Pachmarhi
Pachmarhi is one of the best Hill stations in India which is situated in India’s center state Madhya Pradesh. Pachmarhi is also known as Satpura ki Rani and is the only hill station in Madhya Pradesh. The state is famous for its rich history, heritage sites & dense forest, and Pachmarhi does add yet another flavor to it. Pachmarhi is famous for Lord Shiva Temples, Pandav caves, waterfalls, and wildlife which attracts tourists around all season.
The best time to visit Pachmarhi is October to March for the pleasant weather. Pachmarhi is a perfect tourist destination for spending holidays in the winter period.
If you are a monsoon lover then you can visit Pachmarhi from July to Sept. Pachmarhi is at its best during the monsoon where you will experience lush green fields, multiple waterfalls and a whole hill station covered with fog.
How to reach Pachmarhi ?
Pachmarhi is in the center of India, so it is very well connected by roads and railway routes. The nearest airport is Bhopal and Jabalpur which are 191 Km and 251 Km away from Pachmarhi. The nearest railway station is at Pipariya which falls on the Jabalpur rail line on the Howrah-Mumbai track. It is 47 km from Pachmarhi. However, Bhopal is the major railway station near Pachmarhi which you can consider.
We were coming from Vadodara, Gujarat which is 728 km away from Pachmarhi. You need to be careful if coming from the same route because in between the Jhabua district comes where many tribes live. Before the ’90s and late 2000s, there used to be a lot of tribal attacks for anyone passing by through car or bus where passengers were looted or sometimes seriously injured or kidnapped. It was impossible to travel by road during night time and if you were traveling during night time then Policemen used to accompany you to another district.
Now such attacks have become very less but still, you need to be careful and try to avoid traveling after sunset. Also, keep in mind to not stop your vehicle for a small break while passing by the Jhabua district.
hoshangabad
Hoshangabad is a small city where the river Narmada (one of the biggest rivers of India) passes by. You need to go here prepared as you will not get much to eat or drink. We were not able to find cold drinks from any local shops where we were staying.
Day 1:
As mentioned earlier that it is not safe to travel after sunset, we decided to stay in Hoshangabad. Hoshangabad is 606 km away from Vadodara. We had to cover a lot of distance to reach here. We started early morning around 5:15 AM and reached Hoshangabad around 6:30 PM. We stayed in a very amazing property which was surrounded by nature and the owner himself was staying here and had his own very big farm. If you decide to stay here then you will be served delicious organic food of homegrown vegetables.
We have never tasted such great delicious organic food. The property was very big and you can spend a lot of time checking out their local farm and pottery shop. The owner has his own pottery shop and the property was filled with all owner’s creation Click here to book property
bee fall
Day 2:
We left early in the morning around 7:30 AM for Pachmarhi. The distance between Hoshangabad and Pachmarhi is around 120 Km but roads are narrow and later hilly area starts so it will take you around 3-4 Hrs to reach your destination. You will pass through an amazingly scenic road which is a proper wildlife sanctuary where you will see many good places to take a break and click photos. It is the main highway so be careful about truck driver’s rash driving skills.
When you reach Pachmarhi the first thing which you need to do is take a permit from Bison lodge. Bison lodge is the oldest house in Pachmarhi which was constructed in 1862. Now it is a museum and also a booking office for permit and car booking.
There are many attractions in Pachmarhi out of which few attractions can be visited for free without any permit but it is better to take permit for all attractions. We gave 200 Rs for the Permit which included four of us and our vehicle with all attractions.
Here, you need to be smart with your planning if you know what attraction you are going to visit then you can ask permission for that attraction to save some money. Every day you have to take a new permit and cannot use the old permit. If you are taking a private vehicle (jeep) then it will cost you more depending on the attractions. It was a long holiday weekend when we visited so the waiting line for private vehicle booking was very long almost 2-3 Hrs.
