Our Madhya Pradesh trip was a week-long, spontaneous journey that began with a missed train and ended with countless stories of adventure, faith, and exploration. Starting from Delhi, our plan to visit Ujjain first quickly changed when we missed our original train and landed in Bhopal instead. That twist set the tone for the entire trip — unpredictable, raw, and full of lessons in flexibility. From foggy train rides and last-minute hotel hunts to honest mistakes and small victories, the early days in Bhopal tested our patience but also immersed us in the rhythm of real travel.
As we moved through Bhimbetka, Bhojpur, Vidisha, and Sanchi, the journey took a more historical and cultural turn. We explored ancient rock shelters, age-old temples, and Buddhist stupas, often relying on local buses, shared rides, and long walks. Traveling on a tight budget made every experience more memorable — from eating kachoris and golgappas by the roadside to finding affordable stays like Jain Dharamshalas. Every destination added a layer to the experience, blending heritage, simplicity, and human warmth in equal measure.
The later half of the trip — Ujjain, Indore, and Omkareshwar — captured the spiritual and lively spirit of Madhya Pradesh. We bathed in the Shipra River, attended evening aartis, feasted on Indore’s famous street food, and sought peace at the Omkareshwar Jyotirling. Despite the travel hiccups, missed trains, and exhaustion, the journey was deeply fulfilling — a reminder that true travel isn’t about luxury or perfect plans, but about embracing the unexpected and finding meaning in the roads less taken.
On 25th January 2024, around 7:40 pm, Ajay and I left home to begin our Madhya Pradesh journey. We boarded a bus from Har Roadways at 8:10 pm, and the tickets cost ₹45 each. By 9:40 pm, we reached ISBT Delhi and took the metro to New Delhi Railway Station, spending ₹20 each on metro tickets. My cousin Sourav was already waiting at the station—he had arranged and printed our tickets for Ujjain in advance. However, by mistake, he had booked a ticket for a mail train instead of a superfast one.
Unfortunately, by the time Ajay and I arrived at the station around 10:15 pm, that train had already departed. So, the three of us had no option but to wait for another train, which was running late by about two hours. Finally, around 11:30 pm, we boarded a train heading towards Bhopal. The railway tickets cost ₹225 per person. Despite the mix-up and delays, our excitement to finally head toward Madhya Pradesh kept the energy high.
Our original plan was to visit Bhopal at the end of the trip, but since we missed our train to Ujjain, we decided to start our Madhya Pradesh journey from Bhopal instead.
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On 26th January 2024, the weather was extremely foggy that morning — the train that was supposed to reach Mathura in about 1 hour and 30 minutes ended up taking more than 4 hours. During the journey, We bought two samosas for ₹20, and later, four more for another ₹20.
We finally reached Bhopal around 4:20 pm. As soon as we got down, the TTE checked our tickets and realized we were traveling on mail train tickets instead of the correct ones. He demanded ₹750 plus ₹45 as an official fine or ₹500 as a bribe to let it go. Since we were on a low budget, we chose to pay ₹500 as a bribe, even though I know it wasn’t the right thing to do.
After that, we came out of the station and started looking for a low-budget hotel nearby. One hotel owner mocked me, saying that with my kind of budget, I should go to *Ren Basera* (a free night shelter). We then searched online for options and took a rickshaw to the bus stand area, asking the driver to show us any affordable hotels. The rickshaw ride cost ₹30. He took us to a hotel where the board outside mentioned ₹300 per room, but when I asked for a room, the manager said the ₹300 rate was for one person and charged ₹600 for three. The room was just okay — not great, and I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone.
After resting for a while, we took another rickshaw to visit the Birla Temple, which costed ₹80. We had some Chaat and Manchurian there for ₹110. From the temple, we decided to walk to the lake viewpoint, about 3 km away, but honestly, there wasn’t much to see. Later, we walked another 5 km back towards our hotel. Near the hotel, we had dinner — Roti and Curry — costing ₹185, and also bought some gajak for ₹70.
We reached back at the hotel around 11 pm and went to sleep by 11:30 pm. The total expense for the day came to around ₹1,500. It was a tiring but memorable first day in Bhopal — full of unexpected turns, long walks, and lessons learned about budget travel.
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On 27th January 2024, we woke up around 7 am and left the hotel by 8:20 am, taking an auto to Bhopal ISBT for ₹30. At 9 am, we boarded a bus to Bhimbetka, and the tickets cost ₹180. After a long ride through foggy countryside roads, we reached Bhimbetka around 11:30 am. From there, walking was not allowed, so we hired a bike for ₹200 (up and down for all three of us) to reach the rock shelters, about 3 km away. The site was fascinating — ancient cave paintings scattered across the rocks, some thousands of years old, depicting hunting scenes and daily life of early humans.
