[harishnayak]

Since me and wifey had done this trip last year on our sparky so the route was not a problem at all.

The route taken was - Delhi - panipat - Karnal - Ludhiana - Jallandhar - Jammu - Katra.

I drove non stop for 216 kms before the occupants started to voice out for a tea break. While travelling with me it gets very tough for the other co-passengers to make me take a break as i like to continuously drive til i drop.

So finally after looking for a decent place to eat and relieve i spotted a CCD and stopped by however to my shock this guy did not have ANYTHING to eat..it seems he had run out of stock. And hungry that we were we decided to have tea and biscuits at a dhaba next to the petrol pump.

This place had the maximum numbers of mosquitoes that one would find anywhere..argh.. but since we decided to stop here so decided to go through the grill and come out alive





Modded invader..Was driving over 120 kmph as i was at little over 100 when he overtook me.

Bro posing for the camera













The well lit..out of stock CCD..Hope the CCD guys are listening








Wasted many a pictures trying to get the right mode as i was using this digicam for the first time in the night mode and was not getting appropriate resolution. Hope this one looks fine

[aargee]

DSCN0096, DSCN0097 & DSCN0098 are mesmerizing; simply beautiful pictures (on Page 1, before entering into Chandigarh)

[montoo]

we have also planned a trip to mata vaishno devi shrine on 8th may.the route will be
delhi-amritsar-patnitop-katra-delhi.please guide me.we would start early morning on 8th may return delhi on 14th.our car would be verna.waiting for some valueable suggestions.

[harishnayak]

Originally Posted by aargee

DSCN0096, DSCN0097 & DSCN0098 are mesmerizing; simply beautiful pictures (on Page 1, before entering into Chandigarh)

Oh really you liked them!! Those were taken by my wife but suggested by me and guess what this was the first time she tried her hand at photography.

I'll show her your post , she'll be happy

Originally Posted by montoo

we have also planned a trip to mata vaishno devi shrine on 8th may.the route will be
delhi-amritsar-patnitop-katra-delhi.please guide me.we would start early morning on 8th may return delhi on 14th.our car would be verna.waiting for some valueable suggestions.

I would certainly assist you but i have few questions -

1) Are you planning any stopovers in between or would it be directly to Katra? I'm asking this because patnitop is coming before Katra in your posted route and it is about 90 odd kms from Katra ( in a different direction ).

2) Do you have any bookings or would it be adhoc search for the hotel?

3) Are there more than 1 drivers?

In brief it would take around 13 hours of drive from Delhi directly to Katra comfortably with 2 drivers. Book a hotel if you're very particular about accomodation otherwise you might have to hunt as it would be the holiday season.
Take a Army pass for shortcut entry to the shrine if possible. If there are elderly people travelling with you then you have the option of Helicopter ride , battery operated ricks from Adh kuwari ( halfway ) and mules service too.

Hope this helps for now , rest i'll let you know once you answer my questions.

[montoo]

thanks harishnayak for giving your kind suggestion.
let me clear,i will be only driver(capable of long driving regularly,sometimes 700-750kms with a break or two of hardly 30 mints.).
we planned trip first like this. delhi-amritsar-katra-patnitop-delhi. but due to unawailability of helicopter tickets before 13th,we had to change our plan.
i would be accompanied by my wife,two kids and parents.i am familier with the route to patnitop as i had been there many times driving mtself but still some decent suggestions are always welcome for eating joints ,roads.thanks.attnt. we are strictly veggy.

[aargee]

Originally Posted by harishnayak

Oh really you liked them!! Those were taken by my wife but suggested by me and guess what this was the first time she tried her hand at photography.

I'll show her your post , she'll be happy

Everytime I look at the clouds, the sky, the sunset there's some chemistry within my heart, no words to describe feeling & the word mesmerizing is a mere word. Once again I looked at the pics now & its awesome again, felt like looking once again for the first time.

[MX6]

A request Harish. Can you please ensure that in future you don't post photos showing smoking? There are a couple of them here. Normally I show these to kids and adolescent too showing the great diversity of India. Don't want them to catch these visuals.

[harishnayak]

Originally Posted by aargee

Everytime I look at the clouds, the sky, the sunset there's some chemistry within my heart, no words to describe feeling & the word mesmerizing is a mere word. Once again I looked at the pics now & its awesome again, felt like looking once again for the first time.

That's kool. Thanks.

