Mekedatu Sangama is the place where two Rivers meet - The mighty Kaveri and Arkavathi.

BHPian mrpotato recently shared this with other enthusiasts:

A sedan friendly morning drive

I was looking for a drive which I could undertake with confidence in a Sedan. I was going through google street maps turn by turn to figure out which destination to choose next. Eventually I landed on a thread from Dr.AD. He had visited Mekedetu Sangama view point and posted some amazing pics of the drive. I wanted to do the same since its bhp-tested now. So that's how this drive happened.

The route was fairly simple. From South Bengaluru where I stay, I just had to get on to Nice road and take the Kanakapura Exit and head straight to Kanakapura. Continue on the Kanakpura road until you reach the Sangama Kaveri Wildlife Sanctuary Check post. The View point is just few kilometres from this check post.

We started off the drive sharply by 7 am. I wanted to go out while the weather was still cloudy and the sun nightly tucked behind the clouds. I took the Bannerghatta entry to the Nice road. The road as always was really good. The only downside being the tyre noise from the cement laden road. Its annoying after a point. I could not enjoy the Nice road much since I had to take the Kanakapura exit in just a little more than 4 kms. I had not been on the Kanakapura road for a good 6 years so I was a little skeptical but boy, was this road awesome for a sedan. Nice wide roads, with proper markings, it was a joy to drive the F30. I did not push the car much but I did manage to do some quick overtakes which I loved.

We reached the Sangama Kaveri Wildlife checkpost at about 9 am. The checkpost was quiet with just one caretaker and no vehicles in front of us. You need to enter your vehicle details there. Then came the most exciting part of the trip. The TWISTIES. Good tarmac with nearly no potholes on the way coupled with the forest canopy felt really nice to look at. The thought of how green this place would be during monsoon kept running through my mind. The F30 handled the twisites quite well we headed straight to the Mekadetu River stop. The tarmac ends right next to the water body beyond which its just land. The place has a really big parking space on the right but a word of caution - The Monkeys. I saw one Monkey jump from the top of a Scorpio onto a Punto the moment I entered the parking space. I parked in a place which had no trees above to avoid Monkeys. The caretaker there asked for another 50 to shoo away the monkeys from destroying the car. The moment I got out of the car, the caretaker was nowhere to be seen. I think it was a scam.

Mekedatu Sangama is the place where two Rivers meet - The mighty Kaveri and Arkavathi. The view from the shore was good with the sun having risen above the water and the reflection shimmering on top.

I so wished to remove my shoes and jump in but having turned 30 recently I already felt conscious and decided against it but mostly, it was because I did not want to get the car dirty. One could hear the feeble sounds of a waterfall coming from a distance. Me and my wife stood there for a while taking in the view, the sounds, the sun, the water, the trees. We clicked some pics on the return journey. Closing this out with some edits I made to the pics. Thanks for reading

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I keep calling this a solo road trip but my companion was my trusted "Dusty", my Mahindra Thar 4x4.

BHPian Dr.AD recently shared this with other enthusiasts:

Chasing the Sun at Gandikota Fort

I love solo wanderings where I can practice my hobby of photography to my heart's content. Just me, my car and my camera, and a good location. I love walking around for hours, searching for landscapes and exploring different angles and lights for photography.

This is what I did recently at Gandikota Fort in Andhra Pradesh, some 6 hours drive away from Bangalore. Gandikota Fort and the nearby Belum Caves were on my to-visit list for a long time. Finally managed to visit both these places in a quick weekend trip.

Gandikota Fort is a popular tourist destination and is usually crowded with tourists. The fort has plenty of, but all very basic accommodation options ranging from basic lodges to tents, including one resort from the AP tourism department. Unfortunately, none of these options looked too appealing from the online reviews - most of these are not very clean. In fact, the entire area has no good hotel to stay at.

Finally, based on online reviews, booked one hotel called "Royal Palace Residency" in a small town some 15km away from the fort. This place is very basic too - just a roadside lodge with zero amenities or luxuries. However, the room was clean and comfortable, with spotless white sheets and towels, a good working AC (very important in that hot climate there) and again a basic but clean bathroom. That was enough for a solo one-night stay for me. The hotel manager and staff there are extremely friendly and welcoming, and their hospitality was top-class and worth mentioning here.

Overall a good place to stay for a short visit to Gandikota. I was glad I found this place instead of staying on the fort itself (those accommodations did not look good at all when I saw them after reaching there).

Of course, although I keep calling this a solo trip, my companion was my trusted "Dusty", my Thar 4x4. The small and basic hotel had no parking place as such, and Dusty was parked on the side of a small lane that the hotel is located on. Dusty makes no fuss about parking places and that small roadside spot was OK for a night's stay.

I drove to Belum Caves first, before reaching Gandikota later that day. Belum Caves are large underground natural caves, with a nicely developed underground walking path through the caves that spans about 3km. I enjoyed walking underground and seeing the caves. However, the lighting in the caves was too bright and colorful for my liking, and it made the caves look artificial - sort of like a movie set or an amusement park setting - instead of getting the feel of seeing real natural wonder (which the caves really are). I was a bit put off by these colorful lighting and did not care to do any photography as such in the caves. Just sharing a couple of photos below to show what I mean.

The nice underground walking path in Belum Caves:

However, such colorful lighting makes the caves look artificial:

Too colorful and bright for my liking:

Keeping aside the colorful lighting part, the caves are indeed nice and quite big. The natural underground formations of various sizes and shapes are nice to see. There are a lot of walking paths underground, some big and some small and narrow where one has to bend down and walk with very limited headroom.

From the caves, I drove to the hotel. After a quick check-in and lunch at a nearby restaurant in the town, I drove straight to Gandikota Fort for the evening photography session. My plan was to spend two sessions walking around the fort. The evening session that day (around 4pm to 7pm) chasing the sunset, and then the next morning session (6am to 8am) chasing the sunrise. The weather is very hot there, and the whole area is open to the sun with no shade whatsoever, and therefore, only the morning and evening times are the right times to venture out there.

