Day 18, we had finally reached the last day of the trip. We started from Vishakhapatnam at about 5:25 a.m. and the road was very good. The NH 5 is in very good shape and you can really enjoyed driving on NH 5. We took breakfast (Idli and Dosa) near Rajhamundhary and lunch (South Indian thali) at Guntur.
On the way, we started reliving the trip. We relived the great times we had on the trip. We remembered the various things written at the back of the lorries we saw during the long trip.We thanked all the persons who had helped us during the trip, without their support the things would not have been as smooth as they were. And it was during one of these conversations that the idea of making a trip blog really came up.
We were nearing 10000 kms. by the time we were entering Tamilnadu. We thought that it is possible that the trip meter may be only up to 9999.9 and then it may show 0 instead of 10000.0. So, we stopped the vehicle when we reached 9999.9. We were near Gummidipoondi after entering Tamilnadu. We took photograph of the odometer to make this figure memorable. It is not easy to reach 9999 in trip meter. Immediately after we started, the meter moved to ‘0’. So, it was very good that we took the photograph at 9999.9 kms.
We were near Chennai at about 7 p.m. We took tea. We had entered Chennai from the Northern most point i.e. Red Hills and we stay in Sholinganallur, which is the Southern most point of Chennai. So, we had to travel in the city for about 50 kms. Further, it was peak evening time. We took almost two and half hours to reach home. We stopped at Anna Nagar and got some dinner packed. We completed the tour by about 9:45 p.m.
The trip was a very enjoyable, satisfying trip which included all the thrills of driving on the roads of India. At the end of the trip, we had satisfaction that we have reached the destination. At the same time we felt that the trip ended so fast, it could have continued for some more days - which is an inspiration in itself for our road trips ahead.
Showing posts with label Daily blogs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Daily blogs. Show all posts
Saturday, 25 September 2010
Day 17: Bhubaneshwar - Konark to Vishakapatnam
We left the hotel by about 5:15 a.m. to visit Sun Temple at Konark and return to Bhubhaneshwar. Konark is about 60 kms. from Bhubhaneshwar and the route is via Peepli. The road, although, partly NH and partly SH is good. We reached Konark temple around 6:45 a.m. and took a guide.
Konark temple (also known as Black Pagoda) was built in 13th century by King Narasimhadev. It was built on the sea shore. However, now the sea is about 3 kms. away. The Sun temple is built in the shape of a chariot. There are seven horses and 24 wheels to move the chariot. This denotes 7 days in a week and 24 hours in a day. The 12 pairs of wheels represent 12 months. The wheels have 8 spokes and subdivisions. The alignment of Sun temple is on East – West direction. The sun rays fall on the wheel and the time can be calculated by the angle at which the rays fall. Each division represents 15 minutes. The entrance is guarded by two lions who are crushing elephants. Each elephant in turns lies on top of human body. Lion denotes power, elephant denotes money. When the power and money comes, the good qualities of the man suffer.
The main sanctum which housed the diety has fallen off. There was a big magnet at the top of the tower. It was disturbing the ships passing by, so the Britishers had removed the magnet.
There was deity of Sun in the temple, but the temple was attacked in 15th century by Muslim Yavana army. The priest smuggled the statue of Sun god to Puri temple, but the temple was badly damaged. Nature took over the destruction from there. Over the centuries, the sea receded, sand engulfed the building and salty breezes eroded the stone. It remained buried under a huge mound of sand until the early 20th century, when restoration began under the British.
We returned to Bhubhaneshwar by about 9:30 a.m. and got the tyres repaired. We took breakfast and left hotel by about 10:30 a.m. for Vishakhapatnam. We had got Aaloo paranthas packed for the journey. The NH 5 is very good. We could reach Vishakhapatnam by about 6:30 p.m. but it took long time to search suitable hotel. We could settle in the hotel Sai National by about 8:30 pm. This hotel was just one month old. The rooms were good. They arranged food from outside as they do not have Restaurant.
We decided to leave by about 5:30 a.m. so that we could reach Chennai (a distance of about 850 kms.) by evening.
Konark temple (also known as Black Pagoda) was built in 13th century by King Narasimhadev. It was built on the sea shore. However, now the sea is about 3 kms. away. The Sun temple is built in the shape of a chariot. There are seven horses and 24 wheels to move the chariot. This denotes 7 days in a week and 24 hours in a day. The 12 pairs of wheels represent 12 months. The wheels have 8 spokes and subdivisions. The alignment of Sun temple is on East – West direction. The sun rays fall on the wheel and the time can be calculated by the angle at which the rays fall. Each division represents 15 minutes. The entrance is guarded by two lions who are crushing elephants. Each elephant in turns lies on top of human body. Lion denotes power, elephant denotes money. When the power and money comes, the good qualities of the man suffer.
