Team-BHP (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/)

-   Travelogues (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travelogues/)

-   -   Mountains, Hot Springs, Snow, Ice, Border, Fort, Caves and an Innova | A travelogue without a plan (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travelogues/268646-mountains-hot-springs-snow-ice-border-fort-caves-innova-travelogue-without-plan.html)

Idea

Sometime in December
Friend: Hello, during first week of May, I have couple of days work in Delhi add to that I’m looking for an Innova for a friend of mine as a secondary vehicle. Wanna join me, so we can go for a vacation (I’ve never been to North India and want to visit Manali).
Me: Hmm, dates please. Let me think over it.
Sometime in January
Me: If it is second week of May, I might be able to take one week off, rest will have to work but WFH is ok.
Me to wife: Why don’t we plan for a vacation to Manali?

Sometime in March/April, conversation with wife
Wife: I can be free by third week of May and had a call with friend’s wife and she too can get leave. So we can make it a vacation.

Plan
Only the dates were fixed which were between 19th May to 28th May as that was the slot that was available for my wife. Friend wanted to see all places that are possible.
As friend had some work in Delhi between 15th to 19th May, our tickets were booked for 12th of May. My vacation was planned for 19th to 28th May, rest I would be working (WFH - workation). Our better half would start on 19th after working hours and to reach Delhi by early morning of 20th may.
No hotels or itinerary were fixed as friend was trying to buy a car and we would be travelling in that which would enable us to cover maximum places, if car could not be bought then we would take some conducted tours.

Day 1: 12-May-2023 – Trivandrum to New Delhi
My flight was scheduled to start by 19:00 hours from Trivandrum, so asked a friend to drop me at the airport directly from office. And my friend started from Kochi by 20:00 hours. I reached Delhi and waited for him to arrive. His flight was bit late. A friend of ours had booked the rooms at Karol bagh area and we reached the place by early morning.

View@Trivandrum airport before take-off


Dinner time in Air India


Waiting time@New Delhi airport



Day 2: 13-May-2023 – In Delhi

As we had 2 free days, went to some car dealers to have a look. Saw couple of Innova and test drove it too. Selected some and decided to check as many cars as possible.

Day 3: 14-May-2023 – In Delhi
Out of the many selected cars, liked 2 cars and felt that the car is clean, and they were selling as one was running in its 9th year and the other 1 month short of 10 years (2014 and 2013 models). Test drove extensively and then negotiated the price. After that took the newer version to the Toyota dealer and paid for complete check-up and the report. We were satisfied by the report/car (major complaint raised was that tire condition is not good – all tires were 4+ years old). After making a call confirming our selection, did a full service of the car so that we could drive back home safely. And I don’t know what made me do that, got the car in my name (friend wanted it). Settled the payment and all the formalities then and there. The dealer said he’ll get the NOC for me in 10 day's time and we were fine as we’d be coming back to Delhi after our vacation at Kullu/Manali.

Now started to plan our itinerary. Friend wanted to see the usual belt (his first time), Shimla/Kullu/Manali/Amritsar etc., in short to see as many places a possible (I’ve been to all these places, so basically a guide for him). So, we decided to drop the idea of booking any rooms and take the rooms as needed (now we have a car to sleep).

Day 4: 15-May-2023 – In Delhi
I spent the day at the hotel, while my friend was off to complete his job in Delhi.

Day 5: 16-May-2023 – Delhi to Haridwar
Lucky for us, friend could wrap up his work by 1:30pm and he came back to hotel. He came up with a suggestion that we drive to some places and stop at any places (if needed) to complete my work in the car itself (moving office). He wanted to visit Haridwar/Rishikesh as we had time till out better half joins us on the weekend. By 2PM or so we were on the road towards Haridwar and reached there by 7PM and missed the famed Ganga Arati at Har-ki-pauri which he wanted to see badly. So just ambled around the city visiting some local famous eateries. While he hit the bed, I had some more pending work before I could close for the day.

The steed


@Haridwar


Place where Ganga Arati is performed


The temple

Day 6: 17-May-2023 – Haridwar to Mussoorie

Got up early in the morning to visit the temples. Had booked the tickets online the previous day, so just walked to Chandi Devi Temple. As we were running short of time (had to attend a meeting at 9:00am) we had booked the tickets for cable car too. Lucky for us there was no crowd and in 1 hour's time we started our journey to the next temple.

From the landing area of the cable Car


View from the Cable Car



After that took an auto to Mansa Devi Temple. Even here no crowd was there, so could be back in about one hours' time.

