Kasol & Tosh: Untouched beauty of Himachal Pradesh
Most people when first hear of Kasol, confuse it with Kasoli. This is because, Kasol is an offbeat Himalayan town situated very close to the Sikh shrine of Manikaran. Manikaran is famous for two reasons or the combination of the two reasons – one, it hosts a famous Sikh temple (gurudwara) and two, it has hot water springs. Kasol has some feathers to its hat as well. It is famous amongst the Israelis and Italian tourists and it is famous for hash and marijuana.
Neha and I had traveled to Rishikesh with our new couple friends – Sonal and Amitoz the week earlier and since then, we all were pretty worked up about another trip. Initially, Neha and I had planned for Kanha Tiger Reserve but that was sold out completely; thus, our plan shifted from tiger spotting to cooling ourselves off in the hills. Sonal was quite keen on going to Kasol and its surrounding areas as she had been hearing travel stories from her office colleagues and wanted to explore and experience this part of the country. The dates decided for the trip were 12-16 June 2014. As we inched closer to the departure dates, each one of us started researching on the different aspects of the trip. Amitoz bought camping gear after I ranted and yapped about how cool and exciting experience camping is.
This opened an option of camping- either at Kasol or Tosh. While Neha and Sonal looked up hotels and their reviews, I checked out the route plan, road condition and overall review of these places from HV Kumar. At the same time, I wrote to Dheeraj Sharma of Devil on Wheels for his inputs. Gurgaon to Kasol: Thursday 12 June 2014 1 am to 3.30 pm Thanks to the inputs from HVK Facebook forum, we were aware that the road up to Bilaspur, Himachal Pradesh has heavy traffic and one must start early to munch as many miles as possible. Thus, we started at 1 am from Gurgaon and by 1.15 am we had picked up Sonal & Amitoz from their home and we embarked on our journey. We found traffic right from NH8 and this forced us to take the internal roads of Delhi to reach the Burari turn to NH1. We stopped over at Gulshan Dhabba for food and bought some folk Punjabi music CDs from one the shops near by. Our next stopover was for fuel near Ambala and then we
took the Shambhu – Roopnagar road towards Bilaspur. Our plan was to cross Bilaspur before 7 am but we entered Swarghat by only 7. We were running behind schedule but it was not that a big deal. Neha and I were alternating the driving after every hour or so and our next halt was after Bilaspur for food. By this time, Dheeraj Sharma responded to my query and connected me to Doulos Jose (who happens to work in the same building that I do- small world). Doulos had been to Kasol a week before and he gave us valuable tips about the place. Through Doulos we got in touch with Om Negi who runs a camping site just outside Kasol. So, while we ordered Maggi and some paranthas, I called up Om Negi and told him about our arrival plans and fixed up a meeting. The journey from Bilaspur to Bhunter was smoother than earlier and much faster. We reached Bhunter around half past one and bought some beers and breezers. At Kasol we met up one of the camp organizers Hemu Negi (cousin of Om) who helped us finding a secure parking spot and started the 25 minutes walk to the camp.
To reach the camp, we had to walk across a narrow suspension bridge over the raging Parvati river. What followed then, was a beautiful nature trail. We did get a bit impatient and kept bothering Hemu with the repeated questions “are we there yet”? The camping site was towards the right of the nature trail and we came across a cemented house overlooking a vast stretch of leveled land with several tents pitched on it.
We scouted for a place closest to the river and pitched our tents. While we were close to the river, we were at a safe distance and at an elevation of about 5 feet. We settled and ordered some pakodas and then climbed down the rocks and tried the water. It was at 10C and we could not bring ourselves to taking a dip in the river. The water was perfect for chilling the drinks that we brought along. We took some photographs and spent nearly an hour at the rocks. We returned to our camp and played a game of cards and also couple of games of badminton and then as the night approached, fatigue started to creep in.
We were awake since the day before, slogged off our asses as corporate slaves and then embarked on this road trip practically without rest.
Dinner came in- chicken gravy, chapatis and vegetarian food for Sonal. Along with the food, came some unwanted guests- dogs. There were several of them around. I would presume these stayed on the property to guard against the wild animals on the prowl in the neighboring forests. The chicken didn’t taste like chicken and the it had been cut into way too small pieces. We didn’t fancy it as much but then when you go camping, this was like elixir from gods and refusing it would have been crazy. As the food settled down, my eyes began to feel heavy and I had to call it a day. I crawled into my tent and zipped up my sleeping bag. Neha too joined me soon and then I heard Amitoz and Sonal saying good night as I was going into a deep slumber.
