Pandit, were taken very near to the Jyothirlinga, had a very satisfying Arthi and pooja and stepped into the outside. Our Pandit lead the way to a corner of the temple, told us to sit down and started chanting "Rudra and Chamaka" (had learned it way back in my childhood courtesy a Shiva temple in our neighbourhood, used to get lovely Kheer dripping with honey), 5 more I met near the toll gate joined him, the money sucking trap was sprung. I let them run their routine, all 6 started chanting loudly, when I joined them; that rattled them plenty, told them to stop after 30 minutes and got up. They demanded Rs.500/ for the effort and I asked them 250/- for my part and stuck raised my voice enough to get the attention of the crowd that gathered. The Pandits realized the game was getting sticky this prey can sting; one of them told my quietly they'd settle for 100/-, my wife said let's not spoil a good day for 50/-, I settled for 100/-. Was kicking myself for a long time for having fallen for such a beautifully crafted game after so much temple experiences and hearing stories from all around; well one more lesson learned.

Caution for those visiting Omkareswar, don’t' take any Pandit around here, the process is simple, walk up, cross the bridge, visit, buy flowers etc., full thali costs 25/- and if you feel like it, put something on the Bhandar, keep the Pandits away.

About the temple, one can see it across the river clearly, the spires are what catches, its surrounded by Narmada, you can take a boat trip across from the 3 ghats. You have to climb up to the deity in contrast to going way down in Ujjain. Somehow, felt very restless in contrast to Ujjain, maybe the Pandit incident was the trigger, place had a hungry look in contrast to the contented air of Ujjain. My impressions could be pretty prejudiced due to the setting, incidents and the very very hot day, just wanted to share what I felt. On the way back, I complained to the lone police man at the toll gate about the Pandits, he said loudly he's scared of them, they gang up on him!!!!!!!!!! What a story-teller!!!!!!!!!

Hotel Gopal Midway, on the banks of the Narmada, just before the bridge spins out decent roti's, sabji's, dal and rice pn an economic menu. Nice photo spot and a well-oiled-joint all around, saw lots of cars / buses stopping for food here. We were hungry and the food tasted great.

26-10-08: When we discussed with drivers @ Hotel, they were emphatic about the route to Panchmarhi from Indore, through Bhopal, Hoshangabad; they cautioned, don't even think of the Nimavar Highway / Kannod road. We discussed the pros and cons amongst the 3 of us and took a vote, should we risk the bad route, we had all day, a SUV and what's the fun of doing what everyone does !!!!

We started @ 745, stocked from the bakery knowing facilities on the way are non-existent, the GPS went crazy and was mostly showing our position in the middle of nowhere, not roads on it!!!! This is the Indore-Nimavar Highway (no-way more or less) and grinded through some of the most rubber-hostile roads ever run by the WOLT. Took 40 minutes to reach double chowki, 30 kms; another 70 kms to Kannod took 90 mts, Kategaon, another 20 kms took 30 mts, so you can well imagine the condition of the roads. Being forced to do 40 kms averages for hours is the ultimate torture!!!!!!!

The road was mostly single track, lots of gravel on both sides and deep rut-holes in between. In between, you can see patches of double track and gain broken down, buses, jeeps, bullock carts, cattle and trucks clinging on to whatever tarmac is left, only when it comes to a bullied head-on would anyone go off the road to give side. Going off the road means a full-stop, change gears and grind on, we could hear regular thuds of flying stones on the under-chasis and flying stones from other vehicles hitting the body and the nuts and bolts of WOLT straining with every sway. Twice I grinded my differentials thro mud, was driving slow and had to stretch my driving skills, the WOLT gave growled enthusiastically, the power of the caged beast flowing strong and biting, never missing a beat. From Kannod the road improved, we took a local intell @ Kathelgaon, the best road is thro Harda, means 50 kms more, but was well worth the effort. From Harda on till Hoshangabad, it was 97 kms of farming roads, smooth surface, you would be tempted to rip, but better not, the twisting roads were full of cattle, appearing on blind curves right in the middle and unmoving. In one of the curves, I was doing about 90, a heard of buffalos were on the side, I had ample space to go thro the right edge and did not decelerate; one of the calfs jumped right in front, the left fender hit it with all of 2500 kgs @ 90 kms, the calf went flying into the field nearby, didn’t stop for fear of the local people ganging-up on me but saw on the rear view mirror the calf getting up. After 10 kms we stop to inspect the damage to the car, fortunately everything looked in tact. After this hit, I was pretty cautious with cattle, when I saw them, gave them full respect and slowed down as much as possible.

We reach Pipariya, the base station before the hill climb to Panchmarhi at 2pm and have lunch at the only decent hotel here, Alka. Good, clean basic food, fill up with diesel, 2/3 reliable pumps here, off for the climb up, pretty good road from hereon till the entrance gate where you need to pay up for the vehicle and occupants for the number of days, need to also preserve this token for on the way out they check this slip and let you go. We reach MPTDC Hotel Glen View and get into the cottage on the far left corner. The place is chock a block with Gujarat tourists, most people we saw had come by train and hired local taxis from Bhopal or Hoshangabad and were amazed we had driven ourselves all the way from Gujarat. The food is Ok, but the service is good and there's an exceptionally resourceful Gardner / Mali who will do you bidding including procuring local hill products at an economic price. The hotel guys fixed up a gypsey for the next day @ Rs.1000/- for the entire day next day, including the evening climb up to Duphgarh.

