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Offbeat destinations

We bring you little known secrets tucked away from prying eyes in the folds of mountains, deep within forests or surrounded by seas. Discover these way-out, offbeat gems, some of them destinations in their own right.
 
Anant Van, Bandhavgarh
Off the beaten track hotels-Anant Van
 
Anant Van Bandhavgarh
 
This is the quintessential ‘non hotel’ hotel. Different from usual wildlife resorts, Anant Van – eternal forest – aims at conservation and reforestation. Perched on the edge of the Bandhavgarh National Park, the resort is more like a village farm and runs a village interaction programme. Guests get to not only sight but understand wildlife and its habitat, and also be a part of the process of regenerating the deforested, devastated land. Needless to say, the grounds are beautiful exemplifying jungle living to the fullest. Verdant leaves brush the floor and the world here is green. The resort is built almost entirely of stone, reducing cement usage to the minimum. The cottages are comfortable, done in bamboo and wood. There is also a provision of living in tents.

USP: Eco tourism, responsible travel, wildlife.
Anant Van lies near the rarely-used Gohri Gate of the park.

Air: Nearest airports are at Khajuraho and Jabalpur, both 5 hours by road from Bandhavgarh.

Rail: The two railheads closest to Bandhavgarh are Katni (90 km) and Umaria (32 km). The most convenient daily overnight train from Delhi is the Kalinga Utkal Express that takes you to Umaria which is 30 minutes by road from Bandhavgarh. This train can also be boarded from Agra. There are other overnight trains that connect Katni to Delhi, Agra, Mumbai and Kolkata. Katni is two hours by road from Bandhavgarh.

Road: A good network of roads connects Bandhavgarh with other National Parks in the circuit like Pench, Kanha and Panna and also to important towns like Nagpur, Katni and Khajuraho. As mentioned above, Umaria is 30 minutes away, Katni is two hours away and Khajuraho is 5 hours away from Bandhavgarh by road.

Jungle safaris, 21 acres of farmland, lush fields to stroll in, a chance to interact with the locals and learn about their conservation efforts as well as experiments with rural farming methods. The resort grows its own vegetables and serves homemade, (vegetarian only) food and the vegetable gardens abound with butterflies and innumerable varieties of birds. There is a classical music performance in the evening. The Bandhavgarh National Park has the highest density of tigers in India and is known for its ‘friendly’ tigers who are not people-shy.