Travel is a bug and a lifetime one. A passion, a hobby and at any given point of time I set off be it to known places or offbeat. I had visited Madhya Pradesh state before but every trip brings a zeal, a fresh thinking to travel some more. Madhya Pradesh state has so much to offer. This time in September my travel was a short one to only one place but I stayed in two places and for 4 days. I set on Shaktipunj Express train on 11th September and reached Jabalpur station on 12th September on time at 2:25pm. I booked online through mptdc website into Hotel Kalchuri Residency, a 7 min walk from the station. My room being a suite was a great one. In all my travels in MP state I booked through mptdc and prefer to stay in their hotels as it’s always in the heart of the city. I had checked on google map about the close proximity of the hotel from the station and when I found I could walk to it, I set myself. The reception area was going through remodelling and so lot of noise, check-in was smooth. On reaching my room on the third floor, I was impressed and settled in quick. Spending a leisurely time with a story book and enjoying coffee, I was hungry at 8pm to have dinner. On reaching the dining area, I found waiters to be busy and not ushering me to a seat nor a warm welcome. I chose a place to sit and waited for the menu card for 20 mins realising that I wouldn’t be given one unless I ask for. I did and my order was placed. I ordered chicken chowmein and the food was okay to taste. Having finished my dinner went back to my room to read and relax and pack to set for the next destination which was Bhedaghat. I booked a MP Tourism hired car and the driver Monu was at Kalchuri Residency before time. A journey of 24 kms took 1 hour due to bad and good roads. The highway was a good road but inside Jabalpur town bad roads. As Jabalpur was my first visit, looked through the windows and watching local vendors selling stuff and people busy with their daily lives. Driver Monu was quite surprised that I’m visiting Bhedaghat in ‘off season’ and my purpose of visiting was only ‘tourism’. He mentioned heavy rains have caused ‘havoc’ in the small town. So much so that the Dhuandhar Falls is under rain water and River Narmada is overflowing with rain water. There has not been such heavy rains for the past 5 years. Cable car to see the Falls is stopped due to heavy rains. It was drizzling when I reached Motel Marble Rock, Hotel of MPTDC. My room was in a cottage and once settled, had lunch and food was okay. Service was good. Surprisingly because of ‘off season’ I was the only guest in the Motel. Rain was on and with an umbrella and my camera I went on clicking. The Motel is just on the Marble Rocks. I realised I can’t have a moonlit night photo with such heavy rains and clouds. That day was a quiet day. Next day I set for a whole day sight seeing of Chausath Yogini Temple, Durgavati Rock, Balancing Rock, Museum, Bargi dam. A visit to Chausath Yogini Temple is a historic one where the bottom part of the temple is existing from 12th century AD and the upper part of the temple is a modern one. I climbed steep steps of 100 and thankfully the handrails were there. The climb was worth it. My next destination was Durgavati Rock and the view from the top on the topography was a spectacular one. Not much history is mentioned but some structures were there. The Balancing Rock was an interesting one where the Rock is in balance on a single position for several centuries. I went to the Museum which I must say from outside is very badly maintained. I visited two floors and learnt on the Buddhism Jainism sculptures that were present and dated to several centuries ago but I wish they were well maintained. I went into the coin gallery, tribal people’s history gallery and returned back to the car. My last destination was Bargi Dam which was a beautiful one. The cloudy sky in one part and the black sky on another was truly breathtaking. The 5 gates out of 21 were open and water gushing to River Narmada was worth photo capturing for sure. Had lunch at the MPTDC hotel and set back to the Motel Marble Rock. There were no rains on that day and truly enjoyed my local tour. Lot of Jain temples around and I visited only one. On the third day when I was coming to the train station the level of the water in the River came down and was worth noticing but the Dhuandhar Falls wasn’t visible. A next visit in the winter season for sure. Boarded Shaktipunj Expreas train in the night and reached on time on 17th September. A memorable visit for sure #MPTourism #travel MPTourism