While coming back from Temple - on the way to the hotel



By 9AM we were back at the hotel, and I got glued to the Laptop. By 1 PM could finish high priority works others to be completed before next day morning only, so decided to drive and randomly selected Dehradun as I've never visited this place. On reaching there we were not comfortable with the hot climate so decided to drive another couple of kilometers and reached Mussoorie Mussoorie. The climate was pleasant. We enquired about the places to see in Mussoorie so that we could plan next day's activity. All the places described by the hotel guy felt something like Ooty/Kodaikanal, so decided not to see anything. By late evening we just strolled around Mall Road to see the life in the town.

@Hotel Himalayan Club in Mussorie


Random snaps from the Mall Road@Mussoorie


Random snaps from the Mall Road@Mussoorie


Random snaps from the Mall Road@Mussoorie


Day 7: 18-May-2023 – Mussoorie to Rishikesh
Got up early to finish off the work and started by 10AM to Rishikesh. On searching for some unique places in Mussoorie, did find an unique place near Dehradun known as Robber's Cave. It is about 10 kilometers from Dehradun on the way to Mussoories. It is a unique and good place. Spent some time there and proceeded to Rishikesh.

View from hotel@Mussoorie


Parking ground@Robber's Cave


Entrance to Robber's Cave


View of river from Robber's Cave


@Robber's Cave


@Robber's Cave


@Robber's Cave


@Robber's Cave


@Robber's Cave



After Robber's Cave we had our lunch and moved to Rishikesh. After finishing off my office work we decided to go to Triveni Ghat to see the Aarati, which is held at around 7PM. Really enjoyed the proceedings. After that we decided to walk back to the hotel after having our dinner at local famous restaurant called "Chotiwala Restaurant" by the river of Ganga.

@Triveni Ghat


Ganga Aarati@Triveni Ghat


Ganga Aarati@Triveni Ghat


Ganga Aarati@Triveni Ghat


Ganga Aarati@Triveni Ghat


@Triveni Ghat


@Triveni Ghat


Random Snaps


Random Snaps


Random Snaps


Random Snaps


Random Snaps

Day 8: 19-May-2023 –Rishikesh to New Delhi (via Haridwar)
Initially we had planned to reach Haridwar early in the morning after visiting the famed Beatles Ashram but got stuck with office work till noon and could just make to Haridwar to participate in the Ganga aarti@Har Ki Pauri.

Bridge@Har Ki Pauri


@Har Ki Pauri


@Har Ki Pauri


@Har Ki Pauri


@Har Ki Pauri


@Har Ki Pauri


@Har Ki Pauri


By 8:00PM we were back on the road for New Delhi airport to pick our family.

Day 9: 20-May-2023 – New Delhi, Kurukshetra, Shimla
The actual holiday started on this day early morning. Friend’s wife arrived by 1:30AM and we took a hotel nearby just to get some winks. By 7:30AM we were back at the airport to pick my better half and kid. As we had decided to drive straight to Shimla, they just got fresh and started our travel. The first stop was for breakfast at Murthal and from there to Kurukeshetra.

@Kurukeshetra


@Kurukeshetra


@Kurukeshetra


@Kurukeshetra


@Kurukeshetra


@Kurukeshetra



In about 2 hours’ time we left for Shimla and reached Shimla by 7PM.


Enroute to Shimla



Day 10: 21-May-2023 – Shimla to Manikaran
Woke up and went to see the famed Jakhu temple. I wanted to walk (about 1 km) to the temple from the hotel but others did not want to do the “trek”, so hired a local taxi to take us there.

Random shot from the hotel


Random shot from the hotel


Random shot from the hotel


View of Jakhu Temple from the hotel


@Jakhu Temple


@Jakhu Temple


@Jakhu Temple


@Jakhu Temple


@Jakhu Temple


@Jakhu Temple


@Jakhu Temple


@Jakhu Temple



None of us were interested in visiting other places in Shimla except the “Mall Road”, so packed our bags and checked out of the hotel by 11AM and went there. Parked our vehicle near mall road lift and took the lift to the road.

Lift to Mall Road


Spent a considerable amount of time at Mall road, trying different snacks, candies and family photo in Himachal (Shimla) attire. And by 6PM or so we decided to move to Manikaran.

@Mall Road, Shimla


@Mall Road, Shimla


@Mall Road, Shimla


@Mall Road, Shimla


@Mall Road, Shimla



By the time we reached Kullu it was past midnight and decided not to travel to Manikaran, rather stay at Kullu and then proceed to Manikaran in the day light.

Hotel: Hotel Sarla Regency, Manikaran Road, Bhuntar
Rating: Good hotel for a wink

Day 11: 22-May-2023 – Manikaran to Manali

Woke up quite fresh to the soothing music of the Beas river water flowing just across the hotel.

