On 26th march 2009, I, trideep, ashish and denzil set out for Vidisha. We took the Punjab mail from dadar departure time being 7.55 p.m. Next day at 10.40 a.m. we reached Vidisha station. The station had the similar looks of the traditional upcountry stations of India, however we all were feeling good and were feeling the freshness of the clean air. Outside the station there was a market –as anticipated, markets develop around railway stations in India. There is a SBI ATM near the station. We all decided to take a lodge to rest, have bath to set out for the journey. Very near to the station there was a temple which had the entrance in the form of Lions mouth and was looking marvelous. We enquired and took a lodge ''SWAPNLOK'' for 1-2 hours. Total damage: INR 80.00. The rooms were of bare minimum standard, with a common bathroom outside the room, however on the same floor. We took bath and other morning chores and rested for 30.00 minutes. We took breakfast in one of the nearby restaurants ''Shree Krishna Sweets & Restaurant '' comprising of poha, poori-chola, juices, and lassi. The hotel owner advised us to take an auto to visit Sanchi. The bus stand was around 1.00 k.m. away from the railway station. Nearby the station was the taxi stand, and after hard negotiation got an auto for INR 190.00. The autos in Vidisha accommodate 4 people and we set out for our journey to Sanchi. Locals in the train advised us to visit Udaygiri caves and we asked the auto to take to Udaygiri. At 12.20 p.m the auto after going through the market, finally took a route which was the traditional deserted trial with trees on both the sides. Finally after a travel of roughly 25 minutes we reached Udaygiri caves. The cave had a deserted look with hardly any tourist—perfect recipe for all four of us. It was an area with small villages surrounding it and small hills which were bearing the structures. The cave 1 itself was having the huge Krishna avatar – bore and was quite a marvel. There are local guides available – depends on ones interest level. Beside this caves were other surrounding places –Krishna in sleeping posture. We walked up the mountain and could see some structure far towards the north and walked towards it. It was a 10-15 minutes walk up a small hill and reached the temple place from where we could see the entire surrounding place. The view from this place is worth remembering and we will never forget in our lifetime. Nearby the cave1 there is a beautiful garden, which is usually used by the young couples. After spending almost 1.00 hours we set out for Sanchi. There is new road which has been built and takes directly to Sanchi bypassing Vidisha market. The road lacks the normal chaos of the Mumbai traffic, however surrounded by fields, breezes, far- off mountains and pure O2. We all were so impressed by the nearby serene that we all stopped at one place in the middle and took impressive photographs. Finally the auto reached Sanchi market- too small as compared to Vidisha at 2.10 p.m.There was an entrance fee of INR 05.00/ person and is a short climb, tiring if one were to climb. Finally we got the first glimpse of the stupa of Sanchi—World Heritage Sight. We all were left speechless at the first glimpse of this magnificent sight. There is a parking site for vehicles and after the security check we entered the site. At the entrance on the left side was the water tap with clear and cold water- with which we quenched our thirst. The main stupa stands right at front with stupa-2 on the left side and stupa-3 on the right side- however not visible and one needs to walk down. The way to the stupa-1 is surrounded by a garden on which we all rested down and looked at the beautiful structure lying on the grass. However lying on the grass is not allowed and the caretakers will ask you not to do so. We all started taking the photographs and Ashish was the leader in this. The stupa was basically a tomb shaped structure – which does not have any entrance inside. There are steps which encircles the entire structure. Immediately to the left of stupa-1 on a short climb one can see small structure with the status of Buddha. Within the compound is a shop for refreshment and a museum – closed on Friday. Stupa-3 was on the left of Stupa-1 and while walking down we saw a wall structures which could have been the bathing place. Near stupa-3 was a small artificial tank, which was great since I was resting with my legs in the water. After spending almost 3.00 hours we all set for Bhopal at 4.41 p.m. Coming down we couldn’t find an auto and hence walked down. It took roughly 15 minutes to reach the main road and easily found a mini bus to Bhopal. Total damage: 75.00 INR. The journey to Bhopal took 1.25 hours and reached the bus stand. We took an auto to the station, since it’s always better to stay near railway station. Total damage: INR 20.00. There were few guest house very next to the station, however was not worth. The automan finally took us to a hotel – 5-7 minutes walking from the station – which was however decent. We took 1 room with an extra bed to accommodate all 4 of us. Total damage: INR 650.00. It was already 7.00 p.m. and we all decided to see local Bhopal. After getting fresh we took an auto and went to Tajul mosque—India’s largest mosque and worlds second largest. Total damage: INR 110. 00. Bhopal city is exceptionally clean and was looking quite decent and not so overly crowded. By the time we reached it was already 8.15 p.m. however could see the magnificent mosque. It was really huge and the scene from inside the mosque was thrilling. We set out for our dinner and finding a veg restaurant was a slight challenge. There is lot of juice corners selling fruit juices—worth a try. JAMEEL Restaurant is great for Non veg in Bhopal. Finally we took the dinner at the hotel – beware of the dal and ask the waiter in advance of not preparing it spicy. The dal was so spicy that we couldn’t eat.
