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BHPian Join Date: Oct 2019 Location: Pune
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| XUV500 travels from Pune to MahaKumbh 2025! Part - I It’s been a while since I was looking forward to visit Prayagraj for Kumbhmela. To be honest, the main intention was to just witness the sheer collective spirit of lakhs of people gathering at the largest spiritual procession in the world. Another intention was to capture faces and expressions of variety of people visiting Kumbhmela. I had seen many captivating photos of individuals, devotees and spiritual seekers and was always amazed by their expressions and depth of emotions. Even after Kumbhmela started this year, I was not aware of its significance that it is going to be a lifetime event. Neither my earlier generation had witnessed it nor my next generation will experience it since Mahakumbh only occurs once in 144 years! Due to all other obligations, I had not even considered travelling to Prayagraj till 2nd week of January. Suddenly my elder brother announced that he will be opting for two weeks of planned vacation starting 27th Jan. So, while the idea of attending Mahakubh this year was not on cards, I was absolutely certain of making my best attempt for it. I checked the train reservations but as expected, the waiting list was running in hundreds. When I checked for the flight tickets, the return airfare was exceeding 55K for a travel duration of 3 days. I realized that this was going to keep increasing since one of the most auspicious Shahi Snan dates (Mouni Amavasya) was in the week starting 27th. So, as usual I asked my brother and other friends if anyone was willing to join me on a road trip to Prayagraj. I checked the route from Pune and the distance shown was around 1400 kms. As it was impossible to drive it within a day, I researched and figured out that there were two other destinations, which we could cover on our journey to Prayagraj from Pune, by breaking the journey into multiple days. As usual, my brother was happy to join me with minimum conditions, restrictions, and requirements. Such long-distance travel requires utmost flexibility, trust on decisions / adhoc changes made by the planner, ability to absorb inconvenience and adjustment of any sorts. Its easier said than done! My brother was working on Friday, 24th. So, he decided to finish his office activities early and drive to my place in Pune by Friday night. However, as we all know, all bosses tend to throw more work on the last day before long vacations, he kept on working till late evening. He started from Thane by 9:30 pm or so and then he was stuck in traffic near Khalapur toll plaza only to reach my place by 1 am. I tried to sleep early but was not much successful anticipating his calls and arrival after midnight. We did manage to sleep for couple of hours before walking up at 3-3:15 am. We had to take quick shower since our plan was to visit one of the most auspicious places, ‘Karanja’, just ahead of Nagpur on our way to Pench for first day’s halt. We had planned to take Samruddhi highway towards Nagpur and our plan was to drive to Sinnar early morning to connect to it. There are always twists in the human plans and so was the case with ours as well. We were packed and ready for our journey by 4 am and took a photo or two before starting at 4:15 am sharp. ![]() Google map had always shown me the route to Sinnar from Pune whenever I had checked earlier. However, while I checked this time early morning, it showed me the route through Kharadi, Wagholi on Ahilya Nagar Highway to connect Samrudhhi expressway at Sambhaji Nagar. Without deliberating much, we continued on this route since roads were relatively empty. Although its 4-lane highway, I would say the road surface was much smother being tarmac and hence the driving experience was much pleasant than driving on cement paved highways. We were looking for a place for a quick breakfast. However, since we had started relatively earlier in the morning, almost all restaurants were closed. There were few roadside dhabhas serving tea but that’s all we could locate. The journey till Sambhaji Nagar was uneventful (thankfully!). We stopped at the petrol pump by 8:30 for a tank full and then continued further. My brother had been to Nagpur through Samrudhhi and hence he insisted that we take breakfast somewhere before we connect to it. As per him, all the restaurants (rather petrol pump side eateries) on Samruddhi serve pathetic food and are also limited in numbers and food options. So, we decided to stop at the only open restaurant we saw while we were approaching Samruddhi connection link at Sambhaji Nagar. It was around 9 am and this restaurant had just opened its shutter and there was nothing ready in it. However, the manager promised to serve fresh dosa within minutes so we decided to try a variety there itself. ![]() After munching on dosa’s and freshening up with a cup of tea, we resumed our journey further in another 20-25 minutes. Soon we connected Samruddhi