27-10-08: Panchmarhi sight-seeing is divided into 2 sections, into the forest area where you need to take a guide on a gypsay car and the non-forest area. We go to their local office, register and take a guide. The Pandav Caves are first, a long climb on the hot sun, worth a climb to see the sights down below, took about 45 mts. Next on is the Rajat Prapat Big fall watching point, a hard trek of 2 kms down, down and down, very taxing; the trek is worth it, you can see a beautiful valley and a waterfall which falls about 300 feet down. We trek into the forest thro a stream to see a series of 5 falls and again a hard climb up to the road point; its 1 pm and we let off the driver and guide for a lunch break till 3 pm.

Sharp @ 3 the driver/guide team wake us up, we were pretty tired with the hard trekking and go for the next phase of Bee fall and Duph Garh. The route to Bee Fall and duph garh is full 4X4 track, we reach Beefall (waterfall creates sound of hoards of bees) to find the place full of people, for a change. The waterfall itself drops about 200 feet to the bottom, lots of people take bath there. We drop the plan to the bottom, takes 45 minutes one way and 1 kms down through rocky terrain, we'll miss the sunset @ Duph Garh. Instead we spend time on the top of the stream which has small falls all around. Take off shoes, dip your feet and just chill for 45 mts and watch people / children taking bath there, perfect for unwinding, one can spend a whole day here reading a book or just go to sleep on the shades and rocks.

The drive up to Duphgarh (highest point in Satpura range) is throu a deep nalla, the river had dug deep like grand canyon, only here its about 5 feet wide the river 100 feet down, another wonder of nature. The whole landscape is dominated by this huge 300-400ft raising structure of sandstone facade in the shave of a 5 faced serpent called "Naghfani". There's a sunrise point too which offers a valley view to Panchmarhi and on the opposite side a sunset point with lots of mountains in the back drop, deep down and all around its thick jungles. Lots of people waiting for the sunset on the steps made for that purpose, our guide says there's a bonus waiting and takes us to the edge of the mountains with tall guard rails; 2 bisons have come out grazing about 2000 feet below, we can see it clearly in our zoomed cameras, I some shots using the guard rails as the tripod, a couple of them come out OK in the fading light. The sunset is an awesome sight there, something to be experienced than explained. There's the mad scramble back to Panchmarhi by all the Gypseys, there were about 20, all jostling for precious space on the narrow mountain down roads.

The guide says goodbye, we fix him for the next day too, to show us around till lunch time, the driver takes us to this shop selling honey, shilajith (a popular aphrodisiac!!!!) and other hill produces, Jain Ayurvedic Shop, huge crowd, I sit and watch some slick selling, you have to hand it out to those guys, very good at selling snake oils. We also buy honey, some rub-oils for rheumatic joints for our parents for mementos sake, pretty expensive. The car drops us off @ Glen View.

28-10-09: Plan for the day is to cover other spots on WOLT and by lunch time leave for Jabalpur, 300 kms away, it was good we made this decision, otherwise we would have missed out one of the most spectacular spots of Panchmarhi, not many people highlight this place, Reechhgarh ( evolved from English Ridgegarh).

First stop @ Para Sailing point, Rs.500/- for two, wife and son take the ride, you are harnessed up helmets, knee-guards and gloves on to the chute, when the gypsey starts moving you will have to start run a couple of steps and then the chute lifts you up 100-150 feet, the gypsey picks up speed, runs for 3 kms (this clear strip in the forest is acquired for an airport) and slows down, you come down and land on your feet, exciting 5 minutes for the flyers. This wish completed, we move to the next exciting place, Ridgegarh, not to be missed at all. We trek up 500 mtrs into some raising sandstone ridges in the middle of the forest, the guide takes us down thro the huge rocs to a cavern, there are many caves inside here, all strangely clean, no bat smell, guide says they don't like sandstone!!!

Then we walk down into a huge cavern surrounded by towering rocks, sandstone behemoths, many curves beautifully smoothened out hollows like the ones at Grand Canyon, many of them layered, you can see years and years of earth evolving if you look closely at the layering; it was amazing watching these at close range, I stood watching the magic of nature with mouth agape!!!!!! The most surprising element was many of the curves could have been made only by flowing water!!!!!!!!!!! Flowing water at 3000+ feet above MSL!!!!!! The guide said this was made by SEA water when the continent was under water!!!!!! Imagine the Indian sub-continent being under 3500 feet of water, …. GROSS !!!!

Even if you miss everything else, don't miss the Ridgegarh. Incidentally many scenes from the film "Ashoka" are shot here. Try as I might, I could not get more details about this place, except sketchy details from people, I think this deserves more attention and spotlight, it would be interesting if anyone has information into the formation of the Ridges.

Next on call is the Mahadhav temple, 12 kms away, 11 hairpin bends and some ghat driving. Another trek of 300 mtrs takes you to the Gupt Mahadhav temple, a narrow cave of 30 feet long and 2 feet wide, you have to go in sideways, here's where Lord Shiva went in when chased by a Demon and became a serpent and disappeared, it's an experience to go in there and see the small Shivling and talk to the Pandit. Then walk up to the Mahadhev temple, a huge cave in a very foresty setting with water dripping through the rocks throughout the year, very primitive and original looking set-up, worth a see. On the way back to town, Priyadarshani Point, named after Late Mrs.Indira Gandhi, is another valley view, if you're up to it, another point called Handyco, a valley view point. By this time we had valley views up to the gills and some more and tell our guide to take us to the last point, Jadha Shankar cave.

