[SouraC]

The best part of being a Team-BHP member is to relieve a trip again while writing the Travelogue but every good thing comes with its own set of challenges. Coming back from a long trip means you have lot of pending work at office and on top of that you have the biggest challenge of selecting pictures and writing the TL.


As usual we have planned our Puja Trip well in advance, the Plan was to cover the Kashmir with Family and it was quite a necessity for few of us after completing the Ladakh trip last year without them.

My Part of the Ladakh story can be found in the below link:
Sailed through the high passes in Hatchbacks, SUVs & a Sedan - Our Ladakh chapter from Kolkata

But this time our trip faced an enormous challenge because many times, man proposes and God disposes. The unrest started in Kashmir and with time we started believing that we will loose our planned Puja trip. Still as we are bitten by the bug called 'Himalaya' and we are addicted to it. Hence there was a last attempt from Rana and Arindam to finalize something in Himalaya, this time Gods (Himalaya) smiled at us and blessed us with the tour of Himachal.

So, Now the Puja Kashmir trip gets converted to a Chal Chal Himachal Trip just around a month before the Start date.

A quick introduction to the team-

Team Thar
Mr.Avrendu Majumdar with his wife and kid. (Team Bhp Handle- avrendu)

Team Avventura
Mr Rana Adhikary with his wife and kid

Team Zest
Mr.Arindam Bandyopadhyay with his wife and kids (Team Bhp Handle- Arindamxeta)

Team Swift
Myself, Souradeep Chaudhuri with wife, kid and Aunt. (Team Bhp Handle- SouraC)




Due to our engagements and restrictions our trip itinerary was set in a manner so that we all meet at Chail, Himachal Pradesh on 8th of Oct with a flexible start time from Kolkata.
Rana and Arindam decided to start on 5th evening and Avrendu planned to start the journey on 5th Morning as he has to pick his family from Delhi Airport on 6th evening and spend a spare day at Kasauli.

I decided to include Agra and Kasauli before meeting the team on Chail, hence decided on starting from Kolkata on 4th evening.

My Planned itinerary:

4th Oct - Start by evening from Kolkata
5th Oct - Agra
6th Oct - Agra - Noida
7th Oct - Noida - Kasauli
8th Oct - Kasauli - Chail
9th Oct - Chail - Sarahan
10th Oct - Sarahan - Kalpa
11th Oct - Kalpa
12th Oct - Kalpa - Chitkul
13th Oct - Chitkul - Fagu
14th Oct - Fagu - Murthal
15th Oct - Murthal - Allahabad
16th Oct - Allahabad - Kolkata

Please find the map of our Himachal travel from Parwanoo (Himachal Foothills)




I have intentionally skipped the Kolkata – Delhi part because every details regarding the same can be found in the NH2 (Currently NH19) travel Bible by SS-Traveller, the link is given below:

Delhi-Kolkata by Road | NH2 in Full Detail


Few teaser pic from the trip-













Road of Himachal

Glimpse of the Shaded road of Himachal

[SouraC]

Day 1 Kolkata - Agra (1256km in 21 hrs)

Sometimes Journey starts with a twist, this time it was a positive one for me. On 3rd me and Avrendu discussed and decided to start together on 4th evening.

The Start of a long journey





As usual my target will be Agra by 5th afternoon where as Avrendu will target Kanpur.
Our overnight drive was sedate and non eventful and we crossed Varanasi by 6:30am. By 7:30 we decided to refresh ourselves in a Dhaba somewhere near Handia. After completing our breakfast we decided to drive at our own pace as I need to cover more distance by day end.


Avrendu checked into a Hotel in Kanpur by mid-day and I decided to skip Lunch and reach Agra as early as possible. Finally I reached Agra around 4:30pm and checked into the Hotel that I have booked earlier and it was very near to Taj.

The only job left for the day was to replenish the food deficit and retire for the day early as next day we need to Visit Taj early.

Day 2 Agra - Noida (198km in 3 hrs)

Covering all the monuments of Agra in a single day is impossible, hence comes the wish list and the first one in the list is mandatorily Taj. Taj Mahals Western gate was just stone throwing distance from our Hotel and we reached the ticket counter by 7:30 in the morning.
Even early morning sun in Agra can be unforgiving, but we were lucky as it was a bit cloudy in the morning and our Taj visit was pleasant enough.

