Pachmarhi, Madhya Pradesh

Maybe it's not mountains or beaches, but the weather or people that make a place worth a visit.

It's was a family trip for me, and not a huge extended family with cousins and all. A 4 people trip : me, mom, dad and my sister. And I am always worried when its this kind of trip, how to make sure everyone is enjoying because we live together all the time,there is nothing new to talk about. Also, they don't understand the idea of staying/resting in a fancy hotel as a vacation.

And here you go, this is a perfect place to visit in such a scenario in Madhya Pradesh. Pachmarhi has so many spots to visit that you will start at 10-11 AM and will be busy till 6-7:00 PM (dinner time not included) for 3 days.

We started from Ratlam(via train) at 11PM and reached Piparia at 10:30 AM the next day. Pachmarhi is 50kms from Piparia and you can easily get a shared or personal cab.

Our bookings were last minute so we didn't had much affordable options to stay. We booked a 2 day stay at Hotel Misty Meadows. We checked in around 12:00 noon, and during our way from Piparia to Pachmarhi, we covered our 1st spot:  Ambemai Temple. Also you can see Begum Palace from there.

You definitely need a car or a gypsy to move, as the place is spread vastly in and around forest. For the 1st day you can travel with your car and cover the below places if you are starting your day at 1-2 PM like ours. We had our lunch till 2pM at the hotel and visited in the below sequence:

Handi Khoh

Priyadarshini

Mahadev and Gupt Mahadev

Rajendra Giri

Jata Shankar

For the next day, we booked a gypsy as that is the easiest way of transport. Personal car/cab is allowed but there are restrictions at certain spots and only their authorised gypsy's has the permission. I would highly recommend to book a gypsy and not take your personal car/cab as you will end up walking more, you might miss few spots in that case.

Ohh also, you get a guide with every gypsy and I feel that that's mandatory to know a place better.

We started the day at 10 AM from our hotel and reached Bee falls and then Museum. Took the lunch break at 1PM at Beta Bawarchi. The next itenary goes as below:

Pandav Caves

Parasailing

Reechgarh

and finally

Doopgarh (Dhupgarh or Dhoopgarh is the highest point or peak in the Satpura Range,t is not only the highest point of Pachmarhi but also the highest point of Madhya Pradesh and Central India.)

For the 3rd day, we were checking out and had our train at 8:00PM, we kept is slow. Visited just two places Satara and Anandi and reached the station at 6:00PM. If you are staying for full day and has the stamina and energy, you can visit Chauragarh Temple which has around 1500 steps to reach the temple and the back and forth trip will be around 3kms(including the steps).

Must Visit Places : Bee Falls, Doopgarh and Chauragarh Temple.

Key Notes : Not all the spots are amazing but covering them will keep your day occupied and its a good trek of 7-8kms everyday. So that's a plus. Don't worry though, you can easily do it.

My motive was to keep the day busy and have fun. And we had that.

Happy Travelling :)