Expressway through Sambhaji Nagar uplink and were driving towards our first stop for the day, Lad-Karanja. For those who might not be aware, Lad-Karanja is a birthplace of Shri Nrusingh Saraswati Swami. He was the next incarnation of Shripad Shreevallabh Swamiji, who was incarnation of Lord Dattatrey himself. I had heard about this place but never had an opportunity to visit it earlier. While I was checking my route to Prayagraj from Pune, I came across Karanja exit on expressway. When I checked further, I realized that the temple is just 15 minutes away from the exit. There was no way that I would miss this opportunity! I knew that we could reach there by 12-12:15 pm if we start early. Accordingly, we did reach the Karanja exit by 12 pm to reach the temple vicinity by 12:15 pm. The parking facility near the temple was quite confusing to me and hence I did park my XUV in an open slot near one small temple and then we walked towards the main temple. I had pretty open mind and no specific expectations when we reached the temple. There is a huge entrance built and upon crossing it one gets to view the actual temple. ![]() Its relatively a small temple hosting ‘Vasudevanand Sarawati Swami’ and ‘Bramhanand Saraswati Swami’ idols in the temple and then as one enters the garbhagruha, he / she is blessed with the view of Nrusingh Sarawati Swamji’s lovely and reassuring idol in the center. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() There are definitely extremely positive vibes in that vicinity. As we walked through the main entrance, we felt the heavenly freshness and fragrance. We offered our prayers and spent few minutes there absorbing everything possible! As we came out, we saw another big hall hosting prasad. Since the timing for it was from 12 to 2 pm or so, we were more than happy to stand in the queue for it. Withing 15 minutes, the queue started moving and we all were taken to the halls spanning a multistorey building. We were served hot and finger licking prasad within next few minutes. We got to know that it was ‘Ekadashi’ that day and hence the prasad was prepared accordingly considering it. After getting the prasad, we came out of the main temple complex and looked for the original place (Wada) where Shri Nrusingh Saraswati Swamiji had taken birth. After checking with one of the shops, he guided us to a small building just few meters ahead of us. We walked up to it and climbed up the metal stairs built from outside of the wada. It opened up in a small room which had his big photo frame and another idol facing the door. The idol had extremely pleasing and reassuring expressions of compassion. ![]() We bowed down to him and then entered into the next room which is the centre part of the wada opening to the sky in the middle. There are rooms on the periphery of it. On the left side wall, there are few photographs depicting important life event of Swamiji and in its centre, there is ‘vrindavan’ (for lack of an exact word) built in the wall itself, which designates his birth place. Again, its question of individuals belief and conviction, but to me, it felt really fresh and alive while we were offering our prayers there. ![]() On its left side, there was a young chap in his twenties sitting diagonally opposite to it. There was another elderly person sitting beside him but he was wearing saffron coloured dress, indicating being a sanyasi. They both were facing the ‘vrindavan’. The young boy was singing some bhajan / aarti softly and the other person was listening to it with his eyes closed. They both were completely immersed into it while we stood there watching them for a few minutes. I had always wondered how beautifully people sing songs in Indian Idol or so. However, whatever he was singing live was so sweet and blissful that I cannot express it in words. Surprisingly, I was so mesmerized that I completely forgot the fact that I could have silently recorded a part of it on my mobile (after getting permission) without disturbing them as well as the tranquillity of the atmosphere. After a few minutes, I just bowed down to both to which they acknowledged in return, and then we left the wada happily towards our parked car. Soon, we were back to our car and resumed our journey towards our first destination of the route, Pence Tiger reserve in MP. Being last minute planning, permits of all the core gates of Pench were full. So, I had opted for permits of two buffer zone gates, namely, Khawasa and Teliya which were accessible from MPT Kipling’s Court Resort located next to Touriya Gate. Khawasa gate is just next to the highway whereas the Teliya gate is just 4 kms away from the resort / Touriya core gate. The road from Nagpur to Pench was excellent and we reached Kipling’s court by 6 pm. We drove around 832 kms on the first day. High tea was already served and we enjoyed hot batata vada and sipped coffee before winding down in our room. This resort was renovated from the time we had last visited it 3-4 years back. It is in great condition and rooms are fantastic. ![]() ![]() We