Note:
If you are taking your own vehicle then be prepared to walk a lot. There is no parking facility in any of the attractions for car owners and you will be forced to park at a very far distance from all attraction points. Only permit vehicles are allowed to enter but still those cars will go to a certain limit. In the end in both scenarios, you have to walk a lot to reach your final attraction point.
We decided to go for Bee fall first before going to our hotel as hotel checking was after 2 PM and we were any way early. Bee fall is the most famous waterfall in Pachmarhi. You will have to walk around 4 Km to reach this waterfall which also includes very steep stairs. This waterfall was overcrowded and was not worth visiting for us.
Adventure park
After a disappointing start to our Pachmarhi trip due to overcrowd we head back to our hotel. The hotel which we booked was one of the best in Pachmarhi which included breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Click here for bookings
The property was very big and amazing and gave us a vintage feel. Many politicians in past used to come here and stay. If you are planning to stay here then make sure you come early for lunch. The timings for lunch are till 3 PM, for dinner till 10 PM and for breakfast till 10:30 AM.
Note:
There is only 1 Wine shop and 1 Petrol pump in the whole Pachmarhi. It has a small local market so do not forget to visit for some local food and street shopping.
In the evening after getting freshen up we went to adventure park which is situated around Airstrip. There were many adventure activities like ATV rides, Zip-lining, and Parasailing on Jeep. Here also it was a long queue due to overcrowded but we were not disappointed here because it was not an actual property of anyone. It was an open-airstrip and anybody can go inside with their vehicle. So we decided to do the same and check out parasailing happening on the airstrip. This was one of the unique fun experience where was saw take-off and landing from our own vehicle and we were even following them from our car which was fun.
Silver & apsara falls
Day 3:
Today after having breakfast we left early for other attractions. We first went to Bison lodge to take a permit to visit silver fall attraction with our own vehicle which cost around 150 Rs. We explained that you cannot reach there with your own vehicle but we took the risk and reached our destination and parked our car somewhere safe and from there, we started walking. This 2 km trek was a moderate one and we were the first tourist today to reach. If you want to skip the crowd then start early. We took a guide here to be safe who can guide us in the trek.
First, we went to a small water stream that was flowing to enjoy some morning baths in nature. Later we went to apsara falls which was amazing but closed due to an unfortunate accident a few days back where someone lost his life. The waterfall was closed and we can only see it from far away and were not allowed to take a dip in it. One famous Bollywood movie Asoka song was shot here.
You should ask the local/guide when you visit apsara falls then why this name is given to this waterfall. It is a funny story.
Later we visited Silver waterfall which was a continuation of Apsara waterfall which was falling from 107 Metres in height. The viewpoint for this waterfall was breathtaking. We were the only ones around so it was complete silence and only the wonderful chilling sound of a waterfall was coming. You should not miss this waterfall. Yes, one will have to walk a lot to reach this place but overall it is a good experience.
Note:
There were many great tourist attractions that we missed due to lack of time which needed time to trek/walk to reach the top. But do visit the below-mentioned attractions.
1. Dhoopgarh (Famous sunset point and also the highest point in pachmarhi)
2. Jatta Shankar (Shiv temple inside a cave with flowing Raam Sethu Stone)
3. Chauragarh Temple (Unique must visit temple with lots of Trishul present)
4. Pandav Cave
There are two-wheelers available on rent which you can rent to reach these attractions quickly and parking for two-wheelers is nearby compared to private vehicles so you will have to walk/trek less.
Indore
Day 4:
We came to Indore which is half the distance to reach back Vadodara from Pachmarhi. We stayed in Indore for one night and the next day did some shopping and went to one of the famous cafes known as Farzi. It was one of the tallest buildings in Indore and the ambiance was very impressive. Indore is the cleanest city in India which wins an award every year for its cleanliness.
So this was our road trip to Pachmarhi which had 2 big cities Indore and Bhopal. So if you ever plan then plan for a week so that you can spend good quality time in Pachmarhi, Bhopal, and Indore.
So this was my experience which will help you out to plan your Trip in a better way. If you have any questions then do contact me.