Evelyn's Own at Panchmarhi

There are quite a few places in India which were once the cantonment during the British raj and are now left with the colonial buildings against the quiet hilly backdrops – walking past through them just gives you a tingling feeling of old charm of the English Era. You know Britisher's have enjoyed and explored (and exploited) India most and the best way! Think of all the beautiful places and check out the history - and you'd find they were ventured by Britishers long long ago we don't even visit them now!

One such beautiful place is Panchmarhi - the highest and only hill station in MP. Yeah, it's a cantonment with colonial buildings strewn around - some belong to military and some owned by private people but I guess mostly these are retired defence personnel. We decided on this place again in Monsoon season when the Satpura hills turn green - by the way, Satpura jungles are evergreen! Mythologically, the place got it's name from the Pandava brothers of the great epic Mahabharta. It is said that they were hiding here during their vanavas.

We reached Bhopal early morning by Bhopal Express and took a bus to Panchmarhi from MP Tourism hotel at around 7 a.m. in the morning. It took 3 hrs to reach Panchamarhi. The drive through the ghat, forest and hills was very nice and quite soothing to the dead and tired souls. Here again, MP tourism hotels are good and over-booked but we try to look for heritage places to stay! Though these hotels too are heritage but we settled for another 125 yr old building called 'Evelyn's Own' - owned by a retired Col from Army who sold his house in Delhi to settle there amongst the quiet hills of Panchmarhi. He and his wife run the place and have converted a part of the house into a hotel but they do not allow everybody into the place as they call it a home and not hotel. So they always like to know who is checking in and if not suitable they have a record of asking people leave their compound as well :) so only serious travellers are allowed here! The place was quite nice located at one corner and bordering the Satpura forest - the whole Panchamarhi is situated within the periphery of Satpura forest! The food was simple and home cooked - yes, it's the same food that they cooked for themselves was served to us!

We made a special friend there, a black dog, let's call it B&W (black n white)! He was there on day 1, when we arrived there in the hotel and picked special fondness of us! We checked in and after freshening up, we decided to take a walk around the place and B&W decided us to guide through to the places. He walked along with us to all the places and made sure we returned to hotel safely :)!

So, it had rained so was a bit humid but not deterring us to take a walk in the afternoon when the Sun was not so bright! The walk through the quiet and lazy lanes where even the telephone booths are run by Army people made us feel like a 50 yr old couple out for a walk post-retirement! The place itself is very small and you can just walk around to see the Pandava caves - Buddhist Stupas with brick-cave! And the Bison lodge - oldest house in Panchmarhi - a museum with the flora-fauna of the place listed. Since it's a forest area there were trees and trees and trees around. And this is the place where you get the gorgeous Jamuns and Mangoes - you can have so much to your soul's desires without shelling out the big bucks!
The next morning, we fixed up for a Jeep ride to the famous Satpura tiger reserve! And as again, we were the only ones to take that ride in the Jungle. We reached there early in the morning and found the gates were closed and watchman was missing. The driver tried to create a mystery around it when he called up his wife to check about his whereabouts! He told us he had not returned since last night and now he's worried if he is alright because of the tigers and leopards! While we were waiting we collected some mangoes and yes, we saw the amazing, colorful and huge Indian giant squirrel! This one was living on the tree at the gate and it was a sight to see it jumping off the road to collect fruits and then running up the tree! We tried clicking but aha - who says it's easy to make a squirrel sit quietly to give a pose - specially this one! Anyways, after waiting for almost an hour, the guard showed up!

Though there were not many animals that we saw in the jungle but the views were just amazing! See the backdrop against the hills, the green trees that looked just so beautiful! Nope we couldn't see any tiger but just like any other jungle trip, the drive was exhilarating! Nothing beats the morning drive in a jungle - all the better if you are alone (without any other vehicle I mean). As in most of the jungles, there are people living inside and using the resources often stealing the resources. We went to the middle 'Nimghan' where the chaukidar served us with tea and we saw some tribals collecting Mangoes. Then we saw the Cave paintings in the jungle - the proof that there were humans thousands of years ago living in the deep forests and living in harmony with the nature. Currently, it is under the protected sites of the govt but as the guide told us most of it is in ruins for the inquistive hands of visitors who would scratch these to check if these are genuine! We returned and after breakfast, we decided to start with our tour to the places around.