The fort is quite big, and there are plenty of locations and viewpoints to walk around. There is a large parking lot outside the fort (where mostly the buses parked), but one can even drive through the fort and park at another parking lot inside the fort too (where most of the cars drove to and parked). I parked in the inside parking lot and wandered around the fort with my camera in my hand.

Dusty in Gandikota Fort:

It was quite hot there, and walking around to various locations within the large fort was a good exercise. After checking out an ancient temple and an ancient mosque, all within the fort premises, I walked to the main attraction, the canyon viewpoint. This fort is famous for the views of a canyon formed by Penna River cutting through the rocky landscapes.

External walls of the fort, overlooking the canyon:

The fort offers breathtaking views all around, especially during sunset and sunrise, and has a lot of historical monuments too. However, unfortunately, it is in a very bad mess due to heavy tourism and crowds. There is trash and garbage (including broken glasses and bottles) everywhere, and it was really sad to see this mess. Car parking was also unregulated and poorly managed. Many cars were parked in a haphazard manner causing problems to other cars moving around. This fort would be an amazing place if kept clean and if the tourist and vehicle movements were regulated and controlled.

There is a walking path to the end of the fort from where you see the canyon views. That viewpoint is essentially a small hill full of big rocks, and one can climb on the rocks to get various vantage points to see the canyon. Depending on one's fitness level and enthusiasm, one can climb to various heights to get a good view. With a camera in my hand, I walked up and down the big rocks multiple times to get good views and angles of the canyon. It became a good workout session for me that day, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Views of the canyon:

Last rays of the evening on the tip of the rocks:

I wanted to see the views of the canyon at dusk, and there was still some time for that. So I climbed down from those rocks and started exploring other parts of the fort in the meantime. The sunset would be in the other direction (the above view is the eastern view), and I thought I should check out the sunset on the western side of the fort.

While walking around, a large ancient temple in the middle of the fort looked amazing with the sun setting behind it. There was a group of tourists on top of that temple, and that setting formed a nice subject for some silhouette photography experiments.

Silhouettes of the crowd watching the sunset behind the temple:

The sun setting behind the temple and a distant hill:

Taking a cue from those tourists, I found a way to climb to the top of that viewpoint and found magnificent views on the other side from there.

Sunset on the west side of the fort:

I came back to the canyon view point right at the time when the sun went down the horizon, to check out the twilight glow there, and I was not disappointed by those views.

The canyon at dusk:

The twilight time just after sunset was magical. The sky was lit up beautifully in blue and orange shades, and the ancient structures in the fort looked great against the backdrop of that sky.

The mosque in the colourful twilight:

A beautiful structure called "Charminar in Gandikota Fort", under that lovely evening sky:

A beautiful temple in the fort looked amazing under the evening sky:

After all the sunset and twilight hour wandering around, it was time to go back to the hotel. Dusty was parked in an open parking lot which was essentially just a vast open grassland. When I reached the parking spot at the end of the day, with that evening glow still lingering around in the sky, and headlights of other cars around giving a nice lighting effect, it gave me an idea to click the below photograph there.

Time to pack up and call it a day:

My hotel was about 15km away from the fort, and the night drive to the hotel after that sunset session was very peaceful and serene. The road from Gandikota to that hotel is very nice. It is a nice two-lane road with good lane markings and reflectors, across the vast open desert lands and hills, with zero development on either side. At night, it was pitch dark all around, zero light pollution, the sky was clear and lit up with a thousand stars, the reflectors in the lane markings looked fantastic under the headlights, and with zero traffic all around, it was a fantastic drive back! Most of the tourists on the fort stayed in one of those lodges or tents on the fort, and there was hardly anyone driving in and out of the fort at that time.

The next morning, I started from the hotel at about 5:45am, and again had that beautiful drive back to the fort, still under pitch dark conditions, and with those reflectors looking lovely under the headlights. Absolutely loved those peaceful and quiet night drives across the desert lands, to and from my hotel to the fort.

I parked the car and walked straight to the canyon view point for sunrise. It was still a good 20 minutes before sunrise when I was walking to that point. I love this morning walks to see the sunrise. The anticipation of seeing the sunrise is as exciting as the sunrise itself. I walked briskly, climbed the rocks, found a good spot with clear views, and waited in anticipation to see the sun rising from straight behind the canyons. And in the next few minutes, I saw an absolutely breathtaking sunrise there which was the highlight of my trip.

Sunrise above the canyon:

The magic of the morning light:

Another view of the beautifully backlit rocks:

After seeing the sunrise I walked back to my car and drove to another point nearby for another view.

While walking back, saw that ancient temple on the fort now bathing in the morning light:

Dusty on the fort:

Morning views of the canyon and the water from another point:

Finally, a parting shot of Dusty on that vast and open land surrounding the fort and the canyon:

The return drive to Bangalore was a brisk and uneventful drive. Overall it was a memorable short trip. The fort was beautiful, and the views from the fort, especially the sunrise views were absolutely breathtaking. I will surely remember that sunrise for a long long time.

Well, that is all from this simple and short weekend drive. Thank you very much for reading!

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After crossing the entrance, it’s about 20 miles to the top through dense forest and snow-capped mountain views until you reach the parking area.

BHPian mobike008 recently shared this with other enthusiasts:

Day Trip to Mt. Rainier National Park, Washington-January 19th, 2025

A couple of weeks ago, on a Sunday I noted that the weather was brilliant as it was cold (minus degree temperatures) and super sunny at Mt. Rainier. I immediately decided to do a “Solo Drive” to the crown jewel of Washington - Mt. Rainier National Park.

Mt. Rainier is about 110 miles (190kms) southeast and requires one to cross Downtown Seattle and head east towards this popular National Park.

I started from home at around 9:30 am and headed toward the park. It was quite foggy in the beginning and the weather improved as I neared the park. It takes about 2.5 hours to reach Paradise which is the visitor center of Mt. Rainier National Park.

While driving towards the park, Mt. Rainier is visible from almost every few miles and at different angles. Drive as usual is pleasant as, after some bit of freeway driving (~ 50 miles), the rest is via. winding 2-lane roads through the national park.

Reached the entrance of the park a little before 11:30 am and as usual, it felt like the entire Seattle was in the park and it took nearly 30 mins to cross the entrance where they collect the fees- $30/car. Post crossing the entrance, it’s about 20 miles to the top through dense forest and snow-capped mountain views until you reach the parking area.

