Central India - Khajuraho, Gwalior, Tribals of Chattisgarh

Day 1 Raipur-Kawardha
Our representative will receive you at Raipur to later take you around 120 km drive in a luxury vehicle with double A/C to the former Princely State of Kawardha. You will be shown to your Palace suite before lunch in the State Dining Room. An afternoon of familiariastion with Palace Kawardha and nearby cultural sites, including the captivating Bhoramdeo temple complex. Your return to the Palace at sunset is followed by a welcome drink to meet the royal family, with traditional Chhattisgarhi dance entertainment and then dinner.

Day 2 Kawardha
Right after having the breakfast, a well-versed Palace guide will take you on a beginning of the secrets of Kawardha’s little-known natural and tribal world. The gentle and friendly Baiga people would be met mid way, the principal indigenous forest tribe. Enjoy picnic lunch with them. An evening return to Palace Kawardha precedes a royal family dinner.

Day 3 Kawardha – Raipur – Kanker
After enjoying a leisure morning, you would then be taken to a 2-hour drive to Raipur and lunch in a fine city restaurant. There may be time for a short visit to Raipur’s Mahant Ghasidas Museum before leaving for the former princely State of Kanker. Upon arrival at Kanker Palace the Maharaja’s family will greet you and show you to your suite. Over drinks and dinner, family members will be happy to interpret and explain the folklore and tradition of the Sate they once ruled. They will also introduce you to a performance of the traditional music and dance of the region.

Day 4 Kanker – Kondagaon – Narayanpur – Kanker
After your choice of Indian or English breakfast at the Palace, the Bastar tribal experience begins. South of Kanker you and your royal guide climb the forested Keshkal Ghat which marks the border of Bastar 500m above the plain. You will encounter here the special nature of North Bastar with a visit to a colorful weekly market. It gives you a great opportunity to meet the local people. At Kondagaon and Narayanpur discover some of Bastar’s finest handicrafts, and the people who make them. Lunch will be a picnic in the deep green sal forests. Return to Kanker.

Day 5 Kanker – Jagdalpur
Have a tour in royal luxury to Jagdalpur, Bastar’s main town and former capital, three hours away. Get into a relaxed local hotel, loosen up over leisurely lunch. In the afternoon, a royally guided tour of historical Jagdalpur and the Anthropological Museum is completed by a sunset idyll at the Chitrakote waterfall, Bastar’s very own ‘Nigara’ on the Indravati River: you will also visit some of the local Bison-Horn Maria tribe, renowned for their spectacular ceremonial dancing. Conditions permitting, a barbecue is served under the stars in authentic Bastar style. You will be entertained by a performance of the tribal people, before returning to your hotel.

Day 6 Kanker – Kanger Valley National Park – Jagdalpur
Escape your time after an early breakfast to see the rich forests of the Kanger Valley National Park, the enchanting Tirathgarh waterfall and the extraordinary stalactite and stalagmite caves. Kanger retains the original intensity of the forests that once covered this whole region, and you will picnic in the natural habitat of leopard, tiger, sambhar, bison and the Bastar Hill Myna. Here too are forest tribal people in their natural habitat. There will be time also to explore some of Jagdalpur’s unique handicrafts before dinner at the hotel with your royal guides.

Day 7 Jagdalpur – Raipur
You can enjoy a quiet breakfast and visit the bustling markets of Jagdalpur before your return to Raipur. On the highway, we again pass several handicraft centers for those last-minute souvenirs of your Bastar Experience. Stopping at Kanker, a farewell late lunch with the Maharaja’s family precedes the 2-hour drive back to Raipur. Here you will stay at the comfortable and well-appointed hotel, relax in the pool, and enjoy an excellent dinner.

Day 8 Raipur departure
A good night’s sleep and a light, healthy breakfast, and you will be chauffeured to Raipur Airport to check in for your return flight.

Day 9 Arrive Gwalior
Reach Gwalior and get to city tour in the noon after having breakfast and lunch. You would be seeing the sites like the Man Mandir, Gujari Mahal (today an archaeological museum), the fort, Temples of Sas-Bahu, Teli Ka Mandir, Jai Vilas Palace, Tomb of Gaus Mohammad and the Mausoleum of Tansen.

Overnight in Gwalior.

Day 10 Gwalior-Orchha
Drive to Orchha. Afternoon city tour visit Orchha's grandeur has been captured in stone, frozen in time & a rich legacy to the ages. For, on this medieval city, the hand of time has rested lightly: the palaces and the temples built by its Bundela rulers in the 16th and 17th century retain much of their pristine glory. Jahangir Mahal, a tiered palace crowned by graceful chhatris has a spectacular view of soaring temple spires & cenotaphs.

Overnight in Orchha.

Day 11 Orcha-Khajuraho
Drive to Khajuraho and Transfer to hotel. Afternoon free. Overnight Khajuraho.

Day 12 Khajuraho
Morning city tour visit the Eastern group of temples that consist of the Parasvanath Temple - the only Jain Temple surviving at Khajuraho and has excellent sculptures on the outer walls of the Sanctum, the Javeri Temple dedicated to Vishnu. The other temples in this group are those dedicated to Brahma, Yamuna and Adinath.

Overnight Khajuraho.

Day 13 Departure
Morning transfer to airport for return flight. End of the tour

BOOK TOUR