We drive thro town to the parking place to the cave temple, the sun's burning hot, I find this empty bench on a tea shop on the shade, tell my wife and son to go do the Darshan and lay down on the bench. This again was one of the most satisfying moments of the whole trip, just lying down on the bench, listening to the MP3 songs softly slithering from the back side of the shop (I ended up buying the CD for Rs.25/, a lovely collection of old and new hindi songs), had 2 chais and had the would to myself for 45 minutes before my family came back to force me away from my shangri-la. The samll pleasures of life sometimes last the longest......

We part with our guide and go back to town for lunch @ Garden Restaurant, its at "0" of Panchmarhi, near Glen View, open, decent and economic food with clean bathrooms.

2 days are grossly inadequate for still virgin Panchmarhi, once the toll roads open up, this place is going to get raped. This is a trekkers heaven with so many trails to follow, so many falls, pools, rivulets, caves, rocks to explore, a true nature lovers paradise. Rajath Prabath and around 1 day, Bee fall and around 1 day, Duph Garh and around 1 day, Ridgegarh and around 1 day, Gupth Mahadhev, Mahadhev and around 1 day and sundries 2 days, there you have a 1 week plan, truly unwinding.

Start @ 130 pm, check-out at the entry point and downhill till Matkuli, reach there at 220 and take the right turn out thro the toll gate around 3, the next 100 kms was one of the most beautiful drives of the trip, both sides lush sugar-canes crops in full bloom, every village we passed through at 20-30 kms intervals dressed up, the Diwali mood still on, houses painted and village fairs be-decking the side-walks, truly India out and shining. We chose this route SH 22 from Matkuli to Jabalpur runs parallel to NH 12, almost the same distance, by-passes Karali and Narshimpur and Joins NH12 near Shahpura. We had almost 7 hours before sundown and wanted to see country side and life fully which the smaller state highways offer which is lost out on GQ's/ 6 lane roads and NH's, we were truly rewarded, road was smooth 80%, signages decent, toll gate guys gave accurate information and was a bounty in country life and landscape. For those having time, this would be the road to take though I reckon NH12 would be faster by an hour. We hit shahpura around 530, bad roads for 35 kms from here and reach our MPTDC hotel Caltury residency @ 630, had to wrestle with the city traffic. Due to Diwali, the hotel was short staffed, service lacking and the available staff chasing whatever tips they can corner and visibly drooling at the sight of anything that resembled a wallet!! The rooms were good, we had the A/C and fan off, still the contraption made a noise throughout like a jet engine; it was like sleeping inside a 737!!!!!!!!!!!!

29-10-2008: The visit to Bhedaghat / Marble rocks was the sole purpose of staying @ Jabalpur, MPTDC resort @ Bhedaghat overlooking Marble rocks was booked out and so we were forced to stay 30KMs away in the messy city. Had a leisurely b'kfast, not good compared to Panchmarhi and left @ around 945am, bad roads for 30 kms by the time you reach the parking lot near the waterfall, Dhuandhar it was 1115 AM. Park and secure car and walk the 2 kms to the waterfall. The walkways are well maintained, clean and no menace from hawkers, beggars or touts, the sidewalk shops are worth a try for marble trinkets.

What we found interesting and different are names being engraved on soft marble, Rs.5/- per letter, negotiable. They make beautiful, engraved, pure-white, soft marble plaques with names which friends & relatives would cherish, we ordered about 15 pieces on the way at a bargain price to be collected 2 hours later. We found it had a much bigger impact on friends at Ahmedbad when it was presented, it's so personalised and different, would be worth picking up there.

On a hot day, you need to backpack soft drinks and lots of water, a cap a must, for near Dhuandhar you'd get fried plenty. You can hear the fall 1 kms off, one can sit and watch it whole day in a shade. The approach, railing and platform over the fall is done pretty nearly, you can get up close and personal with it, open your mouth and drink in lots of spray!!!! It was a mesmerizing sight, seeing tonns of Narmada water thundering 30 feet down in white fury. Down stream it goes thro. the marble rocks, cutting deep and wide over centuries of tonnage writing natures white poetry. People do all kinds of crazy
stunts, throw coins / notes (!!!) into water, jump in to take the sacred bath and tempt wicked fate bathing so near the fall. Though there are guards to ward off crazies, we found adventurous ones going close too the brink challenging fate. The local boys / girls / ladies / gents dive into water soon as money is thrown into water, its a sight worth seeing.

We walk back after shooting pictures, seeing the people around and walk back to the vantage point of the marble gorge on the fall side. It's a long, hot climb but not to be missed, great photo location. We had spend almost 90 mts without realizing how time flies and walk back to collect the marble plaques and secure it in the car. We ride out to the other side of the town, Panchavati from where boats take you thro the marble rocks. Parking there is chaotic, we generate a slot and walk down to the ghats, you'd find all kinds boat-deals there, Rs.300/- powered ones for 5 people, Rs.35 per head, 10-15 ppl, row-boats and ones with a canopy for Rs.500/-. We sat and watched the scene for 20 minutes to see what's the take like, talk to some people getting off boats after the ride and decide for the 15-20 seater row-boat which is best. It has no top to obstruct your view, it would be slower and the rowers are famous for their hilarious running Sahari of the rocks, a wise decision, we found their poetry in Hindy very good and entertaining and had the occupants rolling in no time.

