On some days, we lie on our beds in the evening, energies depleted, but with a silly smile on our faces, for it was a day well spent.
We would be driving 275 km today, not too long a distance, yet google-ji was predicting 5.5 hrs. 90% of the run was on NH63, which was mostly very smooth, except perhaps 30 kms of so inside Maharashtra, which was quite bad. Yes my friends, while travelling from Telengana to Chhattisgarh, we passed through the bottom tail of Maharashtra! Naturally, Maha finds no interest in vehicular traffic between Telengana and Chhattisgarh, so to hell with maintaining the roads in that short stretch.
Most of the travel today was through forest areas, and really desolate forest areas, where for miles on end we met no other cars, nor people. As we entered Bastar in Chhattisgarh, the forests became deeper, but so did our fears, and we would start seeing scowling militants behind every thicket. Gradually as we approached Jagdalpur (the town near Chitrakote), some signs of habitation started and we unclenched in various places.
Sangam at Kaleshwaram (7.30 am)
We pushed off early today, pre-breakfast that is, but not without seeing two more seeable places in K.
The tribeni sangam, where the rivers Godavari, Pranahita and Saraswati (which, being subterranean, cannot be seen) meet, is a holy place, often used by people around for pinda daan or final rites.
The other seeable was Shree Kaleshwara Muktishwara Swamy Devasthanam temple. It is a temple with two lingas on a pedestal - one Shiva (Muktishwara) and one Yama (Kaleshwara). Quite unique.
From the net 👆Breakfast at Ankisa (9.00 am)
Breakfast is important. But Ankisa?
As soon as we had crossed the Godavari, which was just 5 km from our hotel, we had moved into Maharashtra, and remained there for a couple of hours till we crossed the Indravati, after which Chhattisgarh started. Horrible roads in the whole stretch, and the few Maharashtran towns we passed through were sad-looking, with not much facilities. Evidently, the state was not pouring resources to the bottom tail of its map. Ankisa was one such town where we stopped for a roadside breakfast, without even getting out of the car. The mother making dosas, the father deep frying bondas, and the son Rohit helping out everyone - till he pushes off to attend classes in his Technical College 25 kms away. We chatted with him for a couple of minutes. Good English too. Ankisa unimportant? Not while boys like Rohit are there.
Bastar forest (12.00 noon)
Today's drive was a model forest drive, miles and miles of saal trees, sunlight filtering through them, glinting off the windshield as we wound our way through. 70 km before Chitrakote, our gps kicked us off the dependable NH63 to the backroads of Bastar. The odd villager whom I honked at would look at me in surprise. Car? Here? Loaded two wheelers would sometimes go lumbering by. If we stopped and switched off the engine, the woody sounds in the windless trees would be muted, as if the whole forest was waiting breathlessly for something to happen. Bastar was beautiful. But a bit tense, I thought.
