The MP Circuit with Wildlife and History

[bhvm]

Hello friends, this time in december me and my half set out on a 3000km Adventure trip with the Blue boy! I am pleased to provide a travellogue of the same.

The Trip was like-
Start- Tadoba-Pench-Khindsi(Mansar)-Kannha-Bandhavgarh-Bhedaghat-Jabalpur-Sanchi-Bhopal-Indore-Finish

So First stop Tadoba!
The route we chosen was like Jalgaon-Bhusaval-Amravati-Akola-Nagpur-Chandrapur-Tadoba.

I must say that the road was horrible. Totally 2 lane (only few stretches near nagpur are good). Our average speeds were only 37 KMPH!
However, The tiredness was done away with when a pack of wild dogs welcomed us outside the park! After some chitchat with Hotel staff everyone was like "Wild dog dekh liya, sab dekh liya" These are some of the rarest and most dangerous animals over here. You maybe lucky to spot a tiger, but need to be Luckier to spot wild dogs! and a 6-pack of them!

We stayed at the Royal tiger resorts-

Clean but expensive,We booked the hotel on phone and had no problem locating as its in a very Main area. The staff is Good. Food is average and very costly for what it is. Room Tariffs were way too high for the size of room and any facility. I will suggest you bargain harder.


After a bit of rest and lunch, we head out for the Jungle safari (cost 3k)

An Indian bison came very close to check us-

Lot of tiger footprints but no tiger-

 

[bhvm]

Next day after the morning safari, we headed off to the pench. Thanks to the heavily cratered roads and heavy traffic, we missed our deadlines to reach Pench By evening. Hence we stopped at MANSAR, a Place on Mp-Mah Border and is home to a beautiful Khindsi lake-

Seeing various good reviews online, I decided to visit olive resorts near Khindsi lake. The Location is very good and lake is just visible outside the room. However ALL the facilities and watersports writeen online are CLOSED>
There's no rain dance, No water ball, No sports, No Spa etc. just the rooms. Staff was not well trained and a bit arrogant. Dont waste your time here.
Room Tip: Get the AC rooms near lake

 

[bhvm]

Next mday we started off early. And here comes big surprize!
Off-roading in Blue Boy i10! In jungle safari!.
Thankfully, Maharashtra Pench gate offers one to drive our own vehicle on the sanctuary. The cost is 300 for guide and 300 for vehicle. Quite a deal!

We had a the pleasure to enjoy the i10 to full extent in such a scenic place! My wife opened the sunroof and took some real joy out of it!
http://www.theautomotiveindia.com/f...-boy-hyundai-i10-magna-detailed-review-4.html

Atleast 50~60 deers flocking around the lake!

 

[bhvm]

After that we turn to Kanha. The roads for the most part are single, village roads. However I must Praise MP for their well kept roads. No potholes, and best of all! No speedbreakers! The roads were so scenic and it was like going thought a super long safari itself. We spotted many exotic birds and even deers on the way, yes on Highway!

The Bison Resort on the way deserves a special mention-
Very good Rooms, best food, best service.

Some pics from kanha Jungle safari. Cost 3.5k per round!

A wallpaper-esque HDR-

In one of 3 safaris we had, we had the chance to see a Tiger couple. One after another-

Our place of stay, Pugmark also desrves a special mention-

We stayed 3 days at Kanha at the Pugmark Resorts. The room tariff is reasonable and rooms are quite clean. There is a rajasthani theme all around. Highlight is that the staff is very polite and co-operative. There are no extra facilities like Gym,Pool etc., but the simple stay is totally worth it.!
Room Tip: Choose the AC rooms near Dining area

 

[bhvm]

We started early morning from kanha and reached Bandhavgarh. This is known as Tiger heaven and is also the costliest Place in our tour. Thankfully due to Off season we could get very cheap accomodation. 1K for Normal Rooms and 1.2k for AC! We did'nt requre AC in such cold so went for normal rooms.

The rush was quite a bit in this place, so we woke up at 4 every morning to stand in the que and get tickets to favoured zone. Magdhi zone costs 3.6k while the famous tala zone costs 4.4k!!