Parking area was completely full and it took me 10-15 mins of circling around before I got an open slot to park the car. It was nearly 1:00 pm and I was hungry so I unpacked my picnic box and enjoyed a hearty home-made meal sitting in the car with great views.

Post that lunch, I started a small hike up the mountain and hiked for about 1.5 miles one-way and enjoyed the views. Came back down around 3:00 pm and drove to a couple of other spots spent exploring that area.

Due to heavy snow, most of the area was closed to vehicular traffic so limited spots were open. Most people come fully prepared with snowshoeing shoes, ski and/or, spiked hiking boots.

It was almost 4:00 pm and it was time to head back and enroute the views of Mt. Rainier were glowing with sun rays falling on it (it was absolutely amazing to see the mountain in that golden color).

Enjoyed the drive back home which I reached around 7:00 pm. It was a fun day spent in the mountains.

Foggy when I left home at 9:30 am.

Quick stop enroute to grab some coffee.

Views of Mt. Rainier all through the drive.

Beautiful Lakes too on the way...

Long queue at the entrance of the park. This is a regular phenomenon. It normally takes 10 mins to 30 mins to pass the entrance.

Winding (Ghat type of section) for the last 15-20 miles up to the mountains. Very enjoyable drive.

Mountain in your face as you come closer.

Finally at the parking spot.

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2 wheelers are allowed till the farthest places including till the gates of the Akhadas.

BHPian Ry_der recently shared this with other enthusiasts:

Experience of Mahakumbh Visit on 01-02-2025:-

For ease of understanding, I'll use pointers:-

1. Visited Mahakumbh-2025 on 01st Feb 2025. 3 Adults and one 10YO kid. All under age 42.

2. Route taken was Lucknow-Prayagraj-Lucknow.

3. Left from Lucknow at 6 AM on 1st Feb and returned at 10 PM on the same day.

4. Reached Prayagraj at around 10.30 AM due to frequent diversions arranged by the local administration from Phaphamau.

5. Don't trust GOOGLE MAP ETAs and Routes.

6. Parked the car at Parade Ground parking and walked 4 KMs to the Sangam Nose. You can hire a rickshaw for a part journey on that route. We preferred walking.

7. In 1.5 hours max, I was able to take 'Snan' and change. Sufficient number of changing rooms available in close proximity of of the ghats.

8. Wandered around in Kumbh Akhaada Area after crossing the pontoon bridge from Sangam ghats. There are many pontoon bridges. Some remain open all the time and some are used for VVIPs/Emergency vehicles etc.

9. Visited Nagvasuki Temple which is again on the Sangam ghat side (3.5 KMs from Sangam nose).

10. Hired 2 bike taxis from Nagvasuki Temple to the parking for 800₹.

11. Left from Prayagraj at 5.30 PM.

Tips:-

• 2 wheelers are allowed till the farthest places including till the gates of the Akhadas. Would be better to hire a two wheeler for a whole day, if your pockets allow. Hire it before venturing to the ghats. After ghats it will be very difficult to get hold of one.
• If you want to venture to Akhada area on foot, avoid taking kids with you. We walked around 18-20KMs just to experience the 'Kumbh'.
• Alternatively, you can go to Arail Ghat near Naini and hire a boat for snan right in the middle of the river. Boat service remain suspended if any VVIP or dignitaries visit on the day or on the days of Mahasnan. Same thing happened in our case.
• Avoid 2 days before/after Mahasnan days.
• Stay hydrated, wear a cap and the most important thing is to wear a mask. Lots of dust.
• Police is available at every nook and corner of the site and they generally are very helpful. Whenever confused, don't hesitate in asking them.

The above are what I could observe in a few hours and in a limited area.

'Har Har Mahadev'

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Driving through the Mont Blanc tunnel involves a hefty 65 EUR but it was worth it for the experience and the time saved.

BHPian agambhandari recently shared this with other enthusiasts:

In the summer of 2024, me and my wife were in the UK for a period of 3 months as part of a fellowship program in an NHS Hospital in London. We are Ophthalmologists and the routine working hours in these hospitals were limited to weekdays only. So as soon as we got this planned, we made sure to get a Schengen visa as well to give us the option to explore the neighboring states of Europe when time allows. Luckily we were able to make multiple trips on weekends + Bank holidays and I hope to share each in a separate travelogue.

London to Geneva

Leaving from London Gatwick airport (an airport that's a good hour and a half away from the city itself), I show you the arrangement that makes cheap flights within Europe possible.

The Underseat bag. The flight ticket is cheap as chips but only if you travel with this, carry on luggage (yes, the one that goes in the overhead bin) costs extra and it can be as much as 3x the cost of the ticket itself.

Despite starting off from London, this felt eerily familiar with a couple of Air India 787s visible from my window just before takeoff. Reached Geneva and checked into the hotel close to the airport.

Next morning, started out too early to visit the city centre. Decided to climb the Tower of the St. Pierre Cathedral and we were greeted with magnificent views of the city.

This part of Switzerland speaks French and the writing on top of the tower showed that

The climb of around 160 steps to the top of tower was exhausting, but the descent down was anxiety inducing

Geneva has some of the best luxury shopping options and it was easy to spot some classy cars like these.

Took the tram to get around to the Flower Clock

And to get closer to the Iconic Jet d'Eau. We managed to walk through the fountain and yes, got absolutely drenched even though being covered in raincoats. It was good fun.

We took the tram to visit the United Nations office and some giant 3-legged chair that seems to be an attraction. Happened to find a Statue of Mahatma Gandhi in the garden nearby.

Then passed through the WHO headquarters, just as a bucket list item. There were some interesting factoids on display but would not bore you Non-Medical guys with those, so here's where I managed to spot the Indian flag among 190+ in the entrance.

Going back to the city centre, we were greeted with a beautiful rainbow thanks to the Sunset light hitting the fountain at the perfect angle.

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Its never too late to try something which you have never tried. Just keep driving, just keep driving!!

BHPian prajakt_23 recently shared this with other enthusiasts:

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!

