

Ever wondered about a place that you never thought of visiting? We 4 girls planned a trip to Chhattisgarh, a state which is said to be one of the most dangerous , backward and unsafe and is considered not worth visiting or given a chance to be explored.
Having just 2 nights and 2 days to visit one place in Chhattisgarh, I decided to go to Chitrakote Waterfalls, in Bastar District of the Indian state of Chhattisgarh. My 3 friends decided to join me on this adventure and we started our Journey from Raipur, Chhattisgarh.

On the night of 25th January, Friday, we took a 9:00 PM bus from Pandri Bus-Stand,Raipur to Jagdalpur which is a city in the tribal district of Bastar in Chhattisgarh. Reaching at 3:30 am at the new bus stand, Jagdalpur we all got concerned and worried about our safety. The 1st bus to Chitrakote was at 6 am. Our bus driver noticed our worried faces and asked us to stay in the bus till 4:30 AM till he departs . Later we went to the washroom to freshen up , where the keeper told us to sit under the tree and wait till 6 am . Both these people were genuine and very helpful. The bus driver even came back concerned before leaving , told us to be safe and wished us luck.
Later at 6 am we decided to take an Auto to Agrasen trisquare (Opposite to Anupama Cinema) to take a bus to Chitrakote falls. It cost us total Rs 50. Upon arriving at the Square, we got to know that the 1st bus leaves at 8 am. So we booked the same Auto for Rs 500 to the Chitrakote falls and reached the Dandami Luxury Resort in Chitrakote that we booked prior to the travel.




Dandami Luxury Resort is a luxury resort of Chattisgarh Tourism Board , nestled just 100 m from the Chitrakote falls and has stunning views of the Indravati River as well as the Waterfall. It is also the only hotel/resort which has its own restaurant that gives some of the best meals i ever had. The dal, roti, aloo gobhi ki sabzi and rice was the tastiest with minimal cost and great taste . The Bread-Omelette was really good for breakfast. We had booked Room No 101 and 102 which has the best view of the waterfall right from the room. Mark my words Room 101 has the best view, better than the cottages, other rooms and the tents.













After spending 5 hours at the falls , relaxing and clicking pictures, we headed to the local dhaba right opposite the Shiva Temple. We drank some good old sprite with cuppa Maggie and started to explore the little local stalls for tribal work and gifts. There were 3-4 vendors who were selling things like bamboo flutes, bamboo gift items as well as jewelry and natural incense. 3 of us bought the bamboo hand flute which is played by rotating the bamboo flute in circular direction . It has such a pleasant and natural sound to it that it just calms and sooths you right on the spot and is also great for exercising the hands.






Spending the whole day relaxing in the first half of the day by the waterfall and later by the banks of the Indravati river we decided to go Boating. This turned out to be something like an adventure of a lifetime. Our Rower was a fisherman who also uses his old worn out boat for tourists to go boating. He was a great, adventurous man who took us right in front of the waterfall, where many rowers don't go. He told us stories of his adventures. His daring spirit got me stronger on my own journey of adventures. This boat ride was the best boat ride of my life. It was possible due to friendship, trust and faith and the best boater out there.











The 2nd day was planned for Kutumsar Caves and Tirathgarh waterfall, but due to heavy rain on the sunday morning we had to cancel that. Instead the day was spent sitting in the balcony, watching the picturesque view of the foggy falls, chilling with friends and relaxing. We went boating again in the rain around noon, though we could not find the same rower , we thoroughly enjoyed the 2nd boat ride. This rower had caught a 1 quintal catfish from the river and is an experienced fisherman .














Later we booked the hotel car for Rs 1000 to Jagdalpur to catch the evening 4;00 pm bus to Raipur. The driver Prabhu Lal, told us a lot more about Baster and places to explore for the next time. What impressed me the most was that he knows 11 different languages along with the tribal languages of Chattisgarh. Mr. Prabhu Lal turned out to be one of the most knowledgeable people i met on this trip who sang to us local tribal songs and taught us some local words in their tribal languages.

We reached Raipur at 11:00 pm and came back with memories to cherish and remember forever.
Chattisgarh is an unexplored state, which has friendly and helpful people. It is safe even for solo female travellers. There are a lot of places here to visit and see which are almost always considered to be irrelevant but are of great importance. Bastar is not entirely occupied by the naxals. Its only the Sukma and Bijapur districts that are the most affected zone. You can not reach there even if you want to as there are hundreds of posts of Indian army before naxilite zone region. One can live and travel in Bastar safely, and visit up to Dantewada’s most dense and diverse forest. The thousand years standing cultures and tribes of Chhattisgarh are some things to look forward to in the most unexplored state of the country.





Come and explore Chhattisgarh like never before. It has a lot more to offer than you can imagine. Just keep it Clean and Green.
Follow me on Instagram on www.instagram.com/lostinalleys for more of my Adventures in Chhattisgarh.