Off to Pachmarhi.
The drive from Jabalpur to Pachmarhi is about 350 kms. We started at 9 am and were in Pachmarhi at about a half past 2. The drive is mostly through the agricultural belt. Farmland. On either side we see small farms cultivating sugarcane mostly. Though we did come across a few wheat fields as well. Most sugarcane farms were making their own jaggery. I remember we we had a lesson in marathi called ' gurhal', where they would stir the sugarcane juice in huge iron cauldrons while making jaggery. All excited at being able to show the kids a 'gurhaal ' in progress, we entered one such field by the side of the highway. But this one was a disappointment, the juice was collected in a concrete vat, through dirty pipes. and the whole place had a sour smell about it. Saw the jaggery making process but the unclean surroundings kept even Vittal away. Else he would definitely have asked for a sampling of the fresh gur and bought some , to take home too.
Apart from this the drive was uneventful till we reached a place called Matkuli. A nice sounding name.. The upward climb to the hill station of Pachmarhi begins from here. We see lots of teak planted on either side. We are now passing through the Satpura Forest Reserve.
Pachmarhi town. Pachmarhi is mostly a cantonment area. Chhavni as they call it. Pachmarhi town is broadly divided into old Pachmarhi and New Pachmarhi. New pachmari is a typically chaotic in nature. Catering to tourists. The same topi-mufflesr -stole in each shop. There is nothing distincly Pachmarhi in the entire marketplace. Ooty had its chocolate fudge and homemade chocolates, a variety in fruits - plums, passion fruit, the tiny red carrots... Nainital had its espresso machines and Hot chocolate vendors, lining the streets. Yahaan aisa kuch bhi nahi. The same old Lays and Kurkure. The regular soft drinks n ice cream. But yes , the Top n Town range of icecreams available there were really very good. The regular flavours and fruity flavours , even their kulfis are highly recommended. I hear they have an outlet in apli Mumbai too. Ok , Googled it , they do have an outlet at Mega Mall in Oshiwara.
The private hotels are located in this part of Pachmarhi. One particular hotel caught the eye. In the midst of the hustle and bustle of the markt place, there stood Hotel Pandav. It had a restaurant attached to it, called Gufa. And a discotheque too. There are several restaurants which serve south indian and Jain meals too. But these do not appeal.
Old Pachmarhi is where the charm lies. Well laid out roads, lined with trees., open grounds, boards directing you to your destination, old churches and the manors and even a jheel - Panchmarhi Jheel with lotus in bloom. Old Pachmarhi looks like what the British left behind. Most of the old manors have been converted into MPTDC resorts. These quaint but well maintained structures give a good feel. These resorts have a few rooms each and need to be booked well in advance. The place where we stayed was Rock End Manor. Appropriately called as it was perched on a hill. This one had just 6 rooms, each distinct from the other. The Resort was beautiful and inviting, with a porch and pretty floral arches. The rooms have a high ceiling and the furniture gets dwarfed by it all and gave a feeling of living in a doll house. The rooms even have a fire place, not functional though. Our room was a corner room. It was very prettily done up in a cheerful yellow and blue. It even had a an arch , visually separating the sleeping area from the sitting. The room had a LCD TV too. The daughter was pleased. The procastinator in me had kept postponing the room booking and for better or for worse this was the last room available with MPTDC when I finally got down to make the reservations. Why doesn't MTDC have such neat and clean rooms, I wonder.
The staff here is courteous . Food is good. They even allowed us in the kitchen and cooked a yellow dal and sabzi for us, Konkani ishtyle.
Some pictures of the manor, the rooms and then some flowers.
Took in the beauty of the place and made plans for the next day. Most hill stations, have a long list of 'points'. These take up most of your time and energy and leave you feeling cheated and tired at the end of it all. These days we prefer doing away with all that and out of the 18 or so 'must see places' we zeroed in on 4 which we would see over the next 2 days.
The son had downloaded a lot of TV serials and movies from his college and we spent a lot of time bonding over our favourite show Castle. We were like campers in a dormitory. Home has an option of 2 TV sets ( a set of indulgent grandparents) and 2 computers for the 6 of us. At any point of time we all are separately occupied. Here it was "AADMI CHAAR, TV EK". No phone and no internet either. In Pachmarhi and Kanha, one requires a BSNL sim card. Had carried one, but somehow were unable to use it.
As the evening progressed, the chill set in. It was about 4 degrees in Pachmarhi that night. The rooms are all equipped with heaters and it really made the cold bearable.
A walk post dinner. Looked up at the sky and it was a beautiful sight. The sky was strewn with stars. One is not used to seeing so many of them in a pitch dark sky! The mood was set. This vacation was going to be a great one. Was looking forward to the next day!