Continue reading BHPian prajakt_23's travelogue for more insights and information.

The sound of an in-line four engine is just sublime and revs up the rider like anything

BHPian AKSO recently shared this with other enthusiasts:

Gurpratap and I decided to make a quick dash to Goa for the Republic Day weekend.

Day 1: Pune to Goa

We left Pune at 05.30H and were soon on the highway with all four cylinders on the Ninja 1000 singing a deep hum. The sound of an in-line four engine is just sublime and revs up the rider like anything.

Our first stop in the morning was the Jio petrol pump at Karad. The pump has a convenience store cum cafe attached to it and makes a decent place to stop for a snack and coffee. The restrooms are also reasonably clean.

The route taken to join the west coast was via Malkapur - Anuskara Ghat - Oni. The crossover takes a couple of hours with the customary break at the crest of the ghat to take pictures, shoot the breeze, drink cold limbu paani and generally soak in the beauty that is on offer. 

To further boost the mood was my Cardo unit playing the song Gypsy Life by the Scorpions "Bye Bye Girl, there's a road I gotta find, that Gypsy life, I miss that life, like a good old friend..." 

We met Ashok and his friends who were also enroute to Goa and was flying a nifty DJI Drone. Ashok began reminiscing about the days in the saddle when he used to ride a KTM 390.

In a short while we joined the west coast, aka old Bombay Goa highway at Oni and shortly made a stop at Route 66 which is located just after the Kankavli Toll. The chilled sol kadi here is just yum! and as the day was beginning to get warm and humid this stop was a most welcome break. I observed that the NH66 highway that has been re-laid with concrete is terrible on the suspension and also on the back.

The turn off after Mangaon on NH66 offered some relief as we stopped feeling like milkshakes and were back on tar roads albeit 2-laned. The distance between the highway and the beach at Mandrem is around 30km. The ride is scenic and is a mixture of small villages, forest areas and a creek.

The bikes pulled into Sunset Waves Resort, Mandrem Beach at 14.00H making the total ride time eight-and-a-half hours. After parking our luggage into the cottage rooms and changing out of the riding gear we settled for lunch at the hotel shack.

After the meal and a nap, we chilled out at the shack over some surprisingly superb chai (tea in Goa is usually terrible IMO) and watched the sun going down.

For dinner we walked along the beach to the next hotel for a delicious meal at Lazy Dog which is situated at Beach Street Eco Resort.

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It was after a long time that we were in the Sikkim hills – but this primitive occurrence never ceases to amaze us

BHPian sayakc recently shared this with other enthusiasts:

Year End Holidays to Biksthang Heritage Farmhouse

As I stand on the balcony of our cottage, I can hear the sound of trickling water – overnight dew which had accumulated on the tin sheds and were rolling down now, onto the leaves of the plants and blades of grasses. The solitude of the morning was only disturbed by a chirping bird - possibly a flycatcher. A serene, cold breeze was blowing from the east, sometimes ruffling my jacket. And in an cloudless, indulgent sky…the first rays of the sun fall on the Kanchenjunga that is staring right in front of us – separated by miles of lesser hills - the monolith turns into pink then gleams like gold and in the next half an hour burns bright white. The Sleeping Buddha has awoken!

It was after a long time that we were in the Sikkim hills – but this primitive occurrence never ceases to amaze us. And then reality hits – my exposed fingers are numbed by now , so much so that pressing the shutter becomes an arduous task.

A couple of days ago..
We had left our Calcutta home, to the jingle of Christmas carols as we barreled down the Kalyani Expressway - the newest alignment to reach Siliguri. At our newly discovered favourite spot – BP Ghar at Birohi – we had a filling breakfast of Aloo parathas.

Amongst other things like nolen gur and koraishutir kochuri, the winters bring along with it the advent of yellow mustard fields. And at Raiganj, with the orange glow of the setting sun in the background, the sight of the mustard fields stretching far and wide into the horizon through a thin layer of the accumulating mist, is a sight that I will remember for long! The rest of the journey to Marina’s Motel, Bagdogra was a routine affair , as we checked in to the hotel at 9 PM after a straight 12 hours journey.

Marinas’ Motel used to be our favourite haunt during our stopovers to the Darjeeling and Sikkim hills and hold much nostalgia for us. But times change and so do everything around us – and some changes are for the worse – the erstwhile warmth of Marina’s was replaced by a cold transactions this time around and I have serious doubts if I will ever stay at this place in the near future.

Packed and ready to go!


The next day, as we reached Biksthang.


Evening tea - the sandwiches were devoured as soon as they arrived. Hence no photos!

The next morning as the first rays of the sun fell upon Kanchenjunga.

Kanchenjunga main.

The snows glistening in the intense sunrays.

The entire Sleeping Buddha.

Kabru North and South.

A slice of sun lit up the the breakfast place.

The 'N' resting in the garage after a long haul.

The heritage section of the Biksthang Heritage Farmhouse where the owners stay.

Out on an excursion.

At the dinner table.

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The first tigress we saw in the wild at Kanha 7 years back got us all hooked to Safari's in a way that now every year we go for at least 10 to 15 safaris.

BHPian Sa!lor recently shared this with other enthusiasts:

Background:

I have always been a wildlife lover since I was a child, it all started with Jungle Book on Doordarshan in the 90's and with age the interest also started increasing as Jungle Book was replaced with National Geographic and Discovery. At one point I was seriously considering Zoology as a career option but with limited opportunities in the field went ahead with Marine Engineering.

Now as I work on ships for 6 months and I am home for 4 to 5 months, I had enough time to rekindle with my wildlife interest which led me to my first Jungle Safari at Kanha National Park in 2017 with my family.

Though we went to enjoy the forest and considered tiger sighting as an added bonus, the first tigress we saw in the wild at Kanha 7 years back got us all hooked to Safari's in such a way that now every year we go for at least 10 to 15 safari's and try to cover different forests every time.

Introduction:

Even though we as a family have been doing safaris for 7 years now and we have covered 10 different National parks till now, this is the first time I am writing a travelogue on my experience.

As everyone in our family and friend circle knows our love of wildlife and safaris, one of my friends and his wife asked to accompany us to our next safari destination which was Panna National Park and Bandhavgarh National Park.

