[RaghuChn]

Hello Friends,
Here I start with a commitment to come up with a travelogue on my road trip that I am planning in the first week of Oct '21.

THE PLAN

I have been wanting to drive to Badrinath - a place I haven't visited since 2007. Got a window of 12 days in the first week of Oct and have started putting pen to the paper. Here is my initial route planning -

1. Pune to Indore (603 Km): Start early @ 5 AM from home (Pune) and halt overnight in Indore
2. Indore to Agra (618 Km): Start early again @ 5 AM from Indore and halt overnight in Agra
3. Agra to Rishikesh (411 Km): Start very early @ 4 AM from Agra and reach Rishikesh by 11 AM; Lunch & pit-stop @ Rishikesh
4. Rishikesh to Srinagar, Uttarakhand (101 Km): Start by around 1 PM from Rishikesh and reach Srinagar by 6 PM; halt overnight @ Srinagar
5. Srinagar to Joshimath (218 Km) : Start from Srinagar @ 6 AM and reach Joshimath by 4 PM, with some stops for food for self & the camera . Halt overnight @ Joshimath
6. Joshimath to Badrinath (43 Km) : Start from Joshimath at 8 or 9 AM (depending on the gate timings) and reach Badrinath; Darshan in the evening & night halt; Darshan again next morning, and some light-weight treks through the day to Mana etc.
7. Badrinath to Joshimath (43 Km) : Start from Badrinath late afternoon (3 PM or so), and reach Joshimath by 5 or 6 PM for a night halt
8. Joshimath to Haridwar (274 Km) : Start early from Joshimath (6 AM) and reach Haridwar by 4 or 5 PM (breaks enroute for food and photography); night halt @ Haridwar
9. Haridwar to Ajmer (610 Km) : Start very early from Haridwar @ 4 AM and reach Ajmer by 2 PM; night halt @ Ajmer after Pushkar darshan in the evening
10. Ajmer to Ahmedadabad (544 Km) : Start early from Ajmer @ 4 AM and reach Ahmedabad just past lunch time. Visiting a cousin here; stay overnight and leave for Pune next day
11. Ahmedabad to Pune either via Mumbai or Nashik - keeping it fluid to decide after reaching Ahmedabad.

Request all your valuable inputs / comments. Sure enough, this sounds like a trip of my life time, on the paper. Any guidance around practical aspects I have to plan for on these routes, will be of immense help. Like I said, once I get back, I will put together a detailed travelogue, in continuation to this thread.

The constants that will help you visualize this trip :
a) This will be a solo trip. I plan to drive alone (although I will have Kishore Kumar, Md. Rafi and Lata Mangeshkar for company )
b) The Machine - Hyundai Verna 1.6D (2017) with 85,200 Km on the odo, drives on shoes that are 16,000 Km experienced. No niggles - maintained perfectly
c) I am a pure vegetarian, all days of the week / month / year
d) Would have spent 16 days post my 2nd jab of Covishield, when I start from Pune.

[Red Liner]

Please do reconfirm if Badrinath is open. Last i checked nobody is allowed beyond joshimath unless you have permissions from local authorities as well as proof of address inside Badrinath.

Temple is confirmed shut for any form of darshan. You can only stand well outside the temple.

Taptkund is shut as well and drained of all water.

[Shreyans_Jain]

Badrinath is currently closed for outsiders. You will be allowed in the town only upon showing an Uttarakhand ID. This applies to all 4 dhams. I will suggest that you go to Chopta instead of Badrinath. It is a most beautiful hamlet not far from Kedarnath. You can trek to the Tungnath temple and also see Deoria Tal and Chandrashilla peak.

[RaghuChn]

I did check with the hotel guys while booking the stay - yes, it is currently closed. But they said that it will be opened by 16-Sep - awaiting the official circular.
Thanks for the option - I will prepare to divert in the unfortunate event of Badrinath still remaining closed during my trip...

[Red Liner]

Originally Posted by RaghuChn

I did check with the hotel guys while booking the stay - yes, it is currently closed. But they said that it will be opened by 16-Sep - awaiting the official circular.
Thanks for the option - I will prepare to divert in the unfortunate event of Badrinath still remaining closed during my trip...

Yup, just make a plan B. If nothing, just the drive there is awesome. Identify other spots to visit in that general area.

Good luck!

[YD14]

Originally Posted by RaghuChn

Hello Friends,
Here I start with a commitment to come up with a travelogue on my road trip that I am planning in the first week of Oct '21.