freshened up, rested for a while and then went to the dinner at 8 pm. Food was good and was in line with our expectations based on our past experience. What matters to us is the hospitality of MP tourisms staff against what we’ve experience in Maharashtra’s MTDC. They always go above and beyond while catering to the needs of the travellers. In MTDC, everything is left to the travellers. Tadoba MTDC Package doesn’t even include morning tea, whereas in MP, the packages are all in American Plan (including all meals). Beyond that, they specifically check with the travellers about breakfast preference and strive hard to provide it (within reasonable flexibility). The best part is, the breakfast (aloo paratha’s, boiled eggs, bread butter toast, fruit juice, tea / coffee etc.) is packed and ready in a basket at the reception at 5:30 am for the safari pickup to start at 6 am. Take that MTDC!!! We first visited Khawasa gate in the morning time slot and then Teliya gate in the evening timeslot. The morning temperature must have been around 4-5 degree Celsius. Being that cold, its usually difficult to sight many animals in morning timeslot. The possibility of sighting also decreases due to thick vegetation and availability of ample water in January. All set for morning safari in freezing cold! ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() In morning safari, we saw multiple fresh pugmarks of tigers walking on the jeep trail early morning. However, all of them had moved across the roads to thick forest and hence we could not locate anyone. We saw few other animals but nothing was worth mentioning. The jungle trail itself was very beautiful but since we always anticipated tiger sighting at the back of our mind, we kind of felt wanting more! ![]() ![]() |
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BHPian Join Date: Oct 2019 Location: Pune
Posts: 112
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| Re: XUV500 travels from Pune to MahaKumbh 2025! Part - II On 27th morning, we got up early and took our packed breakfast and left Pench MPTDC at 6 am. Freezing cold start at Pench MPTDC ![]() We had planned to visit Bhedaghat which was enroute Rewa, which was our destination for 27th night stay. While we started towards Bhedaghat, the highway was routing through lush green fields. Sun was coming up and sprinklers were already watering the fields. The temperature gradient had created fog layers across fields and we couldn’t resist the temptation of stopping at multiple places for clicking photos of the fields and the beautiful highway. ![]() ![]() We reached the Bhedaghat parking by 9:30 am or so and then started walking towards the waterfall (Dhuandhar). To our surprize, hundreds of people were already present there before us. Most of them were driving further towards Prayagraj for the Mouni Amavasya Shahi Snan scheduled on 29th Jan. The entire highway had hundreds of vehicles parked, where groups of people travelling from different states were cooking food, drying their cloths etc. Many of the vehicles were from Telangana and from Maharashtra. I had visited Bhedaghat earlier as well and hence we decided to directly head towards the Dhuandhar. It was an amazing sight to watch thousands of gallons of water endlessly flowing through the waterfall towards the boating point. We took multiple photographs on the trail which goes next to the raging water. There is a ropeway built there for people who want to enjoy the top view of the river and the waterfall. Since we had planned to be in Rewa by early evening, we decided to skip it for this time. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() We again went up to the highway and resumed our journey towards Rewa. We were looking for a decent restaurant to take a break but we could hardly find anything on the route. Finally, we came across a good restaurant next to IOC petrol pump. We parked our car in the petrol pump parking and checked out our packed breakfast. But since the breakfast quantity was reasonable, we munched on it and skipped the restaurant visit in turn. ![]() We had not booked any accommodation in Rewa in advance. So, I was searching for stay options online and came across MPT Parsili Resort as one of the options in Rewa. The offer price looked good but it was a non-cancellable deal on Agoda. I had never been to Rewa previously. So, my impression of Rewa was that it must be thinly spread around the Jabalpur – Prayagraj highway. So, I simply booked this room and then tried to set direction for it on Google Maps. To my surprize, although Rewa city was just around 30 minutes from where we were on the highway, this hotel was appearing at 2 hrs driving distance. Also, the original route to Prayagraj was crossing from the left outskirts of Rewa. However, this hotel was on the rightmost end of the Rewa. We were literally shocked at our hasty decision of booking this hotel without checking its exact location. We stopped the car to evaluate the situation properly. From Rewa, it would have taken us around 3.5 hrs to reach