I have been to Bandhavgarh once back in 2017 but this was my first time visiting Panna and while planning the route from Vadodara we got to know about Khajuraho so decided to add Khajuraho as a night stop so that we can visit the Khajuraho temples as well.

With destinations decided it was time to make route planning along with stay options and safari bookings. I took charge of safari bookings as I am well versed with the government official website for safari booking and my friend took charge of Hotel bookings, for route planning we took help from teambhp travelogues and route queries.

Below are the details of the trip :

People travelling : 4 adults ( Me, my wife,my friend and his wife ) and 2 kids ( My friends two kids one is 2 years old and another is 5 years old )

Route decided : Vadodara - Thandla - NE4 - Ramganj Mandi - Jhansi - Khajuraho - Panna National Park.

Return route decided : Bandhavgarh National Park - Jabalpur - Bhopal - Indore - Vadodara.

Stay options finalised :

Hotel Khajuraho Inn, Khajuraho
MPT Jungle Camp, Madla gate, Panna
MPT white tiger resort, Tala gate, Bandhavgarh
Playsales by Playotel, Bhopal

Safaris booked :

2 safaris at Panna National Park - one evening and one morning.

3 safaris at Bandhavgarh National Park - one evening and two morning safari.

Photography Equipment :

Body :
Canon EOS 1100D - My humble photography companion since 10 years, it's way behind in terms of technology but still captures very good photos with the right lens combination. As this year Canon told me they won't be servicing this camera anymore as parts are not available, I have planned to upgrade to Sony mirrorless and lens setup in coming months.

Lens :
Canon 55-250mm telephoto - I have been using this lens for about 5 years and am very happy with the results, The only shortcoming is sometimes the 250mm range feels insufficient to capture animals at a distance.

Tamron 150-600mm telephoto - As I wanted a longer reach and already with plans to upgrade my equipment I wanted to get a feel of 150-600mm lens before buying it so went ahead with renting this lens at both Panna and Bandhavgarh National Park, luckily got contacts through Instagram so did not have to rent and carry it all the way from Vadodara which was getting costly due to increase in number of rental days.

Travelogue :

With all the plans and bookings in place we all were waiting eagerly for the start of our trip, as we were travelling with 2 kids and considering winters in Madhya Pradesh can get really cold also doing safari in open gypsies during winter can expose us as well as kids to chilly winds, packing as many warm clothes as possible was the priority.

Initially we were thinking of taking my Thar for the trip but with luggage of 2 kids and volume of warm clothes it was not possible to pack the bags in limited space available in Thar so we finalised my friends Dzire, he made sure the car was serviced, washed and ready for the road-trip.

Day 1 ( 11th Jan 2025 ) : Vadodara to Khajuraho, Distance : 973 km

We had packed our bags and loaded them in Dzire on the previous night to avoid any delays to the start of our journey so on 11th Jan my friend came to my place at 4.30am and we were on our way by 4.45am, we decided for an early start so that maximum distance can be covered while the kids are still sleeping as this was their first long road-trip and we were not sure how will they react.

The roads from Vadodara till Thandla were very good, from Thandla we entered NE4 till Ramganj Mandi, the NE4 surface is very smooth in this section and you can easily cruise at 120kmph, the biggest concern on this route is cattle and stray animals. Villagers on the route have broken down barriers for their convenience from which all kinds of animals come on the road and pose a serious risk along with bikes coming on the wrong side so we had to be very watchful for the entire stretch.

Once we exited NE4 from Ramganj Mandi towards Shivpuri the roads deteriorated and cattle increased which tested our concentration as we had several close calls with cows and dogs, I have never seen so many dead animals on a route in my 12 years of doing road-trips.

We encountered a lot of traffic while crossing Jhansi but after Jhansi the roads to Khajuraho were excellent and we reached Khajuraho at 8.30pm, kids comfortable throughout the journey which helped us reach Khajuraho or else we had a backup plan to stay at Jhansi itself.

As we all were awake since early morning and tired because of concentrating so hard on roads avoiding animals and wrong side drivers, we had a quick dinner and called the day off early.

Hotel : Khajuraho Inn - Budget hotel for a night stay rooms were clean but property and rooms need refurbishment, better stay options are available nearby.

Day 2 ( 12th Jan 2025 ) : Khajuraho to Panna National Park, Distance : 24km

We had an evening safari booked at Madla gate which starts as 3pm so we decided to have a late start to the morning, woke up by 9am got ready and visited Khajuraho temples at 10.30am, we planned to give about 2 hours to visit the temples but realised on reaching that we require atleast 2 days if we want to cover the history of all the temples in detail and so we just visited the main temples in Western group of temples with a promise made to ourselves that we will come again and spend atleast 2 days at Khajuraho.

With the temple visit done we left for Panna at 12.30pm and reached our resort at 2pm, the travel time is just 35 mins but the delay was due to me having to pick up a rental lens from a nearby resort for my photography needs.

Photos of Khajuraho :

We all had a quick lunch and freshened up getting ready for the safari, kids were excited to see the animals they have only seen on television and my friend and his wife were hopeful to catch a glimpse of the magnificent Tiger.

Our resort made all the arrangements of validating our online permits to get us picked up from the resort on the gypsy, evening safari in Madhya Pradesh is from 3pm to 5.45pm and I personally felt the time very less to get a good sighting as speed limit of 20kmph is imposed inside the forest due to which gypsies are unable to travel much distance in such less time and concentrate only on the areas closer to the entry and exit gates.

We got some pugmarks and waited entire safari time in tigress P141's territory as she gives good sighting with cubs but we did not get any sighting though got to hear some alarm calls of deer, kids and my friend as well as his wife were just happy to enjoy the calm and tranquil forest and they did not regret the experience one bit even though we had no sighting they were very clear that they are here to enjoy the experience of forest, other than that everything is a bonus for them.

Photos of Panna's landscape :

Came back to our resort and had a cake cutting ceremony as it was my friends 5 year old kids birthday after which we had dinner and went to sleep early as we had an early morning safari.

