March 31 & April 1 - Weekend trip to Bhopal

This weekend we had a trip for the whole group planned for. Thanks to Amalia and Tyler, who have done the detailed planning on this. Our bus picked us up at 7:30 in the morning with a 3 ½ hrs ride to Bhopal. Me sitting in the back of the bus was probably not the smartest idea, as the roads to Bhopal where not quiet of a standard as you would find on an ‘autobahn’ – bumpy and minding the style of driving around here ;o). But we got there and the time passed quickly by looking at the landscape, the villages we have passed and some of the smaller cities.Our first stop took us to Sanchi, which is known for its Stupas from the 3rd century B.C. We had a close look at Stupa 1 and the guide told us all about it and how to read the pictures on the stupa… very impressive.
After lunch we visited the Udaygiri Caves which is group of rock-cut cave sanctuaries carved into a sandstone hill. Now it was time to head to our hotel, which was the Noor Us Sabah meaning The Light of Dawn, which used to be a castle at some point in time. We had wonderful dinner at the hotel and the below view. What can you say.

The second day of our weekend trip I decided to join the group which went to the Painted Rock Shelters of Bhimbetka. The others went to explore Bhopal. The trip to the shelters was about 1 ¼ hrs ride again, but it was worth it. Bhimbetka has been recognized as a World Heritage Site. They have only been discovered in 1957/58 and they count over 400 painted rock shelters.

After we had lunch in Bhopal and met the rest of the group again we went to Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Manav Sangrahalaya, which is an anthropology museum which presents the story of evolution of man and culture in India. We got the see a lot of art, but also how tribes live and we have discovered some of the jewelry, that we have been shown by a tribe which we visited in Manpur last week, on display in the museum.

Our last stop of the weekend trip took us to Taj-ul-Masajid, which is said to be the largest mosque in the country. Then it was time to go back to Indore, because everyone would have a busy week ahead of us. Getting out of Indore for the weekend was great but when arriving back to the hotel it felt like coming back home… and this, only after I have been here for a week… an intense, but very good week!