Beautiful Beas river


Car getting ready for next leg


Car getting ready for next leg


After a lazy breakfast we started our journey to Manikaran .

Manikaran


Manikaran


Manikaran


Manikaran



Had a refreshing hot water bath at a hotel. There are couple of hotels around the spring which has the hot water being diverted into private bathrooms. As my kid wanted to have bath, we decided to take the bathrooms rather than taking bath in the common pool. Then we proceeded to Langar for lunch.


Hot spring directed into the bathroom of a hotel


Hot water from Langar being drained into the river


On the way to Manali we stopped at few places by riverside enjoying the free flow of water.

River side


Kidoo enjoying dipping her legs in the flowing water


After that we proceeded to Manali. We had an unfortunate incident at Manali. Usually, we book the rooms before reaching the destination rather than searching the rooms at the destination. The rooms were booked via booking.com, but on reaching the destination we could not find the hotel nor they took our calls. There was no map available in the app. So we had to hunt for rooms, got one after about an hour. As it was drizzling, we decided not to venture out much into the mall road. After strolling around Manali returned back before late night and hit the bed.

Day 12: 23-May-2023 – Manali
Seeing the crowd in Manali the previous day, we decided to hire a local cab to take us to Rohtang Pass and other “known” places. Unlucky for us, Rohtang pass was not yet opened after the winter, and we had to be content playing in the snow 5 kilometers before Rohtang. Kid enjoyed playing in snow, zip line and all sort of snow games and we did not realize the time flying and reached quite tired at the hotel. So, we decided to have the dinner at the hotel rather than going to the mall road.

Random photos@Manali


Random photos@Manali


Random photos@Manali


Random photos@Manali


Random photos@Manali


Random photos@Manali


Random photos@Manali


Random photos@Manali


Random photos@Manali


Random photos@Manali


Random photos@Manali


Random photos@Manali


Random photos@Manali


Random photos@Manali


Random photos@Manali


Random photos@Manali

Day 13: 24-May-2023 – Manali/Atal Tunnel/Sisu
Woke up early and decided to go to Sisu to be able to drive through Atal Tunnel. To our shock we noticed that the tire of the car had lost air and we lost about 1 hour removing the tire and getting the puncture fixed.
After that we drove all the way to Sisu via the tunnel. Spent sometime at Sisu.

Atal Tunnel


Bridge just after atal tunnel


Random clicks from Sisu


Random clicks from Sisu


Random clicks from Sisu


Random clicks from Sisu


Random clicks from Sisu


We had some snacks (Maggie)@ Sisu and headed back to Manali to visit Hidimba Devi Temple . From there we just walked through the Mall road.

Random photos on the way back to Manali


@Hidimba Devi Temple


@Hidimba Devi Temple


By 6PM or so my friend was done with Manali and wanted to proceed to Amritsar. I was bit hesitant to drive in the night as it was overcast and do not like to drive in hills with rain. So after weighing pros and cons we decided to drive in the night itself. Started from Kullu by 10PM or so. I drove the first leg through the rains (I was scared), while all others slept peacefully. Lucky for us, there were couple of long-distance buses (I think to Delhi) and made sure that our vehicle is between the convoy till Bilaspur (I think) after that I increased the speed. Drove till about 3AM and the driver role changed but could not sleep, while the ladies and kid had good sleep in the car and they reached fresh while I was bit sleepy.

Day 14: 25-May-2023 – Amritsar, Waga Border

By 5AM or so we reached Amritsar and took a hotel near the Golden Temple. As I was tired, hit the bed for couple of hours. After about 3 to 4 hours of sleep, was ready by 10AM and went to Golden Temple and spent a considerable amount of time there (museum and around the temple).

Golden Temple


Golden Temple


Panoramic view of the pond of Golden Temple


Around Golden Temple


After lunch we proceeded to Attari to view the Wagah border ceremony. Before starting from Amritsar we did book online (government of India bsf atari). It was quite crowded and quite hot too (had to stand in the queue for about 45 minutes). The ceremony was fantastic; it actually evokes your patriotism. This is well managed, only issue is that there are no shades while standing in the queue.

Crowd@Atari - the spectators (ladies/kids) are called to participate in the ceremony


Mesmerizing


Mesmerizing


Reached back by 7 and went to see the golden temple in the night (including exploring the local area for food) and hit the bed quite late.


Day 15: 26-May-2023 – Amritsar
We woke up in a relaxed way and went to the Golden Temple as previous day we did not go inside the sanctum of the Golden Temple Golden Temple. After that we went to Jallianwala Bagh where we spent a considerable amount of time (for the Kid's history lesson) and by 2PM we were done with Amritsar.