The main sanctum which housed the diety has fallen off. There was a big magnet at the top of the tower. It was disturbing the ships passing by, so the Britishers had removed the magnet.
There was deity of Sun in the temple, but the temple was attacked in 15th century by Muslim Yavana army. The priest smuggled the statue of Sun god to Puri temple, but the temple was badly damaged. Nature took over the destruction from there. Over the centuries, the sea receded, sand engulfed the building and salty breezes eroded the stone. It remained buried under a huge mound of sand until the early 20th century, when restoration began under the British.
We returned to Bhubhaneshwar by about 9:30 a.m. and got the tyres repaired. We took breakfast and left hotel by about 10:30 a.m. for Vishakhapatnam. We had got Aaloo paranthas packed for the journey. The NH 5 is very good. We could reach Vishakhapatnam by about 6:30 p.m. but it took long time to search suitable hotel. We could settle in the hotel Sai National by about 8:30 pm. This hotel was just one month old. The rooms were good. They arranged food from outside as they do not have Restaurant.
We decided to leave by about 5:30 a.m. so that we could reach Chennai (a distance of about 850 kms.) by evening.
Day 13: Mathura to Allahabad
“TAJ MAHAL” DAY
We got up in the city of birth place of Lord Krishna and moved out by 8:30 a.m. The breakfast was poori-aaloo and bread-butter. The target was to reach Allahabad after stopping at Agra to see Taj Mahal. The distance to be covered was 534 kms.
The road (NH 2) to Taj Mahal was good, except for the morning rush hours in Agra city. We reached Taj Mahal by 10:30 a.m. We took time to reach Agra as we had missed one crossing and had to take a long route. GPS was very useful and we reached Taj Mahal very easily. GPS is like our ‘Phone a friend’ and ‘a Friend in need’.
We took a battery-operated tempo to reach west gate of Taj Mahal from Car Park which was about 800 metres away. Only battery operated vehicles or cycle rickshaw or camel carts or tongas were allowed to reach Taj Mahal, as these are pollution free. There were many guides who surrounded us at the Car Park place, but we avoided them and took battery operated vehicle. The driver of the vehicle advised us to avoid the guides and then started telling us that he was on salary by the Govt. and the amount that he gets from visitors goes to govt. He wanted us to visit a museum where shawls (special type – which could go through a ring) and said that Taj Mahal would be opening only at 10:35 a.m. as it is closed from 9:45 to 10:35 a.m. He was forcing us to buy from museum so that he may get his commission from them. We proceeded to the main gate of Taj which was open. Actually the timings for Taj Mahal is 6:30 am to 6:30 pm. On Fridays it is closed.
Anupam saw the number of batteries in the vehicle and how they are fixed etc. This was the area in which he has lots of interest. His Engineer mind was at work. When we were entering Taj Mahal, Anupam was told not to carry camera tripod stand and torches. So, he had to go back and deposit camera stand and torches in locker. We took a guide. It is always good to avoid the guides etc. flocking around when you reach such a place of interest, and to reach near the main gate to get proper guide at proper rate.
The experience at Taj, the narration by guide and the feeling that we were at Taj Mahal, the symbol of love, gave very great feeling.
Shahjahan built Taj Mahal in fond memory of his beloved wife Mumtaj Mahal. She had died in Burhanpur, now in Maharashtra. Her tomb is still there in Burhanpur known as ‘Biwi ka maqbara’. . Taj Mahal was built by about 20,000 workers. The construction started in 1633. It took 22 years to complete the construction. The cost was Rs. 4 crores at that time. There are 11 domes on the main gate in the front and 11 domes at the back side of the dome, denoting 22 years of construction. The chief architect was Mohd. Iliyas from Persia and there was one more architect Mohd. Ismail from Jaipur. The designs for flowers, mural etc. were taken from onion, star, Kohinoor diamond cuttings, candle, Honey comb (chhatta). The stones for decoration came from Persia, Yemen, Arabia, Makrana and Bundelkhand. The stones were taken up by making ramp and camels were used to carry stones. The four sides of the Taj Mahal are symmetrical. If you look from any side Taj Mahal will look same. There are four Minars on the four sides of Taj Mahal building. The minars are not in the same line and front ones are little wider than the minars on the rear side. Incase of any earthquake or any other calamity, the minars would fall on outer side and not on the main building. There are stairs inside the minars. The whole Taj Mahal is made of ‘Sangamarmar’ i.e. white marble. Despite 355 years of its existence, the marbles have not diminished in their colour and looks. The guide told us that after the Mathura Refinery started, the Taj Mahal has started becoming little yellowish.
