Our Travel Plan

We had earlier planned to travel to Rajasthan but seeing many other couple planning for the same we decided to bring a difference in our journey. Why travel the usual routes? Why go to a place about which enough is already written all over the web. Traveling is not just about enjoying nature's beauty but bearing the ugliness too, traveling is not just about seeing it is about keeping a faith in what you see, traveling is not just about the roads and locales it is about the people who you come across, it is about the past present and future of the people, where did they come from and where are they going, traveling is about ecstasy, travel is about love and sensuality, traveling is about soul searching. Keeping all that in mind we have decided to zip through the south eastern states of Andhra Pradesh, Orissa to reach the heart of India. This shall be our mad rush through history, culture and spirituality. Starting with Solapur in Maharashtra traveling both on road and on flights of imagination where history of the Andhrabhratyas, Chalukyas, Rashtrkutas, Yadavas and Bahamanis will converge. Stopping at not great many cities but lesser known yet historically magnificent places like Latur, Nizamabad, Hanamkonda, Palvancha, there by putting them on the world map, we would reach Vizag. Driving through the Eastern Ghats would be a journey of a life time. The next significant stop would be in Berhampur in Orissa which has the Maa Tara Tarini Hill Shrine, the Sthana Peetha (Breast Shrine of Mata Sati). Traveling through Orissa this atheist shall take a trip to the magical world of Gods, demons, tantras folklores, urban legends and see if I can have the faith back. Enjoying the beaches of Puri we'd go to Cuttack, Rourkella, Satna and finally to the heart of India, the Khajuraho. On the route back to Mumbai now a few more stops if time and energy permits would be in Indore, Yaval Wildlife Sanctuary, Dhule and finally Mumbai. We understand the Total distance is exceeding 3000 kms but we are confident we would cover it in 12 days. Do take a look at our maps and suggest further stop overs if you are aware of those interesting dhabas or chaiwallahs :) ~Sanju