Jagdalpur, chhattisgarh

   

Hailing from a city in south India, I have never seen such a remote location a few months back I saw this place on HolidayIQ website and convinced myself to visit it as soon as possible.

There was a 10 hr gap in between my travel from Chennai to Jagdalpur in Vizag where I decided to visit Borra caves. The deepest cave in the country (80m) which lies on the arakku valley.

Mode of travel: Bus- you can get 'N' number of buses from RTC bus stand to arakku valley, If not catch a bus that goes to S.KOTA and you can change bus to arakku valley where u have to get down 

in between to reach Borra junction. 

From Bora junction u have to hire a auto who will ask u 400 bucks(if u know hindi or telugu u can bargain) for to and fro travel to the place in between u will have villager's check post (so called) will be asking u for money in case of private vehicle. The entry fee is Rs.60 and camera ticket is Rs.100 and there are small hotels to provide food at nominal cost. 

To reach Jagdalpur from vizag there are  two ways one is the overnight bus from Vizag to Jagdalpur through OSRTC or else there is a daily passenger train and also a bus that starts @ 6:00 from Vizag which will eat your entire day. so choose wisely.

Day 2

Mujahae Hindi nahi malum is the only sentence I know in Hindi, with this knowledge I went to a place where people don't have proper education hardly knew words in English.It was like a nightmare for me to travel there but one thing is for sure no matter how hard the travel is once you reach the falls you will sit there do nothing but just admire the beauty of it which eases the pain of travel. 

During my visit on the hot month of April the place was fully dried I was into a serious confusion whether am I in the correct location or not. The river Indravati flowing in this district can be compared to Nile river flowing in Egypt the only source of water to this district which prevents it from changing into a desert.

Kutumsar caves and  Tirathgarh falls lies in a place where public transport is not that feasible you have to rent a cab to reach these places they asked around Rs.1500 for a travel of 80 km and a drop near the chitrakoot road will help you fetching a bus or jeep where you can get dropped in Chitrakoot falls.

Kutumsar caves: virgin caves less people traveled without lighting unlike the Belum and Borra caves.The entrance is so small and maintained to some extent  where u can see the clear join of Stalagmite and stalactite worth to visit the place, A guide will come along with you who will get into the jeep at the check post who will have torch light to guide you through the caves. 

Tirathgarh falls: Not the best time to visit this beauty but still travelling so long and not seeing it would be worse so visited the falls and really this is another hidden beauty. Seeing the falls from long distance may look like the falls is small but it truly proves that appearances are deceptive it was worth visiting it ( I would advise people to visit post monsoon to see its full beauty).

Last but not the least .. The might so called Niagara of India

Chitrakoot waterfalls: You can visit this place trough out the year and it will leave you speechless. You go in peak summer they will take you on a boat ride near the falls, Go on a monsoon season (june-october) you can see the beast in full form exact resemblance of Niagara and if you go post monsoon (nov-feb) you can see the silent Niagara in full flow leaving you amazed by its beauty.

Get a drop after your visit from the previous location in the chitrakoot road and travel in the shared jeep used by the locals and keep calm till you see the beauty. In case if you want to see the sunset and sunrise there are rooms nearby the falls maintained by  chhattisgarh tourism and it is good though its expensive you will have a great time 

How to???

From: Chennai (via) Vizag

Places to visit : Chitrakoot falls, Tirathgarh falls, Kutumsar caves, if times permits visit Bora caves and arakku valley 

Place to stay:  Hotel Akanksha  in jagdalpur or if u have enough penny you can stay near the falls which are maintained by chhattisgarh tourism.

Time to visit : Throughout the year, best time to visit Nov- Jan

Travel: By train reach vizag there is a passanger train from vizag to jagdalpur, by bus again there are two busses one a@6:00am another @10:00pm (as far as I know) .. There is and extry option to switch buses by going to jeypore and changing bus for to and fro ..by air go to Raipur and u have busses from there. 

Thanks for Reading, Keep travelling. Cheers!