Kota -> Indore -> Mandu – If the hairdresser wouldn’t have been…..

15. + 16. January 2026

 

 

The train departed at 6:30, and I was at the station very early. There was time for a small coffee and a bit of people-watching. Quite a few people were waiting for various trains, and because it was still so chilly and early, they had wrapped themselves up in blankets.

 

 

This station wasn’t undergoing renovations, but it already had a wall-painting.

 

 

The train started punctual and we reached even before time Indore.

 

 

I was sitting next to a young man and talked with him until he got off three hours later. He is a student (IT, specialising in software engineering) and was on his way to his university, where he still has one semester to go before his final exams. The university is quite expensive, but his father pays for it and has to stretch himself financially to do so. The student is very grateful for this, and his parents can be certain that he will take care of them later on – that’s how the system works. I asked him whether this put a lot of pressure on him to pass the exams. He said no, that was normal. What does stress him, however, is finding a job. He has already realised that what he is learning is not necessarily very practical, and that companies are looking for somewhat different skills.

 

I asked him whether he would like to go abroad. Probably not, he said. He is Jain and, for example, strictly follows the dietary rules, which he imagines would be too difficult to maintain elsewhere. We talked a bit more about politics and about how different religions live together in India (he isn’t particularly Muslim-friendly either, but he doesn’t rant or agitate). Time passed quite pleasantly that way. Afterwards I dozed off a little, and before long I found myself in a new state: Madhya Pradesh.

 

I had also briefly considered it earlier, when I was thinking about where to spend my last two and a half weeks of travel. In the end, though, I decided against it. But my colleague’s proposed itinerary was so convincing that my curiosity eventually won out and I went along with it after all. Madhya Pradesh is a large state that offers a great deal of variety and is not as “uniform” as, for example, Rajasthan or Ladakh. The tourism department is making a strong effort to attract visitors here — I noticed that at ITB, where they paid me quite a lot of attention. What most people know are mainly the Khajuraho area in the north and, among certain circles, the tiger national parks. But the south also has a lot to offer, and so I had a small circuit ahead of me, starting from Indore.

 

Indore itself didn’t appeal to me at all at first. One of its main attractions is the Rajwada Palace, but there wasn’t actually that much to see inside — and the entrance fee (for foreigners) was rather high.

 

 

I didn’t pay anything for my camera and put it away — and inside I didn’t find a single nice photo motif anyway. I only took one picture with my phone:

 

 

I find these entrance fees really difficult. You can, of course, pay each one individually, but if you visit a lot of places, it really adds up and becomes a major expense on a trip. It’s especially annoying when the sight then isn’t even that impressive – like this one. You don’t necessarily know in advance how much something will move or impress you.

 

What I did find impressive, though, was the ruling history explained on just a few information panels. Many members of the Holkar dynasty died prematurely due to poor health. Sometimes they had not yet produced an heir, so an heir had to be adopted quickly. In one case, a mother came to power after her ruling son died too young. She ruled for 28 years and was regarded as a very capable ruler.

 

Next to this rather disappointing palace, there was a temple that was quite nice.

 

 

And a few hundred metres further on, an especially wonderful Jain temple full of mirrors was waiting. It was truly magnificent, with an incredible amount of detail. However – as in all Jain temples – photography was forbidden. Keeping your socks on was forbidden as well. The guard was constantly busy enforcing this (and I was the only Western visitor).
On the way there, I passed through narrow streets lined with many shops. It could have been lovely if it had been a pedestrian zone. But it wasn’t – and countless motorbikes forced their way through the crowds, honking loudly. I was thoroughly in a bad mood.

 

There was one more thing I absolutely wanted to do before heading home: go to the hairdresser. So I looked for one, found one – and it turned out to be a total stroke of luck. I got one of the best haircuts I’ve ever had in India, followed by a massage that really packed a punch. My head was worked on very firmly, and I was able to completely surrender to it – it lifted my mood enormously. And on top of that, it was cheap too.

 

I forgot one thing: if possible, I now prefer to book a motorbike taxi in cities. They weave through traffic most efficiently and are also the cheapest option. Usually, the drivers have a helmet with them. Not here. The driver didn’t have one either. In Indore, people hardly wear helmets anyway. And that turned out to be true — almost everyone was riding without one.

 

Since that would be a bit too little for a blog post, but the next destination would be too much, I’ll just write about my journey there. My accommodation wasn’t great, but it was okay and completely vegetarian. That means you always have to do without eggs at breakfast, but at least they had excellent sprouts. Unfortunately, I still can’t warm to Indian dishes at breakfast, which tend to dominate the buffet.

 

 

Indore doesn’t really strike me as a good tourism destination, and I probably won’t include it in future itineraries. I also didn’t see a single Western face there. I wanted to take a bus to the next place, but there was a complication: there are two bus stands, and the information online was vague about which one I should depart from. So I asked at the reception. The woman there very confidently named one, I went there—and it was the wrong one. So then on to the other bus stand, where I was immediately put on a fairly comfortable, not overcrowded bus, and before long we were on our way.

 

 

 

 

India had, some time ago, supported a beautification campaign through wall paintings. So you can see wonderful murals in many places—which I really like. There was a lot to see here as well.

 

 

 

In Dhar I had to change buses. The conductor was really kind and guided me straight to my onward bus. It was comfortable too, cheaper, and kept stopping all the time.

 

 

 

 

And in my destination—Mandu—I finally truly found my travel luck! I had never heard of it before and was absolutely thrilled. Why? That will be in the next blog post!