We embarked on a mega road trip starting on 19th March from our Mumbai residence in Chembur and reached back Mumbai on 12th May after clocking more than 11000 km on the road. But before I start telling the tales from this trip I would like to reply some queries we have often faced. So here are some pointers about our trips in the format of question and answers:
Do we make advance booking for accommodations: Not always. When we know the place as well as date we are going stay there and if it's a touristy place where finding an accommodation might be difficult, we book in advance. Or if we want to stay at a particular accommodation then we book in advance. But many a times we don't surely know the place where we are going to stay on a particular date as we like to keep our trip flexible. Besides, sometimes we make a night halt as per convenience and then we just check into a roadside hotel which seems good. At times we were pleasantly surprised to find very good hotels at places we expected least and at times we had to stay in hotels we would have rather not. We have learnt to adapt as a road trip cannot be planned ahead in details without losing the spontaneity which is the fun part. As a precaution we keep a set of bed linen with us in case we find the ones provided too offensive. Our Vehicle: It's a Honda BRV - a seven seater automatic transmission vehicle - 2016 model. 1497 cc, 119 bhp with a ground clearance of 210 mm. It's a petrol car with a mileage of around 14 km/l on highways. It is not 4 wheel drive but that has not caused us much problem even though it faced off-roading quite a bit, maybe due to it's ground clearance. We keep a jump start cable, air compressor and a puncture repair kit in the vehicle. Learning to keep ourselves equipped drawing lesson from each trip. How long do we travel in a day: Depends on the distance between the two consecutive places we want to visit. Generally we try not to travel for more than eight hours in a day and take breaks to straighten our limbs and break the monotony. But at times we have travelled up to ten hours or even more, especially if we did not find a suitable accommodation. And Sanjay alone drives, I don't drive. What about food: We always try to taste the local cuisine and famous street food. Many people ask whether that does not create health issues. We try to maintain a balance by taking very simple food for at least one meal, having fruits and fresh juices. Besides, when having street food, we always choose the popular joints ensuring we get freshly prepared food. So far we have not faced major problem. How do we manage laundry: As we travel in our own vehicle, we can be quite generous with packing reducing the need for frequent laundry job. Whenever we stay at a place for more than a day, we take care of our laundry. And we do try to take a break for two nights after a gap of few days. The expenditure part: We are not very good at tracking expenditure. But in this trip I religiously recorded the rental expenditure along with the facilities provided to make it more informative. We try to not spend big rent for just an overnight halt and love to indulge on longer stays. I try to write reviews for all accommodations and eateries in Google with pictures which can be referred to if interested. I also tried to include major sightseeing expenditure if there is any.
We left Assam in October 2022 when after taking early retirement from ONGC. It was almost one and half years and we wanted to celebrate Bohag Bihu / Assamese new year in Guwahati. There was a marriage in Jorhat during that time which we wanted to attend too. So we planned for this road trip to Assam covering few places in Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal. After reaching Assam we planned to visit Mizoram and Meghalaya.
For previous episodes from this trip may please visit the posts :
Checked out from MTP Satpura retreat on the morning of 27.03.2024 after breakfast and started for Jabalpur at 8:30 am. Driving almost nonstop except for a drinks break we reached Bhedaghat at around 1:30 pm. Bhedaghat is a township situated by the side of river Narmada and is approximately 20 km from Jabalpur city. It is known for the valley of high marble rocks through which river Narmada flows and the Dhuandhar Falls. As it was lunch time, we first went to MTP Marble Cafe on the bank of Narmada near Panchvati ghat - boating point for Narmda cruise. This MP tourism restaurant serves as the most convenient option for food, parking vehicles and boat ride. They have lift to reach the boating point which can be availed at a price of 25 INR per person per ride. Food is good and service is prompt. They also have lodging facilities at a separate premise. But here was no vacancy. We had a simple lunch there and went sightseeing.
Dhuandhar falls: The Narmada River, making its way through the Marble Rocks, narrows down and then plunges into a waterfall known as Dhuandhar. The plunge from height on rocky surface creates a bouncing mass of mist which gives the fall it's name - Dhuandhar meaning a stream of smoke. It is a captivating sight with emerald water of Narmada gushing down. One can access Dhuandhar waterfalls from the east bank as well as the west bank of the Narmada River. There is a cable car service across the river to which gives the opportunity to have an areal view of waterfall.
Chausath Yogini mandir: A yogini is a female master practitioner of yoga and tantra broadly equated with goddesses especially Parvati, incarnating the sacred feminine force. They are revered in the yogini temples of India often as a group of 64 yoginis, and are named as such, but can also have 42 or 81 yoginis. The Yogini temples are 9th to 12th century roofless shrines mostly circular in plan but sometimes also rectangular. The Chausath Yogini Temple, Bhedaghat, also called the Golaki Math ("circular lodge") has shrines for 81 yoginis. The temple, built of granite and sandstone, is located atop a hill and can be reached by climbing a flight of stairs. This magnificent temple is a circle broken down into 84 equal cells, out of which three serve as gateways. The remaining cells house statues of Yoginis but with the passing of time, many of these statues have lost their original form.