The drive from Jabalpur to Pachmarhi is about 350 kms. We started at 9 am and were in Pachmarhi at about a half past 2. The drive is mostly through the agricultural belt. Farmland. On either side we see small farms cultivating sugarcane mostly. Though we did come across a few wheat fields as well. Most sugarcane farms were making their own jaggery. I remember we we had a lesson in marathi called ' gurhal', where they would stir the sugarcane juice in huge iron cauldrons while making jaggery. All excited at being able to show the kids a 'gurhaal ' in progress, we entered one such field by the side of the highway. But this one was a disappointment, the juice was collected in a concrete vat, through dirty pipes. and the whole place had a sour smell about it. Saw the jaggery making process but the unclean surroundings kept even Vittal away. Else he would definitely have asked for a sampling of the fresh gur and bought some , to take home too.
Apart from this the drive was uneventful till we reached a place called Matkuli. A nice sounding name.. The upward climb to the hill station of Pachmarhi begins from here. We see lots of teak planted on either side. We are now passing through the Satpura Forest Reserve.
Pachmarhi town. Pachmarhi is mostly a cantonment area. Chhavni as they call it. Pachmarhi town is broadly divided into old Pachmarhi and New Pachmarhi. New pachmari is a typically chaotic in nature. Catering to tourists. The same topi-mufflesr -stole in each shop. There is nothing distincly Pachmarhi in the entire marketplace. Ooty had its chocolate fudge and homemade chocolates, a variety in fruits - plums, passion fruit, the tiny red carrots... Nainital had its espresso machines and Hot chocolate vendors, lining the streets. Yahaan aisa kuch bhi nahi. The same old Lays and Kurkure. The regular soft drinks n ice cream. But yes , the Top n Town range of icecreams available there were really very good. The regular flavours and fruity flavours , even their kulfis are highly recommended. I hear they have an outlet in apli Mumbai too. Ok , Googled it , they do have an outlet at Mega Mall in Oshiwara.
The private hotels are located in this part of Pachmarhi. One particular hotel caught the eye. In the midst of the hustle and bustle of the markt place, there stood Hotel Pandav. It had a restaurant attached to it, called Gufa. And a discotheque too. There are several restaurants which serve south indian and Jain meals too. But these do not appeal.
Old Pachmarhi is where the charm lies. Well laid out roads, lined with trees., open grounds, boards directing you to your destination, old churches and the manors and even a jheel - Panchmarhi Jheel with lotus in bloom. Old Pachmarhi looks like what the British left behind. Most of the old manors have been converted into MPTDC resorts. These quaint but well maintained structures give a good feel. These resorts have a few rooms each and need to be booked well in advance. The place where we stayed was Rock End Manor. Appropriately called as it was perched on a hill. This one had just 6 rooms, each distinct from the other. The Resort was beautiful and inviting, with a porch and pretty floral arches. The rooms have a high ceiling and the furniture gets dwarfed by it all and gave a feeling of living in a doll house. The rooms even have a fire place, not functional though. Our room was a corner room. It was very prettily done up in a cheerful yellow and blue. It even had a an arch , visually separating the sleeping area from the sitting. The room had a LCD TV too. The daughter was pleased. The procastinator in me had kept postponing the room booking and for better or for worse this was the last room available with MPTDC when I finally got down to make the reservations. Why doesn't MTDC have such neat and clean rooms, I wonder.
The staff here is courteous . Food is good. They even allowed us in the kitchen and cooked a yellow dal and sabzi for us, Konkani ishtyle.
Some pictures of the manor, the rooms and then some flowers.
- ROCK END MANOR
Took in the beauty of the place and made plans for the next day. Most hill stations, have a long list of 'points'. These take up most of your time and energy and leave you feeling cheated and tired at the end of it all. These days we prefer doing away with all that and out of the 18 or so 'must see places' we zeroed in on 4 which we would see over the next 2 days.
The son had downloaded a lot of TV serials and movies from his college and we spent a lot of time bonding over our favourite show Castle. We were like campers in a dormitory. Home has an option of 2 TV sets ( a set of indulgent grandparents) and 2 computers for the 6 of us. At any point of time we all are separately occupied. Here it was "AADMI CHAAR, TV EK". No phone and no internet either. In Pachmarhi and Kanha, one requires a BSNL sim card. Had carried one, but somehow were unable to use it.
As the evening progressed, the chill set in. It was about 4 degrees in Pachmarhi that night. The rooms are all equipped with heaters and it really made the cold bearable.
A walk post dinner. Looked up at the sky and it was a beautiful sight. The sky was strewn with stars. One is not used to seeing so many of them in a pitch dark sky! The mood was set. This vacation was going to be a great one. Was looking forward to the next day!
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