Naini parking on the border of Prayagraj. However, from this hotel it was showing more than 4.5 hrs to reach Naini. This was not much sizeable difference in the timing since the route was shown from the right outskirts of Rewa this time. We even thought of giving up on this booking and make a fresh booking again but then after evaluating everything, we decided to try out this new place since the location feedback for this hotel was outstanding. We followed Google map and it took us off the main highway in next few minutes. Then the route continued on the right side through remote villages and the overall population started diminishing. Then we came across one big bridge which was giving an excellent view of river basin leading to a ghat section. When we reached on the top of the ghat, we got an excellent bird’s eye view of the river basin and the jungle it was traversing. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Soon, we lost both the cell phone network connections and simply relied on the GPS connectivity which was established earlier. We entered dense forest now and continued for another 30 minutes or so. Soon Google map showed that we’ve arrived at our destination but the hotel was nowhere in the sight! That was another boomer for us!! Sanjay-Dubri Tiger Reserve’s safari gate was 12 kms ahead of us on that same road. We decided to move along the same road to check and in few minutes, we saw another small road bifurcating from this main road on the right side. I think there was a small board there mentioning hotel’s name on it. We continued for 2-3 minutes and reached the main giant entrance of this MPT hotel. It was around 4:45 pm and the sun had already started going behind the thick trees. We travelled around 530 odd kms on the second day. It was an amazing property from its first view. ![]() However, to our surprise, there were only two cars parked in its huge parking. While we parked our car, one of them left the premise keeping the count intact. We ignored all tertiary (read ‘scary’ thoughts being in core jungle of Chambal region) thoughts coming in our mind and went for the check-in. We were allotted 2nd river facing log hut from the restaurant side. The room was excellent with a large single glass area which was facing the river on the west side. It was already pretty cold while we reached there. So, we were not surprised seeing large room heater in our room. It must be getting chilly at night. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() From the restaurant, one could see the complete view of the river and its white beach on the opposite side, leading into the deep forest. ![]() ![]() We got to know that the hotel has a small boat which assists the travelers to go to the beach at a minimal charge (Rs 100/- per head). We immediately asked the person to take us to the other side of the river so that we can spend some time on the white sand of the beach. ![]() This guy dropped us on the other side of the river and promised to come back in 15-20 minutes whenever we would be ready to come back. After he left, we were all alone in that area with literally no one else in the sight. He parked his boat and climbed up the stairs of the hotel and disappeared. It was kind of strange feeling since we did not have any means of coming back to the hotel. Neither we had boat at our disposal nor we had mobile network to call up anyone at hotel for assistance. ![]() ![]() ![]() We again ignored all tertiary thoughts successfully and soaked in the serene views around. Birds were chirping all along and even small fishes were jumping out of the calm water of the river creating ripples. We took few photos before coming back to the extraction point in another 30 minutes. Now, we could see 4 young boys on the stairs of the hotel taking photographs. I tried to waive at them but they did not notice us in the beginning. Then they started walking towards the hotel and then I had to shout to grab their attention. They understood what I was trying to signal and within next few minutes our boatman came back to this shore to take us back. After getting back to the room, we freshened up and got ready for an early dinner. When we went to the restaurant, as expected, we were the only guests there. We ordered few items and found that the preparation and taste was excellent. While we were leaving the restaurant, three ladies came to the restaurant. Those were the only other residents in that hotel on that day. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() After dinner, we walked in the premises for some time but it was getting too cold. Also, since this hotel was located in the core jungle, there were nothing visible outside the perimeter of this premises. It was fascinating as well as scary at the same time! We checked at the reception for the best way to travel to Prayagraj early next morning. Their manager was of the opinion that we should head back the same way and reach Rewa to get connectivity to the highway. However, other person at the counter said that if we travel on the other side of the hotel, we should reach Bhitri and then move further to connect to Mangawan at the highway. We obviously didn’t want to go back to Rewa and add travel distance / time to our journey, since we had planned to reach Prayagraj by 9 am next morning. However, we decided to take the final call in the morning. We decided to call it a day and hit the bed by 10:30 or so. We wanted to get up early and cover the additional extra hour needed to travel to Saini parking from this new location. We had to switch on the heater since the temperature kept on dropping. We could hear the river throughout the night but it was a peaceful night otherwise. |
