Telhar Kund & Karkatgarh

The Kaimur plateau is a block of Vindhyan sandstone that rises sharply from the Shahabad plain, and every monsoon its streams go over the edge. Telhar Kund is the dramatic one: a single plunge into a shaded amphitheatre of rock, reached by a road up the scarp from Adhaura and then a short walk. There is no barrier, so the view from the lip is vertiginous. The forest department has put in a viewing deck and paths; the pool below is reachable but slippery.

Karkatgarh, 45 km west on the Karmanasa, is wider and friendlier — a series of ledges the river spreads across, with a marsh crocodile (mugger) sanctuary in the pools downstream, so swimming is not the idea. Legend says the river was cursed because King Trishanku's saliva fell into it, which is why no one bathes in the Karmanasa; the eco-park and watch-tower were built in 2018.

Add Mundeshwari (the oldest functioning temple), Bakhtiyar Khan's tomb at Chainpur, and the Kaimur Wildlife Sanctuary's deer and leopards if you have two days.