BHOJTAL OR UPPER LAKE, BHOPAL

Photo Travelogue :
Read first part - Here!


with lots of trees on its banks, its a sheer pleasure walking by Bhojtal Lake..


spotted this sign, look closely ;-) someone got mischievous here, ahem...


I see the boats...Yay! I wanna hop in one of them...


yep...there at last, the entrance. Boat Club maintained by Madhya Pradesh tourism.

Meet my friends from #Bhopal #travelblogger #ttot #lp #travelphotography #upperlake #bhojtal #roadtrip #wanderlust pic.twitter.com/QfoQRgCrt6

— ? ? NandiniDéka ? ? (@NandiniDeka) November 14, 2015

get the tickets first ( price is reasonable; got two - speed boat, as well as for the cruise, I'm adventurous you see ); next, the life-jacket ( its compulsory ), and off I go wheeeee...

My video-shooting skill sucks,but dis was one jet-speeding on da massive #Bhojtal lake in #Bhopal Its WOW in real <3 https://t.co/ZU3KaZ2YPm

— ? ? NandiniDéka ? ? (@NandiniDeka) November 22, 2015

small video of the same ;-)

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cruise time, yippee!!


but, read this first...


isn't that tiny? No, the lake is huge, makes everything look tiny, except my finger, lol :-)


aboard the cruise, the Shyamala hills at the back drop of the lake...


reflections of the city lights, as it gradually gets darker...

Night view of the #Giant of a #manmade #Lake #IncredibleIndia #BadaTalab #TravelBlogger #ttot #lp #travel #UpperLake pic.twitter.com/cha6r2ZkXj

— ? ? NandiniDéka ? ? (@NandiniDeka) November 5, 2015

grab some yumminess from the food stall near the lake, which is visible from it.
Bhojtal, formerly known as Upper Lake, and Shah Ali shah talab is a large lake which lies on the western side of the capital city of Madhya Pradesh, Bhopal. It is a major source of drinking water for the residents of the city, serving around 40% of the residents with nearly 30 million imperial gallons (140,000 m3) of water per day.[2] Bada talaab, along with the nearby Chhota Talaab, meaning small lake in Hindi, constitute Bhoj Wetland, which is now a Ramsar site. A huge statue of Raja Bhoj, standing with sword, is also installed on a pillar on one corner of the lake. ( wiki )

My day-trip to Bhopal ended with the nice outing ( speed & cruise ) on the Upper Lake till late evening. It was thrilling as well as a very relaxing experience. But it was time to head back finally. So taking an auto, I went to the railway station to catch my train.. It was a night train, so I slept the way till I finally reached lBombay the next morning...


reached Nashik in the morning...home only 3 hrs away now...
Address : Bhojtal Lake, near Shymala Hills, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh 462013
Read next part - Here! Stay tuned for all my road, rail, flight, cruise & walk trips.
( Images - ©Mine. All rights reserved. )
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BHOPAL IN PICTURES - DAY TIME

Photo Travelogue :
Read first part - Here!

Enjoying the contrasts of #Bhopal A mix of old heritage, new modernity n #nature all brewed together! #travelblogger pic.twitter.com/2uDSnOKWV5

— ? ? NandiniDéka ? ? (@NandiniDeka) November 5, 2015

I left the Bhopal Gas Tragedy site and hailed an auto. It was quite cheap, Rs.80/- around the city.


Dekho mujhe Gabbar mil gaya...he looks ditto with a missing tooth...


Bhopal is like any other Indian city....the dusty old business parts...


the mohammedan areas...bhopal has lots of mosques and minarets...

br /> the posh areas...more clean...


dunno what these are, passed across a few...


passed by Lower lake...


then, by Upper Lake ( Bhojtal )....
Bhopal is a city in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. It's one of India’s greenest cities. There are two main lakes, the Upper Lake and the Lower Lake. On the banks of the Upper Lake is Van Vihar National Park, home to tigers, lions and leopards. The State Museum has fossils, paintings and rare Jain sculptures. Taj-ul-Masjid is one of Asia’s largest mosques, with white domes, minarets and a huge courtyard. ( wiki )

It was a one day-time only trip. By evening I would be catching a train back home. But, I still had some time left and quite a few choices. One was to go to the Van Vihar National part just near the Upper Lake, but since it was noon already, I wondered if I'd get the entry. 2nd option was the heavily recommended Tribal Museum, which was also near the Upper Lake, so I headed for that. The Upper Lake, I was not done with it as well...so, after a visit to the museum I'd head for the waters. ( One can also visit the various mosques, but I skipped that ).

Address : Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India, Asia
Read next part - Here! Stay tuned for all my road, rail, flight, cruise & walk trips.
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TRIP TO THE BHOPAL GAS TRAGEDY SITE, UNION CARBIDE FACTORY

Photo Travelogue :
Read first part - Here!