Our guide for the next couple of days, Bahadur, was trained tribal who would take us to the jungles, the water falls, temples and some of the places that not many tourists would flock - the cave paintings in the middle of the jungle. How could a cantonment be without a church!!! Well, well, there we were in front of the Christ church that was closed but we could peek into the church through the windows! Panchmarhi is situated amidst the rocky, sandstone hills and gorges making it a perfect place for waterfalls - there are many the famous being Bee fall, Rajat fall, Duchess fall etc and the pools thereby! Walking to these falls itself is a journey and could be tiring for their locations! You can take a dip in the pool, bathe in the falls - it's all done and fun! There were some that were visible to the eyes but only the dare-devils could access it for it would take hours to walk down the hills to reach the bottom of the falls!

Panchmarhi is also famous in MP for religious beliefs. There are many old temples and places around - the Mahadev and chota mahadev caves, Jata Shankar where the maze of loose stones looks like the locks of Shiva hence the name, and similar ones!

The Priyadarshini or Forsyth point is worth mentioning, as this is the point from where Capt. Forsyth had discovered Panchmarhi in 1857. The view of the valley from this point is breath taking. Britishers then developed this place as their cantonment and resort to beat the heat of MP. Handi Khoh or Andha Kho (As it is called by locals) is a 300 ft deep ravine which has steep sides and you can't see the end so is the name! Another story that one of the british capt had committed suicide for his failed love! The Reechgarh - aptly named caves where as they say the Reech (Bear) would take shelter in rains. These were dark and dingy and natural.

Coming to the most beautiful part of the leg, Dhoopgarh – the highest point of not only Panchmarhi but of entire MP. This is also the sunset point for the tourists. The magnificent view of the surrounding hills, valleys, river and the sunset is just out of the world. The drive to this place has some amazing view points! The Dhoopgarh has a sarkari lodge where you could stay with prior booking but I guess – it would be difficult to get the bookings for obvious reasons. Also, must tell is that the point is inhabited by the slithering reptiles – snakes. I wanted to take a round on my own when the guide warned me not to walk on the grass for the snakes – as he said so and as I looked down before placing my foot on the leaves that were strewn around – I saw a small one slithering out of the leaves – the guide ran towards me and said ‘Oh it’s a bachccha tree snake’ while I captured it in my shutter bug happily. Alright, the final few moments spent here was watching the Sun set against the hills and the amazing views of our lifetime that are etched in our mind for ever!

We returned with some of the wonderful memories of yet another place. BTW before I close, I must tell you about the deal that we proposed to Col. Rao! We liked the place so much and inspired by him for leaving the fancies of the city and settling for such a quiet place that we wanted to buy a place here! Unfortunately, most of the places were sold, the left-outs were beyond reach and banned by the govt for sale. So we offered Col. Rao to sell the room where we were staying to us and He smiled!

Sham-E-Sarhad - Ek shaam sarhad par!

Sham-E-Sarhad (Evening at the border) – the aptly named resort – a rural resort again! We spent our New Year eve (2008) here – thousands of kms away from Delhi – in a resort that perhaps none of the people around us would know about (now they do :-)) – this is the far west of India in the salt deserts of Rann of Kuchchh, Gujarat!
Not sure of where to go on the New Year chutti, we planned for this place in a jiffy and decided the best and shortest way of reaching this place by 30 Dec (2007) – so there were multiple modes to take on this journey – an afternoon flight from Delhi to Ahmedabad, an overnight (6 hrs) bus - the ones which has sleepers on top of seats like the bunker beds; first time for me :-) - from Ahmedabad to Bhuj (yeah the place got its fame for the worst ever earthquake of the country) and an early morning (5.30 am) taxi to reach the destination – village ‘Hodka’! All the delhi people, remember the ladies selling mirror-word items on the pavements of C.P. – this is the region where these are done!