The carvings, flowers and ‘Jaalis’ are all made of one stone. The stones were cut by the workers and that was lot of artistic work. That is why it took almost 22 years to complete the construction .The flowers were made so artistically that you could see each vein in the leaf. Semi-precious stones brought from 16 different countries were inlaid in to the marble. Semi-precious stones of red, green, blue orange colour stones are used. These are the stones the king used to give to Mumtaz mahal, so he got the same fixed in Taj Mahal. Single vein in the flower would also be visible. The artistry is so good. It took about 20 days to make one flower. They have to be polished also.
When the light falls on the semi-precious stones, they glow from inside. With the help of torch the guide showed the effect of light. The effect looked very good. It would be nice idea to visit Taj Mahal on ‘full moon day’ so that one can see these stones and flowers glowing under full moon.
The marbles are all pasted not with the help of cement, but with the help of paste made with Moong dal, Arhar dal and lime. This adhesive has stood the test of time.
The main gate of the Taj Mahal has first ‘aayat’ from Quran, which was followed by second ‘aayat’ on the back side and continued on to the Taj building. The ‘aayaten’ were written in such a way that they could be read as they appear of the same font. Actually, while writing ‘aayaten’ they were written in smaller font at the bottom and as they went up the font size increased gradually. That is a very good calligraphy.
There are many strategic points once you enter the gate to take good photos of Taj Mahal. We took lots of photos. It was quite hot by the time we reached the main Taj Mahal building. However, the White marble gave such a cooling effect that it was easy to walk. On entering the building the guide showed us two tombs. There are two more tombs just below these two tombs, which have the ashes of Shahjahan and Mumtaj Mahal. The ones in the basement are original ones and above them two are made to ensure that people do not walk over the tombs. The tomb of Mumtaj was placed exactly in the centre of building. The tomb of Shahjahan was later placed on left side after Shahjahan died. The guide showed us many stones with the light from torch. They were glowing in torch light. He said that on Full moon day, the outer walls of Taj Mahal would shine because all the stones on Taj Mahal would shine and that is something to cherish life long.
The main gate of the Taj Mahal, main entrance of the building and the Tomb of Mumtaz Mahal are on in one line. These all have been made in such a symmetry that one could see outside from near the tomb. Masjid and Guest house are constructed on both sides of the Taj Mahal. Both are having same design. There are two more ‘makbaras’ constructed for two other queens of Shahjahan.
The hands of the main two architects were cut by Shahjahan so that they would not make any other building subsequently.
The guide told us that Shahjahan was arrested by his son Aurangzeb after construction of Taj Mahal. Actually Shahjahan started construction of a black building just opposite the main building across Yamuna river. Aurangzeb thought that if his father continues with his passion of making such buildings, they would be pauper, so he arrested his father and kept him in Agra Fort in a room from where he could see Taj mahal. Just before his death, Shahjahan told his son that the workers who built Taj Mahal have damaged their hands due to construction work, so they should be paid handsomely so that they can start some business. Further, he wanted that his dome be placed next to the tomb of his wife Mumtaj Mahal.
On the rear side of the Taj Mahal flows Yamuna river. The river was flowing above danger mark as there was lot of water released inYamuna river from Hathini dam in Haryana. We had our lunch outside Taj Mahal i.e. in Taj Restaurant run by ITDC. The food was good.
From there we left for Allahabad. About 72 kms. before Kanpur, we took NH 2A which took us from Sikandra to a place near Bindki before Fatehpur. This route saved about 40 kms. compared to the normal route by NH2 through Kanpur and then reaching Allahabad. However NH2A was not as good as we were informed. It was good, but at some places the road was in very bad shape. Further at Bhognipur where it meets NH 25 from Jhansi to Kanpur, the road was extremely bad and there was traffic jam with lots and lots of lorries. It took us more than one hour to cross Bhognipur. Once we crossed this junction, the road was O.K. till we reached near Bindki. About 10 kms. before Bindki, the road was so bad that it was nightmare to drive. There is a bridge being constructed and the road is awfully bad.
Just after we left Bhognipur, two policemen stopped us. They enquired about us and where we are going and then demanded entry fees of Rs 520/- (a strange figure). We told them why we should give them. They said that we have not used seat belts. We showed that both the person in front seats had the belts on. Then they wanted us to get down and meet their boss. We were afraid to get down from the vehicle. We paid them Rs. 100/- They did not accept. At that time one truck driver of vehicle coming from opposite direction advised us that we should not give him more than Rs. 5/- to him. We realized that this was hoax. However, after negotiations, we gave them Rs. 300/- to avoid getting into difficult situation and started our onwards journey. This is horrible. They were in police uniform and were having rifles.
