Drive to Shirdi

On 18th January 2007, I was online as usual chatting with my friends and surfing the net. Weekend was around the corner. My friend Amitesh suggested that we'll undertake a quick trip to Shirdi to seek blessings from Babaji. As always, I was ever ready and we decided to go ahead with the plan. Unlike other trips, we thought of trying out something different this time.

Why not take the car and drive the distance of 258kms (to be precise) from Mumbai to Shirdi ourselves. Not a bad idea for a quick getaway, isn't it??

Next day morning, our plan was to leave Mumbai by 1 pm. We then became conscious about the fact that we did not have a camera to capture all that was going to happen on the way. After borrowing the camera from Rahul, our friend, it was time to leave. We left Mumbai at 3pm. The 2 hour delay was mainly because of our late realization about the camera and traffic snarls.

At Rahul's place(Thanks for the camera).

The car we drove was Hyundai Getz and luckily the petrol tank was full (thanks to my Dad). I decided to get behind the wheels at the start. We reached Thane by 4 pm and then entered NH-3 on which we drove till Nashik. This Highway connects Mumbai and Agra.

Once we left Thane, I stepped on the accelerator and were cruising at good speed.
There were a few incidents during the drive which shook us up resulting in increased adrenaline levels.

First one being the speed breakers. God knows why on earth there are speed breakers on the highway. Fine, let there be speed breakers, it's not a big issue.....but what really surprised us was the fact that there were no boards which gave any kinda hint about the speed breakers ahead. Moreover the speed breakers were not even painted. We hit the speed breakers really hard and I have no doubts in my mind that our car flew for a few seconds. After covering a few kms, there was another one. This time we flew even higher :) Good God, we were safe.

The second heart trembling incident that took place was near Nashik. We were enjoying the drive and listening to songs .Suddenly from no where a truck driver started poking his nose from the side as he wanted to get on the highway. We were at reasonably good speed and it was difficult for us to stop and let him go. We gave him the indication that we will be going first. But that fellow was not bothered at all and drove in, blocking our way. Luckily, the brakes were powerful enough to halt our car.

We then continued driving. Gradually, the trees and hills gave way to buildings and traffic signals. We had entered Nashik. We took a right turn leaving NH-3 behind. The time was 7 pm and we had travelled 170 kms at a trot.
We therefore took a break in the outskirts of Nashik. We human beings just think about ourselves, what about the machine? Even the car needed rest and our 45 min break cooled down the engine to some extent.

After refilling ourselves, we got inside the car. This time Amitesh sat on the driver’s seat to cover the remaining 90 kms. The sun had set and the drive became somewhat dangerous as the headlight glare of the oncoming vehicles created a blinding effect. Amitesh drove cautiously and we reached Shirdi at 9:30 pm. We stayed at hotel Abhishek close to the Temple.

km reading after reaching Shirdi.

Next day morning, we got up at 5. We got good Darshan of Shirdi Sai Baba after waiting for an hour in queue. We also visited Dwarka mai and other temples in the Temple premises. By the time we came out it was 9:30am and we quickly gave a call to Shikha and Divya(and 2 more frds) as they too had come for Darshan. They had taken an overnight bus from Mumbai.

At Shirdi.

We decided to meet them and we had to be quick as their bus back to Mumbai was at 10 am. Luckily we got to see them. Myself and Amitesh made a note of the bus number and decided to follow the bus and take a break wherever the bus would stop for lunch. By doing so, we thought we could have lunch with our friends. It wasn’t a bad idea. So the chase began.

The bus we followed.

Amitesh resumed his drive and started following the bus. He drove well and we were just behind the bus all the time until we reached Nashik. We were caught in signals and the bus disappeared. We informed our friends that we lost track of the bus and are now heading towards Mumbai. Our plan failed :(

Quick change of drivers and the drive continued. It was 2 pm now and we stopped for lunch at Baba da Dhaba just after crossing the Kasara ghat.

After a sumptuous lunch, Amitesh again took charge of the wheel and I started clicking photographs.

After driving for an hour and a half, we again changed seats for the last time and the last leg of our drive began.