The village was chosen by UNDP under the rural development through tourism. The core is self-sustenance by running a place for livelihood and promoting the local culture and craft. Ok, so the identified village was ‘groomed’ to run a resort (in their own style) so the owners of the resort are the villagers. The resort suddenly appears after taking one of the narrow, dusty by-lanes off the main road – situated in the middle of barren, dry and no-man land. The rural resort has the amenities of any of the other resorts that you might come across in the other destinations but in a rural surrounding and architecture. There are swiss tents and the mud-rooms called ‘Bhungas’ – the round shaped huts that the kuchchi people live in. They are shaped like this for the climatic conditions here that’s very dry, hot and mind you dusty – when I say dusty – it means very-very dusty! The ambience was just perfect and upto our expectation though we stayed in the swiss tents – they said ‘bhungas’ were occupied!

The people of this place are like the ones as seen in the movie ‘Sarfarosh’ – yeah the long beard, kohl eyed men in pathani salwars! Feels like a different region altogether but they are very warm and hospitable. We reached there early morning at 6-6.30 am and the tent was not done so we had to wait till people check out! It was cold morning – very cold – as the sun rose the warmness in the air could be felt – we had our cuppa tea and then Surender as usual started clicking around! By the time the tent was done, we were dead tired with the travel but we had captured much information from the staff about the places around!
The tent was spacious – actually there were two tents – the second one was the bathroom! The food – ‘kuchchhi food’ – was pure vegetarian and cooked by the locals – had the local flavours – we often over-ate!

This is a nomadic land with the scattered villages, long runs of salty deserts, wet lands and of course, the place where the tropic of cancer passes by! And not the least the famous Kala Dungar where the wild jackals come for food when they hear the bells of the temple ringing – yeah saw it live and not on TV! So after taking some rest and meal, we were ready for day 1 trip and that was a trip around the resort to see some man-made wells and the nearby marsh area and the hodka village. The vehicle - :-) an open ‘chakhra’ – it’s a motor operated rickshaw that is heavily used in the area – much like the ‘jugads’ here! The guide an old man (my favorite) – ‘Paanki kaka’ and the local lad who would run the vehicle! They told us not to take the same but we didn’t pay attention to the warnings and were ready to dare the ‘dust’! After 10 mins of drive we realized why they were saying so – the drive through the dusty barren lands had tons of dust that landed up on us and inside our lungs – even the nostrils had turned white and we felt breathing in fine dust! But then as we are – we really enjoyed it and were ready to take on more!

Ok, so there we were standing on the dried salty lands where the only vegetation were small shrubs that could survive the salty land! But the view was amazing! From there were again driven back to the village to meet the locals – here in such a remote area where you’d hardly find educated people, I found the most enterprising and daring women! And above all, the most beautiful ravishing beauties! They have learnt English and Hindi in their own style, almost all of them have displayed photos with foreigners (they call them friends or sisters – I too made on ‘Birma Ben’) and then showcase their work – you can buy them! When a girl is born here, she prepares her own dowry which consists heavily of the embroidered dresses, bed sheets and other things – she would stitch those for years and store these in trunks till they reach 17-18 yrs of age (officially they say so) and then take them along – very beautiful and vibrant pieces I must say! Though mind you the prices are not cheap if you wish to buy – they are used to the dollar spending clients! They were really amused to see me stiching and asked me from where did I learn the same – oh how they think we are just good for nothings :-)! Another popular art here are pottery, lacquer work and leather work!
We were back at our resort by the evening for the wonderful dinner! The local artisans had come to play the local songs along side the bon fire. The night was so quiet that it was scary to go to the loo which was another tent as you could hear the hyenas and foxes howling throughout the night (though the staff said they were far away but their noise didn’t seem so distant)!

Next day, we decided to explore the wetlands of Chhari Dhand – a small wet land which sees migratory bird and some of the rare bird sightings can be done here! I was excited because this is where you could see the flamingoes – oh how long had I been wanting to see those beautiful birds – though I still would want to see them dancing as they say!