The ride thro. the marble-rocks is a "once-in-a-lifetime-must" and leave you dazed at the grandeur of nature’s power. You can see white, blue, yellow and many other colours, the guide pointed out spots where film "Ashoka" was shot, where many old hindi film stunt scenes were shot and showed many natural sculptures. There was this Gold fish shaped stone, a rock with 3 distinct faces, a Nandi shaped hillock in the middle of water and many others. We went up, I think about 2 km upstream and turned around. On the return we found many small boys on top of the rocks, almost 100 feet up, begging to jump for Rs.10/-, would need some nerve to jump off, its another sight to be seen, you just wave your hand and them, they jump and come up to the boat for the money, we had 3 jumps. There was this deep section, a boy was not a good swimmer but crafty, he threw a tube, jumped in and swam on the tube, took the money from us.

By the time we finish the ride, its 3 PM, we're hungry and the only place nearby MPTDC Marble Rocks. They churned out great Roti, Subjji, Raita, Pappads, Salads and white gulab jamun to top it all, tasted like honey, we were very very hungry. It would be nice to book in here, stay and explore the entire place; the rooms we checked out looked very good, the food and service tasted good, should check out economic and fine.

We take slow ride back to hotel @ Jabalpur and chilled out in front of the TV and finish with an equally slow dinner; the entire hotel had 3 groups, us, a group from Gujarat 15 people, another big group of about 20-25 people. We kept on meeting one group from Surat on the road towards Bandhavgarh and Khajuraho in their 3 hired Innovas,

30-11-08: From hereon, we're treading relatively new territory in terms of information. Could not get detailed info. on route from Jabalpur to Bandhavgarh, yes the maps, general directions are available, but not about road conditions, turn-offs and authentic first-hand account. I was a little apprehensive about this stretch and had kept the entire day for the 200 km odd run through what I have heard as rough roads.

Our booking was at Mugli resorts, Bandhavgarh; we called their Jabalpur office for directions; they said it's easy, take NH7, reach Salimnabad, turn right, ask for Chandiya Village and from there you'd easily reach Bandhavgarh, there'd be some forest road, nothing to worry, you'd enjoy the drive!!!! Looked easy enough on the telephone.

Start early @ 830, tried the track on GPS, it showed the road thro., Khatni, Umariah and Bandhavgarh, and many secondary roads. The NH 7 surface till
Siyora is OK, sections rough surface, single track, lots of truck traffic; 46 kms took 1 hr and the right turn off Junction @ Salimnabad @ 69 kms can easily be missed, but for the GPS, we would have missed it. Soon as we turned off, we ran into a full gravel 5 kms section till we hit Salimnabad Rly station gate, caught for 15 minutes, 8 more KM and we reach Gharvara forest post. The next 40 kms drive was thro one of the most deserted forest roads I've ever driven, miles and miles of forest road, narrow in places, the trees swallow you up, twisty most of the way, only 2 villages for the entire 40 kms, we saw only 4 jeeps in 40 minutes, 30 kms. There are no facilities, two T junctions where you have to take a take a call and turn, no signages!!!!!!! "Grotesque" sums up my feeling of the stretch, it was scary waiting in the dead silence, waiting for someone to drive by was eerie; finally we took directional turns with the help of the GPS compass towards Umariaya and away from Katni, calls turned out right for we asked a cow-puncher after one T turn and asked for Chandiya and ensured we're on track. Getting stuck on this stretch could be dangerous, a run in the dark equal to PSYCHO 12.

After 135 kms @ 1115 am we reach the T junction, left goes to Katni and right to Umariah; this is NH78 that goes to Chhatisgarh, another horror story. From Katni till the border this is being made, Katni to Umariah 70 kms would take 1 Hr+ of aggressive driving, every 1-2 kms a culvert is under construction, you have to crawl on 10 kmph here, 35 kms took about 45 mts, roads have deep run-offs and truck traffic pretty heavy. Around Chandiya Gao we search for Diesel, and end up at a BP off Umariah towards Bandhavgarh, we need not have worried, there are bunks @ Bandhavgarh. The road for the next 7 kms is full sliding gravel, fit for 2nd/3rd gear and very bumpy and dusty, for the next 22 kms, its again mostly pot holed, its better to run off the road till the check post @ Bandhavgarh where we check in the details. We search for Mugli resorts and enter into full off-road country thro. The sides of a canal, through tracks gypsys have made on the land.

The approach to Mugli resort is a wild train and we were scared of getting stuck on the loose mud, having to drive thro. this section and seeing the gypsy drivers negotiate off-roading, I'm surer now to coax the WOLT through tough roads. The resort was better than we expected, a/c cottage for the 3 off us with a sitting room, running hot water. The manager Suresh ensured everything went like clock-work, they are in operation for about 10 years, lots of foreigners and are service minded. We found that throughout our 3 days of stay, they took care of out of turn requests too, individualised food where possible in the lunch and breakfast packs for the safaris, we paid up happily the hefty 23K bill for the package, 25% more during the peak season. The deal was all meals, stay, 2 safaris per day on day one and day 2, all fees included, no sharing of Gypsy except for the Fort climb up with another family; we found out later we have paid much less then many others who were looted in other properties, some of them have paid 50K for 2 people for 4 safaris for a similar deal. Anyway, this is an expensive time to go, better to avoid during Diwali.