It was 4 pm and I started driving quickly as I wanted to avoid the traffic in Mumbai that slowly builds up in the evening. At the same time, I also knew that I had to hand over the key (and the car) safely to my dad :)

I dropped Amitesh at Nerul on my way to Andheri. The petrol tank was almost empty, but I knew that there was enough petrol to take me to Andheri. Reached Andheri at 5:30 pm. That was the end of our short and sweet trip.

Total distance covered- 561 kms.
Total driving time -13 hours. Mumbai-Shirdi-Mumbai
Average speed-43 kms/hour.
Total trip time-26 hours.

Don’t drink and drive :)

North India Trip

It was the last month of the year 2006 .I was a free bird sitting at home after finishing my exams wondering how am I going to spend my vacation now. Normally I initiate a trip and persuade my parents to go out and spend some quality time away from all the clutter. But this time it was my dad who wanted to go out and the destination was the holy shrine of Shri Mata VaishnoDevi in Jammu and Kashmir. That's how it all started and we were 10 of us who headed straight to Delhi on 21st December.We stayed in Delhi for 2 days.

On 23rd December early in the morning at 6 we loaded our luggage on the car . It was a foggy morning as always during this time of the year in Delhi. Destination Katra about 650 kms.

We hit the road and we were travelling on national highway no. 1. At around 12 in the afternoon we entered Punjab. We saw some lovely oranges on the way. We just couldn't resist and we had some refreshing orange juice and much needed break.

We then continued with our journey and reached Katra at 11:30 pm. It was a tiresome day after being inside the vehicle for 18hrs. The search for a hotel began and half an hour later we jumped on our beds. Next day i.e. 24th December we started off with our walk of 14 kms. It was 9 am and we were 2 hrs behind schedule right from the start itself :) The path laid for the pilgrims to walk is great and that made our walk a lot easier. We came across some amazing rock formations enroute to the shrine.

We reached the top at around 5:30 in the evening and had good Darshan.
View of the shrine around 1.5 km from this spot.

The temperature started to take a plunge and it was time to head back. The descent was more tough as it was cold and our legs found it difficult to take our body weight. We reached Katra at 3 am after having covered 28 kms.

Got up late on 25th and it was time to say good bye to Katra , Srinagar being our next destination. Enroute to Srinagar we thought of exploring Patnitop for an hour. But the locals in Patnitop warned us from going ahead as the sky changed colours and the weather started getting a lot cooler. They said ,it might start snowing. We therefore decided to stay in Patnitop.

Next morning, the weather had worsened further. Even the mountain tops changed colours to white. It was an awesome sight. We then drove to Natha top. It was snowing there and we got to experience this phenomena which is very rare for mumbaites.

After some snow fight we decided to take the risk and headed to Srinagar. Unfortunately, the highway was blocked due to landslide near Panthal. We could clearly see small rocks falling on the road. We waited for an hour hoping that the highway will be re-opened but in vain.

We were not destined to see Srinagar. U turn and now the destination- J&K's winter capital, Jammu. We reached the city in the evening with depressed faces.

27th December, new day and new spirit. It was time to explore the city of Jammu. After some shopping we made a visit to the city's two most important temples. We then proceeded to Bagh-e-bahu. A garden which is quite identical to Brindavan garden in Mysore.

We left Jammu at around 3 in the afternoon and our new plan now took us to Dalhousie. But we decided to stop in Pathankot as night drive in the hills was dangerous. Next day in the morning, Pathankot was fogged out and after arranging our bags on the luggage carrier we hit the road again to cover the remaining 80 kms.

Dalhousie welcomed us at 11 am .We were told that a lot of snow has been accumulated in Dalhousie and so the plan was simple...head to the snowy slopes. We found snow on both sides of the road as we drove up. It was time to have fun in the snow once again but it was quite slippery out there as snow had turned into ice.We went sliding down the ice which made our pants wet and cold :)

With numb hands and feet, we got inside our car and turned ON the heater. Even before we could regain normalcy, we reached Khajjiar. Khajjiar, around 20 kms from Dalhousie, is a beautiful meadow with a lake in the middle. It is often called mini Switzerland. After having lost calories by playing in the snow and ice, it was time to get them back. We had a gr8 feeling while having our lunch as we were sitting in front of magnificent vistas.

