[nix1976in]

Thanks a ton Deky...summing up the suggestions now to get from Mumbai - Amritsar. Kindly veto my route draft as below...

Day 1 - Start from Mumbai and get to Kishangarh / Ratangarh for a night halt.

Day 2 - Start from Kishangarh / Ratangarh - SardarShahar - Hanumangarh - Abohar - Fazilka - Ferozpur - Zira - Taran Taran - Amritsar

Regards,
Nikhil.

[deky]

Originally Posted by hvkumar

Great update!
What was the new excuse for the PB cops to charge you - no stickers on headlights?

Oh, missed this one out in my previous quote. Well I did have the yellow stikers on my headlight as suggested by you earlier. Infact my car had all the essentials that are required plus I had all the papers. Basically these cops were stopping all out station numbers in pretext of checking.

After they could not find a single fault, they blatantly told me that its too hot and they want to have a cold drink and demanded Rs100/-. So since they were three of them I gave them Rs40/- only for cold drinks.

Originally Posted by Turbanator

Did you went to Fazilka - Ferozpur ? any reasons - i think this route was longer by about 20 Kms - did some locals advised you for this

Abhohar - Malout - Muktsar is pretty straight and very fast -

My plan when I started was to take the Muktsar route but at Abohar T junction I stopped to inquire for Taran taran. One jovial and lively gentleman told me to go via Fazilka as he said that this route has been recently laid and is much better than Malout - Muktsar route. Well no regrets on taking this route even if it was 20kms longer, this route was super fast

Originally Posted by nix1976in

Thanks a ton Deky...summing up the suggestions now to get from Mumbai - Amritsar. Kindly veto my route draft as below...

Day 1 - Start from Mumbai and get to Kishangarh / Ratangarh for a night halt.

Day 2 - Start from Kishangarh / Ratangarh - SardarShahar - Hanumangarh - Abohar - Fazilka - Ferozpur - Zira - Taran Taran - Amritsar

Regards,
Nikhil.

Hi Nikhil,

Yes there is no issue with the route above. The roads are super smooth and pretty fast. Only the 60kms stretch between Hanumangarh - Abohar is not as good as the rest of the route.

I believe Hanumangarh - Bhatinda is better, so if I was you and had to do this stretch again, this time I would take Hanumangarh - Bhatinda - Kotkapura - Zira - Taran Taran - Amritsar. This route is about 15kms shorter than the previous route.

Regards

[deky]

RETURN JOURNEY REPORT : Jammu - Dalhousie - Gurgaon - Jaipur

Route Taken: Jammu - Pathankot - Dalhousie - Pathankot - Dasuya - Hoshiarpur - Garhshankar - Rupnagar - Kharar - Ambala - Murthal - Gurgaon - Jaipur

Total Distance : 979 kms

Total driving time done over 3 days (including breaks) : app 23 hrs

Total Toll Paid : Rs. 535/-

Sector wise report
Note:- Since I was travelling with my kid and wife this time there were lots of stops. These timmings here include lots of breaks small and big both. I will mention the big breaks, but small breaks of 5 mnts or so were also plenty.

Jammu - Pathankot bypass- Dalhousie - 183 kms - 6 hrs
- Jammu to pathankot road is good and 4 lanned except at some places
- Lakhanpur - madhopur border is a mess
- After madhopur look for the first Major left turn for dalhousie. This is to bypass Pathankot
- Bypass road is good and it has Narula's and also CCD
- This route will lead you to Mamun Army camp and from there left to Dalhousie
- Road onwards is hilly but is good
- Spent 2 nights in Dalhousie

Dalhousie - Pathankot - Dasuya - 132kms - 3 hrs 45mnts
- took a 45 mnts breakfast break
- hill driving till pathankot
- there is a bypass from "simble chowk" to avoid pathankot
- after pathankot you will join NH1a to Dasuya. Road is 4 lanned for a while and is good

Dasuya - Hosiarpur - Garhshankar - Rupnagar - kharar - Ambala - 221 kms - 4 hrs
- very good roads, 2 lanned but good quality and not much traffic
- there is a bypass to hoshiarpur
- very good alternative to avoid NH1 mess at Jalandher and ludhiyana
- meets NH1 at Shambhu Toll bridge

Ambala - Karnal - Murthal - Gurgaon - 228- 5 hrs 30 mnts
- time includes 1 hr lunch break just after ambala
- lots of diversions in between good roads.
- road quality of diversions is good
- every 5th car has a beacon and blaring sirens pushing their way through traffic
- got lost at Azadpur for going towards Gurgaon, so lost about 30 mnts there
- reached gurgaon and rested the night there

Gurgaon - Behror - Jaipur - 215 kms - 3 hrs 30 mnts
- including 15 mnts stopage at ccd
- very fast as there was not much traffic during the day ( started at 1100 hrs)
- road is getting better and better
- noticed that there are 3 more ccd's and one Nirula's that are open/ or about to open on this stretch

Summary
- I think for jammu from Delhi the hosiarpur route is an excellent alternative to the Ludhiana route

[khoj]

Originally Posted by deky

After they could not find a single fault, they blatantly told me that its too hot and they want to have a cold drink and demanded Rs100/-. So since they were three of them I gave them Rs40/- only for cold drinks.

