Bhopal
Bhopal is by far the cleanest city we saw in India! It is a city located in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh and in 2018 it was second cleanest city in the country. It is also one of India’s greenest cities split by a pair of lakes – the Upper and the Lower Lakes. They separate two starkly contrasting cityscapes. On the banks of the Upper Lake you can find Van Vihar National Park which is home to leopards, tigers and lions. Towards the north of the city you have the old city, an impressive area of mosques including Taj-ul Masjid, which is one of Asia’s largest mosques, as well as, serpentine alleys, crowds of people and lively bazaars. While towards the south of the two lakes – the new Bhopal. Modern, with developed infrastructure, upmarket shopping complexes, fancy hotels and restaurants clustered comfortably on the hills which overlook the lakes and the old city beyond.
Both areas are worth your while if you are visiting the city. Although Bhopal is known as the city of lakes for its natural and artificial lakes, for us the largest impression was left by extraordinary Tribal museum which reveal the differences between the main tribes and nations living inside the country. On top of that we had a change to witness magical sunset in a restaurant on a hill near Ajmar lake. Take your time and enjoy the city if you can as it is one of the pearls India has!
Helpful tips
Restaurants. After traveling through India, we gathered experience and tips from locals which we want to share with everyone who will be reading this. If you come to India for a short period of time it is good to know that here certain bacteria are in almost every food, water and even air which can put you to bed for couple days if you have too much of it. To adapt to it, your body needs time and small amounts of the bacteria.
First, it is better to avoid eating too much of street food as it contains quite a lot of bacteria even though it is so cheap. We do not say that you should not eat street food at all, just keep it small quantities at a time. If you cannot wait to try and eat all sorts of street food just try it little by little and not everything on one go.
Second, when choosing a place where to eat, pay attention to other travelers’ reviews of the place. It is very important how the people from abroad felt about the food rather than locals.
Third, if there are any doubts regarding the hygiene of the place, we encourage to eat vegetables and avoid meat dishes.
We are well aware that everyone is different, and you feel your body the best. So, do what you want to do and keep in mind that these recommendations worked for us, we did not get sick while in India even for a day.
Markets. Prices in grocery shops are the same as through whole India, prices are printed on the packages, thus, you never need to wonder whether someone is taking advantage of you.
We would advise against drinking tap water in whole India, especially if you come just for a short time (couple weeks) as your body needs time to adjust to certain bacteria which is everywhere and taking too much of it at the same time can put you bed for couple days. Even though in some sources you could find that water is safe to drink, or that filtered water is alright we suggest to double check with your host or locals before you do that. We did not risk it too much, especially in the beginning of the trip, however, we did drink quite a lot of filtered water which was kind of alright just had a bad taste in most places.
Transportation. To get to Bhopal you can use plane, train, bus, bike or car. As it is quite a large city and it has great accessibility, on top of that you can use any other transport you feel like using.
In the city it is common to use public transportation such as buses, taxies or Tuk Tuk’s which are the fastest way to get around the city. Tuk Tuk’s are a quick and cheap option where you must bargain though or use Ola which is amazing by the way and almost twice cheaper than Uber. Most of the time we used Taxies through Ola for big trips from one end to another and walked as it helped to get to know the city and see not only the touristic places and we recommend you do the same if you have a chance.
Best of luck planning your holidays in India!
Is there anything else you would like to visit while in India?
If you have anything in mind, please let us know and let’s discuss it.
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