Main Gate to Taj Mahal




The First View




The Customary Picture




Wah! Taj Boliye




Taj undergoing Facial with Multani Mitti




The Agra Fort beside Yamuna







The Writing on Taj







We returned to our hotel after adoring the beauty of Taj and it was just the time to have our breakfast. While having breakfast we decided to skip Fatehpur Sikri for this trip as time was scarce and we need to reach Noida by day end. So the obvious second choice for the wish list was Agra Fort.
Agra Fort was also quite near from our Hotel but not a walking distance this time. I will let the pictures do the storytelling.


The Gate of Agra Fort













View of Taj through Agra Fort Zafri




The Lost Craftmanship




Seesh Mahal of Mumtaz




The Confinement Place of Saha Jahan in Agra Fort




Diwan e Khas







Diwan e Aam




Moti Masjid inside Agra Fort




We returned to hotel around 1 pm and completed our lunch before the planned short drive of the day through the sleepy corridor (Yamuna Expressway).

The Sleepy Corridor

We checked in around 5:30pm in our Noida Hotel which was also booked. We planned to start around 7:30 am next day hence we had our early dinner and retired for the day.

[SouraC]

Day 3 Noida - Dharampur (308km in 7 hrs)

We started from Noida around 8am and crossed Delhi by next 50min. As per tradition you can’t cross Murthal without testing the “Aloo Paratha” so we stopped at “Amrik Sukhdev” and ordered for the usual with Lassi.
After completing our breakfast, I called Avrendu and planned a rolling meet as both of us has booked the same Hotel at Dharampur. The drive till Chandigarh was as usual but the real fun was driving on the Himalayan Expressway and as planned we met Avrendu on the way.

We reached Dharampur Just after Lunch time and decided to have it before checking in to the Hotel. The obvious choice to have food at Dharampur is Giani da Dhaba and we ordered our intake in no time.

Our Hotel was very near to the Dhaba but it is inside a pine forest. The only constraint is the parking is away from the hotel and you have to walk uphill a bit to reach your stay but it is not at all a strong reason to avoid this place.

While checking in we met Mr. Ravi, who is the owner of the place and he suggested us to go for a walk in the woods. It was a fantastic experience to wonder around in the woods and finding the Kalka Shimla train line nearby the Hotel. We spend a lot of time in the forest and our kids enjoyed the experience.

The Kalka Shimla Train Line







A Deserted House




The Pines







Dharampur at Night






Day 4 Dharampur – Kasauli - Chail (86km)


The attraction of getting a snap of the Kalka - Shimla train in the track was such profound that couple of us were forced to get up in the morning and waited for more than an hour to capture it. But Luck don’t smile always, we surely got something to click but it was Motor-Rail not the full train.

Bark of a Pine Tree !





The Train approaching




A Suicidal Butterfly




The Motor-Rail




After completing our Breakfast we were ready to start for our Kasauli Day trip and I received a call from Rana. He is at Dharampur and waiting to join us for the Day trip. So now we are only waiting for Arindam, who got stuck due to some emergencies and is planning to meet us by afternoon.


The Kasauli Church




We completed the trip of Kasauli and on the way to Chail filled up our tummy at Giani’s again. On the way to Chail Arindam caught us up and we reached Chail around 6pm.
We enjoyed our evening chat and few tried their hand on Night Photography before we called it a day.


Day 5 Chail - Sarahan (183km in 6.5 hrs)

Whatever we do in our trip, the only thing that is constant is we always find shortage in time.
So we tried to start our day early as we need to travel around 180km today to reach Sarahan.

With our best efforts we could only start at 9:15am from the Hotel and we have to visit Kali Tibba the highest point of Chail and the 3 idiot famous Chail Palace before we proceed towards Sarahan.


Our Stay at Chail




Kali Ka Tibba




The Line-up




Our Steeds at Chanchad Bhawan (The Chail Palace)




Inside Chail Palace












What Avrendu is saying ?



