After our wedding anniversary, when Miyaji asked me ‘How about a road trip to Dongargarh ?” I was simply thrilled and jumped at the opportunity. We drove till Hazra falls which is in Maharashtra, nearly 100 km from our place Bhilai – a fantastic road trip! This was in Nov 2020, first one for just-the-two-of-us in 31 years of marriage – an adventure that gave us confidence to think of another trip. This time we thought of a bit longer one but with elderly mom-in-law at home, it had to be just a day and night. It somehow made me nervous, at the same time the whole idea to be away from home was exciting!! The Pandemic had made us stay at home for long months and this was much needed. We were married when we were young and as usual had passed through the years without much ado.. no honey moon, no fancy dinners, no lavish gifts… We grew up literally together and as we are nearing 60s, there is a greater thought “अब नहीं तो कब ?”

The road map to our destination via Bhoramdeo was checked ‘n’ number of times.. thanks to Google! Car batteries were checked.. and found to be not-upto-mark !! But our Battery wala advised very confidently – आप लोग इंडिया में ही हो ना .. हम पहुंच जायेंगे कहीं भी अगर जरूरत पड़ी तो !!! Hubby dear might not have slept that night 😀

I thought of writing down our logins and passwords somewhere.. in case something goes wrong with both of us. But soon forgot that line of action in the excitement!!

Anyways we were on our way on Dec 11th, by 9.20 am, with GPS on to our destination. Crossed the green fields of tomatoes, ginger, yellow flowers of rahar daal and easily flowed through the smooth roads listening to FM radio. I was at the steering for some kilometres and nearly missed hitting a tree while I gazed at the honeybee nest high on the tree!!!! By 12.30 pm we were at Bhoramdeo Temple… and both of us were awestruck by the splendid sculpture of ancient India. Words cannot explain the beauty and marvel of the 11th century temple. After spending nearly 30-40 minutes, we started our onward journey which was the biggest draw for this trip – Chilfi / Chilpi ghatti! The U-turns were what tests the driver.. the gradient, the bend, the speed has to be all in control. I loved the feel of being in the famous Chipi ghatti – so much that I wanted to stop the car and spend some moments. All the experience of driving through our city roads cannot match what is needed here. Best part was the roads were smooth and a glimpse of our destination – Kabirdham could be seen two hills beyond playing hide and seek at these turns!!!!

Kabirdham has a Chattisgarh Tourism resort called Johar Ethnic Resort which we had booked online for one day. This is situated at a hill top and surrounded by forest. One has to have own vehicle to move around the place.

On Dec 12th, we got up by 5.30 am, for the best attraction here -sunrise at the Mikal ranges which we were fortunate to locate with a local friend who took us in his Scorpio. Locals call it Peedaghat which is nearly 15 km from the resort, it has a watch tower made specially to view the Mikal ranges. We passed through the Biaga community village, their habitat in the outskirts of Kabirdham and reached Peedaghat which is again on hilly terrain. All the while the sun was peeking out of the clouds and we could see the silver lining. That is one image I couldnt click and remains in my memory.

Standing on the watch tower is an experience by itself!! All around you see greenery of the forest spread – miles and miles of it – so serene and relaxing. It is an out of the world experience… our own special corner in the world!

Another surprise just 2 – 3 km on the same road was Kisli gate of Kanha !!!!! A bonus we got, all because of this friend Sameer, and his children Sonali and Shishir whom we just met at the resort – made our trip memorable.

A Road trip through Chilpi ..