Roads

इन्दौर पहुंच गये हम!

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खाना खाने के बाद मैने तो लंबी तान ली और ये तीनों महिलाएं न जाने क्या – क्या गपशप करती रहीं। राजा की मंडी (आगरा) स्टेशन आया तो अपने घुमक्कड़ भाई रितेश गुप्ता की याद आई। उनसे सच्ची-मुच्ची वाली मुलाकात तो आज तक नहीं हो पाई पर फेसबुक पर गप-शप अक्सर ही होती रहती है। मैने उनको इस ट्रेन से जाने के बारे में सूचना नहीं दी हुई थी पर फिर भी न जाने किस आशा में, प्लेटफार्म पर उतरा, कुछ पल चहल-कदमी की और फिर वापिस ट्रेन में आ बैठा। बाहर अंधेरा होने लगा था और खिड़की से कुछ दिखाई नहीं दे रहा था, अतः सामने वालों पर ही ध्यान केन्द्रित किया। सोचा, बच्चों को कुछ ज्ञान की बातें बताई जायें। घुमक्कड़ का ज़िक्र शुरु कर दिया और बताया कि अगर उन्होंने वह वेबसाइट नहीं देखी तो समझो ज़िन्दगी में कुछ नहीं देखा। वहीं बैठे – बैठे रितेश, मनु, जाट देवता, डी.एल. अमितव, नन्दन, मुकेश-कविता भालसे, प्रवीण वाधवा आदि-आदि सब का परिचय दे डाला। रेलवे को भी कोसा कि लैपटॉप नहीं चल पा रहा है, वरना उनको घुमक्कड़ साइट भी दिखा डालता।

रात हुई, खाना खाया, कुछ देर किताब पढ़ी, फिर सामान को ठीक से लॉक करके और कैमरे वाले बैग को अपनी छाती से लगा कर सो गया। ग्वालियर में उतर कर अंधेरे में अपने मोबाइल से एक-दो फोटो खींचने का भी प्रयत्न किया पर कुछ बात कुछ बनी नहीं। सुबह पांच बजे आंख खुली और ट्रेन लगभग 7 बजे इन्दौर स्टेशन पर आ पहुंची।

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Scenic beauty on the way to Badrinath

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On the way back from Kedarnath we had our light breakfast and started our downwards journey. At slow pace we covered 3-4 kms but after sometime my elder daughter started complaining of leg pain , I advised her to use either pony or kandi for rest of the distance but she did not like the idea and continued her journey.

While coming back we tried shortcuts in between but it is advisable not to use if kids are with you.As sometimes short cuts are really very risky too. We experienced that downward journey is more painful than climbing up. Around 12 o’clock we reached Rambara (Midway) , we had our traditional lunch , rice & dal and relaxed ourselves for a while and again proceeded further for Gaurikund.

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Surya in Tent at Sarchu

Ladakh Calling… (Part 2) – Manali to Sarchu

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Next morning I was up @ 05:30 Hrs & dived out of bed to see some positive signs of relief but the scene was frustrating & heart breaking. The conditions were totally overcast with little rain. Few Peaks were not even visible & were fully covered under the mist. On the other side of Bhaga River some mountain tops received fresh snowfall in the night.

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Char Dham Yatra – Kedarnath to Badrinath

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It really gives you a feeling of heaven. We got into the line, but this time, the line was hardly moving, reason, all educated with lot of common sense people were keep on getting into the line. Anyhow, this happens in almost all holy places in India. Anyhow, we were able to complete the darshan by 11:30 am. We came back to hotel, had good breakfast/lunch. We started for the final lap around 12:30 pm. The plan was simple, I will drive as much as possible, and wherever I feel tired, we will stop. As per my calculation, Rishikesh was around 300 kms away, and since the roads were good, we should reach there by 10 pm (if I can maintain 30 km/hr speed). We also planned not to take any break (until required or until the sun goes down). On the way down, somewhere near Chamoli, on one turn, we were stopped by cops and they put a fine of Rs. 300/- for over speed. I was driving around 30-32 km/hr and the limit was 25 km/hr. He also advised me to go slow on ghats as you never know what comes on the next turn, and I jokingly asked that are there more cops waiting somewhere. But anyhow I followed his advice for next 15-20 kms, maintaining about 25 km/hr speed, watching others overtaking me and vanishing after some time. We crossed Rudraprayag by 5:30pm. Rudraprayag, you have a new bypass (I guess) which was a pain, with lot of traffic from both side and too many turns.