After visiting the local attractions by 11am we fast paced our journey to reach Sarahan by sun down. On way we found a good restaurant couple of Km after Narkanda and completed our Lunch there.


Lunch Stop after Narkanda




We have found some part of NH22 (NH5) is in very good shape

Good part of NH22

We reached Sarahan around 5:30pm and after few phone calls we found our Hotel and faced the biggest challenge to park our cars. The Hotel was a standard one but the owner was very cordial and tried to resolve all our problems from Car Parking to Dinner menu. We ordered for some pakora and tea to support our evening gossip and a full Bengali dinner to wrap up the day.

[SouraC]

Day 6 Sarahan - Kalpa (104km in 4.5 hrs)

Again the Morning rush, this time it is for the Bhima Kali Temple. We planned to get ready and check out from the hotel, go to HPTDC, Sarahan order for the breakfast and visit the temple. We reached HPTDC at 9:45am and after making sure that we will have the breakfast over here we moved towards The Bhima Kali temple.

The Entrance




Second Door




Another Door to cross




Arindam enjoying a Top View




Different designs on walls and doors










Beyond this point Photography is Prohibited, hence time for a group picture with the Guard




It was a fascinating experience visiting the temple but due to restrictions we could only manage few photographs, but I was not satisfied hence a walk towards other side of the temple became essential to try my luck.








HPTDC Sarahan




The second of the trip



We could only start around 12 from Sarahan and Kalpa was not far so we were not in a mood to hurry. The Road of Himachal has got its own topographies and few stops for pictures were a necessity.





Light and Shadow




The mandatory photograph for all Car Lovers







The famous road of Himachal

Shaded road of Himachal

The Kalpa climb with partial view of Kailash

To Kalpa with Kailash View

We reached Kalpa around 4:30pm and we were all hungry, hence the order for food was placed to pacify the fire in our gut. After our usual chit chat in the evening we tried our hand in Nigh Photography before calling it a day.

Our Hotel View



Day 7 Kalpa

The only day to relax in the trip was kept here and we walked around and visited the HPTDC hotel. Although the Hotel we checked in is the best Private property of Kalpa and Mr. Prithi assisted us in every way possible, after seeing few of the HPTDC properties, I must admit that the best properties to stay in Himachal are of HPTDCs.


The Morning at Kalpa.







The HPTDC property at Kalpa.




Our Stay at Kalpa




Enjoying the View (PC - Wifey)








We have also seen the Apple garden and Apple packaging.











Apple packaging

Apple Cleaning and Packing

We could not resist another hand on Night Photography before we end the day.

[SouraC]

Day 8 Kalpa – Chitkul (74km in 4.5 hrs)

Even after best of efforts also we couldn’t start for Chitkul before 11am and was expecting bad road conditions ahead.

As said earlier “The Road of Himachal has got its own topographies” but the road till Chitkul has its own magic, hence multiple stops were compulsory.





The Sangla Valley










Drive to Chitkul

Drive To Chitkul

Some Car Photography









We reached Chitkul around 3:15pm and was such mesmerized by the beauty of the place, we started capturing it immediately. You really have to visit the place in person to absorb the splendor of this place as any picture clicked is an understatement.


The Chitkul Valley













Where is the Moon ?













A Video

The Chitkul Valley

Yes it was cold, but the pull to seize most of the place kept us in open-air for long enough. By 6pm we returned to our stay and after the usual evening gossip we ended our day.



Day 9 Chitkul - Fagu (251km in 9 hrs)

This was expected to be a long day, but even that can’t force us to get ready before 10am and we could only get out of the hotel around 11 am after completing our breakfast. After some morning photography beside the river we moved ahead towards the last civilian check post towards Tibet but soon got stopped by a road repairing team just a km ahead of the actual point. In the back of our mind the long day ahead was stalking us and we decided to quickly click some pictures and start our return journey.


Our Stay at Chitkul




One new Friend from Chitkul




This time, we have painted the Himalaya RED







The Chitkul Valley from distance.