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BHPian Join Date: Oct 2019 Location: Pune
Posts: 112
Thanked: 535 Times
| Re: XUV500 travels from Pune to MahaKumbh 2025! Part - III We woke up at 3:15 am, freshened up, prepared the tea in room itself. The manager of the resort had promised that the security guard would be available at the main gate and will unlock it for us to pass through by 4 am. He had asked us to call the reception at 3:45 am so that all necessary arrangements would be taken care of. We did call the reception multiple times but no one answered those calls. Finally, by 4 am when we reached the reception, we found out that its main door was locked from inside and there was no soul visible anywhere in the vicinity for handing over the key. We went up to the main gate of the premises and found out that it was locked (as anticipated) and the security guard as well was not visible anywhere. We again came back to the reception, knocked the door multiple times but in vain. Since there was no mobile network available there, it was impossible to try calling anyone for getting assistance. Somehow, my brother’s phone was connected to hotel’s WiFi and through which it was showing network connection on his SIM (I still don’t know how!). So, finally I searched for the hotels website and dialled the number which was available there. By that time, I had kind of lost all hopes of getting assistance and thought that we will never make it to Prayagraj by 9 am. To my surprise, after couple of rings, someone picked up the phone. We told him that we are speaking from the hotel itself and are standing outside the reception building. He told us that he is the security guard and had been sleeping in the basement for the whole time. He came out of the reception in next few minutes and open the lock of the main gate and we breathed a sigh of relief. However, the moment we took out our car outside the premises, we were swamped into pitch darkness. It’s the core area of the jungle and the safari entry gate was just 10-12 kms ahead of us. It was honestly too early for us to drive through that jungle on completely unfamiliar route. Fortunately, our phones were still connected to hotel’s WiFi and hence we were able to check Google Maps for the route suggestion to Prayagraj. It was showing us the same Bhitri, Mangawan route which the other person had suggested. We started on in pitch darkness. However, within another 5-7 minutes itself we came across a village giving us signs of some civilization which really boosted our spirits. Since then, after every 5-10 minutes we started hitting another village, a dhabha or a couple of truckers which took away the remaining anxiety of travelling on a relatively desolate route. Although we were travelling through many small villages, looked like it was one of the mainstream highways in the vicinity. Soon, we crossed Mangawan and moved further towards Chakghat. ![]() By now, horizon had lightened up properly and we could see huge fleets of tempos, jeeps, private vehicles from all over country travelling towards Prayagraj with zeal and enthusiasm. Most of them had already travelled thousands of kilometres. So, few of them were preparing and eating breakfasts on the road, few of them had finished bath and were drying up their clothes and few of them were just enjoying breaks during their long travel. As we started nearing MP – UP border, roads started getting narrowed and crowded. We had sufficient fuel in our vehicle however anticipating huge traffic jams and other unknown issues, we decided to top-up our fuel tank. Finally, we came across one IOC petrol pump which looked decent and clean and we decided to stop there. Nearby tapri owner was frying fresh pakodas, so we decided to eat them for breakfast before moving further. My brother was in touch with one of his ex-colleagues for guidance and arrangements in Prayagraj. He had further connected us to his family members who were staying in Naini itself. They had asked us to call them as we enter Prayagraj. I think by 8 am or so, we were nearing Mama Bhanja Talab chouraha when we came to complete halt due to traffic jam and bikers travelling on the wrong side of the road. However, we kept on moving slowly towards the junction. They advised us to go as further as possible from Mama Bhanja choraha so that we can reach near Arail Ghat, which was the closest from that side