Around 1:30 pm, we left Bhimbetka and took a bus to Obdulla Ganj, paying ₹30 per person. There we bought some snacks — kachoris for ₹20, and berries and bananas for ₹60. We then asked locals about reaching Bhojpur, but they said no shared transport was available, and private auto drivers were demanding ₹500. Instead of paying that, we walked towards the Bhojpur diversion road and luckily found a school van driver who agreed to drop us there for ₹40 per head. He was dropping off school kids in nearby villages, and eventually, he dropped us at Bhojpur around 2:30 pm.
We spent about an hour at Bhojpur exploring the famous Bhojeshwar Temple and the massive unfinished Shiva Lingam before leaving around 3:30 pm. From there, we took a rickshaw for ₹120 till 11 Miles Chowk, then a bus to ISBT for ₹60, and finally another rickshaw to our hotel for ₹30. After collecting our bags from the cloakroom, we walked to the railway station and boarded the Malwa Express to Vidisha. The tickets cost ₹150 in total. The train arrived around 5:40 pm, departed by 6:07 pm, and we reached Vidisha by 6:45 pm.
In Vidisha, we checked into a Jain Dharamshala, where we got a simple room for ₹50 per person per day and booked it for two days, paying ₹300 total. Later in the evening, we enjoyed kachoris and gol gappas for ₹90, followed by dinner at the Jain Bhojanalaya for ₹220. We returned to the Dharamshala around 9 pm, did a bit of work, and ended the day watching *Kung Fu Panda*. The total expense for the day came to around ₹1,700 — another day packed with travel, culture, and unexpected little adventures.
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On 28th January 2024, we woke up around 9:30 am and got ready by 10:30 am. We had our breakfast and lunch combined at the Jain Bhojanalaya, which cost ₹250. After that, we took an auto to the bus stand for ₹30 and then boarded a bus to Sanchi, paying another ₹30. The bus dropped us at the foothill of Sanchi, from where we walked about 200–300 meters uphill to reach the famous Sanchi Stupas. The entry tickets cost ₹120. The place was crowded with visitors — far more than what we saw in Sarnath — and the complex itself was quite large, with multiple stupas spread over a wide area. We spent a good amount of time exploring and walking around the ancient structures before heading back down to the main road.
From there, we asked about transportation to the Udaigiri Caves, but locals said there was no shared transport and that hiring a private auto would cost ₹500. Instead of paying that, we decided to hitchhike and started walking towards Udaigiri, which was about 9 km away. The road was quiet and rarely used, with very few vehicles passing by, but the walk was peaceful and scenic. We managed to get part of the way by lift and the rest on foot, finally reaching the caves. The entry tickets there cost ₹75. We spent about an hour exploring — the site felt similar to the Udayagiri Caves near Odisha, but this one covered a larger area and had beautifully carved statues and rock-cut structures.
After visiting, we began walking back towards Vidisha, which was around 7 km away. Luckily, within just a few hundred meters, a motorcyclist stopped and offered us a lift. Amazingly, he managed to take all three of us together and dropped us just 500 meters away from our Dharamshala. Back in town, we enjoyed golgappas for ₹30 and samosas and kachoris for ₹50. We reached our room around 6 pm, rested for a while, and later went for dinner around 8:30 pm at the Jain Bhojanalaya again, spending ₹300. We finally went to bed around midnight. The total expense for the day came to around ₹900 — a calm and fulfilling day filled with history, walking, and small moments of adventure.
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On 29th January 2024, We woke up early at 5:30 am and checked out of the room by 8 am. We took a train from Vidisha to Ujjain, and the tickets cost ₹315. The Rewa–Ambedkar Mail Express arrived at 8:40 am and reached Ujjain right on time at 12:15 pm. After getting off, we bought aloo patties for ₹75. The petties had added onions, tomatoes, namkeen, cucumber, and sauce inside, but I personally didn’t like the taste, though the other two enjoyed it.
Near the temple area, we found a basic room at Ram Mandir Dharamshala, located behind the main temple. It had a shared bathroom and cost ₹400 for the room. After settling in, we went out around 2 pm to explore the city. Our first stop was the Ram Ghat on Shipra River, where we took a dip. Then we had some samosas and kachoris for ₹20 and grapes for ₹30. After that, we visited the Harsiddhi Mata Shaktipeeth Temple — a sacred spot where it’s believed that Sati Mata’s elbow had fallen. From there, we explored Singhasan Battisi and the Nav Ratna area, but there wasn’t much to see there. Later, we went to the main Mahakal Temple. Bags were allowed inside, and after darshan, we collected free food coupons and walked towards the Annashram through the Mahakal Lok route for dinner.