Identify the Road




The road condition near Karchham Dam was bad

Bad Roads near Karchham

Our Long day ended in Fagu at 9pm and the last km of it was quite encouraging with no road and steep downhill and uphill. The only thing left for the day was our food before we can be in bed to end the day.

[SouraC]

Day 10 Fagu – Shimla - Sonipat (341km in 11 hrs)

It’s the time to go home and bid adieu to the Himalayas but many of us thought we should pay a visit to the Queen of Hills before we return to plains. So last minute changes were done and we proceeded towards Shimla.

Some pictures of our Fagu Stay





There were some good flowers







Kids enjoyed the Pool Table




We reached Shimla in 2 hours but parking our cars before we can visit the Mall took some precious time from our schedule. Few pictures of our ultra-short Shimla trip










We completed our lunch at Shimla before we can start our onward journey and because of the same we could only manage to start the descend around 4pm. Our original target for the day was Sonipat and we decided to attain that, hence a long drive followed after that and we reach Karnal at 11:30pm after a quick tea break at Chandigarh outskirts.

After finishing a filling dinner with Chicken Paratha we were ready to proceed but before that we had to see off Avrendu and Family as they were having a separate plan from the next day.

We reached our Sonipat hotel around 1:30am


Day 11-12 Sonipat - Kolkata (1502km in 33 hrs)

Don’t think it was planned, my itinerary was to have a stop at Allahabad but like the start of my journey there was another twist waiting for us and that was a tough one.


Our Stay at Sonipath




We were already tired and can’t wake up in time to start our journey around 8:30am as planned last night. The Drive started around 10am and our progress was satisfactory, we had a quick Brunch at Yamuna Expressway Subway and reached Agra around 2pm. We were planning to cover as much distance as possible today to make the last day of our trip a bit relaxing but all mighty was planning something else for us.


In the afternoon we have seen a large flock of Migratory Birds flying overhead (The First time for me), a wonderful sight.







We stopped after crossing Kanpur for some evening snacks and tea. While having our refreshment we decided to continue till Varanasi as we were still having quite some energy left. We crossed Allahabad bypass by 10:20pm and were satisfied about our progress.


As planned, we completed our dinner quickly at a dhaba after Handia and was within a km of Varanasi entry by 12:30am and before we comprehend the situation we found ourselves encircled by hundreds of trucks.
We did not have anything to do except waiting for the traffic snarl to clear up. By the time we started moving again, it was 2:30am and we realized we can’t give a stopover if we plan to reach Kolkata by day end.

We reached Sasaram by 5 in the morning with no energy left to even move an inch. Hence the decision to have a long power nap at a petrol bunk. We rested for 1.5 hours and were ready to cover the rest 550kms to reach our home.


The best stay of our trip





After having a good breakfast at a nearby dhaba we started our onward journey and reached Dhanbad around 2pm. On the way we met Arav (AJ-got-BHP) who was returning from his Rajasthan trip and joined with us for the lunch.
Only 250 odd Km is left of our journey and we were so eager to complete our trip that we forgot to take a Final Picture of the team.
The rest of the drive completed without any aberration and I reached home around 7pm in the evening and by then the only thing I can think of is the BED.

A fantastic Trip ended with a twist but we all were happy to complete it without any major concerns at the same time we also thank our families who supported us in these trips where we sometime go overboard knowingly or unknowingly.

A photograph of the team enjoying at Chitkul. (PC - My Aunt)




We hope to complete many more trips together and share the stories with all of you in our beloved forum

[Aditya]

Thread moved from the Assembly Line to the Travelogues Section. Thanks for sharing!

[Samfromindia]

Your last thread on Vizag
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travel...zag-araku.html
helped me a lot to chalk out routes and get all the info needed for my recent trip there few weeks back. This one coincidentally is also on my bucket list Lovely write up and beautiful pictures. Rated 5 stars !

[BlackPearl]

Excellent travelogue and pictures SouraC. Rated 5 stars. Feeling nostalgic going through the pics as it was last January that we were there. Not posting the link again as people would say I am advertising my travelogue
Would love to see a few more pics of the lovely red Avventura.