A little bit about Bandhavgarh WLS, most people go here ensured of a tiger sighting, (myth No.1). 440 Sq.Km of park has the highest tiger concentration per sq.KM compared to 940 sq.km of Kanha, mostly sal, bamboo, grasslands with streams. The low lying Talav area, perennially watered by Charan Ganga is about 25 sq. KM, from where the main entry is made has historically given the most sightings, that too in April/May months when water bodies dry up all over Bandhavgarh, tigers stroll down near water bodies and stay put for long hours offering photo ops. All photographers and serious animal lovers flock here in summer, sure of a sighting, stifling heat can be intimidating, only the most committed spend more than 2 days. The guides say original count of 45 tigers in Talav has come down to 35 or so, many of them have escaped out of the reserve and are seen on and off in other areas, even on the roads!!!!!! During peak seasons, the touristy crowd is more, they don't have the patience of serious animal lovers, any sighting is a bonus, from the din I saw its a surprise you expect to see any animal. So if you are planning to come in December to see a tiger, forget it, historically lowest sightings during December due to the noise from parties, a tiger is not a party animal. Also avoid all tourist seasons, if you want to enjoy the drive thro the forest and want to see other animals, its fair game, you'd get plenty of that type of excitement.

Our guide told us a male tiger marks about 15-20 sq. km perimeter, allows 3-4 females and cubs in the area, Talav is reported to have 1 male called B2, 3 females and 3/4 cubs, quiet grown up now. It's only in the summer, this rule is broken where the perimeter shrinks, each male stakes out a waterhole with his clan. Effectively, other than summer, you have 20 sq. km of forest and about 7-8 tigers to chase; the odds of sighting one in such a tick jungle is a game of chance.

This Diwali season on, the forest officials have restricted entry thro Talav Gate to 45 (last December they had let in 150 !!!!) opened up a new 25 sq.km, 10 km down called Magdi gate and one more, so they are operating 3 gates now. Your best change of seeing more animals is in Talav, animals are used to people there, Magdi and the new one are virgin, animals bolt at the slightest sound but are wild and jungly. One has to register at the Talav Gate, take a compulsory guide and only gypsys are allowed, this season on they have started allowing diesel 4X4, latest registered vehicles, I think 2007 regn. onwards, you need prior permission, vehicle will be inspected and emission checked; we saw 2 of Taj's huge Tata truck like 4x4 diesels doing rounds including up in the difficult fort road.

The gates open @ 0630am; we are ready at the reception at 6, breakfast is packed and ready, you need to be rigged with warm cloths including gloves, temp was around 7 down, we were prepared. Safari time is 0630 to 1030 and 0230 to 530, best chance of sighting is early in and late in the evenings, as the sun goes up your chances of sighting a tiger goes down, lazy cats stay out in the cool shades. We reach Talav Gate and had a disappointment in waiting, the first 45 gypsy permits thro. Talav are over, we got the Magdi section. We drive the 10 kms to the gate and take entry and have the first Sambar sighting on our left, this one was wild, nose aflare, ears cocked and looking straight at the gypsy, when we started moving, it took 3-4 bounding leaps, covered 300 meters of ground in 10 seconds, took a running 6 feet leap over the track and disappeared, that one bolt was worth the ride. We saw dears, sambars and a wild boar but no tigers, the guide said they sighted one yesterday but only a flash. We reached the spot where the elephants are held, in the middle of the jungle, if the tiger is sighted then one can hire an elephant for Rs.100/- per person, elephants can go very near to the tiers and can traverse where gypsys cannot. They were making huge Rotis for the elephants, elephants eating rotis indeed, that was news to us; seeing elephant food we were hungry and finished our b'kfast there. In Madgi sector there were about 15 gypsys at the elephant place. We finished the ride by about 1030 and realized fully, sighting a tiger is going to be like a lottery and resolved to enjoy the jungle ride and not expect too much. We had lunch, relaxed in our rooms for a while, had lunch @ 130 pm and waited for the Gypsy to pick us up for the next safari at 230pm.

We got entry thro the Talav gate, our expectations were not high, we have seen so many gypsys, logically tigers should be stupid to show up. Each run inside is about 40-50 kms, half way points are for breakfast or stopovers at the elephant place, and then the run back. The track is rough, hilly, rocky, streams and a mixed fare, gypsys allowed in almost all places, except the hill climb where they specify the 1.3 L, MPFi Gypsy. We saw the usual deer, sambar, birds, old pugmarks on the tracks and waited for the call in many places. Everyone kills their engine and wait for 'the call', sounds other animals make when they spot a tiger, the guides and drivers are supposed to recognize the call, I wonder if they do, I could spot the hoof /pug marks on the sand by leaning out from the gypsy before the guide or identify the calls by the 3rd run when the engines are killed!!!!! There were many false calls, learning experiences.

It was 0430 pm, nearing the end of our run when we spotted fresh pug marks on the sand going to the watering hole called Sita Mandap, we lost the track on the rocks and got 2 calls, waited with baited breath to see nothing. Just when we were about to give up, 5 pm and returning back to the gate we got one loud call of a Sambar (may he be blessed and not become cat meat) and rolled slowly towards the sound, 2 other gypsys were parked 500 meters away on the track, with us was one more and we were about 4 cars to spot this big male called B2 walking 200 meters away from us, the engines were killed and everyone was waiting with racing hearts. B2 turned parallel to the track, walked thro the bamboos, rubbed his legs on them for 5 seconds and continued. People were so excited, they were whispering all around, B2 paused irritated and quickened his pace, came out into the open ground now, stood and gave a fleeting glance to the gypsys and decided not to cross the road, I think. If we had been more patient and silent he would have given Darshan for 3-4 minutes more and crossed. The drivers started the car, it was nearing gate closing time and they had to rush the next 10 kms, penalty for missing deadlines heavy. B2 walked for 50mtrs more, smelled up a tree and disappeared into the jungle.