We reached Allahabad and the place where we left bypass till Allahabad city (say about 20 kms.), it was unimaginably bad road. At one place we thought our Swift would not be in a position to cross the uneven place. We parked our car on one side and were seeing other vehicles pass by and also getting idea as to how do we proceed? To our good luck, one very heavy truck arrived and he took special care to go through a strip in the uneven place so that it had levelled the road a bit and it became possible for us to pass over. We all thanked the God sent help and the driver of the lorry who had the wisdom to make way for us. God help him.
We reached Allahabad at about 11 p.m. and it took almost one hour to check in Hotel Saket at Civil Lines. We stayed there. We took sandwiches for dinner. The hotel was good.
We got up in the city of birth place of Lord Krishna and moved out by 8:30 a.m. The breakfast was poori-aaloo and bread-butter. The target was to reach Allahabad after stopping at Agra to see Taj Mahal. The distance to be covered was 534 kms.
The road (NH 2) to Taj Mahal was good, except for the morning rush hours in Agra city. We reached Taj Mahal by 10:30 a.m. We took time to reach Agra as we had missed one crossing and had to take a long route. GPS was very useful and we reached Taj Mahal very easily. GPS is like our ‘Phone a friend’ and ‘a Friend in need’.
We took a battery-operated tempo to reach west gate of Taj Mahal from Car Park which was about 800 metres away. Only battery operated vehicles or cycle rickshaw or camel carts or tongas were allowed to reach Taj Mahal, as these are pollution free. There were many guides who surrounded us at the Car Park place, but we avoided them and took battery operated vehicle. The driver of the vehicle advised us to avoid the guides and then started telling us that he was on salary by the Govt. and the amount that he gets from visitors goes to govt. He wanted us to visit a museum where shawls (special type – which could go through a ring) and said that Taj Mahal would be opening only at 10:35 a.m. as it is closed from 9:45 to 10:35 a.m. He was forcing us to buy from museum so that he may get his commission from them. We proceeded to the main gate of Taj which was open. Actually the timings for Taj Mahal is 6:30 am to 6:30 pm. On Fridays it is closed.
Anupam saw the number of batteries in the vehicle and how they are fixed etc. This was the area in which he has lots of interest. His Engineer mind was at work. When we were entering Taj Mahal, Anupam was told not to carry camera tripod stand and torches. So, he had to go back and deposit camera stand and torches in locker. We took a guide. It is always good to avoid the guides etc. flocking around when you reach such a place of interest, and to reach near the main gate to get proper guide at proper rate.
The experience at Taj, the narration by guide and the feeling that we were at Taj Mahal, the symbol of love, gave very great feeling.
Shahjahan built Taj Mahal in fond memory of his beloved wife Mumtaj Mahal. She had died in Burhanpur, now in Maharashtra. Her tomb is still there in Burhanpur known as ‘Biwi ka maqbara’. . Taj Mahal was built by about 20,000 workers. The construction started in 1633. It took 22 years to complete the construction. The cost was Rs. 4 crores at that time. There are 11 domes on the main gate in the front and 11 domes at the back side of the dome, denoting 22 years of construction. The chief architect was Mohd. Iliyas from Persia and there was one more architect Mohd. Ismail from Jaipur. The designs for flowers, mural etc. were taken from onion, star, Kohinoor diamond cuttings, candle, Honey comb (chhatta). The stones for decoration came from Persia, Yemen, Arabia, Makrana and Bundelkhand. The stones were taken up by making ramp and camels were used to carry stones. The four sides of the Taj Mahal are symmetrical. If you look from any side Taj Mahal will look same. There are four Minars on the four sides of Taj Mahal building. The minars are not in the same line and front ones are little wider than the minars on the rear side. Incase of any earthquake or any other calamity, the minars would fall on outer side and not on the main building. There are stairs inside the minars. The whole Taj Mahal is made of ‘Sangamarmar’ i.e. white marble. Despite 355 years of its existence, the marbles have not diminished in their colour and looks. The guide told us that after the Mathura Refinery started, the Taj Mahal has started becoming little yellowish.
The carvings, flowers and ‘Jaalis’ are all made of one stone. The stones were cut by the workers and that was lot of artistic work. That is why it took almost 22 years to complete the construction .The flowers were made so artistically that you could see each vein in the leaf. Semi-precious stones brought from 16 different countries were inlaid in to the marble. Semi-precious stones of red, green, blue orange colour stones are used. These are the stones the king used to give to Mumtaz mahal, so he got the same fixed in Taj Mahal. Single vein in the flower would also be visible. The artistry is so good. It took about 20 days to make one flower. They have to be polished also.
When the light falls on the semi-precious stones, they glow from inside. With the help of torch the guide showed the effect of light. The effect looked very good. It would be nice idea to visit Taj Mahal on ‘full moon day’ so that one can see these stones and flowers glowing under full moon.
