Before I start my first Ghumakkar post I must Thank all the previous post editors specially Sahil Sethi and VinayMusafir..There posts are worth reading and extremely helpful..
- Time: Nov’2012 weekend before Diwali
- Mode : Hyundai i10 1.2
- No. of Travellers : 2
- Mood : Just wanted to get out of hustle bustle of Delhi and Relax in peaceful environment on the banks of river Ganga
- Places Covered: Mata Chandi Devi Temple, Har Ki Pauri, Ram Jhula, Choti wala restaurants, CCD, Peaceful ghat at Rishikesh.
So the journey Begins..We started at 3:30 PM from Delhi and followed the traditional route covering a distance of around 210 kms in around 4.5 hours
DELHI>Ghaziabad>ModiNagar>Meerut>Khatauli>Muzaffarnagar>Roorkee>Haridwar>RishikeshÂ
We found a 24 hours open drive thru Mcdonalds on the way at Khatauli..so we thought of having some breakfast there however, there service was quite poor..the drive thru windows were closed so we went inside.. No one taking your orders and they were  still busy doing something..
The drive was smooth on NH58..road condition were quite good..However I must say the Single lane highway from Muzaffarnagar to Haridwar is a pain..with heavy trucks obstructing your way, you have to look in the other lane if someone is coming from other direction and based on your speed and skill you have to overtake the trucks before vehicle from opposite side crosses..Your eyes will pain a lot with those high beam flashlights :|
At Around 7:30 Pm We got the first glimpse of Haridwar..
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| A View of Haridwar from Mata Chandi Devi Temple |
A fresh Good Morning started with the fresh cool breezes..I stopped the car at one of the Ganga Bridges and took the first snaps of the trip.
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| Me & My i10 |
It was around 8’o clock in the morning, we parked our car at chandi devi temple parking (for Rs 30), we clicked some more snaps there and bought the tickets for ropeway..officially ropeway service starts from 9 am but they started a bit early..Since it was Pre Diwali weekend so there was not much rush. I must say the staff at the ropeway services was very welcoming and when I requested them for a separate “Udan Khatola” they gave us udan khatola for two only..I appreciate that..
Undoubtedly, the experience and view from ropeway in morning was awesome..
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| A View from Udan Khatola |
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| Another View from Udan Khatola |
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| Mata Chandi Devi Temple view from Udan Khatola |
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| The red One :) |
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| View of Mountain from the ropeway |
After the fantastic start of the morning we proceeded towards “Har ki Pauri“. There was lot of parking space especially for Har ki Pauri and I loved that thing. I believe it costs around 10 Rs /hour. The last time I visited Haridwar was in my childhood memories. This time I was all at my own..“Bade hone ka faayda apni marzi se ghoomo firo, no boundations :)”
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| Pilgrims taking bath at Har ki Pauri |
The water level in Haridwar was very low and the ghats were in bad conditions. I heard that the cleaning process of ghats was going on..I did not liked the ghats as they were dirty so I dropped the idea of taking bath there just washed my hands and face.
Pilgrims taking bath at Har ki Pauri
It was around 12’o clock in the afternoon we felt tired after a long drive and checked-in at Hari Heritage hotel on the Haridwar Rishikesh Highway. we left for Rishikesh in few hours and stayed in the hotel overnight. After disappointment at Har ki Pauri , Rishikesh was a real delight. Clean and chilled Ganga water flowing in from huge mountains to the plains..We parked out car in parking and had lunch at the famous choti wala restaurant where a Choti wala guy is at the entrance welcoming you. It took around half an hour to reach Rishikesh from Haridwar.
Though the restaurant is quite famous but the food quality is not satisfactory. Bas Naam Naam se hi restaurant chala rahe hai..
We next proceeded to Parmarth Ashram and grabbed some pics
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| Lord Shiva Staue near Parmarth Ashram Rishikesh |
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| World Peace is what all we need |
We spent our peaceful time at the banks of river ganga till sunset
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| Sunset from Ram Jhula |
We came back to hotel in the evening and had dinner in Hotel. It took around an hour to come back due to heavy jams. Though a little expensive the food was awesome and the ambience was excellent. Next Morning we had breakfast and left for Delhi..Here comes the twist and adventure..
HARIDWAR>ROORKEE>SAHARANPUR>MUZAFFARNAGAR>SHAMLI>PANIPAT>SONIPAT>DELHI
After a smooth drive till Roorkee we got huge traffic jams and cops diverted the traffic to other directions..the jams were due to Diwali shopping markets ..so we were diverted from NH58 and took some wrong turns..result was we found ourself at Saharanpur..All the places mentioned in above route were having there diwali markets on the main roads causing traffic jams..I knew there was a route to delhi from saharanpur to panipat by which I can enter Delhi bypass via NH1..used the google maps n reached Muzaffarnagar, followed the maps for a state highway connecting to Shamli with a distance of 58 Kms..This was a challanging drive and I would never ever recommend anyone the state highway 82 ..the road condition for around 50 kms is shown in the below pics..
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| State Highway 82 |
It was like hell on earth and the distance of 4 hours incresed to 7 hours as we reached DELHI in the evening. Though the highway was in extremely bad condition but the fields around were very refreshing..People would not like such roads but we enjoyed the journey as an adventure..n challenge..The achievement of reaching delhi was happiness worth a million dollar.
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| State Highway 82 |
This was a memorable experience for me and I will cherish the moments for a long long time. Hope you liked my first post..feel free to provide your valuable feedback..I feel happy to share my experience with you and I wish it will help you to plan your trips just like other ghumakkar posts helped me..