of Prayagraj. Soon, we reached the chouraha and observed that the entire traffic was routed to the right turn and there was three parkings listed on that route, namely, Dhanua, Chaka Gram (Ganga Nagar) and Indalpur. These three 'P' markings on the Google map exactly show these spots where one can park while coming from Rewa to Arail Ghat ![]() We immediately called our acquaintance and were advised to park in Chaka gram to avoid getting stuck in further chaos. We passed Dhanua parking on left side, which appeared jam pack but still police were guiding vehicles to enter it. We moved further and came across Chaka Gram parking on our right side. Police on the cross road helped to break the traffic chain and guided me to enter the parking. There were already hundreds, if not thousands of vehicles already parked there. Most of them were tempo travelers, buses and looked like they had been parked there for more than days. People were drying their cloths on them and it had kind of become their mobile home. I was anxiously looking for a secure place for parking my XUV for next couple hours. Surprisingly, as we entered the parking and crossed first 8-10 tempo travelers and trucks, I saw an opening on my left side. I peeped into it and saw an empty full-size parking lot available there which would easily fit my XUV in it. There was already another tempo traveler parked behind in it but that was too far and looked like it was parked there for multiple days. So, we decided to take our chance since we were anyway planning to take the holy dip and start driving back in next couple of hours. We parked our car there, took only essential stuff in our day sacks and took a couple of photos before staring our walk towards the ghat. ![]() As soon as we came out of the parking gate, we checked for the route towards the Arail ghat. Fortunately, the main road itself was leading to Arail ghat however, it was full of private vehicles trying to make their way to the next parking area. ![]() Policemen told us that the ghat is around 7-8 kms from there and we just need to follow the crowd on that narrow lane. Although the lane was crowded, it was not overcrowded in the beginning. Soon, we crossed another lane intersection and moved further before getting onto a flyover, which was built on Saini Railway station. All the vehicles which had reached that point were stopped and navigated from its left side. Locals had been targeting female and older travelers in the crowd and striking deals to port individuals on their motorcycles and scooters till Arail ghat. As we moved further on the flyover, the amount of people increased exponentially. The roads were narrow and unhygienic, and people travelling in a group had messed up the entire rhythm of walking. Since my brother and I relatively walk fast, we reached the entrance of the ghat in 1 hr 15 minutes or so. As we approached the ghat entrance, there was a complete chaos due to people travelling towards the ghat, people coming out of the ghat and people coming in from the right lane towards the ghat. It was almost stampede like situation and no one was listening to police and official personnel’s instructions. There were many ladies in the crowd who were pulling and dragging their cabin bag type suitcase behind them, which had abbreviated the issue. After revolving in the same place for around 10 minutes, we decided to move slightly towards the left side of the ghat entrance. The ghat entrance was completely blocked since large group of females and families were already sitting on the steps and were trying to eat food and dry their clothes there itself. We both, along with few others were able to sneak through the left side of the entrance and managed to reach the steps. To my surprise, once we passed through that bottleneck, there was a proper route visible till the actual ghat through the stairs. We took a pause there, soaked in that view, took a couple of photos and then moved further towards the actual Arail Ghat. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Trying to stand out from the crowd ![]() ![]() Authorities were monitoring the situation through helicopters, drones etc. The portion of the ghat from there onwards was relatively much cleaner. IMO, people who had been staying on the ghat for long, had messed up the hygiene parameter. Otherwise, administration had done everything possible to keep the area clean and hygienic. Withing next 10 minutes, we reached the actual ghat where thousands of people were already taking the holy dip. There were hundreds of boats in the river and most of them were moving towards the sangam point which was on the left side of the Arail ghat. We inquired for the boat facility but since its starting point was on far right from where we were, we decided to give it a pass considering the crowd and the time it might take to reach and get into one of the boats. So, we stopped at one dry and clean location with our sacks. I kept both the sacks at my feet and then my brother went first for the snan. He took two empty bottles to