The marbles are all pasted not with the help of cement, but with the help of paste made with Moong dal, Arhar dal and lime. This adhesive has stood the test of time.
The main gate of the Taj Mahal has first ‘aayat’ from Quran, which was followed by second ‘aayat’ on the back side and continued on to the Taj building. The ‘aayaten’ were written in such a way that they could be read as they appear of the same font. Actually, while writing ‘aayaten’ they were written in smaller font at the bottom and as they went up the font size increased gradually. That is a very good calligraphy.
There are many strategic points once you enter the gate to take good photos of Taj Mahal. We took lots of photos. It was quite hot by the time we reached the main Taj Mahal building. However, the White marble gave such a cooling effect that it was easy to walk. On entering the building the guide showed us two tombs. There are two more tombs just below these two tombs, which have the ashes of Shahjahan and Mumtaj Mahal. The ones in the basement are original ones and above them two are made to ensure that people do not walk over the tombs. The tomb of Mumtaj was placed exactly in the centre of building. The tomb of Shahjahan was later placed on left side after Shahjahan died. The guide showed us many stones with the light from torch. They were glowing in torch light. He said that on Full moon day, the outer walls of Taj Mahal would shine because all the stones on Taj Mahal would shine and that is something to cherish life long.
The main gate of the Taj Mahal, main entrance of the building and the Tomb of Mumtaz Mahal are on in one line. These all have been made in such a symmetry that one could see outside from near the tomb. Masjid and Guest house are constructed on both sides of the Taj Mahal. Both are having same design. There are two more ‘makbaras’ constructed for two other queens of Shahjahan.
The hands of the main two architects were cut by Shahjahan so that they would not make any other building subsequently.
The guide told us that Shahjahan was arrested by his son Aurangzeb after construction of Taj Mahal. Actually Shahjahan started construction of a black building just opposite the main building across Yamuna river. Aurangzeb thought that if his father continues with his passion of making such buildings, they would be pauper, so he arrested his father and kept him in Agra Fort in a room from where he could see Taj mahal. Just before his death, Shahjahan told his son that the workers who built Taj Mahal have damaged their hands due to construction work, so they should be paid handsomely so that they can start some business. Further, he wanted that his dome be placed next to the tomb of his wife Mumtaj Mahal.
On the rear side of the Taj Mahal flows Yamuna river. The river was flowing above danger mark as there was lot of water released inYamuna river from Hathini dam in Haryana. We had our lunch outside Taj Mahal i.e. in Taj Restaurant run by ITDC. The food was good.
From there we left for Allahabad. About 72 kms. before Kanpur, we took NH 2A which took us from Sikandra to a place near Bindki before Fatehpur. This route saved about 40 kms. compared to the normal route by NH2 through Kanpur and then reaching Allahabad. However NH2A was not as good as we were informed. It was good, but at some places the road was in very bad shape. Further at Bhognipur where it meets NH 25 from Jhansi to Kanpur, the road was extremely bad and there was traffic jam with lots and lots of lorries. It took us more than one hour to cross Bhognipur. Once we crossed this junction, the road was O.K. till we reached near Bindki. About 10 kms. before Bindki, the road was so bad that it was nightmare to drive. There is a bridge being constructed and the road is awfully bad.
Just after we left Bhognipur, two policemen stopped us. They enquired about us and where we are going and then demanded entry fees of Rs 520/- (a strange figure). We told them why we should give them. They said that we have not used seat belts. We showed that both the person in front seats had the belts on. Then they wanted us to get down and meet their boss. We were afraid to get down from the vehicle. We paid them Rs. 100/- They did not accept. At that time one truck driver of vehicle coming from opposite direction advised us that we should not give him more than Rs. 5/- to him. We realized that this was hoax. However, after negotiations, we gave them Rs. 300/- to avoid getting into difficult situation and started our onwards journey. This is horrible. They were in police uniform and were having rifles.
We reached Allahabad and the place where we left bypass till Allahabad city (say about 20 kms.), it was unimaginably bad road. At one place we thought our Swift would not be in a position to cross the uneven place. We parked our car on one side and were seeing other vehicles pass by and also getting idea as to how do we proceed? To our good luck, one very heavy truck arrived and he took special care to go through a strip in the uneven place so that it had levelled the road a bit and it became possible for us to pass over. We all thanked the God sent help and the driver of the lorry who had the wisdom to make way for us. God help him.
We reached Allahabad at about 11 p.m. and it took almost one hour to check in Hotel Saket at Civil Lines. We stayed there. We took sandwiches for dinner. The hotel was good.
Day 11: Manali to Bilaspur
It was a day of Pleasant surprises!