Hi Deky,

So chai paani becomes thanda shanda

Man, this can happen only with you and I simply loved reading about it.

Trust more anecdotes are in the pipeline.

Regards.

[breezydrive]

Originally Posted by deky

Summary
- I think for jammu from Delhi the hosiarpur route is an excellent alternative to the Ludhiana route

Originally Posted by breezydrive

BTW, Amritsar -Pathankot Route is a 2 lane road, in Bad Shape, passes through congested towns Batala, Dhariwal, Gurdaspur, Dinanagar to name a few. It takes 3 Hours to reach farther end of Amritsar from Pathankot, distance is 110 km.


You can take Jaipur - Sikar - Hisar - Narwana - Ambala route. Total is 565 km as compared to 470 km via Delhi. From Ambala follow the route as suggested by Tsk in above posts.

Originally Posted by deky

Amritsar bypass- Gurdaspur - Pathankot - Jammu - 189kms - 3hrs 50mnts

- Amritsar to pathankot the road is a mess with lots of traffic
- Got caught by the famous Punjab Cops for nothing at Gurdaspur and ended up paying 40Rs after telling them some stories. Actually they demanded Rs100/- but was fun bargaining
- After that got lost in Gurdaspur and wasted 15 mnts to get back on the correct road

I think the route suggested by me was worth trying!

[hvkumar]

deky, that was a great return journey! Thanks for pointing us to an alternative route to NH1.

The Madhopur-Pathankot bypass - there is a road that goes past the Pathankot contonment and railway station - is this the same road or is there some new road now?

Is the flyover in Pathankot town complete?

Any harassment by J&K cops? They like chai paani and thanda shanda!

Is the Kharar-Banur-Shambhu Jn NH1 fully 4-laned now? Any jams where it interscts the Chandigarh-Patiala highway?

I am a little confused - did you go via Delhi or is there a direct route from Murthal/ Azadpur to Gurgaon?

Originally Posted by deky

I did have the yellow stikers on my headlight as suggested by you earlier. Infact my car had all the essentials that are required plus I had all the papers. Basically these cops were stopping all out station numbers in pretext of checking.

OMG. Are yellow stickers on headlights mandatory in Punjab too like in Gujarat? What other precautions should I take while driving in PB/JK/HP/CH stretches?

[tsk1979]

Originally Posted by hvkumar

Is the Kharar-Banur-Shambhu Jn NH1 fully 4-laned now? Any jams where it interscts the Chandigarh-Patiala highway?

No, Kharar-Banur-Shambhu is not 4 laned. Its just wide and fast as usual.

[hvkumar]

Originally Posted by J.Ravi

OMG. Are yellow stickers on headlights mandatory in Punjab too like in Gujarat? What other precautions should I take while driving in PB/JK/HP/CH stretches?

Yes, that is how the cops nab out-of-state motorists and squeeze out some money.

In GJ also, cops have become over-smart, waylaying those cars going on the Sardar Patel Ring Road which is used to bypass Ahmedabad. No point arguing with them, waste of time and money. Best course of action is to have those stickers on at all times.

[tsk1979]

In PB, if the road is clear, do not stop if 2-3 cops standing on roadside stop you. Stop only if its a proper "nakabandi" with barrier and all.
I have a PB numbered car, and have been waved down by cops in those areas of PB, and I never stop, just honk and go away.
They are anyways too fat to get to their bikes. By the time they reach their bike or whatever, you will be in the next state.
Also remember, some of them can rob you.

[deky]

Originally Posted by khoj

Hi Deky,

So chai paani becomes thanda shanda

Man, this can happen only with you and I simply loved reading about it.

Trust more anecdotes are in the pipeline.

Regards.

The cops were pretty jovial, and I did not blink and eye, I was like "my papers are in order so do whatever you want" So he did not expect anything from me, so basically whatever he got was a bonus.

Originally Posted by breezydrive

I think the route suggested by me was worth trying!