Originally Posted by MX6

A request Harish. Can you please ensure that in future you don't post photos showing smoking? There are a couple of them here. Normally I show these to kids and adolescent too showing the great diversity of India. Don't want them to catch these visuals.

Sure , my apologies for that. I guess these were the only pics with the cigs that i had , do feel free to show the rest of the TL and the pics to kids and adolescents as i'm sure they'll love what i've shot.

MODS - Please delete the pic with the cigarette if possible.

[ampere]

Harsh,

Does the Langar by Gulshan Kumar still exists? Or its closed now.

[v-drive]

Harsh,
wonderful trip, reminded me of the days when I was growing up in Jammu and Vaishno devi used to be every quarter, if not every month, and hectic schedules. The best timing I have ever done is leave at 7.30 PM from Jammu, and back home at 9 AM the next morning, but then I was a lot..lot younger in those days. Now its been almost 15 years since I visited the shrine.

BTW, why do you not have the head rests in your front seats ? They are not for you resting your head when you are tired, but they help to save your neck from a whip lash in an unfortunate event of accident or a rear ending. I have seen many cars where people remove it for various reasons like visibility etc, but never expected it to see on a T-Bhpian's car.
Suggest you put them back immediately, especially if you are fond of getting on the highways often.

[harishnayak]

Originally Posted by ampere

Harsh,

Does the Langar by Gulshan Kumar still exists? Or its closed now.

It's closed now , earlier it used to run 24 hours..not sure why they closed it.

Originally Posted by v-drive

Harsh,
wonderful trip, reminded me of the days when I was growing up in Jammu and Vaishno devi used to be every quarter, if not every month, and hectic schedules. The best timing I have ever done is leave at 7.30 PM from Jammu, and back home at 9 AM the next morning, but then I was a lot..lot younger in those days. Now its been almost 15 years since I visited the shrine.

BTW, why do you not have the head rests in your front seats ? They are not for you resting your head when you are tired, but they help to save your neck from a whip lash in an unfortunate event of accident or a rear ending. I have seen many cars where people remove it for various reasons like visibility etc, but never expected it to see on a T-Bhpian's car.
Suggest you put them back immediately, especially if you are fond of getting on the highways often.

That was quick. Even i have some great timings - Katra to the shrine in flat 3.5 hours walking and from the Shrine to katra in 1.45 hours via stairs.

Well visibility is exactly the reason why i removed it and i'm very well aware of the consequences , in fact have gone through multiple accidents in this car - http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/long-t...very-page.html

Thanks for reminding me , i'm on the look out for a head rest - the ones that used to come in opel astra. Will put them once i get them.

[cLJ]

Originally Posted by MX6

A request Harish. Can you please ensure that in future you don't post photos showing smoking? There are a couple of them here. Normally I show these to kids and adolescent too showing the great diversity of India. Don't want them to catch these visuals.

Smoking is part of life for for lot of people. You should make your kids understand the dangers of smoking rather than not showing the picture. One can see the smoking people anywhere, unless you sit in the home all through.

CLJ

[harishnayak]

Soon after having a 20 mins break at the Dhaba we started again and decided our next stop at HAVELI in Jallandhar. Most of the road travellers stop by at this 24 hours joint for breakfast , snacks , lunch and dinner.

In our case it was the dinner. For those who don't know..HAVELI is a very popular eating joint with VERY nice ambience and GOOD FOOD.

After driving another 100 odd kms i handed over the wheel to wife and she then drove for about 100 kms before stopping at HAVELI for dinner. I was really looking forward to have food there as i had dinner there last time on my visit to Vaishno Devi last time.

Here are few pics enroute to Jallandhar , some pics have come out bad due to me still learning to adjust the settings in the cam.

Bad picture of the car


Good picture from a better angle




Truck in the restaurant


Wifey checking out the Fan shaped Menu to order food






















Me and wifey ready for a sword fight





Women in Punjabi

Men in Punjabi..outside the toilet




This was a picture in the frame..guess i caught it well

Trying my hand at photography



Thats HAVELI for everyone



Nice ambience outside too

[nick17s]

nice travelogue hari, I have been to VD in 2008 but we went there in train, I find road travel tiring if more than 500-600kms (if travelling with family).
hope to see more pics.

[harishnayak]

Originally Posted by nick17s

nice travelogue hari, I have been to VD in 2008 but we went there in train, I find road travel tiring if more than 500-600kms (if travelling with family).
hope to see more pics.

Thanks nick , i'm a travel road trip freak and the last time i boarded a plane , train or bus was in 2007. I've been travelling all over the country only on my car since then.