We were getting late and we had to leave Dalhousie before the sun went down. So myself and vivek quickly went around the lake and captured some funny pics with the horses. We also came across a classic house made of wood and trees planted in a straight line.

The clock struck 4 and we leave. We had to cross 3 ghats on our way to Dharmshala which is around 100kms from Dalhousie. It was a nightmarish drive as the road was horrifically narrow and the light got dimmer and dimmer every minute. Thankfully we made it and reached safely at 8 in the evening.

It was the 7th day of our trip i.e. 29th December. We could hardly remember the dates , every second day we lost track of the date. After all we were on a holiday!!

Early in the morning what we saw was truly spectacular.It was the Dhauladhar range which we couldn't see during our night drive. Dharmshala lies on a spur of the Dhauladhar range and commands majestic views of the mighty Dhauladhar ranges above and the Kangra Valley below.

The owner of our hotel drew a map indicating all the points to be covered in and around Dharmshala. We started off with our sightseeing by visiting Chamunda Temple and Jwalaji Temple in Jwalamukhi. These temples are quite far away from Dharmshala. After seeking blessings we left Jwalamukhi in the evening.

On our way back to Dharmshala we stopped for tea. It takes some time to prepare tea for 10 people:) Meanwhile, we laid down and relaxed waiting for the hot cups of tea to arrive.

We reached Dharmshala in the evening and became strollers. A leisure walk down the small streets of the hill station having delicious cakes was outta the world. Myself and Vivek were sharp to spot a cyber cafe and thats it.....an hour goes by :) Our religious day comes to an end.

Next day in the morning we went north to Mcleodganj. Mcleodganj is primarily a Tibetan area. We visited Saint John's Church, Bhagsu Nag Temple and Bhagsu falls, Namgyal Monastery( Dalai Lama Temple) and Dall lake. Hey w8...are we in Srinagar?? Nope, we aren't. There's a Dall lake in Mcleodganj as well.

Saint John's Church and a nice trek to Bhagsu falls.

Namgyal Monastery and Dall lake.

By noon we had finished all our points and the 200 km drive to Amritsar kicks off. Being a cricket enthusiast, it would be foolish not to visit the picturesque Dharmshala Cricket Stadium. So on our way we decided to catch a glimpse of the ground and it was indeed fabulous.

Back in the car, we reached Amritsar in the evening. We decided to take a hotel close to the Golden Temple so that we could walk it out. We quickly freshened up and made a visit to the Holy Golden Temple. Everything was so well organised. We were quite amazed to see the beautifully illuminated Golden Temple. The Kirtans in the background made the atmosphere extremely spiritual. After visiting the Temple we had food in the Langar Bhavan in the Temple premises. The fact that they serve food for so many people simultaneously is unbelievable. We were in the Temple for more than 2 hrs and it was an amazing experience.

It was the last time we woke up in 2006....yes the date was 31st December. We visited Jallianwala Bagh memorial and Durgiana Temple after having breakfast.

To see the splendor of the Golden Temple during the day time, we again visited the Temple. By the time we came out of the Temple it was 2pm. We then drove towards Pakistan.
What??
Yeah, towards Pakistan . We visited the Wagah border- the border between India and Pakistan which is around 30 kms from Amritsar. We took our seats and waited for the Parade to begin. As it was the last day of the year, there were thousands of people. Every person was pumped up including the soldiers from both sides. The parade began at 4:30 pm. After having lowered the flags, the gates on both sides were closed and that was it. We slowly walked back to the car park area.

It was 6 pm and our last drive began. We headed back to Delhi from wagah border. It was the end of our holiday and guess what.....it wasn't a pleasant drive back to Delhi. The drive was fear-provoking as fog engulfed the road and we could see nothing. Each and every vehicle on the road had all the lights ON in order to prevent any untoward incident.We were traversing the distance at snail's pace. We reached Ambala in Haryana at 11:45 pm and stopped for some refreshment. 15 mins to go for New Years. It was terribly cold. We placed the order and then a few minutes later the countdown began.....4...3...2...1...0....It was 1st January 2007.
We quickly had whatever we had ordered and back in the car to cover the remaining distance.We reached Delhi at 5 am. A successful and enjoyable trip comes to an end.

3 weeks later, here i am writing a blog and my first blog comes to an end :)