Lovely Bike


Random photos of Golden Temple


In the queue to enter inside the Sanctum Sanctorum


Random photos of Golden Temple


We then started our next marathon drive to Agra. As I was very fresh, I started as the driver of the first leg. We reached Agra by 3AM.

Somewhere on the way to Agra

Day 16: 27-May-2023 – Agra
After a long drive we reached Agra by 3AM and we hit the bed so that we can get couple of hours of wink. When we came out of the hotel, we saw that we had flat tire and in another 15 minutes the tires were changed and by 9AM we were on our way to visit the Taj Mahal. Even though we stayed near Taj Mahal, we decided to get an auto as Agra is really dirty, add to that, the rainwater had created dirty puddles everywhere.


As it was a cloudy day the crowd was less when we reached Taj Mahal so we could enjoy the beauty (for short time only).

Taj Mahal under coluded condition


Taj Mahal under coluded condition


Minaret of Taj Mahal


Gateway of Taj Mahal


Telescopic view of Taj Mahal


Telescopic view of Taj Mahal




From there we moved to Agra fort and by about 2PM our Agra trip was over.

@Agra Fort


@Agra Fort


@Agra Fort


@Agra Fort


As we already 2 punctures, 1 in each tire, I decided to get all the tires changed and get the wheel aligned. By 4PM we were back on the road to New Delhi and took a hotel near the Airport by 8PM.

Day 17: 28-May-2023 – Delhi

This day we split into two groups; ladies wanted to shop while my kid wanted to see the historical places of Delhi. So my friend accompanied the ladies while me and kid decided to see the historical places. The first place was Qutub Minar which the kid liked very much. From there we moved to Lotus Temple which the kid did not like. After lunch we proceeded to Red Fort. Here we spent a very long time (kid took lot of time in the museum) and it was past 5PM and the kid wanted to just see the India Gate. As the flight was at 11:50 PM we had to be at hotel before 8PM we rushed to India Gate and after very short “ice cream” break, headed back to the hotel. Thanks to the well-connected metro, we could cover almost all places in the metro and we just had to take auto for the last mile connectivity.

@Qutb Minar


@Qutb Minar


@Red Fort


@Red Fort


@India Gate


By 9PM we dropped our family back at the airport which ended our “family vacation” and we were left with car. And we were back into TravWork mode (Working while traveling)

Day 18: 29-May-2023 – Delhi
So we were back into workation mode. Our initial plan was to start on previous night itself, but our promised NOC was not ready (it was promised for Saturday), which meant we had to spend one more day in Delhi. To our dismay we got the news that NOC will be ready by Tuesday only, so spent full day in the hotel doing office work and by night we moved to a hotel near the broker’s office so that we could work till the NOC is ready.

Day 19: 30-May-2023 – Delhi to Ujjain
Woke up early to complete some pending office work, so that we could go to broker’s office, collect the document and start immediately. By 10:30AM we got the call that the NOC is ready and we collected the document by 11AM and started our journey back to Kerala. We decided to visit few more places on the way back. We selected Ujjain, Ajanta Caves and Ellora as I’ve never been to these places. With many stops (for office calls) we reached Ujjain just after midnight

We took the new Delhi/Mumbai express way. It was almost empty and there are no places for taking bio/coffee/fuel breaks (all are under development)

Delhi to Mumbai Expressway


Delhi to Mumbai Expressway - Rest place under development


Day 20: 31-May-2023 –Ujjain to Ajantha
No plans were made except to visit the temple. So woke up early to polish off some office work and by 8:30AM we were on the way to the temple (a mistake - it gets pretty hot by 10AM). The temple is quite good, but the sad part is that you are not allowed to take your mobile/camera inside the complex. Lucky for us it was not much crowded and in about 1 hours’ time we were out of the temple. Even though the garden/outside the temple is beautiful by the river, it was quite hot and without shoes it is not possible to go around and enjoy the premises of the temple (I should be here again, either very early in the morning of by late in the evening).

Garden of the Temple


Garden of the Temple


By 12PM we were out of the temple and headed to Jantar Mantar. It is a place which you can actually skip, may be kids would enjoy that.

@Jantar Mantar


@Jantar Mantar


@Jantar Mantar


By 1:30pm be bid adieu to Ujjain and proceeded to Ajanta. With lots of stops we could reach Ajanta by 10:30PM.

Enroute to Ajanta


Enroute to Ajanta


Enroute to Ajanta


I had to finish some office jobs so worked for another 1 hour or so and hit the bed by 00:30AM.