fill and carry Sangam Jal. I was simply amazed watching thousands of people around, their expressions, and satisfaction on their faces as they took holy dip at the sangam water. Soon my brother came back and changed his clothes. Now it was my turn. As I stepped into the water, I realized that it was too cold even at 10:30-11 am. I moved further till the safe floating boundary put in the water. It was really an amazing feeling to be there in that moment. And I slowly immersed by body and soul in that holy water multiple times. I filled my bottles with the water from the other side of the boundary and came back to the point where my brother was waiting for me. I changed my clothes and then we took a couple of photos before starting our long walk back to the parking lot. Radiating faces after the divine dip! ![]() This time we were even faster to reach our car. It just took us more than an hour to cover 7-8 kms. This time the road near the parking was relatively empty. We were surprised to see that and had a feeling that one should travel in the afternoon to avoid the morning mess. We had not had our breakfast but I insisted that we move out of Prayagraj as early as possible since I had this intuition that things could go wrong anytime, In my opinion, its always better to move out of that perimeter and then take a break. As soon as we moved out and were on the flyover, we saw a huge queue of vehicles on the other side of the highway waiting to enter Prayagraj. Looked like the administration had blocked all vehicles from entering Prayagraj for a couple of hours and there was already 3-4 kms queue which was continuously increasing. We really wanted to take a dip on Mouny Amavasya but considering everything, we decided not to push our luck further and started our journey towards Pune on 28th Afternoon itself. By 2:30-3 pm, we reached one restaurant where we decided to break for lunch. It was over crowded as usual, so we just decided to opt for Chole Bhature and Dosa items which were promised to be made available at relatively short time. We continued our driving throughout afternoon and evening, passed Rewa, Maihar, Katni, Teori on our way before taking a tea break somewhere near Sihora. Parting shot on our way back to Jabalpur: ![]() Then by 8 pm, we reached outskirts of Jabalpur where we decided to stay for night some 20 kms earlier than core Jabalpur. I think we stayed in hotel on highway in the vicinity of Panagar. We had already travelled some 530+ kilometres. It was kind the first decent hotel we saw after Katni, Sihora. It had a restaurant on the ground floor. After we stopped there for night, multiple other cars as well stopped there and stayed for the night. We had an early dinner and roamed around in its open parking near the highway for quite some time. It got really cold in the night. We decided to call it a day since we had planned to drive straight to Pune on the next morning. As usual, we woke up at 4:15 am, finished our morning chores and were in our car by 5 am. Google maps was showing around 1050 to Pune vai Samruddhi Expressway. We wanted to cover some distanced early in the day so we decided to hit the road as early as possible. We soon crossed / bypassed Jabalpur, Seoni and then crossed same Khawasa Gate of Pench on our way back. We had planned for taking breakfast around Nagpur but since we were early as usual, none of the restaurants were open at that point. Also, since were on outskirts of Nagpur, there were hardly any good options visible on the road. Finally, before connecting Samruddhi Expressway, we topped up our fuel tank which was good enough for us to reach Pune in a single stretch. As soon as we entered Samruddhi Mahamarg, all vehicles were stopped by traffic police to check documents etc. There was a petrol pump nearby where we looked for a food joint but the only thing which they had ready was a Samosa. So, we had couple of samosas itself for breakfast and continued our driving. It was really boring and monotonous stretch of road till Sambhaji Nagar exit and all food stops enroute are simply pathetic. What max you can opt for is a Nescafe, which might help to stay awake on that stretch. We took a photo or two after breakfast and continued further. Extremely monotonous road of Samruddhi! ![]() ![]() It was around 4 pm when we exited highway near Sinnar to join the old Nashik highway towards Pune. We stopped at the first restaurant on that route and ate some basic stuff for lunch before continuing further. Nashik highway quality and the traffic on it is simply pathetic. We somehow managed to cross Alephata, Narayangaon and Manchar with decent speed. But after crossing Rajgurunagar, it was a complete chaos when we crossed Chakan, Bhosari. It took us more time and effort to cross these areas and reach Wakad than what we had experienced while crossing areas till Narayangaon. We reached my place by around 8:45 pm after driving around 1045 kms on that day 😊 Learnings from this trip:
And last but not the least, I have to thank all fellow Team-Bhp friends who provided valuable inputs and insights which helped to plan this trip better! |