Day 3 ( 13th Jan 2025 ) : Panna National park to Bandhavgarh National Park, Distance : 237km

We all woke up and got ready by 6.30am which was our pick-up time for the safari.
The resort had packed our breakfast and given us blankets for the safari as it was very cold and misty in the morning.

We started our safari exactly at 6.45am from Madla Gate, The morning safari is from 6.45am till 11.30am which I feel is perfect for enjoying the forest as well as exploring more areas to see animals.

Today we met one of the most amazing Guide's I have ever met in my so many years of doing safari's and I would like to give him a special mention here, his name is Kishan ji and he has an experience of almost 32 years at Panna, he is one of the most experienced guides at Panna and has been working with forest department as well since 1992. You can clearly see his passion for wildlife with the way he talks about the animals, forest, trees etc.

As we entered the forest he greeted us and started explaining us about the forest and it's flora and fauna, we told him our evening safari was not as good as we expected due to less time and a new guide who had very limited knowledge, he instantly apologised to us for below par experience in previous safari even though it had nothing to do with him as he wasn't even our guide in the evening safari but that showed how much he valued our experience and promised us for the best he could do to give us some good sightings as well give us a good safari experience.

As we were all enjoying the beautiful landscape that Panna offers with forests and hills on one side and Ken river flowing on the other side, our guide told our driver to take the gypsy to the place where he thought we could see the tigress P141 and her cubs. He was spot on with his location and as we entered the area we saw about 5-6 gypsies lined up and there she came, P141 tigress walking on the road in all her glory and in my excitement to see the tigress I completely forgot about taking the photos, by the time I realised and picked up my camera she was already going inside the forest from the road but I still managed to click some photos. The forest had come alive with alarm calls from deer and langurs, I could see the happiness on the face of my friends family with what they had just witnessed not knowing we had a lot more in store for us waiting.

With tigress now not visible, our guide told the driver to turn the gypsy and take us on the top of the Hill towards Hinauta Plateau which is another part of the forest as he expected to find 3 male tigers, the sub-adult cubs of tigress P652 who are all adult now and about to get seperated from their mother, other gypsies decided to wait for the return of P141 as she had left her cubs in the grassland and was sure to return.

Photo of P141 tigress:

The guide left the final decision on us if we wanted to wait for P141 or try for the Male Tigers, We mutually decided to go and try for the Male cubs as the grasslands were getting overcrowded with gypsies waiting for P141's return to her cubs.

The decision to try for Male cubs turned out to be the best decision we made as we got the best sighting which we never even imagined and for me it was the best sighting in my 7 years of doing safari's.

As soon as we reached Hinauta Plateau, we saw few gypsies waiting near the bushes and just when we reached those gypsies we saw a big male tiger coming out from the bushes and he just sat down in crouching position as if he was planning to chase the gypsies, this is when our guide informed that this particular male tiger has killed a women by mistake when she was cutting the grass few weeks back and since than forest department has cautioned all the drivers and guides to maintain distance from him and his 2 brothers, we saw 3 forest department elephants with rangers as well nearby keeping a watch on the activities of this 3 male tigers.

With everyone maintaining enough distance from the male tiger he got relaxed and decided to walk around the gypsies and then just sitting near the bushes all this lasted for about 30-35 minutes and with more gypsies coming in everyone got sighting to their heart's content.

As a second male tiger out of the three brothers also came from the bushes our guide decided it was not safe to stay in that area as we had 2 kids with us, also we could see forest rangers with their elephants on the move as they wanted the tigers to move away from the tourists we decided to move away from that location and go back to try sighting P141 who might have returned by now to her cubs, took a breakfast stop at the dedicated point near forest rest house, it was already 10am by now and as we had to leave for Bandhavgarh we decided to move towards the exit happy and content with the sightings we had we ended the safari at 11am, packed our bags and checked-out from our resort at Panna.

Photos of P652 female's sub-adult cubs:

I went to return the lens to the resort from where I had rented the lens and then we proceeded towards Bandhavgarh, we reached Bandhavgarh at 6pm, checked-in our resort and enjoyed the rest of the evening by bonfire.

Hotel : MPT Jungle Camp, Madla Gate, Panna - Excellent property right next to the Madla Gate with good food and hospitality, very convenient for safari.

Day 4 ( 14th Jan 2025 ) : Bandhavgarh National Park.

We had a morning safari from the Tala gate which was just next to our resort, the resort had already done the formalities for us of verifying the online permit and got our gypsy ready for pickup at 6.30am, resort had already packed our breakfast and given us the blankets, we met our guide at the forest office and started our safari at 6.45am.

As soon as we entered the safari gate we knew it wasn't an ideal day for the safari due to heavy fog, visibility was zero, we could hardly see anything around our gypsy and guide clearly told us the fog is not going to let us see anything even if it is next to us so with our hopes down we were struggling to keep ourselves warm as temperature had dropped to single digit and open gypsy with wind was making it worse, though resort had given us blankets and we had prepared ourselves with jackets and winter wear still we could feel the chill.

Tala zone is the most beautiful zone of Bandhavgarh and we thought we would enjoy the beauty of the zone itself if not for any sightings but fog was so heavy we were not even able to see the forest, fog dispersed only after 10am by which time we had reached Sheshshaiya.

Sheshshaiya is a 35 foot Vishnu statue in a reclining pose which dates back to 10th Century, other than breakfast point this is the only place in forest where tourists are allowed to get down from the gypsy, idol is covered with moss and the greenery around the idol makes for a picturesque sight, we took some pictures and read the history about the place after which we started our return journey back to the exit gate.
By now the fog had also dispersed and we were just enjoying the forest and its landscape.
We ended our safari and reached the resort by 11.30am, took some rest and had our lunch after which we prepared for the evening safari.

Photos of Tala landscape and Sheshshaiya:

Evening safari ( 3pm to 6.45pm ).

We had booked an evening safari at Khitauli gate which is considered to be the zone with the highest chances of sighting a tiger and we also wanted to cover different zones to see different landscapes, gypsy came at 2.30pm for pickup and we entered the forest at 3pm.

Our driver was very experienced and he took great effort for us to get a sighting but we had to contend ourselves with Spotted deer and Sambar deer.