The first thing we saw in the morning was a river just in front of our rooms. We could not realize at night that the river was so near. We were actually very interested to take another hotel because the river was at its back, but the rooms were not at the same level and the rooms were very costly. So, it was a pleasant surprise. We could also see ‘Hemath peak’ far away in the mountains, may be third layer of mountains, and that was snow clad.
The river was in full spate. The water was brownish, although we saw clear water in the river earlier day while coming from Kullu. Actually, it had rained heavily whole night from 11 p.m. and the town had experienced landslides and road closure. We were informed by the Reception that Rohtang Pass road is closed. We rang the driver of Sumo hired for going to Rohtang Pass and he also said that the roads are closed and it is not possible to go anywhere. So, we cancelled the programme to go to Rohtang pass, Solang Valley and other places. We had no option but to stay in hotel and take hot tea and enjoy Carrom game in the lobby, which we did. It so happened that the elders were very relaxed and the youngsters were tense as there was not way to go ahead or return back.
Anupam and Aditi went out to enquire about the possibility of going for sightseeing or at least return towards Kullu. There was landslide just 800 metres towards city and the entry to city was also blocked. So, they returned to hotel. On the way they enquired from the vehicles coming from Kullu side. They were told that the road is clear now, although it was closed in the morning. They also enquired from a taxi driver near to the hotel and he said that we should not go as the road is not clear and landslide can occur any time. We soon realized that the taxi driver was speaking so that hotel will gain from our stay for one more day. We then contacted Kullu tourism by phone. They said that roads are O.K. and if the road is closed, it was start after sometime as this is NH and cannot be kept closed for long time.
We decided to take the advice of the Kullu tourism and got our lunch packed. We took 20 paranthas so that even if we get delayed, we will have sufficient food till night. We also kept enough water bottles. By about noon, we started from Manali.
The drive was very cautious. The river running along with the road was overflowing and looked dangerous. At some points the river water was coming on the road. We saw landslides many places on the way. It was common in mountains that landslides occur, specially when it rains heavily. Earlier day we saw small and thin streams of water at places, but today they all became very good water falls. At one such water falls, which looked very good, we stopped and took photographs. We reached Kullu by about 3 pm so we decided to go further to Bilaspur so that it will be convenient next day. We could manage only about 30 kms. in 2-1/2 hours as we had to stop many places to allow traffic from other side and allow boulders to be removed.
We reached Bilaspur before it was dark. We took time to search hotel and stayed in Sagar View Hotel. This hotel was just before Bilaspur and we had to come back as the hotels in Bilaspur were not good.
The hotels in Bilaspur, or many places in hilly areas start at road level and then go down. Our room was in Basement, i.e. road level minus one floor. There were more floors below. When we entered the rooms and opened the door leading to balcony, we realized that there was a lake at the rear side of the hotel. It was a big lake named ‘Govind Sagar’.
One of the rooms occupied by Anupam and Aditi was having bad smell, so they changed the room. The next room they got the door got jammed while latching it and it was difficult to open. They sang the son “hum tum ek kamre mein band hon aur chhabi kho jaaye”. They had to call bell boys as both mummys also could not open from outside. We had dinner with us and we took it in the same room. We soon found that we were all stuck in the room. We had to call the hotel boy, so we asked for water bottles. The boy came and opened the room from outside. Then Anupam and Aditi found that if door is only bolted from latch in the middle and if not bolted from the latch at the top also, the door will not get stuck. So, they slept bolting only with middle latch and could open the door next day morning.
We decided to leave early morning by about 5:30a.m., so that we could reach Delhi or if possible Agra by night.
The first thing we saw in the morning was a river just in front of our rooms. We could not realize at night that the river was so near. We were actually very interested to take another hotel because the river was at its back, but the rooms were not at the same level and the rooms were very costly. So, it was a pleasant surprise. We could also see ‘Hemath peak’ far away in the mountains, may be third layer of mountains, and that was snow clad.
The river was in full spate. The water was brownish, although we saw clear water in the river earlier day while coming from Kullu. Actually, it had rained heavily whole night from 11 p.m. and the town had experienced landslides and road closure. We were informed by the Reception that Rohtang Pass road is closed. We rang the driver of Sumo hired for going to Rohtang Pass and he also said that the roads are closed and it is not possible to go anywhere. So, we cancelled the programme to go to Rohtang pass, Solang Valley and other places. We had no option but to stay in hotel and take hot tea and enjoy Carrom game in the lobby, which we did. It so happened that the elders were very relaxed and the youngsters were tense as there was not way to go ahead or return back.
