My trip to the heart of India

Driving holiday in MP MY TRIP TO THE HEART OF INDIA IntroductionMadhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh and Orrisa are one of the most scenic and unexplored states of India, so my family decided to explore these states by car.22nd DecemberSo, we started early in the morning at 5:30am in our Toyota Innova car. We had to negotiate dense fog on the Delhi–Agra highway. After crossing Agra we drove on the beautiful four lane toll road from Agra to Gwalior and crossed the Chambal River and its infamous ravines which were once inhabited by dacoits.23rd DecemberThe weather was very pleasant in Jhansi. We drove on National Highway no.7 which is a two laned undivided highway with hardly any traffic. We reached Bhedaghat 20km from Jabalpur at around 5:00pm. Bhedaghat is basically famous for marble rocks. The Narmada River flows through the rocks. We enjoyed the beautiful sunset while boating on the Narmada River. 24th DecemberEarly morning we went to see the famous ‘Dhuandhar waterfall’ which has derived its name from the intense clouds of mist formed when river Narmada drops about 20feet with all its might. We witnessed the incredible sunrise over the tranquil waters of river Narmada. Late in the morning we decided to proceed to Raipur the capital of Chattisgarh.25th DecemberThis morning we drove on the beautiful Raipur-Jagdalpur highway which passes through dense forests, rivers and mountains. Jagdalpur is the headquarter of district Bastar, the biggest district in India. In the afternoon we went to the tiratgarh fall which is situated in the mids of a dense forest. The water falls through several steps from about 100 feet. In the evening we went to the famous chitrakot fall where Indravati river drops on a horse shoe shaped rock which is two third of the size of Niagara falls. 26th DecemberToday was the day when we had to reach the east coast of Orissa. We enjoyed the scenic drive of the Eastern Ghats and then the fantastic road of the Golden quadrilateral. We reached Gopalpur-on-sea which was an important port and is a popular tourist centre. We took a long walk on the beach and enjoyed it thoroughly.27th DecemberWe got up early before sunset and saw the sunrise on the beach. We enjoyed the beach for a couple of hours in the morning and had coconut water and good South Indian breakfast. Then we decided to proceed further to Puri. On the way we stopped at Chilka Lake which is the biggest sweet water lake in India. It was already sunset and we went to the beautiful marine beach to witness the sunset.28th DecemberThis morning we decided to go to the Jagannath puri temple. Lord Jagganath is basically an incarnation of Lord Shiva. We reached Konark sun temple at around 8:30am. The temple is dedicated to sun god and was made as a chariot of the sun god. It has 24 wheels and 7 horses to pull the chariot. We then headed towards our destination Sambhalpur.A Sand sculpture by Sudarshan Patnaik Konark sun temple Bhimbeteka cave paintings29th DecemberWe got a fairly well surfaced road which contributed in our fast progress to Raipur at 11 am. The road was pretty good and it went through various villages in MP showing us the culture of the people. We stayed at a district headquarters seoni.30th DecemberWe started our journey onwards to Panchmanhi. The 200km drive had the worst road I had ever seen. In the evening we went to roam about this peaceful hill station. Later on we went to see the Panchmarhi festival where there were many cultural shows. 31st DecemberWe then left Panchmarhi and headed to Bhopal. We reached Bhopal early in the evening and in the way we saw Bhimbateka which has one of the biggest collections of cave paintings in the country. There were horses, scenes of wars and paintings regarding other different subjects in 15 different caves which was altogether a unique experience. Then we headed towards Bhopal and to the Human resource Museum where I got a lot of information on the Stone Age and the life of man in the past. Then in the form of 9 different galleries we came to know about many different cultures their form of living.1st JanuaryToday we started well before sunrise. Then we went to Shivpuri where we had lunch at the beautifully maintained tourist village by the lake. After Kosi we started getting fog. On the way we got a lot of fog but we managed to reach our home city till 12’o’clock safely.