Apart from Delhi I wanted to give Ludhiana and Jalandher a miss too because of road widening, hence I took the route. But you were spot on for the road condition between Amritsar and pathankot

Originally Posted by hvkumar

deky, that was a great return journey! Thanks for pointing us to an alternative route to NH1.

The Madhopur-Pathankot bypass - there is a road that goes past the Pathankot contonment and railway station - is this the same road or is there some new road now?

Is the flyover in Pathankot town complete?

Any harassment by J&K cops? They like chai paani and thanda shanda!

Is the Kharar-Banur-Shambhu Jn NH1 fully 4-laned now? Any jams where it interscts the Chandigarh-Patiala highway?

I am a little confused - did you go via Delhi or is there a direct route from Murthal/ Azadpur to Gurgaon?

1. Thank you, but the credit for Hoshiarpur route should go to tsk1979, he insisted that I take that and it worked out well

2. Following is the google earth pic that I will show you the route that I took from Madhopur to bypass pathankot for dalhousie


This is the gpx for Jammu to Dalhousie route
8.gpx

Following is the google earth pic from Dalhousie to Dasuya bypassing pathankot


This is the gpx for Dalhousie to Gurgaon
Current.gpx

3. No I dont think the flyover you talking about is complete

4. I was stopped by PB cop at Madhopur bridge, but this time I just told him the car belongs to my dad from the Army and went ahead. Never had any problems with J&K cops

5. No jams whatsoever

6. Yes, from Murthal we came towards Azadpur(delhi) and then took the ring road from there till Dhaula Kuan and then onwards to Gurgaon

7. Here is the gpx of the onwards journey from Jaipur to Jammu via Hanumangarh
7.gpx

Originally Posted by J.Ravi

OMG. Are yellow stickers on headlights mandatory in Punjab too like in Gujarat? What other precautions should I take while driving in PB/JK/HP/CH stretches?

Have your car papers complete, no sun films on windows and wear seat belts. The cop could not find anything about my car so finally said I was not wearing seat belt, which I was.

Oh yeah, also after finding nothing he told me my rear number plate was yellow, since it had faded a bit in the sun. Basically they want money out of you and will do whatever it takes for it so have the yellow stickers on, they dont cost much

Originally Posted by deky

Have your car papers complete, no sun films on windows and wear seat belts. so have the yellow stickers on, they dont cost much

Thanks, deky. My Linea carries her original papers always, doesn't have sun film and I wear seat belt always. The only thing that my Linea needs is the yellow stickers, which she will have before the trip!

[wanderhermit]

wow, just went thru your description of the routes. Very detailed.

Hope you had lots of fun doing such long motoring. And giving just Rs. 40 to cops. You are a dude. Hats of to you for managing such a stunt during these inflationary times.

[breezydrive]

The Madhopur-Pathankot bypass - there is a road that goes past the Pathankot contonment and railway station - is this the same road or is there some new road now?

No, but it is not a new road!

Is the flyover in Pathankot town complete?

Yes, it is complete, at last!

Is the Kharar-Banur-Shambhu Jn NH1 fully 4-laned now? Any jams where it interscts the Chandigarh-Patiala highway?

It is not four laned with a median, but has been widened with inproved ride quality. Now, it takes about 35- 40 minutes to complete Ambala - Kharar strech of 42 km.

Traffic jams have shifted towards Kharar as the roads becomes narrow.

Lakhanpur - madhopur border is a mess

That place is literally a hell! There are no plans so far to shift the Toll plazas

After madhopur look for the first Major left turn for dalhousie. This is to bypass Pathankot
- Bypass road is good and it has Narula's and also CCD
- This route will lead you to Mamun Army camp and from there left to Dalhousie

The straight road leads to Amritsar.

There is a short cut route also, take immediate left after croosing Ravi Bridge at Madhopur, the road leads via Shahpur Kandi towards Dhar on Dalhousie road. It saves around 20 km. I've indicated the route by pink line.

Originally Posted by tsk1979

No, Kharar-Banur-Shambhu is not 4 laned. Its just wide and fast as usual.

Probably, you are talking about its post 2009 condition, this road was pathetic before that! I've been using this route since late 90's to avoid CHD on way to PTK

[tsk1979]

Originally Posted by breezydrive

There is a short cut route also, take immediate left after croosing Ravi Bridge at Madhopur, the road leads via Shahpur Kandi towards Dhar on Dalhousie road. It saves around 20 km. I've indicated the route by pink line.
Attachment 553700

I have taken this route, however, the problem is that the ghat section is very narrow. So if any truck or bus comes, its a big circus.
Otherwise, very scenic, and it saves a lot of time.