Anupam and Aditi went out to enquire about the possibility of going for sightseeing or at least return towards Kullu. There was landslide just 800 metres towards city and the entry to city was also blocked. So, they returned to hotel. On the way they enquired from the vehicles coming from Kullu side. They were told that the road is clear now, although it was closed in the morning. They also enquired from a taxi driver near to the hotel and he said that we should not go as the road is not clear and landslide can occur any time. We soon realized that the taxi driver was speaking so that hotel will gain from our stay for one more day. We then contacted Kullu tourism by phone. They said that roads are O.K. and if the road is closed, it was start after sometime as this is NH and cannot be kept closed for long time.
We decided to take the advice of the Kullu tourism and got our lunch packed. We took 20 paranthas so that even if we get delayed, we will have sufficient food till night. We also kept enough water bottles. By about noon, we started from Manali.
The drive was very cautious. The river running along with the road was overflowing and looked dangerous. At some points the river water was coming on the road. We saw landslides many places on the way. It was common in mountains that landslides occur, specially when it rains heavily. Earlier day we saw small and thin streams of water at places, but today they all became very good water falls. At one such water falls, which looked very good, we stopped and took photographs. We reached Kullu by about 3 pm so we decided to go further to Bilaspur so that it will be convenient next day. We could manage only about 30 kms. in 2-1/2 hours as we had to stop many places to allow traffic from other side and allow boulders to be removed.
We reached Bilaspur before it was dark. We took time to search hotel and stayed in Sagar View Hotel. This hotel was just before Bilaspur and we had to come back as the hotels in Bilaspur were not good.
The hotels in Bilaspur, or many places in hilly areas start at road level and then go down. Our room was in Basement, i.e. road level minus one floor. There were more floors below. When we entered the rooms and opened the door leading to balcony, we realized that there was a lake at the rear side of the hotel. It was a big lake named ‘Govind Sagar’.
One of the rooms occupied by Anupam and Aditi was having bad smell, so they changed the room. The next room they got the door got jammed while latching it and it was difficult to open. They sang the son “hum tum ek kamre mein band hon aur chhabi kho jaaye”. They had to call bell boys as both mummys also could not open from outside. We had dinner with us and we took it in the same room. We soon found that we were all stuck in the room. We had to call the hotel boy, so we asked for water bottles. The boy came and opened the room from outside. Then Anupam and Aditi found that if door is only bolted from latch in the middle and if not bolted from the latch at the top also, the door will not get stuck. So, they slept bolting only with middle latch and could open the door next day morning.
We decided to leave early morning by about 5:30a.m., so that we could reach Delhi or if possible Agra by night.
Day 12: Bilaspur to Mathura
We started early morning at 5:30 a.m. so that we could reach Agra or at least Delhi. We saw the lake on the rear side of our rooms. It was a very big lake. The lake looked like a sea, and that is why it is called ‘Govind Sagar’. It was very pleasant to take photographs of the lake from our rooms.
We took NH 21. We saw that there were water pools many places and where ever there was water, there were clouds above. We took the route Bilaspur – Swarghat – Roopnagar – Kharar – Bannur – Rajpura. We were traveling very slow till noon and could travel only about 50 kms. We were coming down the hill and there was lot of lorry traffic from Shimla and Manali side. In Punjab we saw Sutlaj river overflowing. The water was brown in colour. We took breakfast at Ropar. It was Bread, Omelette and Chicken tikka.
We decided to enquire at Rajpura about the route to be taken further from Bus or Lorry drivers coming from Delhi side. We had heard on TV, and from people, that near Ambala, Yamuna river is overflowing and Ambala is water logged. The water was released from Hathinipur Barrage near Ambala in Yamuna and at Delhi Yamuna river was flowing above danger mark.
We reached Rajpura and enquired from Lorry drivers coming from Delhi side. They said that there is no water of NH 1 and it is safe to go to Delhi. He even said that you can go to Dhaula kuan and then take ring road and reach Faridabad and go to Agra. He said that there is no problem at all. Taking his words, we decided to go on NH 1 via Ambala – Karnal – Panipat – Delhi.
The road was very, very good and there was no water any where. We decided to take quick lunch so that we could reach Delhi before the evening office rush hours. We saw McDonald at Karnal having Drive in facility. We Veg. Burgers and one Maharaja Burger.
We took advice from Mamaji to know the route to be taken in Delhi to avoid the peak office time rush. He advised us to take Azadpur bye pass and reach ISBT, then proceed to Red Fort (back side), Rajghat, ITO, Ashram and then Mathura Road to reach Faridabad. We were at ISBT at about 4:15 p.m. and then took the route to Faridabad as advised by mamaji.
We saw the Commonwealth Games stadiums which looks magnificent. We saw many red Volvo buses (may be 200 or more) parked in one compound. These are to be used in CWG. There was separate bus lane for CWG participants. We were impressed by the arrangements for CWG. Yamuna was overflowing. However, there was no water on any road. We could cross Delhi and reach near Faridabad by 5:15 p.m.
