RISHABDEO to BOMBAY - Day 15

18th. July 2010.

Wake up at around 6.00 am. This is the day we will be finally coming home or should I say finally going home! Journey ends today, will be back in Bombay by tonight, will have to get back to work tomorrow. On the brighter side, will be seeing family after 15 long days. This is the longest that I have been away from my son, ever. The same holds true for Arshad too! Dinesh is a different case altogether, mainly because of his job and then his photo expeditions! I call up room service and order tea, which arrives pretty soon. Arshad and Dinesh are awake too. We decide to order for breakfast and the choice for the day is Parathas.

Finish taking a bath, pack all our belongings, load them into the car and then head to the restaurant at around 7.30 am. Piping hot Parathas are served to us almost immediately, along with Curds and pickle. We are through by 7.50 am. Head to the reception, pay all the dues and we are good to go. It's 8.00 am. when we leave the hotel premises and head out on NH8. A 'U' turn and we are on our way to Ahmedabad.

We pass the Kherwara Toll plaza (the 1st. of the day) at around 8.12 am., Kherwara village, Bicchiwada and stop at an I.O.C. petrol pump at Khajuri village at 8.42 am. After the Bolero tank is filled to capacity, we move on and pass the town of Ratanpur (the last big town in Rajasthan on NH 8). We cross the Gujarat RTO check post at 8.55 am., then the town of Shamlaji. Reach the Vantada toll plaza at 9.08 am. As expected the roads are a dream to drive on. NHAI has done a great job on the 4 laning and maintenance of this highway. Pass the towns/ villages of Dawli, Raigadh, Mathusula, Gambhol, Hamirgad, Kankrol and are at the Himmatnagar exit at 9.30 am.

Drive on past the towns/ villages of Ajipur, Nananpur, Salal, Rasulpur, JAisankpur, Prantij, Kamalpur and reach the Kathpur toll plaza at 9.47 am. Cross the Gandhinagar exit, Chiloda circle, Ranasan Toll plaza and the Ramol Toll plaza. The time is 10.40 am., high time to take a tea break. Stop immediately after the Toll plaza for a 15 min. tea break. Typical Ahmedabadi chai, sweet and filled to the brim and overflowing onto the saucer! Team it up with some Khaari biscuits, awesome combo. Reminds me of my days in Navsari, on my first job! Chai Ane Khaari, Wah Wah Mazaa Avi Gayee!

We reach the Ahmedabad end of the NE-1 (Ahmedabad -Baroda Expressway) at 10.57 am. This is an absolute razor straight road, a delight to drive on. I was holding a steady speed of around 120 kms/hr. without any problems. The only problem that I encounter on these types of roads is the monotony. Sort of lulls you into a false of security, which in turn may lead to a driving lapse! Give me a mountainous road any day, at least it keeps you awake!

We reach the Toll plaza at the Baroda end of NE-1 at 11.45 am. and at the end of the expressway at 11.49 am., covering a distance of 92 kms., in roughly 54 mins., with a small halt for dispersal of fluids. Arshad takes over the driving at the end of the e-way and I head to the backseat for some shut eye. Reach the Baroda- Bharuch Toll plaza at 12.27 pm. Again a very smooth and well maintained road. We are at the Bharuch Toll plaza at 12.52 pm. Cross the bridge over the River Narmada. Drive past the towns/ villages of Sarangpur, Ankleshwar, Kapodara, Panoli, Nandav, Kim, Pipodara and reach the Choryasi Toll plaza at 1.38 pm. The road seems pretty crowded today, with Arshad having to weave in and out of traffic, especially unyielding truckers, with a full load, driving in the extreme right lane at a speed of 40 kms/hr.

Reach the Surat exit at 1.40 pm., drive past the villages/ towns of Vav, the Bardoli exit and stop to fill diesel at an I.O.C. pp at village Karan, just before Vesma. We reach Kabilpore on the outskirts of Navsari at around 2.20 pm. On my request Arshad and Dinesh agree to have lunch at Hotel Sheetal on the highway at Kabilpore. I assure them that the food is good. (Having spent 3 years in Navsari on my first job, this is the place I used to come to have Dinner on the day of my salary. As far as I remember the food was delicious!) We drive into the restaurant. A lot of things have changed since I last visited this place ( Eons ago!) We order my favourite dish from years ago - Dabba Ghost and a Chicken dish, accompanied by Tandoori Rotis. The Dabba Ghost is as I remembered it, very good and Arshad agrees. I feel vindicated!

We leave after a longish break of around 55 mins., heading towards Valsad. Reach the Boriyach Toll plaza at 3.40pm. Drive past Gandeva, Alipore, Thala, Samroli, Dungri, Valsad exit and reach the Bhagwada Toll plaza at 4.40 pm. Onwards, on the Vapi Flyover, with Vapi town on either side of the highway. The roads from Surat to Vapi have been quite good, with intermittent diversions for construction of flyovers. We have managed to maintain decent speeds so far.