Day 2
I had slept in the same position for hours and many bones of body nearly crushed under my own weight. At the break of dawn , I unzipped the tent window to see the surroundings outside. It was a beautiful day, a day I had not seen in many months. Soon, we all woke up and we ordered for some tea from the camp organizers. We also decided to go up till Tosh today and probably spent the night there. Here again, Om Negi helped us with some hotels in Tosh and gave us the bad news. Tosh had no places to camp. Doulos had too shared the same piece of information. The toilets at the camp were quite decent and we comfortably freshened up, packed our belongings, paid Om Negi. He charged us only for the food and not for the space. At some places, where Neha and
I had camped earlier, people took a nominal space rentals to pitch our tents and we were quite surprised that he allowed us to stay for free. We bid good bye and as nomads started walking back to Kasol. We had breakfast at Moon dance cafe aka German bakery. The food was great and so was the music. We decided to visit the place again for food on our way back home. The car was found in the same condition as we left and it was a relief. We had parked our car at the parking space of Kasol Camps.
We did inquire from their tariffs and they are as of June 2014 1. Rs 500 to pitch your own tent 2. If you want to use their tents then the tariff ranges from Rs 1500 to Rs 3500. Food and beverages extra. From Kasol, now we headed towards Tosh which is about a 90 minute drive from Kasol. The first town and one of major attractions is the town of Manikarn about 5 km ahead of Kasol. At Manikarn, a road forks up on the right hand side and this is the road that goes up to Bansheri. The road ahead was mostly rough, with loose gravel, water puddles and potholes. Though it is very much doable (easily) in a 2wheel drive, we engaged 4 H just to gain speed and stability at certain points. We stopped for a photography session and then headed to the town of Bansheri.
Here, we could see the construction of a dam and it seemed as if this place is waiting to be commercialised. From Bhansheri, Tosh is about 3 km steep ascent with extremely rough roads. Doulos had warned me of this and had advised to take a taxi in case it was raining. He did not know back then, that we were in a 4wd Scorpio. We did most of the ascent in two wheel drive but then we halted at a steep angle for photographs. Momentum was lost and now we needed traction to continue our journey. 4H was useless, and no way, I wanted to exert stress on the clutch. So, this time 4 L was engaged to climb.
The car just glided over the rough terrain. Should the readers of this post wish to take their vehicle up till Tosh, my recommendation is, keep the momentum stable and any vehicle can do this ascent. At Tosh, we had to park our vehicle just outside the village because there is no motorable road inside. A weak and narrow pedestrian bridge is the only entrance to the village. We called up Mr. Tari (Om Negi’s contact)
owner of the Pink Floyd hotel and asked him to get directions to his hotel. He asked us to walk into the village and ask anyone for directions. We decided to first check out the place and then assess what all would be required for a night’s stay and then bring in our luggage. The lanes of the village became quite narrow at certain stretches. The hotel is good 15 minutes walk from the parking spot. On the way to Pink Floyd we checked out another place which was just in the beginning of the village and the tariffs were around INR 200 a night, no attached bathrooms. The only advantage was that from its balcony we were able to see our car in the distance. We reached Pink Floyd, drained out of energies but did not really fancy the place. It was good, no doubt but we found the views from Hotel Sunset better. So we took two rooms at Hotel Sunset at INR 300 each. There was hot water, attached bathrooms and electricity for charging our camera batteries. There is a small tuck shop in the premises and a kitchen which can serve Italian, Israeli and Indian food. Wow! I am being greedy here, nevertheless, it is worth a mention- the downside are the bed sheets. They have dark colored bed sheets and pillow covers which means that they are not washed for quite sometime. It is advised to carry your own bedsheet and pillow covers. We ordered lunch and then Amitoz and I left the girls at the hotel and went to fetch our belongings for the night.
We were back in about 40 minutes and the girls were nowhere to be seen from a distance. While we had gone lugging bags, Neha and Sonal had gone on a short trek. They came back just in time of our arrival. From the hotel, we could see in the distance two waterfalls and two bridges. One of these waterfalls was a man-made cemented slide, yet the sheer force of the water was so magnificent that one could perceive it from the hotel. We enquired about the KheerGanga trek for next day but dropped the idea as we were short on time. While the locals said that one can do the round trip in a day, we urban corporate slaves were not the lot to walk so much in one day. We definitely needed two days. The village was quite deserted and from the hotel operators we learnt that most of the tourist have gone to the village of Pulga for a two day “rave” party. This part of the Himalayas is famous for rave parties. Weed is commonly called olive as it is sold in small black balls which resemble black olives. The hotel also told us about another waterfall which was 15 minutes away and we decided to check it out as there was still couple of hours of daylight available. We misunderstood the directions and started
walking on a different path. The 15 minutes trek took us nowhere closer to water. A few locals, we spotted on the way told us
that we had come the wrong way. We returned and found the correct trail. While walking, photographing, we met some fellow tourists and made another mistake of asking them for directions. These blokes were dressed in clothes one would wear to an office on a Friday. Totally out of place. They misguided us and put us on a different trail. Two of our group members tripped after different locations and it was kind of disheartening. Fortunately, no one got hurt. Around quarter to seven, we gave up the idea of the waterfall and headed back and decided to conquer it next day. An interesting thing happened here, we saw a man with a child playing on a natural rock slide. The crazy ones Amitoz and Neha were the first ones to burn their butts and Sonal and I needed some persuasion. As the last light approached, it was time to reach the hotel. We
ordered chicken and snacks and also got hold of olives ;). It was a full moon night and we stayed on the terrace munching, drinking, smoking and laughing till the temperature dropped to a moderate chill of 13 C. At this time (around 10 pm) the tuck shop and the kitchen also shut down and we retired to our rooms.
