Pachmarhi A hill resort in Central Province

One of the bathing pools


At a stunning view point



One of the flowers in Golf View



Yes, it took a while to get there with the combine harvesters all out on a field day or should I say road day but we reached this hilltop resort found by Captain James Forsyth and his Bengali Lancers in the 1850 s. It became the summer camp of all the central provinces complete with colonial housing, churches, graveyards sanatoriums and polo pitches.
We stayed at Golf View which was a pretty colonial style hotel set in some lovely gardens. There are lots of viewing points, caves, treks and other activities but a lot of the signs are in Hindi and less English is spoken here. We were the only westerners and the local tourists, sensibly perhaps, hire local guides in little jeeps who whizz them around the places of interest. Having spent several hours in a car on a horribly congested road we were keen to walk so we set off …
We got caught in a tropical downpour and saw the rain lashing down from under a leafy tree. A and I got a lift back with some very nice Indian tourists from Mumbai who took us to some caves which were quite spectacular. C walked back in the wet.
Dinner was different. The rain had brought over the power lines, so the generators were on for a while and then it was candlelight. We were brought breadsticks to eat and I said they had cumin in them but in fact it was an intense smell of mothballs which were everywhere- in the big Jacuzzi style bathtub in our bathroom, in the shower, in the cupboards and in any drain. So a romantic dinner and early to bed seemed fine.
Waking up the next morning I was looking forward to my shower but alas no hot water as the lines were still down and anything powered by electricity on the first floor, read toilet flush, water supply, a/c and fans simply did not work. The flashy Jacuzzi and the multi jet shower compartment were like a lot of things here, installed without much thought as to their usage and practicality.
However my day only got better because dirty and dusty I could enjoy scrambling down the path several kilometers to a spectacular view point Rajat Prapat,and see the falls and then watching the men bathing in pools further up called Apsara Vihar. Not done for women to undress publicly.
Then having enjoyed some of the landmarks of the resort we headed down to the plain and as it was Dushehra the whole road was taken up with gods and goddeses heading for water where they would be immersed until the next year. Truckloads of youths, processions with drums and even paint throwing parties greeted us along the way back to Bhopal.
The best came last – more of that in my next blog