[ASHISHPALLOD]

@harish,
thanks for this travel story @ VD,
please write in detail so that everyone including me going to VD in future will have ready ref.

Food pics made me hungry now.

[MX6]

Originally Posted by ASHISHPALLOD

@harish,
thanks for this travel story @ VD,
please write in detail so that everyone including me going to VD in future will have ready ref.

Food pics made me hungry now.

You've got AP smitten by this travelogue. And I'm pretty sure AP would plan this in near future.
Just for his benefit when you give details, also mention whether you get Misal Pav there in Jammu . He might be travelling with 14 others.

[ASHISHPALLOD]

Originally Posted by MX6

also mention whether you get Misal Pav there in Jammu . He might be travelling with 14 others.

MX6, youuuuuuu,

i have to go to VD [ courtesy wife and her mannat ].

[harishnayak]

Originally Posted by ASHISHPALLOD

@harish,
thanks for this travel story @ VD,
please write in detail so that everyone including me going to VD in future will have ready ref.

Food pics made me hungry now.

What kind of details do you require..do let me know because i'm writing it from the perspective of the journey so far and i'm sure as and when i proceed there would be more details coming along.

I've also received couple of PM's from fellow BHPians with specific questions to which i've answered in detail.

BTW..where are you located?

Originally Posted by MX6

You've got AP smitten by this travelogue. And I'm pretty sure AP would plan this in near future.
Just for his benefit when you give details, also mention whether you get Misal Pav there in Jammu . He might be travelling with 14 others.

I don't know the joke/story behind Misal pav but one thing which is a challenge at Katra and en-route to VD is the food as the onions are not used in any food item.

And 14 others?? Family?? Friends??

[harishnayak]

Finally after having a wonderful and tasty dinner at HAVELI and paying Rs 460 as the bill and Rs 40 as the tip we started for Katra. Wifey gave up and bro wanted to drive for next 200kms , these are 2 drivers ( Bro and wifey ) not because they are related to me but the way they drive is the only time that i go to sleep otherwise there's no way that i can trust ANYONE in this world ( maybe besides HVK ) that i can doze off.

I took a nap for about an hour and when i woke up it was a round of ANTAKSHRI going on between these 3 guys and that too for songs from movies of our own KAKA ( rajesh khanna ) DHARAM PAAJI ( Dharmendra ) and other famous oldies..hehe. I initially was irritated but soon started enjoying it as it started getting humorous with their stories incidents , movies and reviews etc.

I was quitely sitting on the back seat of my ALTO ( which is a rare phenomenon ) which has happened only a couple of times in the 81 k odd kms that it's done.

Soon after few hours we neared the destination and were really excited to see the milestones.

Some important info -

Total distance - 650 kms from Delhi
Delhi to Jammu - 600 kms
Total Drive with 2 to 3 drivers - 12 to 14 hours
Good places to eat - Parantha at Murthal , Food at HAVELI Karnal , Food at HAVELI Jallandhar
Risks - Little lonely to Drive into Jammu and then to Katra
Fuel - VERY expensive in Punjab , also if you have DARK sunfilms in your car and travelling thru Punjab during daytime










Time to refuel and this was the ONLY petrol pump open in Jammu at around 2:45 am ( almost 12 hours after we started from DELHI ). The tank was refuelled at Rs 1450 again and the mileage was around 19kmph till then due to about 40 % usage of the AC due to night travel.


How long have i been wishing to visit LEH..Delhi - Mumbai was a dream which was fulfilled and the only road left besides other dreams ( RAID and DESERT STORM ) is the DELHI -LEH-DELHI by road.




No offence to anyone but wifey was DEAD scared when i was clicking him as she thought that it was risky to stop the car and take his pic at that hour

Early morning CHARVAHA in the Tunnel

First sighting of the HOLY mountain from the loops

[montoo]

is haveli restaurant pure vegeterian

[harishnayak]

Originally Posted by montoo

is haveli restaurant pure vegeterian

Very good question. Yes , it is and it's VERY VERY nice..trust me on that one.

Also you'll find best of the best PB SUV's flaunting their alloys and stuff there..truly a food and a car HAVEN.

[Gansan]

Originally Posted by MX6

What's the mileage you guess? After 111 kms on the trip meter, your fuel indicator hasn't dropped from the full mark even by a millimeter!

I have noticed that with my Alto as well. When I start with a full tank on a highway trip, the needle moves away from the F mark only after the first 100 KM or so, which must be ~ 5 litres of petrol.

@harishnayak
Nice pics. Damn, another half an hour to go before lunch time, and my stomach growls at the sight of the full thalis!

