Friday 8 November 2013

Balaram Palace Resort November 2013

The Balaram Palace Resort (www.balarampalace.com) is about 13 kms. from Palanpur in North Gujarat, and 3 kms. from Chirtrasani village. The total distance from Vadodara is around 270 kms., about 4-4.5 hours.
Once leaving the National Expressway, at SP Ring Road, the drive is along the State Highway, with very good roads. I think one can believe the news reports of Gujarat receiving funding from the World Bank
The resort is set in around 13 acres of land. The resort has 22 rooms including 1 Nawab suite and 5 tents. The Palace was built  between 1922-1936 by the 29th ruler of Palanpur, His Highness Zubd-ul-Mulk Dewan Mahakhan Nawab Sir Taley Muhammad Khan Lohani, and later converted into a heritage resort.
The pure veg Chitrasani restaurant serves piping hot North Indian, Chinese and Continental cuisine.

If you do not have rooms booked at the resort, you can still gain entry on payment of Rs.100/- per person which is then adjusted against your restaurant bill.

Balaram Palace

View from 1st floor room

Landscaped gardens
Morning Mist

Sunset

The resort has a lot of activities for children - cycles, cricket, table tennis, puppet show, carrom  chess, camel cart ride etc. One can easily pass a peaceful morning and evening in the huge landscaped gardens, catching up on reading, music, family time.















We left for Ambaji Temple on the second day. It is 45 Kms. from the resort. The road has a few dips which can be a bit dangerous as in a couple of places you are not able to see the oncoming traffic. Caveat, avoid festivals for going to the temple. We were locked like animals in a cage and no way to go out or forward for over an hour.

On the return journey, we stopped at Modhera Sun Temple in Mehsana (112 Kms. from the Resort), currently managed by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI). Entrance fees Rs.5/- per person seem pretty inadequate for proper maintenance of the temple.