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-   -   8597 Kms Drive - Exploring Himachal! Amritsar – Khajjiar – Dalhousie – Dharamshala – Manali - Chail (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travelogues/186323-8597-kms-drive-exploring-himachal-amritsar-khajjiar-dalhousie-dharamshala-manali-chail-3.html)

Just another ~9000 Kms of a drive with Family that was Arun! Needless to say, you executed this without much ado.

Kudos to your little ones and your better half was well - Not an easy expectation when you take up such trips to destinations like these - Apart from the assorted roads you get to drive, the different traffic patterns and behaviors, what really impressed me is how your kids also embraced the local flavor. They are certainly the next generation traveler in the making and by all probabilities, they would prefer it by road - Narrow or Wide, 4 or 2 Lane - I am glad they are able to experience this all and won't be cranky when you take certain roads with no human population around!

About the drive itself, from your pictures, I could recall many instances myself from my drive in 2014 - Those nasty speedbreakers beyond Rewri/Rohtak, The dreaded Gwalior-Jhansi section where even I entered an under-construction section as there was no signage, that BPCL COCO. While you shared updates, it we were virtually traveling with you :).

Many thanks for sharing yet another beautiful travelogue - This shall easily set an example (another one since your last one) to many.

Brilliant drive and travelogue. Man the distance is merely a number for you. I have to really give credit to the family and kids, without their support and co-operation such road trips are not possible.

Now since this has become a yearly routine for you, may be you can look at considering doing 2 such trips in a year (just to keep your odo crunching going on)

I am counting Nagercoil trips out (it is a supermarket run for you).

Thanks for sharing the travelogue. A well deserved 5* rating.

Fantastic! Am surprised you made a 8000 km trip with a toddler 2 years back. We don't have that high hopes on my younger one (who is 2.5 now) cooperating that much :eek: Any tips would be appreciated, especially those long runs.

He's done many trips since a 5 month old, but not extensive drive trips. We have an elder whose used to our kind of trips who is 7.5

Cross country trips are unavoidable since his parents are travel freaks

He's friends with Parag you see. Who does Belur for breakfast Pune for lunch and Rajkot runs for dinner :D

Great travelogue buddy, that too with Family. 9k kms covering entire country is no mean feat. Loved reading entire details mentioned by you.
Rated well deserved 5 stars.

I forgot to ask this question in my previous post sorry. Any reason why you went till Jaipur to goto Amritsar? I remember HVK always recommended taking the Kishangarh-Bhatinda super highway to reach Amritsar. Any reason for this?

Thank you ampere! Yes, Mcleod Gang is a very nice location and a must visit place. Especially the hotel we stayed was the last point and it was just awesome.


Thanks a lot for your kind words. Thankfully my family loves doing such trips so its easier to manage. Trips like these widen our experiences so its always a pleasure doing such trips. Kids didn't want to come back from those mountain ranges :-)

Thanks Krishna. Yes, driver needs support from the passaengers in such long drives and as mentioned above, it makes things easier as they love traveling.

I wish I can do two such trips a year. :)

Nothing much apart from what I have mentioned here when my younger one was 2 and half year old,
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travel...ml#post3709012

and what I have mentioned in post #28 in this thread.

And tanks to teambhp for connecting me to people like Parag.

Thanks a lot behaln for your kind words.

Yes, he suggested the same. But we preferred better facilities/amenities. Also, our initial plan was Jaipur, we never thought that we will go beyond jaipur.

Wow, what a wonderful trip you guys had & it's documented so well with photographs and videos. You have a great stamina to drive so much & so does your family to travel that far and long.

Can you share more details about this and also the facebook page of HVK-CHD- link appears to be wrong.

Thanks a lot Turbanator.

Sorry about that. You can check this link for contact details,
http://www.hivayking.in/

This is the facebook page name, HVK HiVayKing Club: Central Hotel Desk

Kudos to you and your family for completing this wonderful trip and well deserved 5 stars for the travelogue.

Indeed these long trips make you learn so much about our diverse country and I am sure your children had the best spent summer vacation. Thoughtful of you to carry games and visit interesting places like the rail museum for the children to make the most of it.

9k in 20 days is no small feat and linea surely can munch miles without issues. Just a question, how did you keep track of all smaller distances, break ups, fuel costs, odo readings etc during the whole trip. I wish I could be so organised on my trips but always fail to keep a detailed track of all this during my drives?

Thanks a lot justwheels .

Regarding data, Linea MID captures trip details(trip A and trip B), duration, avg speed, fuel efficiency. So, I click a pic of these details at the start of the day and when I refuel. I click a pic of the fuel bill as well so that even if i lose the bill, I can still get the data from the pic.

@arun_josie: Dude, first of all, your travelogues are AMAZING! Exactly what they should be; important highlights, key facts but most importantly abundant with photos. Incredible. You've captured incredible moments of your life.

Secondly, I am seriously in awe of your road trips across this great land. Driving like you do takes courage, patience, dedication and a real sense of adventure. *Hat tip* You are seriously an inspiration to everyone who loves road trips, not only in India but globally. Furthermore, another hat tip to your family; they must have this adventure in the blood!

Third, I really respect the way you take care of your car; frequent cleaning, daily checks and overall maintenance is awesome.

I look forward to reading more from you and good luck with the forthcoming trips! I think you need to be a brand ambassador for Indian Tourism.

Arun,

I went thru your entire travelogue and loved the attention to detail.
Would like to mention that it was definitely resourceful and also engrossing.

Just spent about 2.5-3 hrs reading thru the entire experience and it was enthralling.

Your car also kept up with your spirits on the trip and this one surely is a result of good up keep and timely maintenance.

Keep munching the miles.

God Bless.

Hi Arun,

Awesome travelogue! Really enjoyed reading it. This could be a very helpful reference to many who wish to explore similar route.
Also puts a smile on my face as a Linea Owner!

I also cascaded it to our various Bangalore Fiat Groups (WA)

Arun,

Kudos to you and your family for taking this trip by road all the way from Bengaluru.

I visit McLeodganj/Dharamshala once in every 3 months. When I went for the first time, I too took the temple road and it was a very challenging drive up hill. There is another route which takes you to Mcleodganj from Dharamshala, its wider and goes through the cantonment area. For Naddi, you need not cross Mcleodganj if you take the other route.

Whats on your list next after Himachal and Uttarakhand for another 8/9,000 kms drive?

The TL itself is very well narrated that I could see myself virtually being part of the trip.

Kudos to you for that :thumbs up.

I specially love your travelogues for the last pictures of our native, which kindles the nativity in us. Many thanks for that.

Rated 5 stars