Day 3
I was the first one to get up and get ready. Woke up rest of the party with some tea and Parle-G. Once everyone was ready, we headed towards the first waterfall which everyone at Tosh was talking about. The hotel staff advised us against the waterfalls visible from the hotel. They said that the water is so fierce and rogue that one wrong move and you will end up in a watery grave. Who listens to such things- not us! Anyway, this time we reached the 15 minutes away waterfall in about 15 minutes. Spent about an hour there and now headed for the falls which mesmerized us since our arrival in Tosh. Here is the route which we followed in June 2014. On the way to the “famous” waterfall there is a rock on which someone had painted waterfall 100 m ahead. At this rock a small water stream trickles down and it also seems to be a dumping ground. A narrow and rough trail goes along with water stream. Now keep following the only trail and keep descending for about 30 minutes. The entire route is quite beautiful except for a 20m garbage dump in the beginning. I have seen Doodhsagar from up close and trust me when I say this, this particular one is comparable to Doodhsagar and is just one day drive from Delhi. We reached back hotel around half past one and told them that we would be checking out. At 3 pm we were in our car and headed to the German bakery at Kasol for lunch. Kasol was crowded. We tried hard for a parking space but could not find it. We tried parking at the taxi parking area but the locals became too aggressive and thus we left. We stopped at The Himalayan Retreat at Jari and enjoyed some really good food. Tried the local dishes – Dham, Kachori and Siddu Momo. Here on, we drove nearly non-stop till Gurgaon stopping twice on the way, once for tea and another time for graveyard shift food at NH1. It took us nearly 9 hours to reach Kiratpur Sahib and another 6 hours to reach Gurgaon. Around 6.30 am, on Sunday we reached Gurgaon. It was a trip successfully completed and the experience was too good. Special thanks to Sonal for picking up the destination, Dheeraj Sharma for connecting to Doulos and to Doulos Jose for helping us connect to Om Negi. Now it was time to sort out the 1800 photographs clicked by us during the three days. By the way, we all tried our hands on our new photography gear. Sonal and Amitoz brought their new Nikon D3100, Neha and I got our new Nikon D5300 and a Nikon AW120. IPhone 5s also proved to be an amazing photography device with its fast f/2 lens. The trip not only helped us rejuvenate but also strengthened the bond amongst the “Chaar Log” (four people -term coined by the Bhandari brothers during our Rishikesh camping and rafting trip) Watch this space for more adventure and travel stories. Ciao!
“We Live Young….We Live Free….We are the Living”!
Neha and I were itching for a trip for weeks now. The most recent was to Spain a month ago and it was beyond time to break away from the shackles of the corporate life.
We met Sonal and Amitoz (he and I share a desk at office) at a stand up comedy night in Nirvana County club and then at Epicenter for another comedy night. During dinner at Drift, we decided to go for rafting at Rishikesh the following weekend.
On 29 May, Neha got in touch with one of the organisers Vikrant Biswal through Facebook for camping and rafting in Rishikesh. Next day, I talked to Vikrant and understood what all was included in the package and confirmed booking for ‘chaar log’. By evening, before leaving for home Amitoz and I confirmed our plan for next morning. I woke up at 3 am and called up Amitoz to wake him up. He did not answer his phone. After 3 calls, I called up Sonal and the couple woke up. We met them at their home around 4.30 am.
We started our journey towards Rishikesh and took the Mohan, Meerut, Upper Ganga canal till Roorkee cantonment, Rajaji National Park through Cheela Dam and then through the Dugadda range, Laxman Jhoola to the camp site. The camp was located some 3 km ahead of Shivpuri next to the Rivera Resort.
The camp was being managed and operated by the Bhandari brothers -Roop Singh Bhandari and Teg Singh Bhandari. We met RP outside the resort and he identifed us as the chaar log, the group of four people. He got our car parked and asked us to take our belongings with us. The camp was situated some 300 meters down into the valley and the temperature was around 40 C when we started trekking downhill. By the time we reached and dumped our luggage into our assigned tent, lunch was served. Teg Singh warned us about swimming in the river and pointed some safe zones to stay in. As soon as we entered the water, we wanted more and more of it. Our skins cooled from scorching 40 C to a cool of 20 C. We had ordered
some beers which were put in a sack and tied to rock and dipped into the river to cool. We sipped on the beers while we enjoyed being soaked into the refreshingly cool water. As the sun hid behind the mountain in the west , we headed for the beach volleyball court and started a couples game. A few serves were thrown and none of the team could play the game well. We dropped the idea of volleyball and played several games of badminton. We played couples vs couples, swapped teams (arrest your kinky thoughts, please) and boys vs girls.
Between the matches we took breaks and cooled ourselves in the river.
