Madhya Pradesh holds a special fascination for me. It does not have the crowds of UP and the year that I spent in Indore was a good exposure to the natural beauty and history of the place.
Govind and Sudhi Pradhan were kind enough to invite us for their son Mudit's wedding at Orchha on the 1st and 2nd of Feb so we started planning a trip after the wedding festivities. Our dear friends Kishore and Guddo were happy to accompany us on our wanderings, the new Innova Crysta was bought specially for these urges so we were all set to go!
Feb 1 and 2
We left Gurgaon leisurely at 8 am after breakfast though we packed sandwiches, 'just in case'. As it happens Kishore had made some special sandwiches as well so we had enough and more to go around! Learning from our last experience of driving to Gwalior we did not take the Yamuna Expressway but took the old Delhi Agra road instead. If you take the YE, you have to plough through all of Agra to get on the Gwalior road while the old road has a nice bypass. We reached Orchha in 8 hours with very little time spent in stopping on the way. We had booked at the Rajmahal Palace Hotel - most of the hotels were full as there were two destination weddings happening in the town on that day! It was choc a bloc. It seems that people from Kanpur and other UP towns have discovered the charms of Orchha as a wedding destination. If you are planning to go there do book well in advance. The Amar Mahal is probably the best hotel. Rajmahal was OK but the rooms did not have a proper window and the bathroom had an exhaust fan that kept going all the time with a rather irritating sound. Having said that the hotel food and ambience were pretty good. The wedding festivities were brilliant but I will not dwell on that. The fun and games at a big fat Indian wedding are hard to beat!
I have covered Orchha, Khajuraho and Gwalior in a previous blog so will not focus too much on these places. If you want to read about that trip, click here MP trip 2021
Feb 3
After attending the wedding at Orchha, we set off to Chanderi for a spot of saree shopping. We were on narrow state and district roads for some time and got caught in a temple festival. The police had blocked the road so we had to take a diversion through some rough roads. The Innova took all this in it's stride and we eventually reached Chanderi in about 3.5 hrs. The town has a history dating back to pre Mughal days when the fortress changed hands several times. We went to a wholesale outlet for sarees who also took us to see the weavers in action. The MP govt has created a new complex for the weavers that is quite modern. Hopefully the handloom industry will survive the onslaught of power looms that are more efficient but the cloth feels different from handloom. As in Varanasi, the weavers are Muslim while the businessmen who organise the sales are Hindus. Interestingly, the silk comes from Korea, Japan or China - Indian silk is apparently not up to the mark. Maybe an area of focus for the agriculture sector in India.
We are staying at the appropriately named Kila Kothi hotel of MP tourism. The kila has the grave of Baiju Bawra who was a legendary singer around the same time as Tansen. With a johar site just next door and a khooni darwaza where prisoners were summarily despatched by throwing them off the cliff, one hopes that we have a restful night!
Feb 4
We had a very restful night indeed aided by some excellent red wine and a nice dinner provided by the hotel. We set off after breakfast for Khajuraho.
Tourism is witnessing a rebound and the place is much more lively than we saw in Feb 2021 during Covid. The govt has made a new approach to the Western temple complex. It looks good but you have to walk a lot and the electric rickshaws that are supposed to ferry people were not in evidence yet. The ticket booking is still on the net via a very tedious payment process. I cannot figure out why some nameless Babu wants to know your aadhar number as nobody looks at it anyway! Touts happily get you a ticket for a little premium. Ah India, some things will never change.
It's a blessing that the remnants of the splendid architecture of the Chandelas will never change either. The sculpture of the Khajuraho temples for me represents the flowering of Indian civilization before the Islamic invasions. Liberal, artistic, spiritual, knowledgeable, high status of women etc etc. The list is long. IMHO if we need a role model for a society that we need to be like, look no further than ancient India!
After looking around at the temples we came to a beautiful and rustic lodge near the Panna National park called The Sarai at Toria.
Feb 5
What an amazing day! We got up early to go for a safari in the Panna National park. The hotel (more about that later) had thoughtfully provided a much needed blanket and a hot water bottle to ward off the morning chill.
We set off into the park and the initial couple of hours were uneventful. We had a delicious breakfast in a clearing on the bank of the beautiful Ken river and set off again. We saw plenty of deer and nilgai but after a while we saw a leopard walking along a hilly ridge. A good sighting but at a distance. Then just as we were on our way out we saw 2 jeeps stopped ahead of us. A tigress was calmly walking around just a few feet away! An amazing sighting indeed.
We drove back to The Sarai at Toria really happy with the morning's work. We had a delicious lunch served outdoors near their vegetable garden under a shady tree. Beetroot soup, greek salad, an aubergine dish the like of which I have not tasted before, gnocchi with pesto followed by a campari pana cotta. The food here is outstanding. So are the rooms and service. This hotel is a real gem.
Later we went for a boat ride at sunset on the river Ken. This was a serene experience with many birds to see and to watch the golden sunset. Later the full moon rose against a star spangled sky. This is a magical place.
Feb 6
We left Panna and reached Gwalior in 4 hours beating Google's estimate by 45 mins. I think Google has still not figured out that the road in now incredible. Driving on the 4 lane National Highway was a breeze. If I was to pick one area where India has made dramatic and visible progress I would unhesitatingly pick the roads and highways. We are soon going to be at world class levels.
Neemrana's Deo Bagh is just as I remembered it. A large lawn with rooms on 2 sides. After a nice lunch we set off to the Fort and went into a Google induced loop with the car having to squeeze thru narrower and narrower lanes. For future reference, one must search for Urvai Gate, not some generic search term. This has happened 3 times on this trip. The algorithm should include best route rather than the fastest/shortest one!
Coincidentally, we got the same guide for the fort that we had got two years ago. He's quite knowledgeable and does not talk too much. The fort is as interesting as ever but the sound and light show was not working.
Got back to the hotel and met the delightful couple who own the property. It was a fun conversation....
Feb 7
Had breakfast and drove back to Gurgaon. Uneventful drive. We covered around 1500 km in the whole trip and spent Rs 1995 on toll - not cheap but worth every penny.
Here's to many more road trips! The best way to experience the magic of India.
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