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. Our first stop was Aurangabad. Then we visited Ellora and Ajanta.
For our Aurangabad and Ellora - Ajnta trip details may please visit the posts :
After finishing our visit of Ajanta caves we started towards Lonar, a place at a distance of 79 km from Buldhana city at around 12:45 pm on 21.03.2024. We had lunch of Bajra bhakri, lehsuni methi and buttermilk at Sai Pure Veg restaurant in Buldanha. Reached Lonar at around 4 pm and parking our vehicle walked to the lake passing through a well maintained park.
Lonar Lake: In Lonar there is lake formed by the impact of a meteorite about 50,000 years ago. The Lonar lake, also known as Lonar crater, is a notified National Geo-heritage Monument. It is the only known saline crater lake in the world. Its water is seven times saltier than sea water! It is one of only four known hyper-velocity impact craters in basaltic rock anywhere on Earth. The oval shaped lake is surrounded by a series of small hills. A geological and biological treasure, it was declared a Ramsar site - Wetlands of International Importance, in 2020. The lake is not only a scientific marvel, but also a cultural and historical heritage. Local people consider the lake sacred, as they believe that it was created by Lord Vishnu, the preserver of the universe. Several ancient temples, dating back to the 6th century CE, are located around the lake. According to some beliefs, Lord Ram, visited the lake and showed it to Sita on their way back to Ayodhya after defeating Ravana. With great potential for geo-tourism presently there is not much awareness about Lonar lake and it does not attract much footfall.
After spending almost half an hour at Lonar we started towards Wardha. We reached Wardha at around 8:15 pm and started searching for hotels in the net. After visiting few hotels mentioned in net, we liked hotel Hariram Tower and checked into it. Nice room with a small balcony, clean linens, spacious bathroom with branded toiletries, hot water, tea making facilities in the room for a rent of 1500 INR plus GST - it was a great package for a budget hotel. They don't have restaurant, but provided room service from a tied up outlet namely Anay's Restaurant. Siddharth, the college student manning the reception during night is very helpful. Third floor, where we stayed had great wifi speed.
We checked out from our hotel at 8 am on 22.03.2024 and had breakfast Anay's Restaurant before going to visit Gandhiji's Ashram at Sevagram.
Sevagram Ashram: When Gandhi started his padayatra (foot march) in 1930 from Sabarmati Ashram to Dandi for the Salt Satyagraha, he had decided not to return to Sabarmati till independence for India was attained. Gandhiji was imprisoned for more than two years. On his release he spent sometime travelling. He decided to make a village in Central India his head quarters. He came to Wardha in 1934, at the invitation of Jamnalalji Bajaj who donated the land for the ashram. In April 1936, Gandhiji established his residence in the village Shegaon at a distance of 8 km from Wardha which he renamed as Sevagram, which means 'village of service'. A cottage, now called Adi Niwas, was soon constructed by Jamnalal Bajaj for Gandhiji. For several months, Gandhiji, Kasturba, Mahadev Desai and important guests used to live in Adi Niwas. After a year or two a separate cottage was constructed for Kasturba which is known as Ba Kuti. Subsequently, Gandhiji also shifted to another hut which was originally prepared by Miraben for her own use in the village. It is this hut which is now known as Bapu Kuti where Gandhiji lived most of the time in Sevagram. The Antim Niwas, situated near the Ba-Kuti, was built by Jamnalal Bajaj for himself and lived here for a short while. In 1946, Bapu had a severe attack of cough and came up to live in this cottage under doctor's advice to cure his cough. He was taking a Sun-bath in the eastern varandah of this cottage. On August 25, 1946, Gandhiji left for Delhi from this Cottage and then went to Noakhali from where he did not return to Sevagram while engaged in his task of communal unity and peace making. Bapu's wooden weight instrument and donation box are kept on the varandah of this cottage.
It was a very peaceful place and we felt delighted to be there at a place of such historic importance. However I felt disappointed at some of the hut's condition.
We went to Yatri Niwas on the other side of the road. Built by the government in 1982, it is managed by the Ashram for the benefit of visitors and for holding training camps and conferences by various constructive work institutions. We had Ambadi Shabat (Roselle juice) and Puran Poli (sweet flatbread with chana, plain flour, jaggery or sugar as predominant ingredients) at the restaurant Ahar Kendra in Yatri Nivas premises. Both were delicious. Then we left for Paunar.