Day-2
Next day morning myself and dada (Trideep) set out to the station to find out means to reach Bhimbetka-unesco site at a distance of 41.00 k.m. from Bhopal. Finally we negotiated with an auto---total damage: INR 650.00.we all set out at 7.40 a.m. and first went to a place –breakfast as suggested by the auto driver. The breakfast comprises of poha, kachori, tea. The route to bhimbetka was slightly altered to accommodate Bhojpur as suggested to us by one local. Finally after a ride of almost 45.00 minutes we reached Bhojpur- small place with a temple on a small hill at 9.00 a.m. The climb to the temple made us reach a place –which was like an ultimate surprise to us. It had a huge shiv-ling ---22.00 feet –tallest in the world. The shiv-linga was such a huge that the poojary was using a staircase to reach the top and by the time we reached he was bathing the linga with milk. Beside the temple- 10 minutes walk on the left side took us to Betwa river. The scene from the top of the rocks was great. We proceeded with our journey towards Bhimbetka at 10.30 a.m. The road was passing through paddy fields, trees. The auto then took the highway and after travelling for certain distance it took right and had to cross a railway crossing. At the cross itself there is a hotel—for accommodation available. The path to bhimbethka is a climb with an entrance fee of INR 15.00/ person. The place has a totally different look with rocks surrounding the entire place. Finally we arrived at the entrance of the place at 110.20 a.m. One needs to take a guide for complete understanding of the place. The guide was quite decent, English-speaking and knowledgeable. The first point is a huge rock on which there are paintings of man, animals, bows-arrows. The paintings are believed to be around 50000 years back and still remain intact. The guide showed us other rocks-enclosures nearby where the primitive human beings used to stay. The total experience was great- however since short of time we could spend much time over there. There are believed to be total some 50-75 such places with the forest area. At few places the excavations are still on as advised by the guide. 5- Minutes walk takes to a temple—one can actually miss this since it’s not any ancient temple. We all set out for Bhopal and very near to this place after crossing the railway crossing on the high-way is a DHABA. This palace serves delicious food and we had lunch packed till the last space. Since the summer was just setting in we were feeling thirst every 10 minutes. Finally we reached the hotel at around 2.30 p.m. Ashish set out for TAJUL since he wanted to take snaps of the mosque in the day light. We 3 decided to go for local shopping and reached the main market of Bhopal-CHAUK BAZAAR. The place was live with shoppers-ladies and was having numerous shops. I bought 3 ladies purse – for home. Denzil bought ear-rings and Dada bought a bag for carrying goods while travelling.
Thus came the journey too an end and we left Bhopal on 28th March 09 with fond memories.
Key takeaways: Bargain hard for auto fare, carry sufficient water, carry eatables while off bhimbetka, avoid summer, don’t miss Bhojpur.
For pictures please follow this link:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/30002962@N05/
Friday, May 15, 2009
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