Khajuraho, travel to the heart of India!

[Yogesh Sarkar]

Trip to Khajuraho has been in the planning for quite some time now, and after a slight delay, I was all set to travel to Khajuraho. This trip was all the more special due to the fact that it would be my first trip to Madhya Pradesh.

Madhya Pradesh was once the largest state in India and I had heard so much about it, yet had only seen it, while crossing it in a few of my train journeys. However that was the past, for I was to ride to the “heart of India” in the morning.

As I went to bed the night before the scheduled departure, there were plenty of things doing rounds in my head and for the first time in so many years, I was feeling thoroughly unprepared and nervous for the upcoming journey. A feeling I had been missing for quite some time, and that thought brought a smile to my face and I fell asleep, grinning like a fool.

Day 1: Delhi - Agra - Gwalior - Jhansi

Didn’t want to ride in fog, so decided to start slightly late and was finally on the road by 6:30AM. Weather was cold, but thankfully there was slight if any fog en route and soon, I was cruising on the Delhi - Agra National Highway 2.

First break came an hour later, for photography, as the warmth and hues of sun, started making their presence felt.



An hour later it was time for warm paranthas and cup of tea, so stopped at a dhaba en route and had my fill.



Thanks to the lovely and wide NH-2, cruising was easy and completely effortless, though senseless traffic at times did get on my nerves.

NH2, Delhi - Agra



Thanks to such lovely roads, I managed to reach Agra by 10:30AM. Missed the bypass and went inside the city and wasted some time, trying to find the right way out. Passed by a fort (which I guess was Agra Fort, if you want, I can post a photo and you can check) and also saw a sign of Taj Mahal, which pointed in opposite direction and said 1km!

Was tempted for a moment; however I wanted to reach Khajuraho by nightfall, so decided to continue on to Gwalior and take the National Highway 3.

I was now expecting the road conditions to deteriorate and they did, on the outskirts of Agra. However after a few km, I was cruising on the lovely NH-3.



NH-3 did turn into a single lane road around Dholpur and road conditions too slightly deteriorated. Thankfully I was still able to maintain decent speed and was hoping to reach Khajuraho. However that dream came to a sliding halt as I overtook a truck on a bridge and my bike’s rear wheel started wagging like a dog’s tail. Tried to maneuver her to the corner and came to a controlled halt. Got off from my motorcycle and sure enough, it was a flat rear tyre.

Stopped a passing motorcyclist and enquired about puncture repair shops and was told that there was one at the other end of the bridge. Now I had to drag my loaded bike slightly uphill towards the end of the long bridge, wearing warm riding jacket and heavy backpack. Huffing and puffing, I dragged my motorcycle to the puncture repair shop and in process, manage pull a muscle in my right shoulder.

Handed the bike over to the puncture repair guy and he pulled out the culprit behind the puncture; a bent screw driver! It managed to rip apart the tube, which kind of explained the rapid deflation. Thankfully I was carrying a spare tube, which was put to good use.

Fixing the flat tyre



The culprit, pulled out of my bike’s rear tyre.



I was informed at the puncture repair shop that it was at the bridge that the Madhya Pradesh border started. Not the sort of welcome I was expecting, and knew that now I wouldn’t be able to make it to Khajuraho, by the end of the day.

In the distance the bridge where the puncture happened, the white dot you see towards the end is a car and is likely at the same place, where the puncture had occurred.



Once the puncture was fixed, it was time to start the journey again. After a few kms, highway once again turned into a four lane pleasure road and I was happily cruising along, until I spotted the remains of an old bridge/dam.



Stopped and had some much needed lunch, somewhere around Morena. Continued again and reached Gwalior, where I decided to shop around for tyre tube as I now only had spare tube for the front tyre. Knew I wouldn’t be able to find the right sized one for my bike’s rear tyre (120/80), however even finding the 100/90 one seemed like a herculean task and I had to do a lot of searching and even then, could only find a local 100/90 tube.

Decided to buy it and continue with the ride, with hope that I wouldn’t have to put it to use. Road beyond Gwalior was in bad condition and also single lane, however the colors around it, were more than making up for it.



There was a lot of construction taking place to ensure that this highway too would soon be a proper four lane one, however, till then travelers have to contend with these types of roads, which are filled with diversions.



This made progress quite slow and I managed to reach Jhansi at around 6 o’clock and decided to look for a hotel and found Hotel City Palace. Not such a great place, but I didn’t want to look too much, so decided to spend the night there.

Updated my blog and had dinner in the room, by now the pain in my arm had increased and despite my best attempts, my hand was still quite cold. Decided to pop another disprin and apply vicks vaporub, that helped somewhat and I was finally able to fall asleep.

Day 2: Jhansi - Chhatarpur - Bambitha - Khajuraho

Day 3: Khajuraho, Visvanatha Temple and Nandi Shrine

Day 3: Khajuraho, Parvati Temple

Day 3: Khajuraho, Lakshmana Temple

Day 3: Khajuraho, Lakshmana Temple, Part-2

Day 3: Khajuraho, Kandariya Mahadeva Temple

Day 3: Khajuraho, Jagadambi and Chitragupta Temples

Day 3: Khajuraho, Adivart Tribal and Folk Art Museum and ASI Museum

Day 3: Khajuraho, Jain Temples and Museum

Day 3: Khajuraho, Southern Group of Temples

Day 3: Khajuraho, Eastern Group of Temples

Day 4: Khajuraho, Raneh Falls and Ken Gharial Sanctuary

Day 4: Khajuraho, Folk Dance Performance

Day 5: Khajuraho - Jhansi - Gwalior - Agra - Delhi

[Karthik3393]

Awesome YS ... was getting ur updates on twitter ... Amazing snaps as always ... bring em on ... especially the informative ones :P

TFS

[Rockin Roxxi]

Wow...what a ride...thank God ji you had a spare tire...it is always a good idea to carry spares. Great start Yogesh bhai and hope that your shoulder is OK now

[rkbharat]

beautiful, second last pic is very well composed

[Yogesh Sarkar]

Originally Posted by Karthik3393

Awesome YS ... was getting ur updates on twitter ... Amazing snaps as always ... bring em on ... especially the informative ones :P

TFS

Thanks Karthik

Originally Posted by Rockin Roxxi

Wow...what a ride...thank God ji you had a spare tire...it is always a good idea to carry spares. Great start Yogesh bhai and hope that your shoulder is OK now

Thanks Roxxi, it was almost ok in a couple of days and is completely alright now.

Originally Posted by rkbharat

beautiful, second last pic is very well composed

Thanks Rajiv.

[devashishdhingra]

Nice starter, now await the main course YS.

[Schumi]

Excellent log, Yogesh Bhai. Waiting for the rest pf the account.

[pawsingh]

Lovely log and nice set of images.

[amitmaggoo]

Nice pics Yogesh Babu.

Did you apply Vicks or Iodex? I mean for muscular pain we dont use Vicks AFAIK.

[Yogesh Sarkar]

Thanks Devashish, Sushrut and Pavan.

Amit I normally carry Iodex and Volini spray with me, however this time I forgot to carry it and hence had to apply Vicks.