Road condition from Sagar to Khajuraho

Hi!

I am planning to go by road to Khajuraho from Bhopal via Sagar.
Bhopal to Sagar road is good...however i am not able to get any info regarding condition of road from Sagar to Khajuraho.
If someone has done this route recently then please let me know.

I'll be reaching there on Sunday 23 Dec. Will it be difficult to get hotels because of christmas holidays..??

I need a double bed room. My budget for hotel is 500 to 1000 RS. Can anyone suggest some hotels in this range.

Thanks

EOS

Mods: Is it OK to post here an arcane reference I put up elsewhere on the web? I think this is a very important question. The following "answer" is dated JULY 2000. I hope there is more recent information that someone can provide -- because I, too, would like to have the answer, but the following may be about the best information that there is.

Log Six: Sanchi – [Gyaraspur-] Khajuraho
http://www.rediff.com/travel/2000/jul/day6.htm

Route
Sanchi - Sagar: SH 18 (82kms)
Sagar - Chattarpur: SH 15 (145kms)
Chattarpur - Khajuraho: SH 6 (47kms)

After seeing the stupas at Sanchi, we headed out towards Khajuraho. We wanted to make it all the way in one day, so we knew we had a long day ahead of us. Gyaraspur is a village along the way with five temples.

We stopped off to see the tenth century Maladevi mandir , which was visible in its mountainside setting from the 'highway' and looked striking.

At first glance the temple looks like a pile of stones piled on top of each other, very artistically of course. On a closer examination one discovers in disbelief that the temple is a pile of stones!

The temple was struck by lightning and split through the centre. The archaeological department has since then pieced the temple together... but this is temporary. They intend to restore the building, taking it apart completely right down to the foundation.

An attendant from the Archaeological Society of India opened the door and walked us around. You can inquire for the gatekeeper at the village, below before heading up to the temple. The temple was once a Hindu temple but was later converted for use by the Jains. The sanctum sanctorum contains a Jain statue.

Some of the carvings on the outer walls are quite intricate. From the mandir (and the highway) we also saw the ruins of a fort.

The village also has a couple of other ruins of temples and stupas, which we didn't have time to check out. For someone driving from Sanchi to Khajuraho, Gyaraspur is a no-brainer as a short stopover.

Chattarpur pretty much just served us as the crossroads between Khajuraho (on the way from Bhopal) and Orchha (on the way back west). The town deserves little mention, though we did pass two or three interesting looking buildings that might be worth a peek.

But for hungry travellers passing through -- who haven't been able to lay their hands on a good meal for quite a while -- the food at Hotel Jatashankar Palace [Chattarpur] was absolutely amazing. Somebody on the roadside directed us to the hotel and when we walked in, the dining room looked unused in weeks. But the food was something to write home about. Although we didn't stay there, the rooms seemed quite reasonable, starting at Rs 400 for an AC single or Rs 500 for a double.

Road conditions
The road in general was very bad. Single lane and full of potholes. We must have averaged about 30 km per hour, which is why it took is pretty much the entire day to reach Khajuraho. The road from Sanchi to Sagar was worse than any dirt road I have driven on. From Sagar it got a little better (but there was more traffic).

The countryside was quite pretty, especially the further north we got, with little villages and farmlands on every side. But the going was still quite slow, especially given the number of cattle that just seemed waiting for a car to pass in order to dart across the road. Once we hit Chattarpur, we turned onto a well-laid pucca road. Evidently the Madhya Pradesh government has at least built a decent road for visitors to Khajuraho.

As soon as you turn off onto the road to Khajuraho, you know it leads to something important. The drive was so smooth -- freshly laid roads and little or no traffic. Getting out of Chattarpur on to the road to Khajuraho proved a little difficult. The signs have been covered up with local advertisements and can be easily missed. However, everyone in Chattarpur seems to know the road to Khajuraho so don't hesitate to pull over and ask your way out.

Thanks 70-80s...

Even though i live in MP..i am finding it difficult to get
this info...
And info about roads in MP can be pretty deceptive.....6 months back road may be good but one monsoon and the road is no longer there....
MP has the distinction of having some of the worst roads in the country.
Its primarily the reason why tourism is very less in MP eventhough there are a number of places to visit..

will let you know if i get some info...

EOS

Hi!

we finally managed to go to khajuraho...

I have posted a trip report and update on road condition here..

http://www.indiamike.com/india/madhy...38/#post437950

The road at present is pretty good.