By the time we finished everything, it was around 7 pm. We planned to visit Kaal Bhairav Temple next, but since the evening aarti was going on at Harsiddhi Mata Temple, we decided to stay there instead and postponed Kaal Bhairav for the next day. On the way back, we had ice cream for ₹25 and returned to our room for the night. The total expense for the day came to around ₹900. It was a peaceful and spiritually rich day in Ujjain, filled with temple visits, rituals, and the calm of the holy Shipra River.
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On 30th January 2024, we woke up around 9 am and checked out of our room by 10 am, leaving our bags at the reception before heading out to visit the Kaal Bhairav Temple. We walked all the way to the temple and paid ₹10 to keep our shoes outside. After offering prayers, we had sugarcane juice for ₹60 and then took a rickshaw back for ₹80. For lunch, we stopped at a small local restaurant and spent ₹210. The experience wasn’t great — the staff there had their mouths full of gutkha, and though we wanted to leave, we had already placed our order, so we reluctantly ate and left.
By 1:30 pm, we returned to the hotel to collect our bags and walked to the bus stand, reaching around 2:10 pm. At 2:20 pm, we boarded a bus to Indore, which dropped us at Indore Railway Station by 3:30 pm. From there, we decided to walk towards Rajwada, but the area turned out to be a wholesale market with no good hotels around. We returned to the railway station area, taking an auto rickshaw for ₹30, and started looking for accommodation nearby. Most of the hotels were either full or poorly maintained, with dirty walls and bad toilets. After almost two to three hours of searching, we finally found a decent room at *Hotel Vijay Palace* near the bus stand for ₹600.
After resting for a while, we went out to the popular 56 Dukaan area in the evening — one of Indore’s famous food streets. We spent ₹680 there enjoying a mix of street foods like vada pav, hot dog, dabeli, waffle, malai chaap, and ice cream. Later, we had another hot dog for ₹30 and chole bhature for ₹40. Back at the hotel, we ended the day watching *Despicable Me 1* before sleeping. The total expense for the day came to around ₹1,900 — a tiring yet satisfying day that took us from Ujjain’s spirituality to Indore’s lively food culture.
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On 31st January 2024, we woke up at 7:30 am and checked out of the hotel by 9:10 am. Just ten minutes later, at 9:20 am, we boarded a bus to Omkareshwar, with tickets costing ₹420. The journey was smooth, and we reached Omkareshwar around 12:30 pm. From the bus stand, we walked roughly 2 km towards the temple. Along the way, we bought 12 bananas for ₹30 and paid ₹60 for a short boat ride across the Narmada River. We took a dip in the holy river and bathed there until about 2:20 pm. After that, we paid ₹15 to keep our shoes before entering the temple.
There was a short delay in the temple as it remained closed for about 25 minutes, so the darshan line stopped for a while. Finally, we got darshan around 4:40 pm. We bought prasad for ₹400 and later enjoyed some street snacks — golgappas, samosas, kachoris, and poha — for ₹80. Around 6:10 pm, we returned to the bus stand and boarded a bus back to Indore. The ticket again cost ₹420. We handed the conductor ₹500, and he promised to return ₹80 once he got change. When we reached Indore, we initially forgot to take the change and had already stepped out of the station, but then suddenly remembered it, went back to the bus, and managed to get our ₹80 back.
We had dinner at a Jain Bhojanalaya for ₹270, unfortunately, we were delayed, and by the time we reached the railway station, the train to Delhi had already departed, and later bought train tickets to Ratlam for ₹220. The total expense for the day came to around ₹1,600. It was a long day filled with travel, temple visits, a refreshing dip in the Narmada, and the calm spiritual vibe of Omkareshwar — though it ended with us missing our train, it still felt like a meaningful stop in our journey.
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On 1st February 2024, we had initially booked a ticket to Ratlam but ended up getting down at Nagda around 1:15 am instead. Around 2:20 am, the Hisar Express arrived, and it finally departed at 2:50 am. We bought a ₹510 train ticket from Nagda to Jaipur. The Hisar Superfast Express was unusually slow that night — halting for nearly 20–25 minutes at almost every station along the way. By 10:20 am, we finally reached Jaipur. From there, we purchased another train ticket to Delhi for ₹330 and arrived at Delhi Sarai Rohilla station around 5:20 pm. From Sarai Rohilla, we walked to Shastri Nagar Metro Station, then took the metro to Kashmiri Gate, which cost ₹20. From Kashmiri Gate, we boarded a bus to Murthal for ₹90. The total expense for the today came to ₹930. Read more