Paramdham Ashram: Jamnalal Bajaj had constructed a bungalow at the bank of Dham river at Paunar, 9 kms East of Wardha and 6 kms away from Sevagram, which was known as Lal Bungalow. Vinobaji first came here in 1938 and established Paramdham Ashram. Paunar (Pravarpur) was the capital of Vakataka dynasty during the reign of King Pravarsena. During excavation for construction of the Ashram, many sculptures and idols were found which are restored and displayed at the ashram for public view. Around 1500 year old sculptures of Ganga, Ram-Bharat Bhet (union) and other numerous sculptures depicting the scenes of Ramayana and Mahabharata can be seen at Ashram. It is said the holy image of Bharata-Rama, whose origin goes back to about 1400 Years, was found underlying the ground while Vinobaji was tilling the land. This Ashram was the ground for his various spiritual- social activities and experiments viz. Kanchan-Mukti (free from money-economy), Rishi-Kheti (earning livelihood from farming with simple, cheap tools that are within the reach of the poor and also without the help of bulls or hired labour, keeping in view the idea of equality and non-violence) and so on. The well-known Individuals Satyagraha of 1940 started from this very place. Vinobaji started the Bhoodan (land gift) Movement in 1951 and related activities from this Ashram. At Vinobaji 's inspiration Bramha Vidya-Mandir was founded in 1959 in the Ashram premises to offer women a place for spiritual attainment by living a deeply contemplative life by contributing for the good of society. From 1970, he spent the last 12 years of his life in this Ashram observing Kshetra-Sanyas (confining himself in the Ashram precincts) and Sookshma- Karma yoga-( the subtle philosophy of action) till his death on 15th November 1982 after refusing food and medicine for a few days by accepting "Samadhi Maran" / "Santhara" as described in Jainism.
Leaving Paunar we reached Nagpur at around 12:30 pm.
Ambazari lake: This lake situated near the Southwest border of Nagpur is surrounded by mango trees, gaining the name Ambazari as "Amba" means "mango" in Marathi. It is one of the 11 lakes in Nagpur and is the largest lake in the city. The Nag River also originates from here. But the lake was hardly visible with water hyacinths covering the surface when we visited. Just beside the Ambazari Lake is the Ambazari Garden, which has pavements for walking, a fountain, electric rides and various amusement games for the kid and Swami Vivekananda Smarak.
Zero Milestone: Ever since we planned to visit Nagpur I was excited about visiting Zero Mile Stone which is a monument built by the British during the Great Trigonometrical Survey of India in 1907. The Great Trigonometrical Survey of India was a project that aimed to carry out a survey across the Indian subcontinent with scientific precision. It was begun in 1802 by the British infantry officer William Lambton. Later the project was made the responsibility of the Survey of India and it was completed in 1871. The Zero Mile Stone consists of a pillar made up of sandstone and another small stone representing the GTS Standard Bench Mark, and four stucco horses that were added later. Though it is no longer the centre of post partition India, it felt great to be at this historic place. I wish it was maintained better. The location is at a very busy area and there is no parking place nearby making it inconvenient to visit.
Saoji cuisine: It was time for lunch and Sanjay asked an young man about good place to eat traditional Maharashtrian cuisine. At his recommendation we went for lunch to Prince Saoji Bhojanalaya. Said to be the signature cuisine of Nagpur, Saoji food is very spicy and mostly non-vegetarian. Created by a weavers' community called Halba Koshti in Madhya Pradesh, Saoji cuisine is based on a unique blend of 32 spices, dominated by dry red chilies, peppercorns, cinnamon, nutmeg and more. The community migrated to Nagpur around 1877 after Jamshedji Tata opened the Empress Mills there and soon Saoji food became a prominent part of Nagpur's culinary tapestry. We had mutton curry and chapati for lunch and loved it.
Diamond Crossing point: We went to Nagpur Railway station to see the diamond crossing but could not locate it. Then I asked a railway staff and he directed us to the crossing. A diamond crossing in the railway system is a point where two railway lines cross forming a diamond shape but not necessarily at right angles. Three major rail lines meet at Nagpur junction railway station. One comes from the east from Gondia, the Howrah - Rourkela - Raipur line. The other comes from New Delhi in the north and the third goes towards the south, carrying trains to both the west and south. The third one splits into two different lines to the west (Mumbai) and to the south (Kazipet) only at Wardha, about 80 kilometres away. The other set of lines is only a service branch from the Nagpur freight yard, which lies parallel to the passenger platforms and is not a main line. These four lines make the diamond crossing of Nagpur. The diamond Crossing at Nagpur is a unique marvel of engineering that exists in very few places in the World. Loved to see this rare crossing, one of the only two such functional points in India - the other one is in Delhi. However, presently railroad-wise, the "actual point" where the North, South, East, and West of India meet is at Itarsi Junction Railway Station, Madhya Pradesh. Itarsi is the intersection of lines from the north (towards Agra - Delhi), south (towards Nagpur), east (towards Jabalpur - Allahabad, and Howrah), and west (towards Khandwa - Mumbai).
Next began our search for hotel and we checked into Hotel Uptown. It is located right in the middle of market area which is convenient but the area is congested. The hotel was neat and clean, but the rooms are without windows and the bathroom doesn't have exhaust. However we hardly stayed there except for sleeping in the night. The rent was 2800 INR including complimentary breakfast. After resting for sometime and having tea in hotel room, we went out again.
Futula Lake: Making a round of seminary hill area, we went to Futala lake. A popular spot in Nagpur, the lake covers 60 acres. It is surrounded on three sides by forest and a landscaped beach on the fourth side. A gallery had been recently built for viewing musical fountains, light shows etc. which was yet to be inaugurated. We sat there for quite some time watching the sunset.
From Futula lake we came back to hotel and after some time went out for dinner. There were lots of eateries as the hotel is in the market area. After having dinner in Haldiram and ice-cream in Naturals, it was time to crash into the bed in the hotel.
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