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The Great Himachal Circuit – Part 5 : Manali to Delhi Via Shimla

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With green mountains on one side and the beautiful Beas on the other side, we crossed beautiful places like Bhunter, Aut and Pandoh. We halted for sometime at the very beautiful Pandoh Dam on the river Beas. This is basically the end of Beas river with us and it diverts towards Punjab. From there on we reached Mandi in another 1 and half hours. Mandi is a plane area and is not very cold. The sun was really on its peak, but then it’s a lovely small town. There are numerous Dhabas enroute and in one such Dhaba we had our lunch.

Another 30 minutes and we reached Sundernagar. At Sundernagar, we took the Shimla Highway and dropped the excellent Manali Delhi Highway. Sundernagar is also a good small town. Around 4 PM, we had already entered the Shimla District. And again we started climbing up. The roads in Shimla off course not to explain are awesome. It was drizzling slightly and the fog was dense. That was one adventurous journey through the hills.

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Ladakh Calling… (Part 1) – Delhi to Manali

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We started from Shahbad @ around 14:30 Hrs & reached Chandigarh soon without any further break. It was 4:00 in the afternoon & we passed through lot of “Thekas” (Liquor Shops) on the Chandigarh bypass road. Finally, we succumbed to the temptation & stopped at a decent place. Deepak & I happily ordered chilled Beer while Surya, a bit apprehensive for beer-n-ride, was having fun with his chilled Limca. We dozed ourselves quickly & without wasting much time we soon crossed Ropar, Kiratpur Sahib & reached Swarghat. On the way we negotiated well with the heavy traffic spilling out diesel fumes & with all the dust & pollution on our bodies we reached Bilaspur @ 18:30 Hrs. The sun was about to set & we took a small room in the Hotel “LakeView” at Bilaspur. It was time to cheers for successfully completing the 1st day of our ride. Without wasting much time we took out our B.P bumper & sat in the balcony with the lake view. We had good round of discussion & comments on the riding styles & also planned for our next day’s target – Manali.

It was drizzling in the morning & we were keeping our fingers crossed for those high passes on our way. We got up early, dressed ourselves & without having any morning tea or breakfast, which was a regular routine for all of us, we started journey @ 07:00 Hrs.

On our way crossed Bilaspur city & NTPC Koldam site on river Sutlej. By 08:30 Hrs we were dying from hunger & we finally took a halt near a road side dhaba “Evergreen Hotel” for breakfast. We had the best of the possible breakfast available on this route “Gobhi/Aaloo Parantha + lot of Butter with hot tea”. We tanked up our stomachs & thanked the owner for making such tasty fresh “Paranthas” & promised him to come back on our return journey. On the way we crossed some recognized towns like Sundar Nagar, Mandi.

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The Great Himachal Circuit – Part 4 : Kaza to Manali

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Chattru at a height of around 13000 ft, around 17 KM from Gramphu, 32 KM from Rohtang top, and we started around 4:30 from there. Next was Gramphu on way and because of the pebbled roads another 1 hour to reach Gramphu. And lots of small as well as big waterfalls. And lots of nullahs. As we approach towards Rohtang top, greenery starts to appear and the dryness starts to disappear. Lovely view of small waterfalls in distant mountains on the opposite side, makes the journey lovely. In one such waterfall, Lekhram stopped the cab and washed it, while we enjoyed the view of the waterfall, the chilled water and the amazing view.

Once Gramphu is crossed, then starts the steep rise to Rohtang Pass. And oh man, the view is something one can never forget. Just before getting up, there is a route that joins the route we were into. This route is coming directly from Ladakh, the well know Leh-Manali highway. As one rise up, there may be numerous landslide clearances. And stoppages and long traffic snarls can eat up few hours. But all these clearances are very enjoyable.

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The Great Himachal Circuit – Part 3 : Kalpa to Kaza

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It’s a lovely monastery with the monks all around at a height of 12774 ft. specially the view of the spiti valley and the amazing spiti river from that height. The monks are always available to explain you everything about the monasteries. Since the number of tourists in Spiti is always few, you always meet up the same people again and again, and mainly foreigners.
Taking snaps inside the monk is prohibited, so I did not waste the opportunities to take pics from outside and the valley. Spent around half an hour in the monastery, before getting back into the cab.
It took us around another 20-25 minutes to cover this monastery and around 1 PM we got back into the cab. From Dhankar Monastery it took another hour or so to reach Kaza via the Kaza bridge at Shitlong village as I mentioned early in the write-up. Kaza is a lovely small city in the Spiti valley and is the district headquarter at a height of around 11500 ft. By 2PM, we checked in into a hotel after some searching. It was a beautiful hotel, located at a nice location right beside the Kaza monastery. Time was stretching, as we had to cover Kibber also the same day.