Day 21: 01-Jun-2023 – Ajantha

Woke up by 6:00 am and after finishing the office work and meetings we started out to explore Ajanta Caves by 10:00am. We have to take the buses from the entrance to the start of caves.

P.O. Box@Ajanta, Bus Stop


@Bus Stop to the Caves


I felt this was one of best destination of this trip. Only issue is that you are not allowed to take camera flash inside the caves, you can take normal photos without flashes but very difficult to get good photo (did not ask whether tripod is allowed, as I did not have any with me). All the 29 caves are majestic, and it is sad to see that many statues are broken/destroyed (the same feeling we BHPian get when someone desecrate our cars).

Bird's view of all the caves


Bird's view of all the caves


Let us begin exploring the caves


Random Photos inside various caves


Random Photos inside various caves


Random Photos inside various caves


Random Photos inside various caves


Random Photos inside various caves


Random Photos inside various caves


Random Photos inside various caves


Random Photos inside various caves


Random Photos inside various caves


Random Photos inside various caves


Random Photos inside various caves


Random Photos inside various caves


Closer look of the Caves


Restoration in progress by ASI


Random Photos inside various caves


Random Photos inside various caves


Random Photos inside various caves


Random Photos inside various caves


Random Photos inside various caves


Random Photos inside various caves


Random Photos inside various caves


Random Photos inside various caves


Random Photos inside various caves


Random Photos inside various caves

Day 21: 01-Jun-2023 – Ajanta

Continuation from the last post as max images reached.

Beautiful Statue - I can't understand why people desecrate such beautiful art


Hall way with majestic pillars


Intrinsic carvings


Lovely


Story on stones


Mesmerizing


Mesmerizing


Buddha


Buddha


I feel that I should have visited during rainy season to see the flowing river


Scenic view of the caves


Scenic view of the caves


Scenic view of the caves


Scenic view of the caves




By 3PM we were out and headed to Ellora and reached there before evening. Took a hotel just near the cave entrance.


@Hotel


View of the Caves from the lawn of the hotel

Day 22: 02-Jun-2023 – Ellora

Previous day from the hotel we came to know that the best time to visit the caves is early in the morning, so I called up my office mates and postponed all the calls to a time after 2PM. We woke early in the morning so that we can be inside the cave complex as soon as it opens. By 5:45 AM we reached the entrance and exactly at 6AM (opening time) we were inside the complex.
I made a grave mistake; did not take the flash as the previous day I was not allowed to take the flash.

I liked Ellora caves more than Ajanta, I’d call this the best place in this trip. It is so sad to see most of the statues broken.

This cave complex is a group of 34 caves divided into 3 sub-groups:

• Caves 01-12: Buddhist
• Caves 13-29: Hindu
• Caves 30-34: Jainism.

This trip becomes my 2nd cave's visit, first one being Badami cave temples visited in first week of January, 2023. I took almost 6 hours to see all the caves and was very hungry by the time I came out of the cave complex. You don’t get anything inside the cave complex which is good to keep it clean and water is provided at different places. I had not taken anything other than the camera; this resource of water was of great help to quench my thirst and hunger too. I might have travelled 5 kilometers from one end to other. I started from the middle (cave 16) and then proceeded to 15 to 1 then 17 to 34.

Entrance to the Cave complex


Entrance to the biggest Cave


Intrinsically carved walls


So sad too the statues destroyed


Random photos from the Cave


Random photos from the Cave


Random photos from the Cave


Random photos from the Cave


Random photos from the Cave


Smooth rock floor


Random photos from the Cave


Lord Siva


Temple inside the Cave


Random photos from the Cave


Corridor


Fine arts


Ariel photo of the biggest temple


Ariel photo of the biggest temple


Ariel photo of the biggest temple


Random photos from the Cave


Siva Temple


Random photos from the Cave


Buddha


Buddha


Buddha


Ceiling


Random photos from the Cave


Hall


Hall


Hall

Day 22: 02-Jun-2023 – Ellora

Continued...

Entry to a cave


Random Photo


Random Photo


Hallway


Beautiful


Beautiful


To the next set of caves


Random Photo


Random Photo


So beautiful


Hallway


Hallway


Beautiful Statue


Walkway


Statue


Enterance


Buddha


How did they create 2 storied home out of the rocks without machinery?



Actually, it would better to stay there for 2 days and visit all these caves leisurely (maybe next time). By the time I stepped out of the cave complex it was past 12PM.

After a quick brunch break, we started our journey back to Kerala via Mysore (friend wanted to visit his kid). Next day being Saturday, we decided to drive till we reach outskirts for Mysore.

On the way to Mysore


Car taking rest while we had tea break