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Did I feel that Tropical Ice found us good places to stay? Absolutely! Would I stay at any of these again? Absolutely, if the price were right. I would expect the Imperial or Wildflower Hall to be expensive... but would pay it with confidence, if I wanted a superb home away from home.
I started my visit to India a day before the "official" Tropical Ice tour, hence the "day 0". At the Imperial Hotel, Janpath, New Delhi... covered in my page "Luxury". Located at 28.62769, 77.21885. (For any of these lat/long indications, you can... select it. Do ctrl-c. Go to maps.google.com. Click in the search box. Do ctrl-V. Press "enter"... and you should go to a map of the location. The first number is the north/south of the matter... the latitude, if I've got that the right way around. (First number is the north/south element. Name..?))
Jehan Numa Palace, Bhopal. A former maharajah's palace. At 23.24029, 77.38699. On a hill, top of hill at bottom of the aerial image (Thank you Google). We arrived after dark, left quite early... I didn't notice the "thing" marked with the light, curved arrow. I would guess it is a splendid "promenade", associated with the building in the bottom edge (note "wear" in un-built areas, and wall downhill from "think". Must be magnificent. (View of lake.)
The small cyan square NE of the Jehan's pool was my room... and the "X" marks the site of the very loud wedding celebration that was going on... a taste of some Indian culture!... when we arrived. I hadn't realized until I looked at the aerial just now that it was probably being catered by the Jehan. Happily, it broke up before we were thinking of bed. A wedding in India is a Very Big Deal!
We had our first big evening meal together at the Jehan. Splendid it was. Grand, without being over the top. Big dining room, pleasantly busy. Lots of different foods brought to be sampled. Small band of musicians playing. Just to "liven up" the proceedings, the lights went out two or three times for about 15 seconds each. Out. No "emergency" lights. I wasn't entirely convinced that it wasn't something in the musician's equipment. (They weren't loud, but something about the flurry in their midst after each blackout made me wonder.)
First of two stays at the Denwa Backwater Retreat... deep in the park, on the north bank of the Denwa River, where it has widened, is part of a reservoir. We arrived by boat, which was a splendid way to do it, having been collected at the dam, to the west of the lodge, a very pleasant 15 mile journey on the water.
Above, left: First sight of Denwa Backwater Escape, our first home in the wild places, with advance guard of welcome committee standing by.
Above, right: View from my room, south, over the Denwa. It is, by the way, at 22.57956, 78.13644
Above: Looking west, from my chalet's "crows nest". Looking west, line of sight parallel to shoreline of reservoir, which is to south of lodge.... so all the chalets have marvelous views. See example at start of Denwa section.
Under (very comfortable) canvas, deep in the core areas of Satpura National Park. Forget childhood pup tents; think Grand Safari, from The Good Old Days of big game hunting... but with plastic available for sensible uses thereof, e.g. Gore-Tex.
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Back to the Denwa Backwater Escape by about noon.
Kanha Earth Lodge ((4 on map)). At 22.26743, 80.48709 .... but the aerial image at Google Maps was taken before lodge built! (As of 18 Mar 14, 15:27, anyway) Go to Bing maps to see an image of the lodge.
Above: My chalet.
All three of the Pugdundee.com lodges had very nice touches in the "decor" department... but this one in particular struck me for the quality and quantity of nice (rustic) art on walls and elsewhere.
Genteel dining arragnements at Kanha Earth Lodge...
Oh no! I utterly failed to record the hotel at Bandhavgarh! We stayed at King's Lodge, ((5 on map)) on the edge of the Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve. At 23.73080, 80.99883. (Bandhavgarh at 23°41'38"N, 81°03'36.8"E).
This photo was only taken just to amuse my local ironmonger, who sold me the string I'm using as a clothesline. This is at the top of the steps to my unit... set in sparse but tall bamboo. The living quarters raised above the forest floor perhaps 15 feet.
A Very Nice lodge... which deserves better photos! Among other things, there was a large vegetable garden, with a pergola set in the middle, where we had some very pleasant meals.
At Bandhavgarh, we were to have spent three nights at...Tree House Hideaway, but sadly for them, and unfortuantely for us, they had a fire. The alternative Tropical Ice (King's Lodge) found for us, at short notice, was splendid, and delightfully close to the entrance to the tiger reserve. I believe that the "guest rooms" at the Tree House Hideaway are indeed actual tree houses, which would have been fun. "Tree houses" not quite like you 10 year old nephew's tree house.
From the Tree House Hideaway site, snipped... "The tree houses are spread in a dense jungle of 21 acres merging into the jungles of finest tiger reserves of the world. It is not uncommon to spot animals from the privacy of ones balconies which overlook the tiger reserve and the Bandhavgarh Fort... The tree houses are self contained...". (They (Tree House) remain in business... they just couldn't be sure of handling our whole group when we wanted to go, early March 2014.)
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Left: I just like these... sorry. They are "unremarkable" and frequently encountered. But such an elegant, "does the job", design: Basically, an mosquito repelling "inscense", cast in the spiral form you see. Burns quietly through the night. (They're usually placed on a ceramic (fire-safe) plate, wide enough to catch all the ashes. The upside down pot was a "make do". I wouldn't want to run a hotel anywhere... but I certainly wouldn't want to run one in the back of beyond, where running down to Home Depot is not an option.)
Right: The matches, I hadn't seen before. Really teeny! But more than enough to do the job. Not wooden... the "stick" is wax impregnated paper or somesuch. Not the size, compared to the width of my fingers. And the price: One rupee for a box... less than two cents. (Do you remember the c- with- a- line- through- it as a symbol for cents? Ah, us oldies.)
At The Imperial, a justly legendary hotel... covered in my page "Luxury".
Stayed at Wildflower Hall for first of several nights there. ... covered in my page "Luxury". At 31.114158, 77.247416
Panoramic view from my room, Wildflower Hall, Shimla. Looking east. (120 degrees worth? Ish.) ("Balcony" was for fire fighting and rescue, not for guest use... but windows opened. Much to local macaques delight.
Shimla: Our fine hotel: Wildflower Hall, Oberoi group. Hotel as seen from walk in adjacent private woods. Site of Lord Kitchener's Shimla residence. My room... or the one above it... identified by small green dot. Left of three, one row down from top row.
One room... many views...
Not very "romantic"... but very practical. Delhi traffic: Not to be trifled with. The Radisson was fine... just a little indistinguishable from the Radisson, say, Des Moines. At 28.54380, 77.11966. (Hmm.. having "moaned" that it was "too 'first world', I must admit that it was nice to be able to just go directly there with Google Maps. The Radisson marketing people have obviously made sure the Google data is accurate.) Good, interesting room design! (Details to come.)
Had a very agreeable final meal in India with M and A, Italian again, finishing as we started, in respect of company and menu... if not quite in respect of surroundings.
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