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The Great Himachal Circuit – Part 3 : Kalpa to Tabo

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Time to get up early in the morning to get a view of the awesome Himalayas from the balcony. It was so cloudy all around at 6AM, that hardly anything was visible. With a cup of tea, we started waiting for the fog and cloud to clear up. After that it was cloud moving around with occasional clearances of the mountains. Believe me, its one of the most awesome views as the clouds play around with the kailash range. And with the sun occasionally coming out in between the clouds with clear lights, another lovely worth seeing site.

While we were able to see the Kinnaur kailash easily, we were not able to spot the shiv ling. The hotel staff said, because of the fog we might not be able to view it. It was hidden behind the clouds. But then suddenly, one of the hotel staff said, its visible now. As we saw, the 69 ft height shiv ling was clear visible from that distance not more than 1 inch. But a very beautiful view.

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Char Dham Yatra – Gangotri

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Water started to flow down the hill crossing road (damaging it) from multiple points. The turns were muddier and appeared slippery. All of a sudden a silenced atmosphere appeared in the car, everybody was quite including our music player. I could able to sense their tension but said nothing or not even reacted, just concentrated on road. By 6 pm, we started to look for a good place to spend night, as it was too much for the day. We stopped in small village, Dharali, some 18 km before Gangotri and so did the rain. There were around max 20-25 houses, all lodges, I guess and couple of restaurants. After taking 15-20 minutes rest, we came out for sightseeing, as the river Bhagirathi and mountains behind her were marvelous. After roaming for an hour we came back to the village and had our dinner. At the start of the trip only we have decided that we will have dinner no later than 8 pm and will sleep (try to) by 9 or 9:30 max. This will give us enough sleep before getting up again early next morning. I made it very clear that by any means we should be on road by 6 am, keeping IST in mind.

Stats:
From Haridwar to Dharali – 265 km; time taken – 12 hrs; breaks – 3 (15+30+60 mins)
Road condition – Excellent/ Good (occasionally bad patches 2-3 km each)
Tip:
1. There were two roads from Chamba for uttarkashi, I believe I took the long one, but in google maps the another one, which is also the NH seems around 20 km less.
2. Do not rely on mapmyindia GPS device in these parts, they are not properly updated. And the coordinates will always confuse the device as you will be rotating up/down the hills.

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The Great Himachal Circuit – Part 2 : Shimla to Sangla via Sarahan

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A very important thing about Himachal, is that people are very cooperative and they are very happy with what they are and have. I am writing this because I tour as well as I interact with people over various places, trying to find the differences in the cultures, way of living etc. This is what travelling is all about. I found Himachal people in the remote of the areas to be very well educated (better than what we are in cities) and well behaved. They are clean by heart and they educate their child to be as clean as them.

Soon it was getting dark and we entered the temple which normally opens up after 7PM. Not everywhere inside the temple are cameras and accessories allowed, but there are lockers where they can be kept. So we put our accessories in the lockers and entered the temple. The Bhimakali Temple at Sarahan is quite big and unique in its own way and own beauty. It looks more like a monastery rather than a temple.

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Uttarakhand Sojourn – Ride in to the Wilderness (Camping in Deoban)

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Sitting there on the green patch overlooking Spider Colony, we felt exactly how a falcon would feel when flying high. For as far as we could see, there were just waves of misty mountains. Paahji and I felt lucky to be living our lives exactly the way we wanted to. On our back was an intimidating rocky wall, behind which lay Deoban.
A kilometer or so up from that place, we started spotting snow on the road side and then, all hell broke loose. The first 20-foot stretch of snow on the road made me really nervous. There were paths through the snow made by what must have been army vehicles, but those paths were strewn with treacherous black ice. Paahji looked nervously at me as I struggled through that stretch. He was slightly better off with his long legs working as outriggers. There was another such stretch in the next corner and then there was another. After a number of snowed stretches, we got to a Y point where the road on the right went to Mundali and the one on the left went to Deoban. We took the left one and as we got closer to Deoban, the quantity of snow on the road kept increasing. Fortunately, the road was not too steep and it was somewhat manageable. Suddenly, Paahji took a left turn and stopped. He asked me where we were heading. The road ahead had two feet of snow for as far as we could see and we definitely couldn’t take our bikes through that. Paahji looked at me with a huge question mark on his face. We got off the bikes and looked around. Wow! What a sight! The place was about 4 kilometers short of Deoban. There was a shallow gorge that slid down to a frozen pond. The slopes were heavily snowed on all sides except for the areas that were getting direct sunlight. There was a nice and flat green patch on the right of the pond where tree-cutting work must have been on till recently. Loads of firewood lay abandoned alongside freshly cut logs.

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