There was lot of traffic in Faridabad. It took one hour to cross Faridabad. NH 2 had started from Delhi.
We took advice from Prabhat bhaisahab as to where we should stay in Agra. He advised us to visit Vrindavan and have darshan at Vrindavan temple today and stay there. The temple would be open till 9:30 p.m.
We stopped at Palval and took tea and Pakora (Paneer as well as Aloo – Pyaz pakoras.) We got the Pakoras packed and we ate them as soon as the car started. It was really very hot and delicious.
We talked to Sarita jiji and Jijaji after we decided to visit Vrindavan temple. They visit the temple regularly. They tried to book Jaipuria lodge for us, but it was full as next day was very important day i.e. ‘Radha asthmi’. The temple at Vrindavan is about 6 kms. from NH2. When you turn from NH, there is a temple of Vaishnaudevi which has a very big ‘moorti’. We saw Iskon temple from outside. We were getting late for Vrindavan temple so we did not stop anywhere else.
We got very good darshan at Vrindavan. We then proceed to Mathura as there was lot of rush at Vrindavan due to ‘Radha asthmi’ next day. At Mathura, we stayed in ‘Hotel Madhuban’. The hotel is good and the food was also good. We took Friend rice and Curd for dinner.
We took NH 21. We saw that there were water pools many places and where ever there was water, there were clouds above. We took the route Bilaspur – Swarghat – Roopnagar – Kharar – Bannur – Rajpura. We were traveling very slow till noon and could travel only about 50 kms. We were coming down the hill and there was lot of lorry traffic from Shimla and Manali side. In Punjab we saw Sutlaj river overflowing. The water was brown in colour. We took breakfast at Ropar. It was Bread, Omelette and Chicken tikka.
We decided to enquire at Rajpura about the route to be taken further from Bus or Lorry drivers coming from Delhi side. We had heard on TV, and from people, that near Ambala, Yamuna river is overflowing and Ambala is water logged. The water was released from Hathinipur Barrage near Ambala in Yamuna and at Delhi Yamuna river was flowing above danger mark.
We reached Rajpura and enquired from Lorry drivers coming from Delhi side. They said that there is no water of NH 1 and it is safe to go to Delhi. He even said that you can go to Dhaula kuan and then take ring road and reach Faridabad and go to Agra. He said that there is no problem at all. Taking his words, we decided to go on NH 1 via Ambala – Karnal – Panipat – Delhi.
The road was very, very good and there was no water any where. We decided to take quick lunch so that we could reach Delhi before the evening office rush hours. We saw McDonald at Karnal having Drive in facility. We Veg. Burgers and one Maharaja Burger.
We took advice from Mamaji to know the route to be taken in Delhi to avoid the peak office time rush. He advised us to take Azadpur bye pass and reach ISBT, then proceed to Red Fort (back side), Rajghat, ITO, Ashram and then Mathura Road to reach Faridabad. We were at ISBT at about 4:15 p.m. and then took the route to Faridabad as advised by mamaji.
We saw the Commonwealth Games stadiums which looks magnificent. We saw many red Volvo buses (may be 200 or more) parked in one compound. These are to be used in CWG. There was separate bus lane for CWG participants. We were impressed by the arrangements for CWG. Yamuna was overflowing. However, there was no water on any road. We could cross Delhi and reach near Faridabad by 5:15 p.m.
There was lot of traffic in Faridabad. It took one hour to cross Faridabad. NH 2 had started from Delhi.
We took advice from Prabhat bhaisahab as to where we should stay in Agra. He advised us to visit Vrindavan and have darshan at Vrindavan temple today and stay there. The temple would be open till 9:30 p.m.
We stopped at Palval and took tea and Pakora (Paneer as well as Aloo – Pyaz pakoras.) We got the Pakoras packed and we ate them as soon as the car started. It was really very hot and delicious.
We talked to Sarita jiji and Jijaji after we decided to visit Vrindavan temple. They visit the temple regularly. They tried to book Jaipuria lodge for us, but it was full as next day was very important day i.e. ‘Radha asthmi’. The temple at Vrindavan is about 6 kms. from NH2. When you turn from NH, there is a temple of Vaishnaudevi which has a very big ‘moorti’. We saw Iskon temple from outside. We were getting late for Vrindavan temple so we did not stop anywhere else.
We got very good darshan at Vrindavan. We then proceed to Mathura as there was lot of rush at Vrindavan due to ‘Radha asthmi’ next day. At Mathura, we stayed in ‘Hotel Madhuban’. The hotel is good and the food was also good. We took Friend rice and Curd for dinner.
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