In the last of week of June we decided to visit Mainpat. Monsoons had a early start and the landscape was green . The rain showers had paused for a few days and we could feel the sweltering humidity. We started from Korba , late in the afternoon , by road. Via Katghora we took the highway NH130 towards Ambikapur. From Lakhanpur we turned right towards Darima. This road was a single lane metalled road passing through the hinterlands . We saw a weekly haat (market) near Turna. Driving ahead we reached a small village , Chhind Kalo , which has a natural marvel called Thintini Patthar , a stone which produces a metal sound when struck with stone. Different sounds can be heard on different parts of the stone. The locals revere it as a God.
 |
| Thintini Pathar |
Further we drove past the Darima air-strip and reached Kumharta. From Kumharta starts the ghat-road ascending through thick forests. After a half-an-hour ascend we reached the Mainpat-plateau , 1085m above the sea-level . Due to its height from the sea-level and surrounding forests, temperature here is low and a pleasant cool wind blows even in the humid month of June. We reached our final destination , Mainpat town (town-center is Kamaleshwarpur) at around 8 pm. We checked-in at Saila tourist resort. The cottage here was spacious and comfortable surrounded with all around greenery. We had our dinner in the resort-restaurant and retired for the day. Sitting in the balcony, I listened to the whispering cool-winds and sounds of nocturnal birds , till late in the night.
 |
| Resort room balcony |
 |
| Resort room |
The next day we woke-up to a fresh morning. Mainpat is a small town and shops and hotels wake-up only after 9 am. Breakfast at the resort-restaurant is also available after 9 am. Mainpat is famous for Tibetan settlements and here , there are some Tibetan restaurants . For breakfast , we drove to Tibbati Monastik Canteen in camp no.1. We had veg-momos, veg-chowmein and herbal tea.
 |
| Tibbati Monastik Canteen , Camp no.1 |
We returned to our resort and got ready for a exciting day ahead. We went to the town-center , Kamaleshwarpur-chowk and hired a tourist-guide. Thus we started our day-exploration of Mainpat.
We first visited the place Ulta-pani where the waterflows against gravity. Due some mysterious reasons the water in the canal here , flows from low level to high level. We cross-checked the fact , by throwing a grass-straw in the canal and found it flowing from low-level to high-level. This place is situated in a small hamlet atop a scenic hill.
 |
| Ulta pani |
We next moved towards Tiger point situated near Narbadpur village , on Mainpat-Karabel road. We took a left-turn from the main road and crossed a toll-naka (entry fees of Rs.30 by local village-panchayat) to reach the Tiger point . A jungle river drops into a 100 feet deep valley and forms a beautiful waterfall . A few local shops offer tea , snacks etc to the tourists.
 |
| Waterfall at Tiger point |
 |
| A typical landscape in Mainpat |
We next visited Mehta point via Barima. On the way we saw Apple-garden . Mehta point offers excellent views of the valley below. It is also called sunset point. Upkeep of this place is very poor.
After spending some quality time at this place we moved ahead towards Jaljali , where the ground shakes. As one jumps on the ground , it deforms like a waterfilled leather-bag. There are a few shops offering tea, maggi, bhutta (maize-corn) etc. Also pony-ride is available at this place.
 |
| Entry gate for Jaljali |
 |
| Jaljali point |
 |
| Landscape at Jaljali |
Our next destination was Machli point (fish point).The river Machli plunges into a deep gorge forming a spectacular waterfall. In monsoons , many other waterfalls can be seen in this lush green valley. Just before the waterfall , a small check-dam forms a water body suitable for picnics, swimming etc.
 |
| Waterfall plunging into the valley at Machli point |
 |
| Check dam at Machli point |
From Machli point we hired a guide to visit the Jalpari waterfall located deep into the woods. A small jungle track lead through the forest and after crossing three streams we reached this beautiful waterfall about 3m high. The small pond below the waterfall has crystal clear waters surrounded by lush green forest. The locals revere Jalpari as a goddess and worship her.
 |
| Jalpari waterfall |
There are two approaches to Jalpari point. One from Machli point which is a jungle trek and the other from Parpatiya village-side which is a motorable way.
 |
| On the way to Parpatiya sunset point |
 |
| On the way to Parpatiya sunset point |
We next headed for Parpatiya Sunset point. It is about 30Km from Kamaleshwarpur (approx. 20Km from Machli point). The road is very scenic , especially in monsoons. The single track road lead through the forests and after a 30 min. drive we reached the Parpatiya village, which is surrounded by green meadows from all sides. The sunset point is 4Km ahead of Parpatiya village.
 |
| Parpatiya sunset point |
 |
| at Parpatiya sunset point |
The sunset point is a flat land with tall trees looking down the green-valley below. The sunset here is truly exhilarating. A government rest-house is under construction at this place. We spent some happy moments admiring the valley below and enjoying the cool evening breeze.
It was already 6.30pm and we returned to our resort. After a refreshing bath , we headed for dinner towards Kamaleshwarpur chowk. The restaurants here close early at 8pm. In search of dinner , we went to the "Tibetan restaurant" on the road to camp no.1. It is a garden restaurant offering Tibetan food. We had chowmein and aaloo-farra(Tibetan samosa) for the dinner.We returned to our resort and retired for the day.
 |
| Cottage at Saila tourist resort |
 |
| Saila tourist resort |
Next day we woke up early in the morning and headed to the Buddhist monastery in Camp no.3. However due to COVID restrictions, the monastery was closed for the tourists.
 |
| Buddhist monastery , Camp no.3 |
We returned to the resort and had our breakfast at the resort-restaurant. Subsequently we checked out from the resort. On that day we planned to visit the King point(Chheri nala in local) , and accordingly we headed to Sarbhanja village and enquired for a tourist guide who could take us to the King point. At Sarbhanja village we learnt that King point is towards Tiger point and we had come in the wrong direction. We dropped the idea of visiting King point and decided to end our tour.
We returned home via Kapu-Dharamjaygarh-Hati-Urga-Korba. The road from Mainpat to Kapu is lovely and a must visit for a nature enthusiast. From Mainpat, the road descends down a steep valley full of lush green forest. To admire the beautiful valley, the forest department has constructed a RCC machaan(watch tower) on this road. We spent some time on this machaan and continued our return journey to home.
 |
| The road from Mainpat to Kapu |
 |
| Forest watch tower on the way to Kapu |
Notes :
1. Tibetan migrants started settling here since 1962-63. Mainpat was originally home to Yadavs, and other tribes like Manjhi, Manjhwar , Kanwar and Pahadi Korwas.
2. Mainpat is also famous for carpets and woolen clothes.
1. A tourist-map is required for Mainpat and the same may be made available widely.
2. Places like Fish-point, Jalpari waterfall , Mehta-point, Ulta-pani etc requires proper management for cleanliness and nature conservation . Consumption of liquor at these places must be completely banned.
3. Tenting/Camping sites may be developed at multiple places and information of the camping-sites may be circulated widely.
4. A Mainpat-tourism app may be developed which will provide informations like tourist-guide, car-rentals, home-stays, foods and local delicacies , shopping of local handicrafts etc.
5. Many tourists are locals from nearby towns and they come for a one-day tour. A pay-and-use toilets and bathrooms may be helpful for such tourists.
6. Plastic littering has increased in Mainpat, proper dust-bins may be provided at each location and plastic-free campaign may be widely implemented.
7. Pay and use changing rooms may be provided at waterfall sites.
8. Telecom network is very poor. Except Jio , no other network is working in Mainpat. CG tourism may consider , establishing a pay-and-use wi-fi network in Mainpat.