Rest,I'll let the images talk-

Our baby boy among the monsterous swarm of jeeps!

here we are!

Saw a Scorpio modified for Jungle use! I thought they don't allow Diesels in Forest.

 

[bhvm]

Dissapointed with the absense of the King, we turned our Attention to the second half of the Cicruit.
Thats Bhedaghat,Jabalpur,Sanchi.
We started early from Bandhavgarh and reached Bhedaghat. We deliberately choose This as it was quite far from the hustle-bustle of the City and we luckily found Waterfall facing rooms!

Here are some shots from our room!

We choose the Hotel Riverview which literally has best view, even better than MP tourism resort!
The view is what you'll pay for in this hotel. The River sight is even better than MP tourism resort. rooms and neat and simple, quite reasonably priced. Food quality was very good and tasty. Staff was a bit lazy at times but we did'nt have any problems. Stay away from the Hotel's guide for jabalpur- He's a complete fool!
Room Tip: Choose garden Rooms at lower floors. bargain hard.

Next day, the usual trip around Bhedaghat-
Dhuadhar falls is a great attraction, and even in Winter, the flow as just monsterous! And we could literally see the "FOG" or Duha enemating from the falls.
Quite a treat.

In evening for marble rocks boating-

 

[bhvm]

Next day we had a excursion to Jabalpur.
Pisanhari Ki Madiya-
You can see whole jabalpur from this place! Only Problem is you have to climb a lot! sure not for old or weak people!. The temple is well maintained and painted in metallic shades. Recommended for jains and non jains alike!

Dumna Nature reserve-
A very offbeat and peaceful outing, A great view of Narmada river too.

Rani Roopvati Palace-
The Fort is in total shambles these days. there is no other facility available. We could not find a decent guide to help us with the history. Just saw the rocks and came back

Balancing Rocks-
This is a rock that feels very delicately balanced. It feels as if it will roll any moment but its somehow very firm. With some trick you can get a photo as if you're lifting the rock. its just near mandan mahal and worth your 10 Mins.

 

[bhvm]

Sanchi Stupas,
"Heaven for History lovers"
Please make sure you hire a government guide or you will not understand anything.. There's not much to see physically but the history is amazing! Whole life story of Lord buddha and ashoka explained in 2 hours.

 

[bhvm]

Tips and Tricks-
1) Share the jeeps as when possible. Not only it saves money, It saves the mess and hullabaloo in the Jungle. They're too costly if you're just 1 or 2 people. People will be readily willing to share up. You can ask the Forest officer for assistance as well.

2) Tip the Forest guide and Driver appropriately. They work hard to track and chase down the tigers.

3) Strictly carry a Dust mask on the safaris! The jeeps whizzing around stir quite a bit of dust in the air. I used a cotton cloth but seems ineffective, And had to fight serious dust allergies for 10 days past return. That made my travelogue late too!

4) Bargain hard! Quote your price and prepare to walk away. In off season, You can have the pleasure of having the Finest AC rooms in Good resort for Rs 1500~2500 only!

5)If visiting Off-season, DON"T book tickets on line. Ask the forest officers a day earlier about sightings and select the recommended zone on the spot!. Also you can share with current tickets.

6) Travel in a Big-Burly SUV or Jeep is possible. The Park entry roads are sometimes Much worse than safari itself. Carry a full size spare and Assistance kit.

7) Get Print outs or Physical Maps. don't rely on the Internet or Google. There's hardly any signal at some spots. Get out and ask, People are quite friendly in MP.


Some wallpaper worthy HDRs througout the Trip-

FUEL EFFICIENCY-
Offroad/Bad roads, 100% AC- 15 KMPL
Jungle safari (no AC), 1st or 2d gear- 14 KMPL
4 lane highway, Energetic driving , (Upto 140 KMPH)70% AC- 17.88 KMPL
4 lane Highway, Sedate driving by wife, (Upto 90 KMPH)30% AC - 23 KMPL!!

 

[gandhi]

Nice Travelogue with Pics. Your Blue boy was looking awesome in pics. Looking for pics with explanation of Sanchi Stupas.