On the way to the temple we met a gentleman selling Puja items. He said he is an ex service man. We purchased few items from him. On coming back from the temple we stopped and talked to him. His sons are well established and he does not have any financial constraints. He is carrying out this small business to keep himself engaged. He is proud of his career and narrated few anecdotes from his service life. It was nice listening to him.
Bhedaghat Marble rocks: We went back the market area near Panchvati Ghat to boating point for a cruise in Narmada to see the marble rocks. There are lots of shops selling beautiful sculptures marble and other stones. we purchased a granite Nandi and a marble Shivlinga. As it was too sunny, we waited for boat ride at a restaurant. There we met a couple from Delhi. They were in Bhedaghat to attend a wedding utilized the opportunity to do some sight seeing. They asked us whether we would like to join them for a boat ride. So we hired a boat for one hour ride for 1200 INR. Otherwise it is 100 INR per person for a group ride. The river has carved the soft marble creating a beautiful gorge of about 8 km in length flowing through marble rocks of different hues like grey, white, pinkish, black. The rocks rise up as high as 100 feet and have different shapes - a car, a boot, an elephant, a sage. There is a point called bandar kudni where the mountains earlier were so close to each other that monkeys could jump from one shore to the other. With time the gorge has widened as a result of erosion by natural elements and human intervention. Now young boys jump into the river at this point for entertainment of the tourists. At the end there is a mini fall which is called swargdwar. The sight was breathtaking. Many movies have been shot here including Dunki in recent times. Our boatman was quite enthusiastic regaling us with a running commentary in Bollywood style mimicking actors from those movies. Boat ride on a full moon day is said to be marvelous spectacle and we hope to go back to experience one moonlit ride.
After boat ride we watched the evening aarti. It was a tranquil experience listening to the aarti watching the dusk falling.
It was past 7 pm and we were yet to look for a hotel. We went to Jabalpur from Bhedaghat for the night stay. On reaching Jabalpur after almost half an hour we went to the balancing rock site to search for a hotel nearby as we wanted to visit the balancing rock next morning before leaving for Khajuraho. There were not too many options and we found Oyo Kanishka Residency with parking space on a residential street. The room was spacious but cleanliness was not satisfactory. It was 8 pm, we were tired and we needed to just spend the night. So we checked into the hotel. The rent was 1500 INR. There was no restaurant though they offered to arrange dinner. We opted to go out but somehow could not find a restaurant with sitting place for a long time and ultimately went to Vrindavan Restaurant only to realize that basically it is a party venue. Just had roti and dal there. Stopped on way back at Badkul misthan bhandar for a sweet break which is a popular outlet for sweets and bakery items. Reached back hotel at 9:20 pm and crashed into the bed.
Next morning we checked out at around 7:45 am and reached the Balancing rock site within 5 minutes.
Balancing Rock: Located at the heart of the city inside a park at the base of Madan Mahal fort this geological wonder is easily accessible, open all the time to visitors and there is no entry fee. A young boy approached us and led us to the rock. He offered to click our pictures but refused to get himself clicked. One rock is balanced on a huge base rock and only touches it slightly. Although they look precariously positioned, they have withstood earthquakes of magnitude up to 6.5 on the Richter scale in 1997. The archaeologists and geologists so far could not find the exact reason how these rocks could stay unmoved for so many years. However, they assume that it might be their weight and positioning along with the gravitational pull that has allowed these rocks to maintain their balance.
Suresh Uncle Poha: Staple breakfast of Madhya Pradesh is Poha (made with flattened rice, onion, potatoes, and seasoned with mild spices, curry leaves, peanuts and coriander) and a very popular combination is Poha - Jalebi. It is Sanjay's favourite and now I have acquired the taste too. Sanjay has learnt about a popular roadside stall owned by Suresh uncle / bhau well-known for Poha - Jalebi and we went there for breakfast. Everyone seemed to know him when we were trying to locate his stall. He is a very friendly person and greets all his customers warmly. He started a conversation with us and shared his life story. He has been operating the stall since around 1977. Initially he worked with his brother. But since more than three decades he is operating alone. He has three daughters. Two are software engineers and married. Eldest one is in US. Second one is in Bangalore if I remember correctly. Youngest one is pursuing law. We had Poha and Jalebi served in plates made of leaves of Palash tree. I felt that the reason for popularity of his stall is more attributable to his nature than the food he serves.
I did not know that Jabalpur has so many gems in the form of historical locations and natural wonders. It was a real delight to explore Jabalpur. Now it was time to start for our next destination - Khajuraho.
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