Had 2 literally bribe da caretakers of da very spooky #UnionCarbideFactory #Bhopal, responsible for '84 Gas Disaster pic.twitter.com/oz4F4StXRM

— ? ? NandiniDéka ? ? (@NandiniDeka) November 8, 2015

I had long before made up my mind to visit the Bhopal Gas Tragedy site, while in Bhopal ( in continuation of my Spook Travel series ). The magnitude of deaths there due to the tragedy is mind-boggling, and the survivors still continue to suffer till this date - almost 40 years now. You need to get permission from the Collector's office to pay a visit there. But since, I wasn't aware of it - got to know of it only when I reached the spot, when the people at the gate refused to let me in. Its banned to go there without permission, period! However, an official came by and offered to give me a tour round the place on his bike, provided I paid him 200 bucks ( bribe, eh? ). Thrilled, my efforts won't go in vain, I readily agreed; because, I really really wanted to get a glimpse of the place. Reaching there was however, twisty and turny.

On my return from the Sanchi Stupas, I took a bus and headed back for Bhopal. On my way, we even witnessed a road accident - of a biker bleeding profusely on the road, near Raisen town. I got down at a small outskirts town called Bhanpur, as I was informed the factory would be closer from there. I took an auto who said they knew the place very well...but, well....they took me for quite a ride before dropping me off at the site! Thankfully, they didn't kidnap me :o


get down at Bhanpur town on the outskirts of Bhopal city...


the auto took me via some jhuggy-jhopri colony - short-cut they said, hmph! #grr


till we reached the main road flyover - thank God! phew...


inside, the grounds are still contaminated, hence, advised not to touch anything...


a small video of the tour around the factory, pardon my voice ;-p


this hole in the wall is how people smuggle themselves in and out...how innovative!


the small town across the road which suffered most deaths & physical ailments...


last glimpse of the factory from outside its walls...
The Bhopal disaster, also referred to as the Bhopal gas tragedy, was a gas leak incident on the night of 2–3 December 1984 at the Union Carbide India Limited (UCIL) pesticide plant in Bhopal. Deaths‎: ‎At least 3,787; over 16,000 claimed. Over 500,000 people were exposed to methyl isocyanate (MIC) gas leak from ‎Union Carbide Factory. The site was abandoned by the company and came into possession of the Madhya Pradesh state government( wiki )

I was overwhelmed by this visit. Although, deaths inside the factory ifself was quite few ( 2-3 ), the whole place had a very spooky feel. Abandoned as it is. I wouldn't like to be alone there, lol. But the tragedy outside of it was what really saddened me. Every family that resides there saw deaths due to the gas leakage - and they were of all ages; young, old and infants too. With a heavy heart, I decided to head back to the city....

Address : Union Carbide Factory : Arif Nagar, Bhanpur, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh 462001,India, Asia
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BOMBAY TO BHOPAL BY RAIL AND FIRST GLIMPSE OF BHOPAL CITY

Photo Travelogue :

I was looking for places outside of Maharashtra that I could visit within a day and be back. Neighbouring states are ideal for such trips. Plan was to take an evening/night train, reach the base in the morning, roam around the city and outskirts, cover as much as I could within the day and then catch a night train back. Cool haan? So...Bhopal and its surroundings were my next target ( I've done the same with Gujarat & Rajasthan too - look out for those posts as well ). I've discovered, travelling this way is safer; saves your hotel & other expenses too. Smart ha!

So...it was the month of Nov'15, I reached Kalyan Stn in the evening, and boarded the train. Fare was around Rs.445/- one way, 2nd class, ( although, return journey fare was Rs.1160 since I opted for an AC coach ).


Kalyan Station..

the train....
Early morning I reached Bhopal. Its a 12 hour trip, so I reached by 8.30am. I chose to get down in Bhopal Junction, although, I was advised Habibganj was the new and modern station, and nearer the main city. I wanted to visit both the ancient sites of Sanchi Stupas and Bhimbetka rock shelters & caves, but since, I was on a 1 day trip, I had to quickly make a choice. Both are in opposite directions, so Sanchi was it. Mainly because, I found Sanchi on a more popular route, as per my research. I didn't get enough directions on the caves, so, didn't want to get lost getting there. So, I hopped out of the train and hopped on to an auto to Nadra bus stop ~ an Inter-city bus stop, where I could find a Bus towards Sanchi. The auto charged me 70 bucks for a ten minute ride.


Nadra Bus stop, it was like any other bus stop; noisy, dusty...lots of clouts, beware!


plateful of goodies and I was all set to go....
Bhopal is a city in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. It's one of India’s greenest cities. There are two main lakes, the Upper Lake and the Lower Lake. On the banks of the Upper Lake is Van Vihar National Park, home to tigers, lions and leopards. The State Museum has fossils, paintings and rare Jain sculptures. Taj-ul-Masjid is one of Asia’s largest mosques, with white domes, minarets and a huge courtyard. ( wiki )


Sanchi is 46 kms away and takes about an hour and half to reach. The bus fare was reasonable. I passed by small towns located outside Bhopal and soon we reached the highway.


some random city-outskirts sights.....


some scenic views from my bus window seat...

bas pahunch hi gaye ab samjho....


Sanchi town in Raisen District of MP...


the bus dropped me off right at the entrance of the Sanchi Stupas....

Address : Nadra Bus Stop, Chola Road, Railway Colony, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh 462001
Read next part - Here! Stay tuned for all my road, rail, flight, cruise & walk trips.
( Images - ©Mine. All rights reserved. )
Our Rating Scale is : 1 to 5 = ◕◕◕◕◕ - It was Awesome!

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