URL of Youtube video : http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=jzyYnT_blR8

There it was, all over in 3 minutes, seeing ALMIGHTY, what every body wants to see, what drives people 1000's of kms / from all over the world to see, a bounty offered on a platter when we least expected it. We were truly lucky, we checked at the gate on all 4 safaris and with the guides, about 5% people actually had sightings this season, we were the few chosen ones, whatever comes next is a bonus. End of a very satisfying day, sense of fulfilment, what we saw seemed like a B52!!! A big high, we showed the photos to the huge crowd that flocked around our digicam and still cam, the foresters encouraged us to show it, that was one hell of a high, showing our prize, we could see many green eyes!!!!!!!!!!!!

The next day early morning safari was the usual, we entered thro Talav gate and reached the half way point had breakfast. 3 gypsys had sighted a female far off, the Mahouts came back from the jungle said the tigress "Kill Mara" and that's the end of the story. When the tiger kills, nobody is allowed to go disturb them, only wait nearby to see if they emerge. The guide said a tiger will keep near its kill for 2 days, come out to drink water and sighting would be difficult. The day was spent on false calls near the kill site.

We fixed the fort ride @ 2 PM, this time the gypsy had to be 4X4, MPFI 1.3 L and relatively new, the road dangerous and slippery. In fact we had to wait near Talav gate till Mr.Pandey, the new DFO, came and joined into the party, he sat in one of the gypsys which needed clearance for this track, he wanted to see the skill of the driver, only 5 gypsys are allowed per day on this track. Our driver was a veteran, we were 2 gypsy from Mugli Resorts, another family form Pune, 12 of us and lunch packed up on the car. Driving on the steep winding climb need experience, stopping in any of those climbs or loosing momentum a disaster, for sure the car would slide back and anything can happen. On many upturns and steep climbs the 4X4 had wheel spin and burned rubber, but bit on. Even on my popular rally days, back with the carb gypsys, we had not done terrain like this, full marks on for the Gypsy, there's no other vehicle which could have bit into those roads with grace like this one, this one is the king of the mountains.

The Fort has a functional temple, some valley view points and more ruined temples. We had lunch up there and were told not to wander alone to take snaps, a tigress lives up there with 2 cubs and has been know to attack people. That was enough... I used the zoom and ensured to be within hollering distance to humans!!!! The ride back was equally slippery, more dangerous, slipped down twice, but clever use of gear and brake brought us back safe. On the way back, we saw a flash crossing our path into the thickets, the driver and the guide stopped and said it's a leopard, all I could see was a haze of dust thro the bamboo trail, my son said he saw it clearly and so did another passenger, happened too fast.

The evening safari was another bum-ride, no sightings though a couple of calls around the kill site excited people, there were a lot of disappointed people that day. We told the driver to take us up another track towards the "Sesha shaya" a 1000 year old 35 feet statue of Lord Vishnu and from where the river, Charan Ganga flows into Talav forest. That was worth the 45 mts of detour, the spot up the hillock and seeing Seshashaya was great. End of tiger trail, next day we head off towards Khajurao in search of temples, erotic statues and waterless falls.

You’d find many Gypsys have DL registration, procured and driven from Delhi. Our fort driver drove it all the way from Delhi with another friend, started @ 4 am and reached Bandhavgar at 7 pm, almost non-stop.

02-11-2008: There’s as much confusion about to road to take from Bandhavgarh to Khajuraho as the one from Jabalpur to Bandhavgarh, details sketchy, no first-hand-account about roads, so many suggestions, so many alternatives. The best bet is to ask the local taxi drivers who do the stretch from Delhi to Bandhavgarh taking foreigners thro the regular circuits. The owner of the Mugli Resorts, Mr.Kamal was available, an ardent traveller himself, he had just brought 15 Greek inbounds and said the shortest route and the best route is thro. Kithouli, Maihar, Unchehara, Dhanera, Nagod, Bhimmitda, Khajurao; that was useful info, the GPS could not find the section from Maihar to Nagod, this is a new section of road.

Drive from Bandhavgarh till Kithouli junction, 31kms, too about 1 hour, check out from the forest post. Good surface, lots of turns, unmarked bumps on the thick forest road, when you slow down, you can see hoof marks of dears and other animals on the road edges, night driving could be tricky, exciting during day time. Barahi is a busy village town here, after the toll plaza, the road for 5-7 kms takes a turn for the worse, they’re building 2 new bridges over rivers, one can see it has been a difficult task thro difficult terrain, the beauty of the landscape was stunning, had to stop for 10 minutes just to see this temple on the side of the river, animals grazing and children playing all around; reminded me of the feature sections of National Geographic, felt lucky to be able to travel, see and enjoy Incredible India.

