Day 5: Shivpuri to Indore via Ujjain

The previous night had stretched a little longer than planned, so the morning began late. Breakfast at the hotel did not go well. It arrived cold and had to be returned. Not the kind of start one hopes for before a long drive. Checked out around 11:00 AM after sharing feedback about the room noise and food quality. In hindsight, this was entirely expected. A hotel attached to a banquet hall has its priorities arranged accordingly, and both the noise and the food made that clear enough.

A short stop at a roadside restaurant followed. Tea and toast made for a quick replacement breakfast, and then it was back on the road toward Indore.

The Road to Guna

Traffic discipline on this stretch was hard to find. Even after repeated honking, though understandably not the ideal way to drive, vehicles simply refused to give way. It tested patience more than the distance itself. The kilometres to Guna came slowly, and the road offered little reason to feel otherwise.

Past Guna, everything changed. The highway opened up, traffic thinned, and the drive found its rhythm. A routine paper check by traffic police somewhere along the way, documents all in order, and the road continued without any further delay.

The Detour That Became a Darshan

Somewhere before Indore, the plan changed. Instead of driving straight in, the route was adjusted toward Ujjain to visit Mahakaleshwar Jyotirlinga. Google Maps, as it would do again and again on this trip, chose village roads over the main highway. The diversion turned out to be a quiet, unhurried reward. Fields stretched on both sides, wheat crops either fully ripe or days away from it. Golden shades of ripe grain stood against patches of semi-ripe green. Windmills lined the horizon, markers of progress toward cleaner energy.

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Reached Mahakaleshwar at 4:30 PM. Parked, paid ₹250 for the VIP entry and went in for darshan. The expedited entry made the process smoother and less rushed. The darshan itself was calm. A close view of the Shivling within the permitted distance, which still felt closer than expected. A stillness settles on you as you stand there that is difficult to describe while moving but unmistakable in the moment.

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Spent about half an hour walking through the large temple complex before stepping out.

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It was only then, sitting with tea and Parle-G biscuits at a small restaurant near the parking area, that the pattern of the trip so far became visible. Keoladeo, whose name in Hindi is Kevladev, meaning kewal ek hi Mahadev, one Shiva alone. Then Shivpuri. And now Mahakal. None of it had been planned this way. Looking back at it, adjusting the route toward Ujjain rather than going straight to Indore felt less like a decision made at a crossroad and more like a nudge from somewhere else entirely. The first Jyotirlinga of the trip, though it only registered as such after the fact.

Left for Indore around 7 PM. Night had already fallen.

Into Indore

The otherwise forty-minute drive for roughly fifty kilometres stretched to nearly two hours. City traffic at night in an unfamiliar place demands a different kind of attention, and the road gave no reason to hurry. Reached Indore around 8:40 PM.

The stay was at Hotel Bluebells in Vishnupuri Colony. A boutique property sitting quietly in a residential neighbourhood, clean, compact, and run by staff who seemed to take the place personally. The rooftop restaurant, just eight tables, was the reason the hotel stood out.

Dinner that night was soup, butter khichdi, salad, and nimbu pani. The city spread out below, and somewhere in the distance the lit outline of a gurudwara held its place against the dark. Eight tables, an open sky, food that had been thought about, and a view that asked nothing except to sit with it for a while.

The body was tired, not the soul. The day felt complete in a way that had nothing to do with the kilometres covered.

Turned in for the night.