After the evening snacks were served, we pulled out the beds from the alpine tents and started chatting over some more beers. As the night deepened, millions of stars shone into the black canvas over our heads. Neha spotted a couple of stray but bright meteors while we talked on topics of our respective love stories , relationships etc. The
dinner was getting delayed and I called it day and retired for the night.
Next morning, I woke up at the break of dawn. I could still see few stars as I lay awake in the bed overlooking the Ganges under the open sky. The next one to wake up was Sonal and the two of us fetched tea for our respective sleeping beauties. As the three of them sipped tea, we got ourselves booked into the pre-breakfast rafting groups. By 7 am, the sky darkened again, this time we rain and thunder. As it began to pour, we carried our bags up the trail to our car. For the chaar log, this was the first trek of the lifetime in the rain.
For me, it was quite an exciting trek. All the while, the jingle from Mahindra’s advertisement was playing in my head which goes like this, “We live young, we live free, we are the living”. By the time we reached our Mahindra Scorpio, we were completely drenched in the rain.
We had to wait a while before the rafting transportation vehicle came. The vehicle took us to the point which is called the Marine Drive. We made it a point to take a first pick at the rafting gear. We went for the best available hemelts, buoyancy aids and oars. We also profiled the other rafters and picked the ones who seemed okay to us. The initiation ceremony was – yes you
guessed right -the safety brief. Amitoz and I were positioned in the front of the raft, Neha behind me and Sonal behind her soulmate. We roared the raft through rapids, jumped into the water and had great fun. The water temperature read 19 C on my Casio Gshock.
We took a break for breakfast at our camp and then resumed the craziness. This time, Neha and I exchanged our position on the raft. At one of the rapids, our guide cum captain, permitted us to jump into the water. We were to hold the
perimeter ropes so as to remain attached to the raft. I jumped and then Neha jumped. I looked up and saw Amitoz and Sonal still sitting. He got late by a jiffy in jumping and now it wasn’t safe to leave jump into the ragging but shallow waters. My eyes searched for Neha and she wasn’t visible. I guided myself to the front of the raft and saw her holding a tethered rope instead of the perimeter rope. The freely swaying rope was not giving her stability in the rapid. While jumping, she had picked the wrong rope. It took me 10 seconds to reach her and pull her towards me.
Once we reached calm waters, We climbed up. And then, Amitoz jumped into the
water and invited me to join him.
We made a human chain so as to distance ourselves from the raft and yet be within rescuable distance from the raft. Now, we were on the last leg of our rafting trip. As we approached the shore, we all were attracted by the high velocity sound of the zipline above our heads. While we contemplated to go for zipping, we reached tge pickup point frpm where the transport vehicle was supposed to drop us back to the camp site. We waited for about 10 minutes and started to feel u easy in wet clothes. We took a lift from a dumper truck back to our car which was 3km away.
We changed into dry clothes, paid the guys and started journey back home. We started around noon and got stuck into several traffic snarls. It took us nearly 11hours to cover 300 km with two breaks for food and one break for kulfi ( an Indian frozen dairy dessert) . It seemed that the entire population of Delhi was in Rishikesh that weekend as there was very thin onward traffic towards Rishikesh.
Camping along the banks of the Ganges and rafting are surely refreshing activities and can be done more often if the traffic situation improves.
Chand Baori – a lost stepwell
Neha and I visited this place in February of 2012. It was an impromptu short trip, and till 15 minutes before starting, we had no idea that we will be visiting the Chand Baori. On a regular Sunday morning, we were checking the social feeds on Facebook, when we saw a post by the Jeypore Bike Riders – a group on Facebook who had visited this place few weeks back. Within minutes the trip materialised and we were driving down towards Alwar. It took us close to 3 hours to reach the village of Abhaneri.
Located about 200 km (124 miles) from Gurgaon, in the village of Abhaneri, Rajasthan is an old baori (stepwell) which has almost faded into the history. Built in the 8th or 9th century by King Chand of the Nikumbha Rajputs of Chahamana dynasty, this stepwell was dedicated to the the goddess of joy and happiness – Harshshat Mata. The temple of Harshshat Mata is at adjacent to this beautiful architecture. It is one of the largest and deepest stepwells (20 meter deep with 13 levels) in India (source: http://www.jaipur.org.uk/excursions/abhaneri.html)
The first monument visible from the road itself is the Harshshat Mata temple, which is built on a double terraced platform mimicking the Mahameru style. Mahameru or the Great Meru is a sacred mountain in Hindu, Jain and Buddhist cosmology. This mountain is considered as centre of all physical, metaphysical and spiritual universes (a multiverse concept). Many a temples built by the Hindus, Jain and Buddhist are symbolic representation of this mountain.
From this temple a path runs towards the Chand Baori and the path takes you to a different world in a different time. All around are perfectly geometric patterns of steps, down to the water body. The periphery of the compound consists of alleys access to which was restricted. I wonder what’s inside them. Also can be seen statues carved out of stone and set into the walls and pillars of the stepwell.