But as they, Rann of Kuchchh (like other deserts) is a place where you shouldn’t explore on your own unless you know the routes – why ? – we knew when we went there with Paandi kaka! The interesting person – 58 yrs, wrinkled old man who has seen the Rann for last 58 yrs and knows the place very well – couldn’t speak hindi properly but had such charming kohl eyes that looked mysterious! He was 6+ ft tall and thin and was always ready to pose for the photos! It was under his guidance that we had taken the trip to wet lands. There were no roads but mud tracks that were pointing to multiple directions and the driver would look at kaka and wait for him to point his fingers to the direction that we need to go! Though it was December but the car had AC and even inside the closed car we could breath in the fine dust that the wheels were throwing! On the way, we saw ‘families of wolves’ – so easy to spot for the scanty vegetation and guess what, we saw nomads – the ones we read about in school text books. There were men with herds of camel – hundreds in number moving across the desert – perhaps to the destinations not-known or known but certainly less travelled!
Alright, finally the banni wetlands – though we couldn’t see many birds but we could see some egrets, herons and ducks but no flamingoes L! We spent some time there in the quietness of the place and on the watchtower – nature can do amazing things – a wetland in the desert! The other places of interest that we saw were some of the villages like Dhordo that were adopted under PM schemes of rural development and ladies would welcome you in their houses, showcase their products and quietly put these back if you do not buy – mind you the prices are just the same as quoted for tourists! Of all the things, the best were to see the Bhungas with mirror work on the walls done by the ladies of the house.

The trip to Kala Dungar and India bridge are never to be forgotten. The sepoys on the India bridge - The last Civilian point of India-Pakistan Border - were so happy to see us as this is the last post allowed from where the border of Pakistan starts so nobody is allowed and all you could see are the vast lands of desert – the salt desert – where if you get lost it would be days that somebody would find you. And the sepoys, specially in summers, spent 2-3 months without seeing a single human soul other than their fellows guarding the bridge! After saying hi-hello to them, we went to Kala Dungar (Black Hill in local language). This is a small hillock overlooking the Rann and you can see lights from Pakistani homes on the border. You could go there in the evening to see the sun set in the Rann and visit the Dattatreya temple and above all a miracle of nature’s law being defied. Here in the temple, for years the pujari feeds the wild jackals – it was amazing to see the jackals appear at a designated place when the Arti began with the bells ringing – they come, eat and go back into the wild. Well, people are allowed to see this from a distant place – they don’t want to take any risk but it was amazing. They were looking at the temples as if listening to the sound of the bells. A truly amazing and ‘wild’ experience.

Well, finally on our way to Bhuj and Than Monastery – I got my first glimpse to the Flamingoes – so many of them with their peachish-pink bodies and red beaks they looked elegant – least to say! I simply awed the birds – there were so many in those small poodles of water. Than Monastery can be skipped as it was a temple though located at a quiet place amongnst the hills.

Moving on to Bhuj – unlike our perception – this place rocks – has some of the wealthy marwaris living and making money here. This has one of the best palaces that we saw – remember the ball dance from the film ‘Lagaan’ – this was shot here in the Bhuj Palalce hall – the magnificent palace got shattered during the earthquake and the Raja moved out to some other place and opened this for public visit – best way to recur the maintenance cost :-))
Some of the best chandeliers and artifacts can be seen here and in the museum. Rajasthani rajas knew how to live in splendor! Then to the Marwari food – though the kuchchhi thaali at the resort was the best – but nonetheless the Marwari food was no less – wonderful and cheap!
Star gazing!
The resort stay was ultimate and quiet and before I forget I must mention what did we do on the new year eve – it was a perfect quiet new year eve with the resort people organizing a star watching show with an amateur club of astronomy. They had come with telescopes and tried to explain and show us the wonderful stars and satellites. You won’t get such clear sky in Delhi even on the best of the days! We saw, we discussed, we had food (and no drink :-) Gujarat remember!) and off to sleep just like a normal day. Perfecto!
What a place and what an experience. The return was just the same – a taxi to Bhuj, a bus to Ahmedabad, overnight stay in Ahmedabad and then early morning flight off to Delhi and back to the grind the same day in office! Go guys – a place must visit but only for those who can dare the dust – as I say!