Being a travel addict, whenever there is a long weekend approaching, I instantly start thinking of where I can possibly spend travelling during those days. It’s the end of Feb and winters are almost receding by now in India. The weather seems to be perfect for a destination, which generally stays hot and dry during the summers and the heat makes it harder for travellers to enjoy.
I am not much of a planner and usually plan these kind of short breaks very impulsively. My research started with evaluating new destinations like Shillong and Munnar, since these have been very high on my bucket list for quite sometime now. However, researching a bit more about them, I understood that these places flourish a lot during monsoon season (June, July August) and I just didn’t want to miss their grandeur and beauty during that season. And hence, I crossed these off my list. Further research and my love for history and architecture made me stumble upon a place called Mandu in Madhya Pradesh. As an architecture student, I had read so much about this city and reading about it had got me intrigued since that time. Hence the thought of exploring a place which had been there on my mind since so long sounded like such an exciting idea! And so Mandu it was!
While researching about the place and the stay options, I discovered that there are other amazing places near Mandu like the beautiful town of Maheshwar on the banks of river Narmada. The stay options in Mandu and Maheshwar weren’t all that amazing and so I finally decided to base myself in Indore (also the nearest airport to these cities) and take day trips from Indore to Mandu and Maheshwar. This plan also allowed me to explore the street food culture of Indore which I had been dying to do since a long time.
So the plan was set! One day each of these 3 amazing cities, with 3 totally different experiences to gather.
I arrived in Indore on Friday night via a 1 hr long flight from Delhi. It was a comfortable journey and short flight, and an over night stay was enough to get us all ready for the next day adventures.
Day 01: Road trip to Maheshwar
I decided to drive down to Maheshwar since it’s just a 2 hour drive and most importantly because... I love driving. I booked a Zoomcar before heading to breakfast and conveniently picked the car up from a parking lot close to my hotel in a span of 1 hour of booking it. This was my first time experiencing a Zoomcar and it was both positive and negative in some aspects. It’s a smooth drive from Indore to Maheshwar and having my own car had it’s amazing pros. I could stop wherever and whenever I wanted, to enjoy and capture some pretty views. However it was soon, I realised the downside of it. The speed of a Zoomcar is capped at 80 km/hr! This was a big bummer, because a distance that could have possibly took 1.5 hours, took us exactly 2 hours.
Soon after reaching Maheshwar, I realised that it was one of the best decisions I made to visit this pretty town. The peace and serenity by the banks of river Narmada made me immediately fall in love with this place!
There is lots to do here and I comfortably spent the entire day in Maheshwar just strolling around the fort and temple area near the ghat. One of the biggest recommendations for Maheshwar was to buy an authentic Maheshwari sari from a place called Rehwa society. My undying love for handlooms and traditional Indian saris, almost made me feel like Alice in wonderland! Bought a couple of saris from this place and also got to go inside for a few minutes to see the weavers working tirelessly and giving life to some outstanding creations.
The temperatures were rising during the day and it wasn’t too long when the heat got onto me. Tired with walking around and sweating heavily in the sun, all I could think of was good food! Lunch was at an extremely simple and small place called ‘Shri Banke Behariji Mandir’. This place is the closest to the ghat and probably has the most delicious home cooked style meal to serve in just Rs. 50. Rested here for half an hour to relieve myself of the heat and then I was all fresh to embark on another exploration.
Post lunch it was time to take an evening boat ride in the Narmada. It was a 30-45 mins boat ride from the fort to Sahastra Dhara where one could witness the peaceful river turn into hundreds of ferocious streams. The best sight I could hope for at sunset!
Day 02: Indore and food :)
Travel tips:
If you want to explore Indore, then Sunday might be the worst day to do that since all markets in Indore are closed on a Sunday (except of course food).
Skip lunch if you plan to go on a evening food tour.
Since it was a Sunday today, we didn’t get to explore a lot of local markets in Indore which was one of the main agenda for the day. Few of the good markets to explore in Indore would be the Bombay Cloth Bazar in Rajwada, 56 Dukaan Street and Sarafa night market. I didn’t get to explore the cloth market, but then was so happy that the food markets in Indore never ever come to a standstill. 56 Dukaan is famous to house only 56 shops as per it’s name (mostly dedicated to food) and Sarafa is actually a jewellery market which gets magically transformed into a night food market after 8 PM as soon as the shops close.
Few notable street food dishes to try in Indore are:
Khopra Patis, Vijay chaat house, 56 Dukaan
Dahi bhalle, Joshi ke dahi bhalle, Sarafa
Bhutte ka kees, Sarafa
Sabudana khichdi, Sarafa
Shikanji, 56 dukaan or Sarafa
And.. Poha jalebi from pretty much anywhere!
I got so many amazing street food recommendations, but couldn’t manage to eat everything in one evening. If you get to try ‘Bhutte ka kees’ and ‘sabudana khichdi’ do let me know how you like it!
Apart from trying food, I also spent a short time in a place popularly called Krishnapura Chhatri in Indore. It’s a historic monument from the time of Holkar dynasty, which houses the remains of the dynasty's rulers. It’s got a contrasting personality standing in peace right at the start of the chaotic markets of Rajwada.
Day 03: The historic city of Mandu
Travel tips:
Mandu in rains (July, August, September) is supposed to be the most beautiful since it’s all green and has multiple beautiful waterfalls nearby.
February is best if you would like to explore the city for just it’s history and architecture without any crowd around.
Stay in Mandu for a day at least since this place deserves more and especially during monsoons. A day trip might not be able to do full justice to it. (Stay recommendation from a friend: Malwa resort, Mandu)
We left Indore a little early at 7:45 AM to reach Mandu at a good time and escape the afternoon heat. It worked out pretty well for us since we reached Rani Roopmati Pavilion at 9:45 while it wasn’t crowded at all.
Mandu in some ways reminded me of the city of Hampi in Karnataka. This small town is scattered with beautiful monuments and ruins all around, adding to it's unique character. I am quite surprised on why this place hasn’t been declared as a UNESCO world heritage site yet! I also saw a few travellers biking around the city and it seemed like quite a fun activity to do. I would totally try it the next time I am there.
Apart from being a historically rich city, Mandu is also a photographers delight because of it’s rustic nature. Here is a photo series from my day trip to this beautiful and less known destination.
We returned to Indore by 5:30 PM, right in time to catch our evening flight back to Delhi.
This long weekend trip to the heart of India aka Madhya Pradesh made me realise once again how beautiful and varied our country’s culture and history is. Even the relatively non-touristy places like Maheshwar, Indore and Mandu have such beautiful experiences to offer to travellers that they would be left craving for more.
Waiting for monsoons eagerly to visit some really beautiful destinations in India. Mandu and Maheshwar would definitely be one of those, to relive the grandeur and see these cities painted in different shades of nature.