Best way to re-energize yourself if you ask me is to pack your bags and head out. Just picking up random spots is fun and to tell stories about the experience you gain is beyond words. Certain things while travelling can only be felt at that moment.
Just before we started the road trip below checks were done on our side
My love for our beloved Bhagwan Mahadev along with I wanting to visit one of the more revered Jyotirlingas which is lapped up on shores of Maa Ganga in the holier of cities, which as per many sayings could be older than time i.e. Banaras made us take this road trip
As a developer you constantly look at lines of code and keep churning out visuals for your stakeholders, however this visualization of Bhagwan Mahadev at Kashi Vishwanath is mesmerizing to say the least, but one which out weighs everything else
Me and my buddy had chalked out 3 routes in three separate directions covering some "dated" places in this great land of Bharat, however all our energy and focus got shifted towards a new route which leads to Shri Kashi Vishwanath temple and to feet of Bhagwan Mahadev
So our plan got finalized on Thursday night and we laid out our plans to rake up km's through Maharashtra --> Madhya Pradesh --> Uttar Pradesh and back to home. We knew the trip will be exhausting as we only had 5 days to cover as many km's as we could & be back to tell the stories we encountered en-route.
And the trip started from Navi Mumbai (Maharashtra) on a nice relatively cooler Saturday morning. Through the intent was to cover as much ground as possible and make sure we see certain places on the way, we didn't expect the trip to be so enthralling.
Route we took to reach Varanasi
Road from Khajuraho to Satna is forest road and single lane. You cross Panna national park where if you are lucky you can spot animals. Since we were travelling during mid morning time, sadly we didn't see much of the animals (anyway its rare to see them cross a heavy traffic route due to noise).
Note: Please be mindful of unnecessary honking and rash driving. You will reach your destination maybe a hour late
Varanasi or Banaras or Kashi is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world and home to number of Ghats that dot the old city line. One can date back the city to Mahabharata times due to its mention as kasi or one can even relate to the city being founded by Bhagwan Shiva himself. Not going to give much history lessons here, coming back to current times, we did reach Varanasi at approximately 22:30 and checked in to the only decent hotel we could find in our budget and which could be comfortable. We checked into hotel Surya Kaiser Palace near cantonment area of Varanasi at the last moment
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Day-3 After a sumptuous breakfast (which we negotiated with front desk in our package) which was less than what Makemytrip or booking.com sites offered. This is one thing I have learnt in our experience, unless you are headed for a luxurious vacation always negotiate the hotel rates by calling them 8/10 times you will get a better deal.
Varanasi is famous for Shri Kashi Vishwanath temple, BHU, Ghats and the food you munch on. Banaras is an exception when it comes to food and the taste mostly anywhere you eat will connect with your taste buds (if you are a city dweller especially metros)
We had our vehicle parked in Hotel, since hotel staff mentioned getting to park near Shri Kashi Vishwanath could be troublesome its better to take a rickshaw, we got a rickshaw on Uber (yeah you read it right) and headed to the temple. Rickshaws will drop you a kilometer and half before the temple (at-least when we were there) from where you need to either take a tricycle rickshaw or walk. My preference is walking as you get to see real banaras
Shenanigan's before starting the day
Reached Shri Kashi Vishwanath Temple. It has 4 dwars (doors) to get in. Mobile phone is allowed only through Gate 4 or back side entry from Ghats. However in the main temple you have to still keep your mobile phones in the lockers (unless you have special permission to carry your mobile phones with you). Temple complex is newly built and well maintained. Cleanliness is give utmost importance and yeah you get 5G services
First glimpse of temple
The temple complex is so well maintained, even on a touristy day we were able to get the Darshan through normal queue and it was really amazing experience
Day-4 we headed out to visit the different parts of the city using rickshaws and hog onto some good Varanasi street food. Taste of milk and milk products is so different than what we are used to eat in cities
If you are in Banaras and you dont attend Ganga aarti then you are missing on the most exciting thing to do in Banaras. Ganga aarti happens and three ghats in Banaras and it depends on the water levels of Maa Ganga. The day we visited the aarti, the levels of Ganga were higher than usual and the currents were really strong. you need to be in person to attend the Ganga aarti in Banaras to actually feel it, pictures don't justify the atmosphere
On the way back we took the Bhopal route to home. In MP roads unless they are national highways are not in such a good condition and they also don't have tolls.
Highway condition: as off Oct 2022
Panvel to Nashik - Ok roads, Lot of rough patches you will encounter (even though rains have stopped and toll operators had enough time to smoothen the road)
Nashik - Dhule - Good roads, but the toll seems to be really high (Not sure why we have to pay such a high toll in Nashik (once you complete the Nashik city flyover considering the number of vehicles that ply on it daily)
Dhule - Sendhwa - Post Dhule roads are bad, mostly rough patches till border
Sendhwa - Indore - Good roads
Indore Orchha - Good roads
Orchha - Khajuraho - Good roads
Khajuraho - Varanasi - Ok roads, road once in UP become extremely good
Varanasi - Mirzapur - Stretch approaching Mirzapur is bit bad, but ok other wise
Mirzapur - Katni - Good roads
Katni - Bhopal - Good roads
Bhopal - Sendhwa - Good roads
Sendhwa - Dhule - Ok roads in MP and really bad patches in Maharashtra. Its irritating to drive for the toll amount we end up paying
Dhule - Nashik - Good roads
Nashik - Panvel - Really bad roads. Lots of bad patches especially dangerous driving in night
Tolls: Approx. 5000/- INR spent on tolls
Below is the split of cost for 8 days travel including 4 days of to and fro travel.
Visited few alternate places as well on the way, but visit to Shri Kashi Vishwanath and Varanasi city was something I will never forget. People on the entire journey we met were very helpful and Hindi used up north / central India especially in MP and UP was just amazing. Even abusing someone was with respect. In our journey we also covered some stretch of the still existing Asian Highway 1 route and it was thrilling experience. Ghats of Varanasi just immerse you in their spirituality so much that you tend to forget time. Food is simply beautiful wherever you eat. Simplicity is something we pondered upon repeatedly during our travel.
Please do share your thoughts or suggestions about the blog. Hope to improve and share more such stories with all the wanderers out there. There is a next road trip already planned
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