After trying a lot and discussing with other gypsies got to know nobody got a sighting in afternoon safari in any of the zones of Bandhavgarh, we ended the safari and reached our resort by 6.15pm, had our high-tea and enjoyed rest of the evening by bonfire.

Photos at Khitauli zone:

Hotel : MPT White Tiger resort, Tala gate, Bandhavgarh - Beautiful property right next to Tala gate, hospitality was such by the staff it could easily compete with any privately owned resorts. The rooms were spacious, clean and comfortable.

Day 5 ( 15th Jan 2025 ) : Bandhavgarh to Bhopal, Distance : 486km

As it was the last day of our trip and we had a long way back home my friends family had decided during our planning stage only that they will be taking rest today and won't be doing morning safari as they did not want it to be hectic for the kids as well as themselves and my wife also said she needed some rest so it was only me doing the morning safari in a shared gypsy, I had 3 other people with me in the shared gypsy.

As it was a shared gypsy I had to reach the forest department office on my own and previous evening I had already got my online permit verified after which I was given the gypsy number so in morning after reaching the office I found my gypsy, paid the guide and gypsy charge at the counter and got ready for the last safari of this trip from Magadhi Gate.

Magadhi Gate is the least famous for sightings but I wanted to explore this zone as well, we entered the forest at 6.50am, we got lot of pugmarks so tried our best to follow and track the pugmarks along with alarm calls from Spotted Deer but again like previous two safaris at Bandhavgarh the luck did not favour us and we did not get any sightings.

I was hoping to see Gaur ( Indian Bison ) or Wild elephants that have recently come to Bandhavgarh from Chattisgarh but could not get to see anything else other than Spotted Deer.

A forest department ranger with an elephant was passing nearby us so decided to click some pictures of the elephant.

Photos at Magadhi zone:

Stopped for breakfast at the center point and then proceeded towards the exit gate, while on the way towards the exit we heard a lot of alarm calls from Spotted Deer and while looking inside the forest I could spot a leopard or a tiger moving across the forest but it was so far it wasn't clearly visible and taking photos was not possible, we waited for sometime if it comes out on the road but it did not and once the deer alarm calls stopped we decided to end the safari and exit the gate, I reached our resort by 12pm.

In the meantime my wife and friend had already completed the check-out formalities, we loaded our luggage and started our return journey.

During our initial planning we had decided to take a stop at Bhopal as we were leaving Bandhavgarh at noon time and to reach Vadodara directly would mean driving all night which was not preferable with kids hence we had booked a hotel on the highway itself at Bhopal, we reached Bhopal by 7.30pm, had dinner and called the day off early as next day again had to continue our journey back home.

Hotel : Playsales by Playotel, Bhopal - Decent budget option for short stay, basically a business hotel, clean and comfortable with huge spacious rooms conveniently located near the highway.

Day 6 ( 16th Jan 2025 ) : Bhopal to Vadodara, Distance - 545 km

As we wanted to cover maximum distance while kids were asleep, we decided for an early morning start and checked-out of our hotel by 6.30am.

We took a breakfast stop on Bhopal - Indore highway as everyone wanted to try the famous Poha of Indore and Bhopal along with Jalebi or Imarti, it was a non-stop drive after breakfast till we reached Godhra where we took a quick lunch stop and reached home by 5pm.

Entire stretch from Bandhavgarh via Bhopal till Vadodara was good with well laid roads, there were some patches of broken roads but again the biggest concern was cattle which we found everywhere on the highways in Madhya Pradesh.

Overall it was an amazing experience for everyone and a great exposure of forest and animals for the kids at such young age.

I feel if kids get exposure of wildlife, forests and nature at a young age it can help build their interest towards conservation and protection of our natural resources which is the need of the hour.

We enjoyed the forests of Panna so much, we have already planned for the next trip to Khajuraho, Panna National park and Sanjay Dubri National park again this year itself.

I have tried to put my experience into words, though words are not enough to describe the feel one gets inside the forest and amongst the wildlife.

I hope you all enjoy this travelogue as much as I have enjoyed writing it with all the details I could remember, if anyone has any queries I am happy to guide in whatever way I can.

Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.

We prepared as usual for our long drives with our portable coffee making machine, etc and we have special baggage which fits into our Maruti Suzuki Jimny Jimny for 3 people to survive for multiple weeks long drive.

BHPian Mystic recently shared this with other enthusiasts:

We have no international travels for now and I was just wondering if we can do some adventure tour within India. It has always been in my mind for some weird reason to avoid large public gatherings for fear of stampeding etc. This is one of the reasons we avoid going to Tirumala on the most auspicious days of Brahmotsavam even though we are donors and have access to some privileges and it is our home state.

Maha Kumbh mela comes after twelve 12 year cycle kumbhs which means once in 144 years. I am not sure if anyone on this planet had ever witnessed this last time. I told my wife that we should now dare to attend the Maha Kumbh as the exclusive Kumbh app I have downloaded has information which gives some confidence. On further research, I came to know that one crore people attending per day and some 40 crores attending over the complete duration is something hard to imagine on how any city can handle the same.

I was doing my research on teambhp as usual for route map from Visakhapatnam to Prayagraj. For some reason I am not comfortable with this route. Meanwhile my wife said we need to go to Hyderabad immediately for some personal family reasons. I told her that I am comfortable with the route from Hyderabad on to Prayagraj and we decided on the route. Then comes the next question when we are returning back. As I am retired, there is no need to come back by a fixed date and there is no agenda for the tour. We prepared as usual for our long drives with our portable coffee making machine etc and we know the drill as Jimny unlike my other car Crysta has limited real estate and we have special baggage which fits into Jimny for 3 people to survive for multiple weeks long drive.

I asked my mother in law who is 85 years old if she is OK with long drive to north India, she immediately said NO but after telling the route of Prayagraj, Varnasi and Gaya, she immediately said YES. Then she asked by which car we are going as she travelled on many long drives in captain seat of Crysta and she was not able to sleep like in traditional 3 seater at the back. I told her this time we are going in Jimny and she immediately packed her baggage with pillows etc to lie down in the backseat for few hours just in case. For some reason she says Jimny is more comfortable than Crysta.

