Mountains in Pachmarhi

Pachmarhi along with Hampi has been one of my favourite places so far in India. It's a little town in a beautiful setting, up in the mountains in the middle of India. The people there are really friendly and nice to be around, and it's the perfect place for cycling and rock climbing.

If like me you have been informed that cows have the ability to walk up stairs but once there are unable to then come back down, then your informer was incorrect. This cow not only made it up the temple steps, but also made it back down without the need for any help at all.

At first on my journey to Pachmarhi we past through a dry, dusty, and flat landscape, all a grayish browny green colour. Amidst this were lots of ladies working in the fields who wore incredibly bright and colourful saris. All over the place were cowpats that had been molded into a thick pancake shape. Not something you'd want to eat, but something that here is an extremely useful source of fuel. They were laying out drying on the ground, stacked up in piles, or stuck to the side of houses.

Whilst I was in Pachmarhi people were preparing for Mahashivratri - the Hindu celebration of the day that Lord Shiva got married. This meant the town was full of visitors from all over India, due to it having many important Hindu temples. There was a festival atmosphere with markets and colourful stalls and generally everyone having fun.

There are stunning gorges all around the outskirts of the town and the rocks seem to have been formed especially to climb. I made full use of them, climbing right up as high as I could go, to be greeted by beautiful views and yet more rocks to climb. I was also greeted by lots of prickly plants, which at the time I didn't notice but for quite a while afterwards ensured my legs looked like they had been attacked by a number of particularly savage cats with very sharp claws.

I spent a day cycling through the mountains, managing not to get off my bike other than at one very long steep hill. This I feel was a particularly good achievement seeing as my bike had no gears. Everywhere was so beautiful, with each corner bringing something new and enticing to explore. I even found a good tree to climb, from which I could sit in it's highest branches and look out across the valleys and the mountains.