[avrendu]

Thanks a lot SouraC for the very crisp and lovely travelogue adequately accentuated by photographs and videos at apt intervals. Although this is the "n" th trip with you all, I could not manage a travelogue. Quite some patience, perseverance and orderliness one needs for that. Hats off to you and anyone for that matter who manages to pen one down.
I myself relived Himachal the trip once more and also identified few snaps which seemed new to me which means that aspect of landscape may have gone completely unnoticed at my end. Thanks for the same.

In my opinion to those reading this TL, we needed at least 2 more days to evenly space out the trip, more so when the families with 6-8 years kids tagging along. We had to drive every day except one and at times great distances compared to hills. Again next day we are up and about to DRIVE some more.
In short, we could have caught up more with the local serenity of Himachal had we had some more time to spare. That's my advice to the ones who intend to follow this itinerary, please add 2 more days.
I will take this opportunity to personally offer my heartfelt thanks to Dr. Shamindra Sengupta (TBHP handle SS-Traveller). Shamindra da directed me to Mr Manjeet Singh of Cooldays Car AC at Lajpat Nagar because my Thar's AC conked on the way back at Delhi. It would have been tough to locate a reliable person in an unknown city without his guidance.
Manjeet ji's mechanics were super efficient and they immediately ruled out a compressor failure in minutes, much to my delight. It was the rotary AC switch of the Thar which was the culprit. Even though it was a Sunday they got hold of a new part within short time and replaced the same. Charges were abysmally normal compared to Delhi. I would like to recommend Manjit ji to the local Delhites and any others who might be facing car AC problems while at Delhi.

Thanks
Avrendu

[GhostRider28]

Splendid pictures and a very crisp travelogue - thanks for sharing SouraC!.
Chitkul and Fagu pictures were just amazing. I never knew that we could have a view of Mt. Kailash from Kalpa!
Thanks for the pointers to great accomodation as well - really helpful in planning trips.

[mi2n]

Excellent trip and some super amazing photographs with very crisp and engaging narration. The travelers and their steeds looking chic in the mesmerizing himalayan backdrops.
Thanks for sharing the experience.

P.S. : The Thar looks menacing!

[AJ-got-BHP]

The Men in Red did a fantastic trip I must say !! Good to see the Cars and a lot of happy faces enjoying each and every bit of your time together. Your travelogue made me nostalgic by making me relive the memories of a road trip that I did from Jaipur to Himachal sometime back in 2010 covering Shimla, Chail, Kufri, Manali etc. with my better half. Though a lot remains to be explored in Himachal and your travelogue will be a useful reference indeed.

It was pleasure catching up at Khalsa's @ Govindpur, Dhanbad :

Sadly, this is the only picture that I have of our catching up

Oh, I had to really gun the ETIOS to catch up with you guys !! You guys were 142 Kms ahead from my location. I wished you had taken the decision to stay at Varanasi that night instead of going through the dead lock traffic at Benares Toll and sleeping the morning at a Petrol Pump with family which was definitely not desirable. I hope BHPian Avrendu did not have such an adventurous Solo return from Delhi to Kolkata. Missed his presence where we met. The drive back together would have been a pleasure for me as well after a 15 day Road Trip to Rajasthan. I guess we'll have more opportunities to do so in the future !!

Lovely Travelogue once again !! Rated a well deserved 5*

[SouraC]

I would like to pass on some information pertaining to our Himachal Trip which includes a small summary and the Hotel details this might help fellow travelers while organizing there trip:

A Summary of the Trip:
Total Number of Days = 12
Total Expenditure per family per day = Rs.3,500/= (approx. including accommodation, food and water)
Total Kilometers Traveled = 4400Kms (Approx)
Total Amount of Toll Paid = Rs.4,058/-

Details of Hotels:

Day 1 Agra

Hotel Rudra Vilas- Booked from MakeMyTrip, It is very close to Taj Mahal Western Gate
Contact :
+91-7247897233
Website:
http://www.hotelrudravilas.co.in/

Positives : Location, Lift available, Clean Room and Toilet, Good Food, Cordial Staff
Negatives : Parking is beside road


Day 2 Noida

Cosy Tree Inn - Booked from OYO Rooms, it was at Noida Sector 19
Contact :
+91-9205500920
Website:
https://www.oyorooms.com/