Day1: Started at 7 am from
Visakhapatnam. We wanted to cover Visakhapatnam to Hyderabad on a single day optimistically but not very sure as all 3 passengers are senior citizens. Fortunately the spirit is very high due to the excitement of participating in one of an event on this planet namely Maha Kumbh. We reached Hyderabad by 5 pm same day. The traffic in the city is crazy as usual to our night halt stay.

Day2: Fortunately, our personal family issue turned out to be good and nothing to worry. We felt this is good sign which brought positive vibes for our next destination. The family obligations delayed our long journey to post lunch which made my plans change as I don't usually drive more than 10 day light hours in a day as I am the lone driver. We had to stop at Adilabad instead of Nagpur for an overnight stay. The route is very scenic with forest etc.

Day3: Started as usual at 7 am from Adilabad without any plan for our next night halt. The route is very scenic with a tiger reserve forest on the way. Surprised to see the highway fenced on both sides so that wild animals don't cross the highway. The only major city I am aware on route is Jabalpur but we crossed that in broad daylight and still have few hours of drive left for the day. I asked my wife to ask ChatGpt for an advise and she spent some time and made sure we are not deviating too much from our Srinagar - Kanyakumari highway for overnight stay. Usually all important towns are located at least 10 kms distance from major highways. We did a night halt at Katni. This city seems to be the largest rail junction in India.

Day4: We started from Katni at 7 am and reached Prayagraj by afternoon. This is when the drama started with traffic. This day being Republic Day, every car we see has a different state registration and looked as if whole India is on the path to Prayagraj. I expected traffic restrictions to Triveni Sangam due to the most auspicious day of 29th January (Mouni Amavasya). But fortunately the special traffic restrictions start only 48 hours before January 29 and 48 hours after. This is kind of scary as it seems cars will not be allowed beyond 30 kms from sangam ghat. Fortunately we just missed this restriction and were allowed to park our car upto 2 kms to Sangam ghat. The last 10 kms to Prayagraj took us 4 hours. This really tests one’s patience to limits. I parked my car near Yamuna bridge amongst a sea of cars in the parking lot. The entrance is controlled by fast tag and is secured and they give a receipt which needs to be validated on exit. We should appreciate UP Govt for making this massive arrangement with temporary iron plates on the ground so that cars don't get stuck. Only VIP cars were allowed on the last 2 kms and for the rest it is a walk. We asked police for help as we have 85 year old senior citizen. I cannot communicate in Hindi properly as my second language is French and my pre engineering education is abroad and never had an opportunity to learn Hindi in Indian school. My wife is a double post graduate in Hindi literature and she is my spokesperson. The police helped for the last 2 kms connection for our 85 year old senior citizen and myself and wife walked. Later we observed that unofficially some local people with pass are giving some rides on their personal scooters and charging Rs 150 per person for 2 kms.

We reached the Sangam ghat at 4 pm and just in time for the last boat ride. There are about 2000 boats to ferry people to the Triveni sangam for a dip to the holy waters. Usually they charge Rs 1000 per person and each boat can handle about 6 people. Life jacket is a must and a lot of special life guards are all around for emergencies. It is sea of people and boats all around and the crowd management is good and never had the feel that safety is compromised.

We negotiated the price of 4.5 K rupees for complete boat exclusively for us and reached the sangam. There is a distinct change in colour of the water where Yamuna meets Ganga. We performed the special puja to the holy rivers and had a dip. (There are a lot of opportunities for people around us to cheat but I am spared because I don't understand their language fortunately). My observation is that everything is done in a very systematic way like clock work by the locals and there is a deep devotion and gratitude amongst all tourists. The manual paddled boat ride is an experience by itself and the boat rider was telling us that they have been in this profession for many generations.

We came to the parking lot and wanted to have dinner as we never had any food for the day due to my wife insisting that we do this puja and dip at sangam without eating. My priority is leave the city ASAP before the mouni amavasya crowd comes in and special traffic restrictions come to effect.

We were stuck on the Yamuna bridge for 3 hours on way out to Varnasi due to some collision. Finally we came out of the city with traffic moving inch by inch. We had finally something to eat after midnight. We stayed overnight in a hotel on the outskirts. All rooms are being charged double or triple of the normal days.

Day5: We started to Varanasi as usual at 7 am from Prayagraj. The journey is supposed to take less than 3 hours but it took us 7 hours. It took us 2 hours for the first 10 kms to exit Prayagraj and 2 hours for last 10 kms to reach our place of stay at walk distance from temple in Varnasi. I think the tsunami of humans at Kumbh are also coming to Varanasi as next destination. We are planning to stay for 9 days in Varanasi as my wife believes that anyone staying for 9 days in this holy city will not have any more births and gets moksha.

It is surprising to see the signboards in Varanasi written in our language Telugu besides English and Hindi. I felt it’s is a great honour. I realised later that there is a huge presence of people from Andhra in this holy place. We had our lunch and dinner at one of the Telugu ashrams where they offer free food and accommodation.

Small break on highway:

Map showing the last leg connectivity:

Yamuna bridge with train crossing:

Ghat entrance:

Big boat only for viewing and not for dip in sangam:

View from our small boat on the river:

View from our small boat on the river:

View from our small boat on the river:

View from our small boat on the river:

Return journey at sunset:

Dip in river after the puja:

Below are some photos from Varanasi, one of the world’s oldest continuously inhabitable cities. Unbelievable sea of humanity (mainly due to Maha Kumbh crowd) and great street food. Many streets are closed and I had a great time moving my narrow bodied Jimny in the narrow lanes as detour competing with two / three wheelers. I think Jimny is best suited for such streets near to the temple.

Had a nice and peaceful Darshan of the Lord. I see a stark difference in architecture between Tirumala and Varanasi. This is my first visit in 60+ years at Varnasi and we grew up visiting Tirumala every year. I also observed huge difference in the way crowd is managed at both places. Both look efficient and effective in their own ways.

We finished our dip in Sangam at Prayagraj and also had Darshan of Lord at Varnasi just in time before the Mouni Amavasya crowds come in.

It seems there is a stampede as per
news below:

https://www.indiatoday.in/india/stor...659-2025-01-29

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