Luxury Travel Advisor - September 2007 - (Page 10) and hike with your clients to the top, at which is the temple home of a sadhu, or holy man. We gave him an offering of fruit and water, and he blessed us by placing a red powder tilik in the middle of our forehead, which is considered the seat of wisdom and mental concentration. Taj’s and CC Africa’s second lodge, Baghvan, opened in February in Pench National Park, which is situated in the Seoni and Chhindwara districts of Madhya Pradesh, one of Central India’s lesser-known reserves (it did receive international recognition as the setting of Rudyard Kipling’s classic The Jungle Book). The national park takes its name from Pench River, which meanders its way through the area’s teak jungles. The lodge’s 12 suites are decorated with a cheeky, 1950s ambience, and each has an indoor and outdoor ACCESS: Getting to Bandhavgarh National Park and Mahua Kothi From Delhi, India Safari and Tours will arrange air transportation to Jabalpur, the closest hub to Bandhavgarh National Park in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. Your clients will be met by a car and driver and transported to Mahua Kothi. Alternately, clients can opt for a first-class, air-conditioned overnight train from Delhi to Katni, followed by a three-hour private luxury drive to the park, all arranged by CC Africa. From Mumbai, guests can fly to Bhopal on Indian Airlines (www.indian-airlines.nic.in) or Jet Airways (www. jetairways.com) and then take a connecting flight to Jabalpur on Deccan Airways (www.airdeccan.com), followed by a four-hour drive to the lodge. Getting to Pench National Park and Baghvan Clients can take a morning Indian Airlines flight from Delhi to Nagpur followed by a scenic 90-minute drive to Baghvan, or a flight to Jabalpur on Deccan Airways followed by a 3.5-hour drive to the park. From Mumbai, fly to Nagpur on Indian Airlines and arrange a private car and driver through India Safari and Tours for the 90-minute drive. BAGHVAN‘s outdoor machan is ideal for yoga or a night under the stars. Tiger sightings are the ultimate thrill (left). Photo by Rachel Smith shower. There is also a machan (a covered jungle rooftop platform) on which to do yoga, smoke a hookah pipe or sleep out (ask the staff to provide mosquito netting). Room numbers 3 and 4 are joined, and are therefore perfect for a vacation of extended family or friends. Ask General Manager Smita Gupta (smita. gupta@tajhotels.com; 91-769523-2829) to call in a therapist for a relaxing after-safari massage to the sounds of jungle birds. Breakfast, lunch and dinner are served on a shaded deck overlooking the swimming pool. The open-style kitchen also allows guests to learn how to prepare recipes if they choose. A romantic, candlelit, private courtyard dinner can also be arranged. Tip: Suggest your clients ask to go on an elephant safari in Pench National Park; Ratna Singh, one of the only female safari guides in India, will drive them to the elephants and trackers, who often find a tiger—even an entire tiger family—hiding in the bush. In the afternoon, they can dress up in traditional Indian kurta pajamas and drive to a local village to watch potters 10 LUXURY TRAVEL ADVISOR | September 2007 http://www.jetairways.com http://www.indian-airlines.nic.in http://www.jetairways.com http://www.airdeccan.com
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