Positives : Near to the Noida Expressway, Lift available, Clean Room and Toilet, In-house Kitchen, Cordial Staff
Negatives : Parking is beside road


Day 3 Dharampur

Whispering Winds Villa is located inside a pine forest, the Kalka Shimla train line is also nearby and you can go for a hiking inside the pine forest. It should be an obvious choice for people who likes wilderness
Contact :
Mr. Ravi - +91-9882089000
Website:
http://whisperingwindsvillakasauli.com/

Positives : Fantastic Location, Clean Room and Toilet, Homemade Food, Cordial Staff
Negatives : Parking is bit far and you have to walk uphill from your parking to reach the hotel.

P.S. - As I have discussed about the same while booking, Ravi brought his car to pick up my aunt.


Day 4 Chail

Deventure Hotel is a good property and a kilometer before chail beside a HP fuel bunk
Contact :
+91 98162 22555 / +91 98166 24633
Website:
http://www.deventurehotel.com/

Positives : Good Parking Space, Fantastic Location, Clean Room and Toilet, Food is good, Cordial Staff
Negatives : Didn’t find any


Day 5 Sarahan

Green Valley Resort
Contact :
+91 98821 29104 / +91 94181 37115
+91 94590 34524(Manager)
Website:
http://www.greenvalleyresortsarahan.com/

Positives : Clean Hotel but it is a mediocre one, Food is good, Cordial Staff
Negatives : Parking is a big challenge in Sarahan, only HPTDC has some space

Day 6 & 7 Kalpa

The Grand Sangri-La / The Grand Shamba-La is location vise the best hotel to stay at kalpa after HPTDC, if you include service the story might change.
Contact :
Mr. Prithvi - +91-98056-95423 / +91-94187-03988
Website:
http://thegrandshambala.com/

Positives : Good Parking Space, Fantastic View from 3rd and 4th floor, A library in house, Clean Toilets, Fantastic location, Cordial Staff
Negatives : Didn’t find any

Day 8 Chitkul

Samaa Resorts is probably the best place to stay at Chitkul.
Contact:
Manmeet Singh - 9892098962 / 9459408533
Manali - 9819186633 / 9459408533
Website:
http://samaaresorts.com/

Positives : Ample Parking Space, Fantastic Bed Linen to fight the cold , Clean Toilets, Fantastic location, Cordial Staff
Negatives : The Resort is under renovation and New rooms are yet to get the final touch

Day 9 Fagu

Samaa Resorts
Contact:
Manmeet Singh - 9892098962 / 9459408533
Manali - 9819186633 / 9459408533
Website:
http://samaaresorts.com/

Positives : Fantastic Location, Clean Room and Toilet , Pool Board to pass time, Cordial Staff
Negatives : The last 1km road to this resort is a Stoney dirt road The Resort is New and rooms are yet to get the final touch

Day 10 Sonipat

We found Hotel Fairmount Inns, Sonipat in Goibibo but rooms were not available. We found number of Mr. Yogesh Thakur on Web and he arranged room for us.
Contact No. : +918199944142
Website:
http://fairmountkundli.com/

Positives : Ample Parking Space, Studio Apartment, Lift Available, Clean Toilets, Cordial Staff
Negatives : Maintenance is not Topnotch


Day 11 Sasaram

The Best Stay of Our Trip. Maa Tarachandi Fuels (BP Fuel Bunk), NH2 (NH19) Sasaram, Bihar where we slept in our car for 1.5 hours (Power Nap)

Positives : Ample Space, Clean Toilets, Cold Drinking Water, cordial Staff
Negatives : You have to arrange for your Own Bed


For any more queries please send me a PM.

[kdp95]

Originally Posted by BlackPearl

Feeling nostalgic going through the pics as it was last January that we were there.

I am planning to visit Himachal in February. I have posted about the same for advice/suggestions at http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/route-...ml#post4079368

As you had visited Chitkul in January, if you could advise me whether the road to Chitkul will be open or closed due to snow? I am taking XUV5OO FWD for the trip.

Any other suggestions/advice/places are welcome. Thanks in advance