Abhaneri is one of the places around Delhi which has not been explored by many people and one can see the places and come back home the same day. So, if you live in Delhi/NCR and you haven’t seen this place yet, plan a visit soon. Best time to visit this place is during winters when the days are cool and pleasant.
Liveliness of Pushkar with Royalty of Jodhpur!
On 25th November 2012, we celebrated our third wedding anniversary and for the last 2 years we have been meaning to see the famous Pushkar fair. The first year of our married life, Pushkar fair happened around our wedding day, so obviously we missed it. The second year, we had rescued few stray dogs a month earlier and their care was a priority that time. This year, we decided, we will go ahead with it.
Only when we decided to finally make it to Pushkar for a weekend, we researched more on it and realised that it was not a place where we would like to spend more than a few hours. A cattle and camel fair looks amazing in the many beautiful photographs that keep getting circulated post the fair; but to be honest, we could not be in such an environment for more than few hours. Another problem was accommodation. Most affordable accommodations in Pushkar were sold out and the luxury tents were way too expensive.
We toyed with the idea of pitching our own tent at Pushkar but being a high traffic area, especially at the time of the fair, it was not wise to do so. People from all walks of life flock at such places and it would have killed the fun of camping anyway. We checked Google Maps for nearby cities where one can stay at comfort without shelling a fortune.
Avid road travellers such as us, believe in crashing for the night at a comfortable, clean and safe place rather than a luxurious stay. We get the kick out of driving through the country and not staying at exotic locations. It is the journey which adds value to our travels and not always the stay. This thought process made us reach Jodhpur on Google Maps.
Commitments at work gave us just two days for the trip. So we decided to see Jodhpur on day 1 and Pushkar at day 2.
Day 1: Gurgaon – Fort Khejrala – Jodhpur (Umaid Bhavan Place & Mehrangarh Fort) – 600 km
As always we planned to start early to beat the traffic and crunch maximum miles the madness begins. We rolled out of our parking lot at 4 am and headed on NH-8. We crossed Jaipur in 3.5 hours and by 10 am we had crossed Ajmer. At Ajmer, we experienced heavy traffic at a railway crossing but still denser traffic jams were up on the cards. The road between Ajmer and Beawar are fantastic. Speeds greater than 150 kmph can be achieved on this stretch. At Beawar, when you turn towards Jodhpur, long traffic jams welcome you. There is another railway crossing where the road is quite narrow and one needs to wait in a long queue before one can regain speed. There is a better route to reach Jodhpur via Merta City which we took one our way back. Thanks to HV Kumar for this wonderful tip.
Fort Khejrala – A few scores of miles after the town of Bilara, we reached the T-junction where the a Village Road merges to the State Highway. A big hoarding by the management of Fort Khejrala is erected here and it is difficult to miss it. After taking a right hand turn, we travelled for about 12-14 km on this narrow village road. The road is well laid but not broad enough. Two vehicles can not pass each other without one getting down on the left shoulder. After reaching the village of Khejrala, we took a right hand turn and climbed up the still narrower street and we arrived the gates of this centuries old fort. This has been converted into a heritage hotel and tariffs begin from INR 8000+ (in the year 2012)
The terrace of the fort provides a panoramic
view of the terrain below and in a distance we could see as far as the city of Jodhpur. The staff at the fort shared that on clear days one can see the Mehrangarh fort from the premises. We spent about an hour at the fort before we resumed our journey.
Umaid Bhavan Palace – We reached the Umaid Bhavan Palace at 3 pm. There is a parking lot available at the fort entrance and the cost of entry into the palace is INR 25/adult. The palace is more of a museum which highlights the life and ancestry of Maharaja Gaj Singh. It boasts of a beautiful blend of modern architecture with a blend of Rajasthani culture. Here on, we headed to the Mehrangarh Fort.
Mehrangarh Fort – To reach this fort, we had to go through the old city of Jodhpur and ascend up the hill leading to the fort gates.
There are two parking lots – one 100 metres before the fort and one closer to the fort gate. Keep driving till you reach the second parking lot. A strange observation at the ticket counters was that one which displayed the prices in Hindi was selling tickets at a cheaper rate than the one selling tickets with prices displayed in English. Audio guide is available at the counter which we would strongly recommend. There is an elevator facility as well (for a small cost) at the fort entrance. Walking, however is fun and offers a lot of photography opportunities.
This is a better place to see compared to the Umaid Palace museum. It gives an opportunity to walk through the fort and see the entire place. From Mehrangarh, one can witness the blue city of Jodhpur. We spent around 2 hours at the fort and it was closing time. Thereafter, we went to the area where the canons are placed and watched the sunset.
After the Mehrangarh fort, we checked in to Dhillon House – a B&B near the Circuit House. We found Dhillon House through TripAdvisior and the good ratings given well justified. We had Lal Maas for dinner at a resturant recommended by Mr. Dhillon himself called On the Rocks.