We have some much domestic, I sometimes wonder why people spend so much more money to go abroad, without finishing what’s available at the door-step. There’s Athirapally in Kerala, one of the biggest falls in Asia, the marble rocks in Jabalpur, Rane Falls in Khajuraho (own grand canyons) many tiger resorts in MP, lovely country sides throughout and other innumerable marvels waiting to be seen. This is just one strain of thought, I respect those who travel out, so don’t jump on me 

We pass the Miahir Birla cement factory gates, enter town and take a couple of confusing right, left turns and somehow miss the Unchehera –Nagod road, reach inside Satna, loosing 45 mts and doing 15-20 kms. The locals say, this whole section roads were just single road tracks some time back, the road thro the Ghats before Maihar has opened up the country to tourist traffic from North down. Nagod to Panna, 60 kms is one of the flattest country, sprinkled with forest and a very different experience than anything we have done before. There’s sparse local traffic, only long distance taxis with tourists, the road has a red hue everywhere in this region; the mud and gravel has a red tinge everywhere, giving it a Mars-like tinge!!! We reach Bhimita, 253 kms @ 130 pm, take right turn for the 13 kms run to Khajuraho on the 4 track road. The railway station is ready, the airport work going on, signs of things to come. Once these are operational, tourist traffic is bound to gallop, charters would fly in and rates would go up, anyone want to visit and finish this would be wise to do ASAP.

We reach Hotel Raddison, check in, relax till 5 and go watch the Big Temple light and sound show. It's so good, we watched it the next day too. If you're going, go early, take the ticket early, stand in queue and sit on the first row. It gives you clear picture of the temples around and also gives you real surround sound effect. If you want to take pictures, that's the best place, you'd need a tripoad, officially not allowed, we took one in the back-pack and managed to shoot some stunning photos; the 2nd day they caught us, used the chair handle to steady the digicam to shoot, you need night shots, a couple of shots to experiment and then you're home. This is a must see show.

If you are eating out, there's a hotel opp. the temple, Siddarth hotel, have decent rooms too at an economic rate.

03-11-09: We take a guide to show us around the West and East temples, the main set of temples need a registered guide Rs.600/- ( we skipped it). What can I say about these temples, spell-binding architecture, words, pictures or video cannot even begin to capture the grandeur that is. It would be like explaining the still of the night, opening dawn, dew on a lotus, fall of a leaf, ripples on a pond, waves on the sea, grace of a swallow……… get the idea?

Something about the erotic ones on the temples, there are plenty of them in most of these, you imagine it, you'd find it in some form or other. Some of them are very explicit, very tricky to see it with family, our guide was enthusastic to explain each and every pose and action, I took him aside and told we know about sex, procreation and what the statues are doing, told him to go easy and not get excited!!!!!

Here's a link to some of those pictures I found on the web, for all those erotic pictures at close range.

www.travelblog.org/Photos/84614.html

The temple visit is a whole day job, very tiring, lots of walking to do if you want to see them all.

04-11-08: On today is the Pandav Caves and Rane falls, the last leg of the sight-seeing section. We head out back on Panna Forest Reserve route, exactly 24 kms from Bhimita junction, you have the entrance to Pandav Caves, another must see sight. You need to pay for the car and guide too, forest rates, but would be worth it. We park, its desolate, NOBODY out there, we were a little worried. Use the gear lock, one of the few times we had to park out in
the open and go down to the huge lake like structure, actually a big pond. The water on the fall is a mere trickle, the whole setting was unspoilt-wild, soothing and quiet, except for water sound and nature sounds. We found the guide emerging from a small building there, he sells chai and wafers and a naturalist too. The huge lime stone / kimber wall on one side is dripping with water, it's as if someone has cut off the forest with a buge buldozer and one side of earth face is left open.

The guide says Panna has rich jungle life, tigers rare but plenty of leopards and other animals. There are caves, a small temple for the Pandavas who spent abotu 40 days during the Vanvas, another family from MP join us and the silence is shattered. They leave after taking photos, we sit there till 1, one can spend an entire day doing nothing, its therapy for the soul, you can relally loose the world if you have a good book to read or a decent MP3 player to listen to music.

I sit and mostly talk with the guide, gather lots of information for future trips; this area is an el-do-ra-do for camping, Out Bound Trianing and any out door activity, they also organize a night sifari for special requests!!!!! We head back to town around 1, have lunch and straight leave for another must see place, Rane Falls.

4 kms from the big temple gate, you turn right, 17 kms you reach the forest check in point, again pay in for the car and the guide, drive another 3 kms to the observation point. The guide took us to the Croc watching point, another 5 kms ride thro forest to the dam, there's a boating facility We catch a croc. with the zoom, plenty of them on this river, the guides say.

What need to be seen is the Ken riven falling into a huge crator gouged out of the earth by an extinct volcano, 13 million years ago. The river flows thro this gorge, like Marble rocks, Grand Canyon and is a sight to see. In the rainy season this would be another eyeful, a great sight, those nearby, plese visit during rainy season, you'd remember it for the rest of your lives, saw some photos of the fall in full bloom, awesome is an understatement. The rock formation itself is something seen to be believed, the photos will show only a portion of what it is.

We head back to Raddison, our tour is complete as far sight-seeing is concerned, now its the journey back to Ahmedabd.

05-11-08: Again, infromation from here back to Bhopal was difficult, I went by one account here about the roads. The 400 KMs turned out to be difficult, specially from Sagar, Vidisha to Bophar. I could not come across Raisan, perhaps that’s the route our friend from Indaia Mike was ga-ga about.

From Bhimita to Chhatrapur, Nh-86, was pot holed, one side ok and not worth calling NH, 46 kms took 50 mts and then we turned to Sagar road. Most ghat sections are good with smooth surface and signages good.

Till Sagar was mainly foresty mixed with wide open spaces, villages, bad roads mostly, 107 kms, 3 hours, so you can imagine, some sections were bad, so we thought, we had no inkling of things to come from Sagar.

