Wednesday, December 07, 2005

Visit to Raipur and Bhilai

I visited Raipur and Bhilai from 24/11/05 to 28/11/05. The idea was to attend a wedding of Mrudulas cousin and also in turn get the chance to visit a new place. Otherwise we would never have planned to visit these places.
Started from Mumbai at 20.35 by boarding the Samrasta Express at Kurla terminus.
We were 6 (3 of us and my sister in laws family). It was Anish's first long distance train journey.
Earlier whenever we have travelled long distance it was in a Sumo.
As expected Anish troubled us a lot. We reached Raipur on 24/11/05 at 16. Myself,Mrudula and Anish stayed in Hotel J.K. Raj. The hotel was very good for the price we paid.
There was the wedding reception on the same day(24/11) and we attended it. We reached for the next days wedding at 11.30am and stayed in the hall upto 20.30pm all tired especially Anish.
Next days plan was to reach Bhilai which is just 30-40Km from Raipur by 12.00pm, but we got delayed due to the post wedding ceremonies and also delay in getting transport.
Raipur the way I saw it is a quiet but dusty place. Surprisingly the 2 days we stayed in Raipur it was not cold and felt almost like Mumbai, maybe a shade cooler. We had expected bitter cold with temperatures below 14 degrees.
Bhilai is quaint little town and much cleaner and well planned than Raipur maybe due to the influence of the Bhilai Steel Plant. I was also very cold with climate remaining cool throughou the day.
The relatives whom we visited in Bhilai had a well furnished bungalow very much like the ones they show in TV serials and hindi movies. We reached there house on 26/11/05 at 14.00pm.
I had to go to the railway station to cancell my tickets for 28/11 as I was supposed to return 1 day earlier. Mrudula and others told me to stay on but I told them that it was crucial for me to reach Office on 28/11(Monday). I had to board the train at 11.40am from Raipur and would have to leave home at least by 10.15am. So there was not enough time to stay in this beautiful house. I offered to change my plans by cancelling all tickets and booking a ticket from Durg to Nagpur by bus and Nagpur to Mumbai by flight. Everyone agreed and I reached Chembur at 11.00am on 28/11/05. I travelled by Alliance Air. I landed at Nagpur at 4.30am and it was very very cold. I spent 3 hours at the airport.
Mrudula and Anish came back on the next day morning and both fell ill.
I am not getting much time to pursue my interests.