Day 2 – Jodhpur – Pushkar- Foy Sagar Lake – Gurgaon 650+ km
After travelling more than 600 km and visiting three forts, we went into a deep slumber at the Dhillon House. We checked out around 10 am and had breakfast at one of the local shops of Jodhpur near Nai Sadak.
We wanted to avoid the traffic jam at Beawar and thus took the Merta City route suggested by HV Kumar. This route turned out to be amazing. Expect for 500 m of super bad roads (which were under construction) the roads are good and traffic light.
Around 1 pm, we entered the city of Pushkar. There is a RTDC village opposite to Pushkar fair grounds where parking was available. After having lunch at the RTDC restaurant we headed for the fair. The beauty about Pushkar fair lies in the colours of Rajasthan.
We spent a couple of hours at the fair, took a camel cart ride and then we started back home. Just after we crossed the city limits of Puskhar we came across a small ghat section overlooking a lake. Modern Rajasthan boasts of many man made lakes and no longer qualifies as a dry desert. We stopped over for some photographs and proceeded for home. A few kilometers ahead, we came across a sign board which said right turn for Foy Sagar Lake.
Then through the narrow lanes we snaked our way to the Foy Sagar Lake. The Lake just pops out of no where and is beautiful. I do not know if it a camping site, but to me it appeared as a place where one can pitch in their tents and have a camp fire.
Once again, we started back home and continued till Jaipur. Back in August 2012, Jaipur to Delhi drive took 8+ hours and we did not want drive a snail pace. Therefore, we decided to go via Alwar and then via Bhiwadi- Sohna to Gurgaon.
The roads are good till Bhiwadi, though quite often speed breakers keep troubling. The Bhiwadi- Taodu-Sohna road has less of traffic but small patches are extremely horrible. Over all we managed to cover Jaipur to Gurgaon in 5 hrs and 15 minutes.
One thing that Neha and I realised during this trip was that, there should be a will to go and see places and time can usually be managed. A trip which usually takes 3 to 4 days, we squeezed in 2. Many people would sneer and criticise this kind of trips but then at the end of the day we enjoyed every moment of it and were completely refreshed by the end of it.
Camping at Sambhar Lake
As always, Neha Thukral thought of this. In the beginning of 2012, she came across a post on Facebook by Jeypore (it is not a spelling error) Bikers and their trip to Sambhar Lake. Since, then she wanted to camp on the banks of this largest natural saline lake in India known as-Sambhar Lake.
An email was floated to a group of friends – Tarveen, Kaustav & the kiddo Eshaan, Simar & Harneet Bamry, Neha & Anindya Roy, Priya & Harjeev Chaddha and Rohan Garg- who have shown interest in our road trips and we decided to make it a trip for the group. There were some additions and some deletions in the group size as the date neared and the final group to travel was – Neha & Puneit Thukral (Duo – The Explorers), Tarveen Saha (A wonderful woman with exemplary culinary skills), Kaustav Saha (Multi talented guy with exceptional social skills), Eshaan Saha (A kid who will brighten each second of his presence around you with his charming eyes & innocent remarks) Sushil Chauhan (A stern fellow from Indian Army “Our very own Survival expert” has amazing experiences to share, you just can’t get enough of him), Suruchi Vaid aka ‘Simar’ (A petite woman who wants to Live, Eat and Sleep in nature), Harneet Bamry (A techie at work, Leopard behind the wheels, always at prowl to take a giant leap with his machine along with his lady), Meera Kapoor (A lady who has some amazing tips to offer us for a great health, living it all by example) & Rahul Kapoor (An old fellow, inspiring us that at his age one can still Live life and not give up living) and Vishal Chaudhury (In-house entertainer, makes the moment lively and keep the spirits thumping) & Sumit Pandey (A shy, well mannered guy and our translator for local dialects) were to join us enroute.
On October 06, 2012 four cars assembled at what used to be the Liquor Shop at Signature Towers. The fifth car was to join us at Chomu as Vishal was already at Jaipur on an official tour. We started our journey around 6 am and the convoy were in constant radio communication. The radio chatter was one of the key factors in making this journey success and fun as well. There were absolutely zero coordination related issues and smooth flow of communication as well as rag chew kept us all alert and it gave you the much needed privacy of solo travel as well as the advantages when a convoy moves.
Our first stop was for breakfast at McDonald’s at Sector 80, Gurgaon, followed by Cafe Coffee Day, somewhere between Kotputli and Pragpura. Close to 11.30 am, we were at Chomu and a harsh Sun welcomed us at Rajasthan. Had we continued ahead it this hour, we presumed that we would be at the lake bed by 3 pm and none wanted to have sunburns. Thus, we decided on some local sightseeing. The closet was the Chomu Palace and Samode Palace.
One can see the Chomu Palace walls from the crowded market place behind which this 300 years old palace is located. The road leading to a palace is not very wide and it is surprising to see such a large property in such a cramped up place. This palace has been converted into a heritage hotel and not surprisingly enough, it was deserted, even though the official tourist season in Rajasthan begins on October 1, 2012. We were shown around in the palace by the staff and we saw rooms which had silver plated furniture and the tariff was a whopping INR 75,000 a night. The most inexpensive rooms costed 3 times the monthly minimum wages of semi-skilled labour in Delhi. The restaurant also boasted of architecture which was centuries old and at the gate was a visitor book which was quite fat.
