This year of 2023 has been a year of travelling with my Doddamma (mom's elder sister) across India. We have travelled extensively with F5 Escapes (an experiential travel agency exclusively providing safe and fun travels for women travellers)
In Oct 2023, we travelled with them to cover one circuit of Chattisgarh and MP (Madhya Pradesh) respectively.
On 21st Oct (Saturday) - Day 1 of our tour, we landed in Raipur airport. Its a compact airport with the its interiors being well done.
Once we met up with all our fellow travelers, we went to breakfast at Rajwada Palace. Its a beautiful resort sitting majestically near Swami Vivekanand International Airport, it is located mid of New Raipur (Atal Nagar) and Old Raipur. A complete vegeterain buffet breakfast of piping hot parathas, poha, sandwiches and juice, along with fruits were arranged for us.
This resort is situated in the north-western Chhattisgarh district of Kawardha. Nestled in the Maikal Hills, the property itself is designed in the manner of a farmhouse, with two low, tiled-roof buildings housing five rooms, all opening onto verandahs.
A special mention needs to be made about the Gond drawings on the walls, done by a local Gond painter. Each rooms are also named after the name of the villages surrounding the property.
We were in the "Laata" room. The owner Sunny, informed us that villagers from Laata are known for their best veggie growing skills. The rooms are large, airy and decorated with local artefacts.
We had two queen sized beds along with log sofas, kettle in the room and a large Milton water bottle. The room also had a ensuite changing room, which was large and an equally spacious bathroom.
The homestay’s land and courtyard have various great nooks and spots to lounge about in and also sumptuous local meals prepared by in-house cooks, who like all the staff here, hails from the surrounding villages.
We were treated to a sumptuous lunch with beetroot rotis, mixed veg subji, egg curry, rice, daal made with local greens, bhindi kurkure, curds, and Rosgullas to top them off, as dessert.
We were also served "Bijaure's" - a special MP based Indian snack made out of sesame seeds, pumpkin seeds, etc Full recipe can be found here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_HFyIgMTP3Y. It was crunchy and yummy and was quickly devoured by all of us!
After strolling around leisurely and taking pictures along the way, we then proceeded to the nearby Saroda reservoir.
Saroda Reservoir is a large reservoir located in Chhattisgarh, in the district of Kanker and is the primary water source for the city of Kanker. The dam was constructed in the late 1960s and is fed by the Sabri and Khol Rivers. The reservoir is surrounded by lush vegetation, making it a popular spot for picnicking, bird-watching, and other recreational activities.
Since large vehicles cant easily go to the top, we walked for about half a km on an incline, to reach this place and were lucky to see the setting sun. We relaxed , clicked photos and soaked in the beautiful nature in front of us. There were very few visitors here and all were locals. We could also see few locals fishing and were informed that the backwaters are filled with mahseer and catfish.
The day wasn't over yet. Post interacting with the dancers and clicking some pictures, we were whisked away by the resort staff to an authentic dinner experience with a local family nearby to the resort.
We were seated in the front courtyard of their home. There were rugs on the floor with their resident cow, as our audience :-). Prior to serving dinner, we were introduced to the hosts and all ladies and kids who had gathered there, gave us their traditional welcome by dancing and singing around a small diya (traditional dance thanking mother nature for their bounty)
We were then served dinner in leaf plates and katoris. The dinner was a yummy selection amongst rotis, rice, daal, tomato subji, really yummy brinjal fry, and local beans side dish. The dessert was a simple vermicelli payasam served in steel bowls.
We had our dinner surrounded by clay diyas and many of us using our phone lights to see what we were eating :-) . After thanking our lovely hosts, saying bye to "Gauri" (their resident cow) and their visitor doggie, we went back to our resort with full tummies, great memories on day 1 and ready for bed.
More to come covering our event filled exciting trip from Day 2 to Day 5 in the following posts!