[harishnayak]

Originally Posted by Gansan

I have noticed that with my Alto as well. When I start with a full tank on a highway trip, the needle moves away from the F mark only after the first 100 KM or so, which must be ~ 5 litres of petrol.

@harishnayak
Nice pics. Damn, another half an hour to go before lunch time, and my stomach growls at the sight of the full thalis!

I think that theory holds good for most of the cars , i've also heard that the car gives out more mileage if the tank is always kept above the half mark - I've never understood the logic though.

[kkg]

I also did this trip in my friend's Swift last year. We started at around 9 pm, drove nonstop with dinner inside the car only and reached katra at aound 8 in the morning. the route was: Delhi-ambala-jalandhar-pathankot-jammu-katra.


I just love the Delhi- Ambala highway. Leaving today evening for Ludhiana in my Spark this time. Will come back tommorrow.

[amohit]

Well, I am planning to go to VD in Apr end/May beginning. Trying to convince my parents that karnal to Katra (approx 400kms) will be a nice drive, but looks like it will be tough. Mostly will be going by train :(

Regards,

[harishnayak]

Originally Posted by kkg

I also did this trip in my friend's Swift last year. We started at around 9 pm, drove nonstop with dinner inside the car only and reached katra at aound 8 in the morning. the route was: Delhi-ambala-jalandhar-pathankot-jammu-katra.


I just love the Delhi- Ambala highway. Leaving today evening for Ludhiana in my Spark this time. Will come back tommorrow.

Wow 11 hours flat..2 times that i'v driven to VD it's taken 13 to 14 hours.

Originally Posted by amohit

Well, I am planning to go to VD in Apr end/May beginning. Trying to convince my parents that karnal to Katra (approx 400kms) will be a nice drive, but looks like it will be tough. Mostly will be going by train :(

Regards,

I know it's tough to convince parents for road trips unless they used to like it in their good old day..like we would . I've not travelled with my parents for more than 250 odd kms.

I will resume with my TL shortly.

[harishnayak]

So finally after about 13 odd hours of driving we reached the destination and it was me who did the final 40 odd Kms and was really happy to reach safely. JAI MATA DI is what came out from our mouth.

Now was when the trouble started of hunting for a hotel as we had not booked any hotel before starting from Delhi. The worst part was that it was the GOOD FRIDAY weekend with people flooding in from DL , CH , PB , UA and some from even GJ and MH.

Almost every hotel that we checked out was full and was not even ready to entertain as most of the guys at the reception were sleeping away to glory.

Our plans were to start the walk upto the Bhavan at about 12 noon , finally after an hour we managed to get 2 rooms in Hotel holiday for Rs 600/per room till 12 noon as he told us that the rooms were booked after that time so we took the chance and booked the room and hit the sack.

For those who don't know one has to take a YATRA PARCHI before starting the climb , this PARCHI is available near the BUS STAND and generally has a long queue ( the wait might range from 30 mins to 4-5 hours depending on the time and the crowd ).

So we woke up in the morning at around 11 and got ready by 12:00 to check out but to our LUCK there were 2 rooms available so we thanked our stars and booked them for the next day as the rooms were needed for rest after the descent from VD. Meanwhile wifes friend and her brother too reached katra and we all started our climb after a nice breakfast at JEWELS which is a nice fast food joint at the foot of the hill.

Few facts -

Total distance from Katra to shrine Approx 14 Kms
You can take your cameras and cell phones
Only post paid cell phones work en-route
Mode of commute - Walking , Horse ride , Helicopter , Electric auto ( after Ad-kuwari )
Alternative route - Stairs ( looks easy but very painful )
Rickshaw - You can take a rickshaw from the bus stand to the place from where the yatra starts for Rs 10 per person ( check first few pics )

[harishnayak]

BTW here's the Gang. From Left to Right

My Bro , Me , My wife , Our friend , Girl with Bottle ( wifes colleauge ) , At the back - Her brother

[harishnayak]

Soon after we started to walk there were groups formed depending on the speed that one could walk.

Me ( 32 ) and my wifes friends bro ( 27 ) were like altleast 30 -40 mins ahead of the rest of them as we were continiously walkign and talking to each other. Now the energy totally depends on the regular activities that you do in your routine..he was a cricket player and me a football player which gave us an edge over them.

We decided to reach till adh kuwait which is about 7 kms and wait fothese guys so that we could take a electric rick all the way up to the BHAVAN..however we were in for a shock..















My Bro caught up us with very soon and was ready for a pic too..



Halfway Adhkuwari just 750 mts..yipee...


We reached this spot at around 3:00 pm and the were surprised to see that the next electric auto would start at 6:00 pm and it was primarily for the older guys , patients and people not well etc..