After this, we went to check out the Samode Palace, which was 10-15 km away from Chomu and upon reaching there, we found that there is a cover charge of INR 1,200 per person to see the similar architecture which we saw earlier. The group unanimously voted against it and we headed back for Chomu. Had lunch and started for Sambhar. Vishal also joined the caravan and we were now 5 cars. The road from Choumu to Jobner is filled with potholes. Or, I should rephrase this as, the potholes till Jobner are separated by small patches of tarmac. This drastically slowed us down and by the time we reached Phulera town, the last light of the day vanished. Rahul’s car had a problem of leaking power steering fluid and we picked up a 5Ltr can of the same from Phulera and headed towards Sambhar which was few kilometers away.
At Sambhar, we checked with the locals for the way to lake bed and it was same as what Google Navigation was showing. This route was new for each one of us and it was pitch dark. The battery of my radio died and thus, we stopped to exchange radios which were being charged in Harneet’s vehicle. At this stage, Rahul expressed his desire to turn back as the couple was not comfortable spending the night in such conditions. The convoy broke into two and Kaustav and Sushil escorted the couple back to Sambhar while the rest of the caravan went scouting for a place to camp. We were now strictly following Google Maps, and it eventually led us to a place where it appeared, we can camp. Neha, Harneet & I decided to walk the track before leaving the tarmac and we realised that it was a great place
to pitch in our tents and start the cookout.
Kaustav and Sushil joined us in less than an hour and the party began. Soon we were all found engaged in one or other activity. Barbe-cue was started and Harneet & Simar were roasting seekh kebabs and chicken tikka’s on coal fire, Neha & I were helping everyone to set up tents and providing help in Barbeque , Sushil collecting woods and making arrangements for bonfire, Tarveen cooking minced chicken for dinner, Kaustav setting up poles for arranging lights plugged via Car batteries, Vishal preparing drinks, and Sumit taking pictures from time to time and helping all of us in our little chores. One could easily witness a great team spirit at the base camp. We were all too exhausted for an sky observation and thus, the telescope stayed in the car. We slept after midnight – at least some of us.
I was woken up at the break of first light by voices outside. Kaustav, Vishal, Sushil and Sumit were all outside taking photographs. We joined in and when Simar and Harneet woke up, we took our cars to further into the lake bed for a spin. Took some photographs of the
rising sun and then went as far as the car goes without getting stuck.
Coming back exactly to the camp was not a piece of cake. The vast flat lands do not have markers to find directions. Soon we were chatting with the base camp on radios asking for rough directions. Kaustav had lit a small fire for smoke signals but we spotted Vishal in his bright red shirt and started driving towards him. After joining the camp, we had breakfast and packed up our camps.
We all wanted to take back all our non-biodegradable waste back to the human settlements but a thieving dog dragged our waste bag away from us. The more we ran after it, the further we went and disappointed, we gave up.
Then we took the entire group close to the lake and we all did some great driving there. Sushil, stopped a tractor and he sat behind the wheel and we all took rides on it and then we all danced to the local tunes loudly playing on the tractor.
We started back for home around 11 am and stopped over some places for photographs. At Jaipur, Simar & Harneet decided to go for some sightseeing and Sumit also got off (He belongs to Jaipur). Around sunset we stopped over for tea after Shahjanpur toll and Vishal and Kaustav spotted a car with blue beacon light on. We all followed the car for a while but then Neha found it to be slow and she sped away. The two cars kept on following the blue beacon vehicle till Gurgaon. We reached Gurgaon at 7.30 pm.
It was a fun-filled trip and I can safely say an extremely refreshing experience for most of us. We had great time with each group member and beautiful memories have itched into our hearts and minds. We look forward for more fun-filled trips in times to come.
Incredible India: Mission 7000 km — planning phase
Neha and I have developed a flavour for going on long drives and since we got married, we have only once travelled by train (with family) and not yet by air. Neither do we like the idea of someone driving us around. We like to move at our own sweet pace (for some the pace is not so sweet) and take turns while driving so that we both can enjoy the beauty of the journey. Most of our road trips, long or short begin with the premise of no fixed destination. Our only goal is to go as far as we want and our stopovers can change at random, depending upon the traffic encountered, weather, and time on hand. Our trip to Lansdowne, Haridwar and Rishikesh was one such random trips.
Our personal best was to successfully complete a road trip to Ladakah in a sedan back in 2010. (see blog post https://puneitsinghthukral.wordpress.com/2010/09/11/the-ladakh-odyssey/). And, then came the trip to Bhuj – this time we officiated in Desert Storm Rally conducted by Northern Motorsports. I would not divulge here and digress by penning down about the numerous short trips that we have taken so far. However, some trips need meticulous planning due to the sheer distance one shall be traversing on the road and the limited time on hand (Job commitments).