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![]() | #4 |
BHPian Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: bangalore
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| Re: XUV500 travels from Pune to MahaKumbh 2025! Wow wonderful trip,I enjoyed going through every word. I really liked the lonely property you stayed in the jungle. Keep travelling and writing,cheers. |
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The following BHPian Thanks majumon for this useful post: | prajakt_23 |
![]() | #5 |
BHPian Join Date: Jul 2021 Location: Kolkata
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| Re: XUV500 travels from Pune to MahaKumbh 2025! Phew…….vicariously experienced every bit of anxiety of the central Indian wilderness. You are a wonderful storyteller and your detailed account made the picture very clear. Keep traveling and keep sharing |
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The following BHPian Thanks Dibyendu Bose for this useful post: | prajakt_23 |
![]() | #6 | |
BHPian Join Date: Oct 2019 Location: Pune
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| Re: XUV500 travels from Pune to MahaKumbh 2025! Quote:
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The following BHPian Thanks prajakt_23 for this useful post: | Dibyendu Bose |
![]() | #7 |
BHPian ![]() Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Hyderabad
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| Re: XUV500 travels from Pune to MahaKumbh 2025! Amazing read. Thanks for sharing. I didn't know about MPT Parsili Resort. I have stayed many a times in MPT Vindhya Retreat in Rewa for my overnight stop. Like you have said, awesome food in all Madhya Pradesh Tourism hotels. I was checking for MPT Parsili Resort in google map and it doesn't show the road till the end (and rather just shows the treks). Would it be possible for you to share the map, where you took right turn for the hotel finally? I can try to edit the map if it allows. |
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The following BHPian Thanks ottocycle for this useful post: | prajakt_23 |
![]() | #8 |
BHPian ![]() Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Hyderabad
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| Re: XUV500 travels from Pune to MahaKumbh 2025! Note to Mods: Please merge my post with above. I was able to locate the exact road segment that leads to the resort in the satellite view. I have edited the road now so it reaches the resort. Hopefully someone will approve the edit. |
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![]() | #9 | |
BHPian Join Date: Oct 2019 Location: Pune
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| Re: XUV500 travels from Pune to MahaKumbh 2025! Note to Mods: If possible, please merge my response with earlier responses. Not sure if I can do it now. Quote:
![]() Last edited by prajakt_23 : 4th February 2025 at 21:00. Reason: Request for merging | |
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![]() | #10 |
BHPian Join Date: Dec 2021 Location: Vadodara
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| Re: XUV500 travels from Pune to MahaKumbh 2025! We recently stayed at MPT resorts at Panna and Bandhavgarh and I stayed at MPT at Panchmarhi as well, I completely agree with you regarding the hospitality provided by MPT resorts, they can even better lot of privately owned resorts. I feel other state's tourism departments should send their staff for training in hospitality at MPT resorts, they are excellent in providing service to the guests. When you go for safari's near national parks you are completely dependent on the resorts for everything and MPT resorts are amazing in every aspect right from packing breakfast, providing blankets, drinking water everything is ready in the gypsy before you sit for the safari. |
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The following 2 BHPians Thank Sa!lor for this useful post: | Linuskm, prajakt_23 |
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BHPian Join Date: Nov 2020 Location: Pune
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| Re: XUV500 travels from Pune to MahaKumbh 2025! Wow.. what an exhilarating journey!! Thank you for the detailed overview of the trip and accommodations. And congrats on witnessing one of the rarest and greatest events. |
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The following BHPian Thanks ketan007 for this useful post: | prajakt_23 |
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| Re: XUV500 travels from Pune to MahaKumbh 2025! Excellent writeup. Felt like we are travelling with you. Now you have inspired me to travel there in my Brezza along with family. Planning to go in next 2 weeks and this post is helping me to make my itinerary. Thanks a lot. |
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The following BHPian Thanks 007 for this useful post: | prajakt_23 |
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