Look out for rain. There are many landslides happening on the newly build Char Dham Mahamarg.

https://www.jagran.com/uttarakhand/d...-21964732.html

https://www.indiatoday.in/india/stor...223-2021-09-10

https://www.timesnownews.com/india/a...g-watch/809086

Just some examples from 11 days of September. By the last two weeks of October, the situation does get a little better. But the weather forecast for the end of September and the first week of October doesn't look good right now.

Here is something I wrote in another thread.

Once a team of inspectors had come to the college my father teaches in. When they were returning a landslides had occurred on the Devprayag-Rishikesh section. After hours of wait, the drivers (yup, college had to hire two Innovas for six people) decided to take the alternate route of Devprayag-Gaja-Narendra Nagar-Rishikesh as the officials had a flight to catch that day. Turned out that another landslide had occurred near Devprayag after they crossed it. They returned to the landslide site near Rishikesh and waited for it to clear with no food or water for hours. It took them almost 10 hours to reach Rishikesh that day and they obviously missed their flight.

My advice, avoid the trip to the hills during the monsoon. Especially this year because of the freshly cut mountains. The monsoon is delayed this year and is expected to go well into October. Smaller landslides do get cleared within hours but waiting for that is not easy either. I have been stranded for 4 hours due to a landslide once and these are the challenges I faced:

1. Drinking water: Never thought this will be the biggest problem I will face.
2. A place to urinate: When so many people are waiting at one place, you can forget about privacy when trying to removing unwanted water from your body. Ladies have it even worse.
3. No mobile network: Although the network availability has improved considerably over the years, there are still many places where the network reception is very poor.
4. Keeping my calm: You have been waiting in line for hours but a bunch of idiots simply cut the line, go ahead and then to let traffic flow people in line have to give way to them. There is nothing more frustrating than that, believe me.

If you do decide to go ahead with the trip, keep checking the weather and ask around about the condition of the road you are going to travel on each day. Be prepared to abort the trip in the middle and return back. Don't take alternatives suggested by locals unless you are completely sure about it. Some of those can be narrow enough that two buses can't pass each other and they can have landslides too. Always have enough water and some quick snacks with yourself. Also, plan your fuel stops well and don't let the tank go below the 1/4 mark.

[RaghuChn]

Thanks a ton BHPians, for your responses / guidance ! Here is an update on my trip -

The Hon. High Court has opened the 4-Dham yatra; which means, Badrinath is now open to visitors, with some very strict guidelines. Got this information, from a good friend who is a travel agent.



There's a limitation of a total of 1200 people visiting Badrinath during what remains of this season; negative RT-PCR report mandatory; plus, no holy dips allowed. Those, to me, are too constraining for a holy trip. So, I changed my plan.
THE DRIVE TO THE HIMALAYAS IS STILL ON

Whole-hearted thanks to Distinguished - BHPian Shreyans_Jain for the alternate idea!!

Here is what I have now planned -
Pune > Indore > Agra > Rishikesh > Chopta > Haridwar > Jaipur > Udaipur > Daman > Pune



Each of these places (except Haridwar) is a night halt (Chopta - 3 nights and Udaipur - 2 nights). Starting from Pune on 1-Oct early, and plan to be back home on 11-Oct late night ! I'll have a friend joining me. Will compile a detailed travelogue on return.

Query -
My car's battery is ~4 years old - still going strong though. But I know for a fact that it is past its prime life and it could give-up anytime, without warning. Any suggestions on what kind of back-ups I should be ready with? I have evaluated buying a jump-starter, but that almost costs as much as a new battery. Did not make sense to me - but invite suggestions around that option too. Thanks !

[Shreyans_Jain]

Yes Badrinath is now open. You can visit, subject to getting online pass. Roads are in top shape most of the way now, pretty sure your car won’t be a problem. Do be prepared for the cold though, it will be pretty chilly up there. There is plenty of traffic and many small towns on this route, so help is never far in case anything goes wrong.

[Red Liner]

Originally Posted by RaghuChn

Query -
My car's battery is ~4 years old - still going strong though. But I know for a fact that it is past its prime life and it could give-up anytime, without warning. Any suggestions on what kind of back-ups I should be ready with? I have evaluated buying a jump-starter, but that almost costs as much as a new battery. Did not make sense to me - but invite suggestions around that option too. Thanks !

Please install a new Amaron battery. Old batteries in cold conditions are a problem of when and not if. 4 years is average for the life of a car battery.

[dsnaveen21]

Originally Posted by RaghuChn

! I'll have a friend joining me. Will compile a detailed travelogue on return.

Hi, Did you complete the trip, how are the road conditions, myself planning to do Chardham in May 2022, Thanks,

[unoczar]

Can someone let me know current road conditions from Pune to Ajmer? What route to take also will be helpful.