[harishnayak]

After facing a lot of problems with shrinking the images to upload i finally PM'ed GTO for help and here i am presenting my TL to everyone.

I don't remember seeing any TL on the visit to the holy shrine so thought of starting one with lots of shots taken while on the fly.

Car - Alto
Passengers - 4 ( Me , wifey , my bro and a friend )
Destination - Katra - Vaishno Devi
Distance - EXACTLY 650 kms from my home to Katra
Days - Friday afternoon to Sunday late night

This visit was on the cards for a while now but was just not happening due to some or the other issues so finally decided to go for it in the good friday long weekend. Me and bro applied for leaves , wifey had a off and friend had quit his job a day back .

I had bought my nikon coolpix a week back was excited to put it to full use.

Original commuters - Me , wifey , 2 of her friends but on the 11th hour her friends brother came down from jaipur and wanted to join us in the car but i refused due to long drive and 5 fully grown individuals in alto with bags would have given a hard beating to my ride. So she booked train tickets for herself and her brother and my brother came into the picture - As they say Mata calls you out of the blue ( my brother had visited the shrine 9 years back )

So come friday after noon and we started on our road journey to Katra at around 3:00 pm.

Tanked up my ride and got the air pressure checked. Filled petrol worth Rs 1450.

Here are few overall pictures of the trip..hope everyone

The passengers..me in red with wife. Bro in grey t-shirt with friend









likes it.

[MX6]

dscn0322 is simply amazing. Which place is this?

[harishnayak]

Originally Posted by MX6

dscn0322 is simply amazing. Which place is this?

I didn't quite get what you meant by dscn0322 is simply amazing.

This place is the holy Shrine of Mata Vaishno Devi in Katra ( 40 kms from Jammu ).

I'll be writing more details with pics shortly.

[MX6]

Originally Posted by harishnayak

I didn't quite get what you meant by dscn0322 is simply amazing.

This place is the holy Shrine of Mata Vaishno Devi in Katra ( 40 kms from Jammu ).

I'll be writing more details with pics shortly.

That's the name of the second last photo you've uploaded. Readers get that when we hover the mouse over the picture.

[harishnayak]

First and foremost i would like to thank GTO for providing me the links to resize the images and also to educate me on how to write notes against each picture.

3:00 pm friday afternoon and the team is all set after packing the bags. I had to remove the speaker box at the back in order to accomodate the bags.
Had to manage with just the front speakers against the sweet noise of the FFE.

There was only one thing stuck in my mind as most of you would agree that the Shrine is flooded with pilgrims specially during the long official weekends and since it was a last moment trip so i did not manage to get the passes however the spontaneous traveller that i am did not stop me from taking the risk of waiting in long queues there.



Removed the speaker box



Boot ready for the bags



Mom bidding farewell to us and posing next to my Sparky with the LTD stciker



Visited our temple before the long journey. We always do before going on long road trips



Saving transportation costs



Nearing the bypass



Dude running for his life




Finally on the Punjab Hwy




2 New Haveli outlets..North Indians would be familiar with this place and the quality of food they provide.

[MX6]

Can you also post the captions above the photos and not below? Helps with better reading.

[harishnayak]

Originally Posted by MX6

That's the name of the second last photo you've uploaded. Readers get that when we hover the mouse over the picture.

Oh i see , never realised that. The second last photo is that of the temple where the shrine is during the day and the last picture is at the night time.

[ampere]

Had been to the shrine almost 15 years back. I don't even remember how it looked then. All I remember is that the arrangements were excellent even then. Took almost 6 hours for the climb.

We took a train from Delhi to Jammu and back; and a bus to Katra.

You see petrol had not stirred in my head then
(+ PLUS I was a student and a dependent one at that)

[harishnayak]

Originally Posted by MX6

Can you also post the captions above the photos and not below? Helps with better reading.

Sure brother as i mentioned in my previous post that i just learnt this thing of posting the comments against each picture about 2 hours back.

Originally Posted by ampere

Had been to the shrine almost 15 years back. I don't even remember how it looked then. All I remember is that the arrangements were excellent even then. Took almost 6 hours for the climb.

We took a train from Delhi to Jammu and back; and a bus to Katra.

You see petrol had not stirred in my head then
(+ PLUS I was a student and a dependent one at that)

Haha..so you planning to do it by road now. It's one place that i HAVE to visit once a year. Me and wifey both love it.

[harishnayak]

Here are few more pictures from the trip with the camera shooting anything everything that looked even remotely interesting.


Chandigarh 186 kms more to go

Merc van stranded on the road

No..it's not the girl on the bus..just a random pic

The first toll..i hate them

Army truck in abundance..taking rest

Fortuner guy w/o number plates..rok sako to rok lo..with bling bling silver coverings

Horses travelling royally


occasional speeds of above 100 kmph with AC and 4 passengers with bags







Yellow Tavera..the first one i've ever seen..anyone else whose seen it.

[MX6]

Is your hate having anything to do with what looks like a bite mark on his neck?

[harishnayak]

Originally Posted by MX6

Is your hate having anything to do with what looks like a bite mark on his neck?

haha that was under the belt but imagine this poor guy working with that kind of a wound..sob sob.

[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!

[harishnayak]

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!

Guess you're a mind reader , i was about to write that. I was surprised to see that as well and guess what i was driving non-stop for 216 kms.

The mileage while going to Katra was around 19 kmpl with AC on around 40-50% of the times as it was really not required after around 7:00 pm in the night.

[harishnayak]

Few more pics of the drive with wifey trying her hands on taking pictures.

This was all while i was driving w/o any stoppage.. Chandigarh was nearing..