Day 6: A day trip to Omkareshwar Mahadev!

Woke up feeling fresh. The morning started with a light breakfast of poha, toast and black coffee. Indore has much to explore locally especially the food, however, decided to focus only on Omkareshwar for the day and leave the other city sites for another time.

Booked a taxi and Prashant, a simple and soft-spoken man arrived as the driver. Took the old route as it was shorter, however, much of it was under construction for widening. Being a single carriageway, it carried more traffic than it could handle. Movement was slow in patches.

After about two and a half hours, reached the temple gate.

Little did we know till we reached the parking lot and saw it full to the brim - it was Magh Purnima, added to it was Ravidas Jayanti (a gazetted holiday) and on top of it a Saturday - the crowd had multiplied. Reached around 1:30 PM, peak time for visitors arriving from near and far. The parking lot had vehicles from different Indian states — cars, buses and cabs lined up closely.

Located on the banks of Narmada river, the temple is a beautiful sight. Inside, the crowd was dense. Managed to move ahead through the long line with some help. Offered jal and dakshina. Darshan were completed however unlike the Mahakal darshan, it was much rushed here.

Spent sometime walking around the temple area afterwards. Collected Narmada river jal before starting the return journey.

Stopped at a Punjabi dhaba for lunch. Run by two brothers, the place was a simple setup, straightforward food.

The drive back was not particularly enjoyable because of road conditions and construction work. There was a small stretch of forest with Sal trees along the way, but the afternoon light was not ideal for photography hence dropped the idea to stop for some nature shots.

A few lessons from the day: It is better to arrive early in the morning to avoid heavy crowds. Indore and nearby areas would perhaps look very different during the monsoon, with active waterfalls and the Narmadariver in full flow.

Dinner was quiet. Soup, paneer tikka, curd, green tea and salad. Later in the room, wrapped up notes from the last six days and began thinking about the next stop - Aurangabad, Nashik or Lonavala. The map was open again.