Sagar on and 40 kms road was a mixed menu, good with bad and then we took a turn to Vidisha, 16 kms took 30 minutes, all gravel, thro the forest and grinding thro 3rd and 2nd, that was a bone-shaker too, one of the worst stretches we did in the entire trip.

We reached Sanchi at 150 pm , take the entrance ticket for the monument at the counter in the entrance right after you turn from the main road, went up to see the Stupha. Did the rounds, took the photos and came to the only decent food place there, Gateway Cafeteria. Food was OK, clean and economic.

From hereon to Bhopal, the GPS was god sent, the tracking was accurate, we entered the city into a maze of roads and thick traffic, reached Ranjit Lake view without error, thank you GPS. It was a difficult day, felt pretty cheated having taken the Vidisha route and was kicking myself for not having done the research a little better, getting lost inside Bhopal traffic could have added insult to injury. The room was OK, lake facing, we only wanted food and board, had a tough journey back to A’bad, almost 600 Kms.

06-11-08: Got the WOLT cleaned, it was dusty and dirty due to the Vidisha route, started @ 650, navigated out of Bhopal cleanly. The first 40 KM was fast, there's a new 4 track road being made bypassing Sehore, from then on agian traffic was heavy, one the heaviest I have seen, something similar to Kochi to Trichur, bumper to bumper, trucks, truck and trucks. Cattle, tractors, small traffic and twisties made it all a test of patience and skill, one miscalculated overtaking, you'd get caught in a jam or create one, nobody wanting to give way. It was a relief whe we reached Dewas, 2 hours and 158 kms (I wanted to cover distance fast and was pretty aggressive and hence my average was OK) later and opened up on the 4 trck to Indore. Our saved GPS position of Hotel SriMaya took us clearly inside for B'kfst and we headed out at 11 am.

The return was the same, bad roads till Gujarat Border, 200 kms took 3 1/2 agonizing hours. In one of the sections the wheel cap flew off when we hit a pot hole, my wife fortunately spotted it flying off, had to stop and Nidish had to fetch it from 500 mtrs off. There was this exciting part too at the border

A trailer had overturned after Jabua, there was a 10 kms long queue of trucks, only cars were allowed. Somebody opened up a track thro their fied over a small hillock, boulders and tractor roads, we had no idea about the road, just followed one of the M&M jeeps, 4x4 (later found out), half way thro the hillock the climb was sliding for our 2x4, told my wife and son to get out and push along with the locals and use stones to stop the slide back, on 1st gear. We got stuck on the downside, told everyone to clear off, a stone was tuck on the back wheel, then slowly reversed and went down sliding to land in a tractor track.... would never attempt something like that again without a 4x4. One thing though, the power of the WOLT was amazing, any other 2x4 car would have been a disaster.

Gujarat on we hit Dahod, Godhra, Dakore and then Vatva, 230 kms in 2 hours, one of our best timings. We were pretty happy to be back to base after such a rewarding trip.

Need to say this, we did not have even one hiccup from the Wolt engine, never failed to respond, never gave trouble, stopped predictably on braking and was a fountain-head of confidance. What a piece of engineering, salutes to you M&M. It overdid my expectations, I was sweating plenty on the off-roading after Jabua, it was sheer torque of the brute that pulled me thro., power alone was not enough. Was reminded what my friend S.Sarkar when I drove his truck in Delhi last time, the torque of the Truck at any gear is what makes driving fun, its available on tap if you know how to use the revvs.

MP roads: Improving fast, though now its bad. It would become one of the best driving destinations in about 1-2 years, MPTDC is one of the best chains and improving fast. Day time travel ideal, not to even think of driving after 6 pm on anything lesser than know NH tracks. Take lots of information beforehand and track your route properly.

Overall Feeling: One of Everest conquest, something like when Alva Edison felt when he saw the bulb glow. Though the track was difficult, it's one hell of a state to travel, relatively unspoilt and has bag fulls of surprises, MP is still wild, exciting and rustic.

Wil I do it again? You bet, at the next opp. there are so many other places to explore and see.

This turned out to be my MAHA-TRAVALOGUE, much more than I ever wanted or expected, Apologies if I have tested the patience of many and stretched the bytes.

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Attached Files

mptriplogsoct08.pdf (95.8 KB, 163 views)

mishra_rp

Hi ramky..

Very good log of the tour. I have two suggestions:

1) You should have taken Indore-sehore BP-Bhopal-Hosangabad-Pipariya-Matkuli- Pachmarhi Road for your Indore Pachmarhi trip...i Think thats a better road. I know at least Bhopal - Pachmarhi sections i went there in June and it was excellent concrete road.

2) You should have taken NH-86 from Sagar to Bhopal and May have visited sanchi from Bhopal as well as Bhimbaithka and Bhojpur. That would have avoided you bad stretch in Vidisha section.

RP

arkz

In retrospect, that sounds right, that would have been faster.

Though the section thro. Khannod, Kathelgaon, Harda was tough, the route was rustic, beautiful and unspoilt and has a charm of its own. Actually, if they do up the section till Kannod, it's worth a try for any 4 wheeler.

--Arkz

EOS

Excellent trip log ARKZ...

And agree on both points with RP...

And inspite of the bad roads you did manage to clock some pretty decent average speed. I guess driving a scorp makes the difference..

EOS

edwardseco

A very good sighting. Madhya is number one on my list for the next trip..