 

[vijay]

Fantastic TL man.Loved that picture of your blue boy in between those jeeps.
How was the experience with the guide at bhedaghat boat ride, some amazing ways of narations they have, hope you enjoyed and laughed too.
Those are some awesome FE figures of your blue boy.

 

[bhvm]

What I liked-

1)The Blue Boy especially, Which carried us 3000Km without a single hurdle. All systems worked perfectly.Zero punchures. The Fuel effeiciency touched 23 KMPL and Max speeds were about 140.
2)The sweet and friendly people in MP
3)Scienic rides on MP roads which felt like extended jungle safari. We spotted many exotic birds and deer on the way.
4)Hotel prices were quite low throught the trip. (1~2k per room)
5)Own vehicle allowed in Pench and Tadoba, which was a total treat for me driving blue Boy with Sunroof open!
6) Forest dept has been working hard for conservation and strictly enforcing rules. Not even a tofee wrapper could be spotted in the park!
7) My wife drove for first time on the Highway and what a ride! I mean I taught her the eittiquete of using Headlights (High-low), Pass signa, Indicators etc. And she carried me in very fine driving ethics and superb finesse!
8) Hardly any tolls in the area. If present are usually in small cost.
What I Did'nt-
1)The way forest dept is working is not good. They Hiked the prices, and by a LOT. The safaris which used to cost 1.5~1.8k few years ago are now costing in the range of 3.2k to 4.4k~!
Now after spending 30~40K on safaris and not having any great shots or sightings makes me feel cheated. The sighting ratio now a days is 1 in 10 safaris.
2) Forest dept again, Each national park is divided into Gates and Zones. Once we decide a zone, the forest officer on gate assigns us (Randomly) and particular route. Now the problem is, Even if Tiger footprints and Voices suggest that he's in the adjoining lane, we cannot change our route!
My heart sank when a few jeeps from parallel route said they saw a tiger liniently sitting near their jeeps , but we felt like sitting ducks. Also, the Routes assigned are often too small of an area. The guide said 20 Kms but it felt like only 5~10 Kms to me!
3)The forest once more, They have been constantly reducing area open to watchers and some of the High density routes have been totally blocked. I think only 5~10 Percent of park is open these days compared to ~20 % in past years.
4)The roads! The one patch at the entry of Bandhavgarh was a total mess. Half constructed and then halted due to some permission issue. Its just a matter of time before someone Dies on that patch. The roads in General were not good. There is no 4-laning in these zones. Also the Roads from Jalgaon to Nagpur is 2 lane with full Potholes and heavy traffic. What the hell is Road dept doing sleeping on such famous and heavily used routes?
5)The Hotels in the area are not very posh. The facilities are basic. If you want anything extra, the prices zoom above 7k a day which is not worth it.
6)Totally avoid MP tourism resorts as they are inside the forest zone and gates open at 6AM. Tickets are not available at the resort and you have to come back to forest gate to get them. We outsiders could line up at 4.30 and get preffered zones whereas folks from MP tourism arrived only after 6AM. I feel thats a very stupid preposition!
7) The dust! Its horrible as forest roads are totally unpaved. Also the ditches and jumping gave me a bad back ache with all those safaris!. The Clang-Click-Crash Noise which jeeps make going over bad roads can scare animals away.

 

[bhvm]

Nice Travelogue with Pics. Your Blue boy was looking awesome in pics. Looking for pics with explanation of Sanchi Stupas.

Man explaining Sanchi is Beyond what I can do. Its better you visit the place and see it in person. I took 2 hours to half digest the history which the guide said. Still lets see what I can do.

Fantastic TL man.Loved that picture of your blue boy in between those jeeps.
How was the experience with the guide at bhedaghat boat ride, some amazing ways of narations they have, hope you enjoyed and laughed too.
Those are some awesome FE figures of your blue boy.

Thanks man,
Yes the guide in Bhedaghat was very funny. He was a like a local shahrukh khan!
I'll dig up more pics of Blue Boy in decent pose.

 

[bhvm]

Full benefit of Sunroof in the Savannah!

 

[DZIRE VXI]

Thanks for sharing, nice photos and your thoughts will be very helpful