The conclusions

 I have seen the poverty in india as well as the harsh conditions many of us are living in. It seems like the max gdp is redistributed in the favour of the more fortunate alone. Yet, you can see that here in india, or perhaps anywhere in the world where there might be a scarcity, people don't need reasons to be happy. Perhaps its their only option, but yet I feel, that india is perhaps the most developed country in case of people happuness...


              Lots of good wishes o traveller!

Trip Stats

Total distance : 7450 Km
Distance in hills : 1006 Km
Total number of days (Pune to Pune) : 43
Total number of driving days : 24
Total fuel consumed : 606 lt diesel
Total expense : Little over 2 lac. It includes car servicing, diesel, stay, food, buying gifts and everything else
Cheapest hotel : Rs 300 per night
Most expensive hotel : Rs 5000 per night

Day 42, 43 (May-23 to 24) : The last leg

Sorry for delay in posting.

We visited Laxminarayan temple once more in the morning to see the famous wall paintings in it before starting for Pune. 

It was a longish drive (488 Km) to Indore and a really long drive (670 km) from Indore to Pune the next day. Driving through MP is always very enjoyable. We saw a big dust devil on the way. It was extending right up to high skies. For a change, I did not sleep at all during this drive :)

We had heard a lot about sweets in Indore so we decided to check it out. We had our dinner at Apana Sweets. Sweets were good but not like those we had in Kolkata but the Khichadi (simple dal-rice based Khichadi) was very good. I am sure that Dal Baphala also must have been good but it was finished by the time we reached there.

Drive from Indore to Pune was quite tiring. It took us 13 hours of mainly driving to reach Pune by 11:00 PM in night. Our long trip has finally come to an end. It will take some time before we get over the trip and get back to normal life :(

Wall paintings in Laxminarayan temple

The entrance of the temple is made in shape of an owl, the "vahan" of goddess Laxmi

Family of four on bike near Jhansi

This is how we avoided buying bottled water on the trip!

Some "shayari" on the back of a truck :)

Dusk on a ghat after Nashik

Day 40, 41 (May-21 to 22) Orccha

We spent 4 full days in Lucknow with my grandmother and Bade Papa. After Lucknow, we left for Orchcha.

       On our way, we got a glimpse of legendary Jhansi fort. The fort which was made famous by India's famous warrior queen, Rani Laxmibai. We didn't have time to go inside though. On Sonu Chacha's suggestion, we decided to go to Orchcha in MP. The city is a historian's dream. In all directions, one can see fortresses, temples and other royal monuments. It has so many stories to tell, that one cannot fit them in the small area given in a blog. One of the interesting stories is that of Madhukar Shah. Madhukar Shah became the king of Bundelkhand after the death of his beloved king, Bir Singh. In all of his monuments the confluence of Hindu and Muslim architecture can be seen. The temple he built for shri ram has a distinct mosque like look. Still, the type of the arches show the hindu culture. Combination of two cultures I observe often makes things look very good. However, according to a story, Lord Ram decided to stay at the place he first sat. Hence, the temple was used as a Krishna temple. The ram temple was built around the sitting place of ram.

              In the Jehangir mehal, we saw a Sound and Light show. Compared to Golkonda, the show at Orchcha is much better. The sound effects are extremely good. Lighting to is done in an interesting way. Best of all, we three were the only visitors at the show as this was off season!! I loved the place very much.

Orchha fort during Light & Sound show

Beautiful restaurant of Orchha resort of MPTDC

Orccha Rajmahal from inside

That is my mom inside the fort

Another view of the Rajmahal

Paintings on the walls

Painting of Lord Ram, Sita and others in Mughal style

It was baking hot :(

Chaturbhuj temple. Even this has Mughal architecture

Laxminarayan temple in night

 

Day 35 to 39 (May-16 to 20) Lucknow my second home.

We left Varanasi on the morning of May-16 and reached Lucknow by evening. Lucknow is my father's hometown. I was also born there. We were initially planning to leave on May-20 but decided to extend our stay by one more day.

Visiting lucknow as always was a great pleasure. Apart from my grandmother and my fathers elder brother who stays there, there were quite a few other relatives also that were visiting which made the stay even more fun.

The brilliant Kulphi and Dalmoth are great on taste. We missed Tunda Kebab this time. I and my brother Bharat were busy designing a r.c. aircraft. We learnt that making a helicopter is very difficult with the hub, thrust, Jesus nut turning mechanism and what not. So, we turned from the Chinook to a simple airplane. Even that isn't simple. We buyed a r.c car and dismanteled it to make a remote control motor, rudder and elevator. Learnt how the Differntial works and spent a lot of time moving trains in train simulator.