In the beginning of 2012, we bought a new car – Force One SUV in order to suit our needs of going on road trips. In the five months since we bought the vehicle, we could only go to Abhaneri, Lucknow -Kanpur and then to Chakrata. The Chakrata trip gave us such an adrenaline kick, that we decided to leverage it into planning for a kind of trip we have never done before.
August 2012, is going to give us scattered holidays which when combined with few days off from work, is giving us 17 days time. Taking advantage of this situation, we chalked out a rough plan on July 1st, 2012 for a road trip. In mid-April, Neha mentioned to me about some caves in Andhra Pradesh and also about Dhuadhar falls in Madhya Pradesh. So our initial plan hovered around covering these two places, however, with the time in hand, we eventually landed at Kanyakumari. Having completed engineering from Belgaum, Karnataka and extensively travelled the west cost of Karnataka and Goa, I always wanted to show Neha where I studied as well as the beautiful west coast of India. At the same time, Neha wanted me to see Pimpalgoan and Nasik, the places where she had grown up. And, then we squeezed in Kerala on the route and the following route was prepared. (Point W is overlapping Point A)
Day 1: 600 km: We head towards Khajuraho on the first day to see the “Kamasutra” Temples and stay a night in the erotic city then head towards Dhuandhar falls on day 2.
Day 2: 500 km We would start from Khajuraho and then head towards Dhuandhaar falls. After enjoying the falls we intend to spend the night at Pench Tiger reserve.
Day 4: 400+ km Upon reaching Belum, we intend to do caving. I sincerely hope that Belum caves are easier than caves in Sahiya (see https://puneitsinghthukral.wordpress.com/2012/07/01/do-pictures-really-speak-a-thousand-words)
From Belum, we shall head to Dharmapuri, again for a night halt.
Day 5: 550km The next morning we shall drive down to Hogenakkal water falls and then to Kanyakumari for the night.
Day 6: 250 km After viewing the sunrise at Kanyakumari and spending some time the beach, we shall be checking around some tourist spots. Later in the evening we shall head towards Alleppey
Here on, the scenery would change as we would be travelling through what is commonly known as “God’s own country” – Kerala. The planned halts in Kerala are – Alleppey, Athirapalli, Bekal, Cochin and Kasargod. My college buddy, Hari Sadashivan, a Keralite settled in Prague, has sent a long list of places to visit in Kerala. We do intend to see as much as possible from his list.
Day 7, 8, 9 & 10: 1200 km: We will be travelling within Kerala for 3 days before entering Karnataka, once again, to see Jog Falls on Day 10
Day 11 & 12: 350 km: From Jog falls we shall head towards Karwar and reach Palolem Beach Goa. Next day we shall move to North Goa and spend the night there
Day 13 500+km: From North Goa, we shall take the Calangute, Mapusa, Thilahri Nagar route to enter Belgaum. I studied engineering in Belgaum and thus, we shall go see my college and then head towards Panchghani to crash for the night.
Day 14: ~500 km: From Panchghani we shall head towards Nasik, Ozar & Pimpalgaon and visit Neha’s school before heading for Daman for the night
Day 15 & 16 : 850 km We shall explore Daman and its surroundings and if possible cover some distance North, else head for Jodhpur the next day
Day 17: 550 km: Back to Home Sweet Home
We realise that we will be travelling during the peak of monsoons which will not only be dangerous but also beautiful especially the parts of the country we intend to visit. We would span over 7000 km during these 17 days.
Having chalked out a rough route, we prepared a long list of “essentials” comprising of more than 100 SKU to be carried on the trip.
During our 5 month ownership of the new car, we realised that there are some blind spots due to the massive size of the car and it helps if one of us is navigating other during parking or reversing in narrow parking lots/lanes. A two way radio would be of great help during the trip at such occasions and otherwise and thus we arranged that as well.
During the month of March, Delhi Hams (Amateur Radio) operators conducted a meet where CB Radio demonstration was given by President Electronics. Citizens Band radio though existing technology is seeing a comeback in India especially amongst motorsports and adventure groups. Of course ham radio operators always welcome different modes of radio and we have also planned to install a CB radio into our car for the trip. If this works out, we can then be able to map the pockets of activity along the route. Over and above all this, we shall be available on mobile APRS network (http://aprs.fi/#!call=a%2FVU2TUM-9&timerange=3600) (SSID- VU2TUM-9) as well as we shall be live streaming (http://www.ustream.tv/channel/mission-7000) parts of the trip which we feel are worth.
Follow us on Twitter – @puneit & @nehapthukral and also on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/puneit & https://www.facebook.com/neha.sonkar for regular updates on the trip depending upon the internet connectivity. Also check out, https://www.facebook.com/events/386346294766032/
If we are successful in completing this trip, we would have gone as north as the road shall take us and as south as possible in mainland India. The only unexplored area would be the Northeast which we may travel by road in the future.
This is the plan so far. We welcome comments, suggestions and tips especially reviews on possible rest-overs and restaurants en-route.
Wish us bon-voyage!