We reach the Gujarat-Maharashtra border at 5.15 pm. The moment we cross into Maharashtra, it begins raining. The less said about the condition of the highway, the better. The road is one long stretch of potholes with a few patches of tarred road somewhere in between. And they actually charge you a toll for these roads! We cross the town of Talasari and stop for tea at the village of Amboli at 5.40 pm. After a 10 min. break, we proceed towards Bombay. If we were hoping for a smooth ride into the city, we are sadly mistaken. The condition of the highway is so bad, that no one in their right senses would dare to speed up to more than 30 kms/ hr. One would expect the roads to be well tarred, wide and generally in a good condition, whilst one is approaching a major city and the last time I checked, Bombay was a major city! (Have things changed in the last few days?)

The condition of the road, is causing a lot of traffic build up, what with the trucks having to weave in and out to avoid the potholes. We reach the Charoti Toll plaza at 6.00 pm, drive past Manor Naka, reaching Khaniwade Toll plaza at 6.55 pm. We are at the Virar exit at 7.00 pm. and cross the Vasai Phata at 7.15 pm. We are at the Ghodbunder bridge at around 7.30 pm. In front of us is this huge line of vehicles. This is going to take a very long time! But to my surprise we manage to cross the bridge in the next 10 mins. Not too bad! But I did not know what was in store for us!

We cross the Bridge and the junction leading to Thane. Our woes begin from there. There is absolutely no point in writing anything in the log book. We are just not moving! Can't shut the car engine, AC is on as it's pouring outside. Can't figure the reason for this kind of a traffic jam! Maybe its the Sunday crowd returning! (Thankfully the long periods of waiting at Rohtang pass, has taught the three of us the virtue of being patient, so we just sit in the car, while everyone around us is honking or trying to cut lanes, to move ahead!) We finally reach the Dahisar Toll plaza, our entry into Bombay at 9.00 pm. The best part, there are only two lanes of the Toll plaza which are operational, while the other 3 are shut. This is probably one of the main causes of the traffic jam!

Our patience is wearing thin now, as we near our final destination. The heavy rain is not helping elevate the mood. Only one thought on everyone's mind, "Ghar Kab Pahuchenge?" It's 10.00 pm, when we reach Kemp's Corner, Arshad's alighting point. We say our good bye's and he takes his luggage and rushes out in the rain. Next stop Joothica building, Sleater Road, to drop Dinesh and his luggage. Thankfully his building has a canopy at the entrance. His camera bags and luggage is taken out, without it getting wet! Bid him good bye and good night and am on my way to Sonawala.

Reach Sonawala at 10.20 pm. Try to find a good spot to park, unsuccessfully! It's still pouring, so I decide to leave most of the luggage in the car. I will pick it up in the morning. Just carry my small haversack, with the camera equipment, wallet, etc. and head home. Thankfully there is a light on in the living room, that means someone is awake (Has to be Arthi). I open the door with my house keys, so as not to disturb Mom and Aditya and sure enough there is Arthi watching TV. After a long hug and embrace, I head to the bedroom to give a hug to Aditya, who is fast asleep. Mom is sleeping too. I decide not to disturb them.

Boy it sure feels good to have finally come home and see your loved one's after 15 days. Arthi has a whole host of questions for me! Give her a very brief synopsis of our trip, with a promise to give her the complete story over the next few days. Time to go for a shower and change, have dinner and then off to sleep. While taking a shower, it finally dawns on me that the journey has ended. There is no getting up tomorrow and planning the next stage of the drive! Back to work from the next day! Ok maybe not the next day, probably the day after that!

Thus ends my journey! The longest, furthest and most adventurous so far! I've crossed rivers, plains, deserts, mountains, valleys. I've seen the best and the worst of Nature. All this with friends who I am sure enjoyed it as much as I did. I feel truly blessed!

Will I do something like this again?????

YOU BET I WILL, VERY VERY SOON!

The End.

JAIPUR to RISHABDEO - Day 14

17th. July 2010.

Wake up at around 7.00 am after a good nights sleep. Step out into the balcony, to be greeted by a blast of hot air. Did not realise it would be so hot, while in the room. Time to get ready for the drive today. Call up room service and order teas for everyone. Decide to take a bath and get ready, before the others are awake. By the time I come out of the bath the guys are awake and the tea has arrived too. We order bread and butter sandwiches for breakfast, which we decide to have in the room itself.

The plan for the day, first stop would be Ajmer to visit Dargah Sharif. Also decide to visit the town of Pushkar, where the famous Camel Fair is held every year. It also has a Brahma Temple, one of the few still in use today. Arshad and Dinesh finish with their baths and are ready by the time the sandwiches arrive, with another round of teas of course. Its almost 8.45 am, need to begin packing and getting ready to leave.

It's 9.10 am when we finally leave the hotel after paying the dues. Head out onto the main road and after a while we are on NH8, heading towards the GVK expressway. We reach the toll plaza at the Jaipur end at 9.40 am. Five minutes into our ride on the e-way, at one of the junctions on the expressway, we are stopped by a cop. Dinesh who is driving, moves the car to the left and stops the vehicle. He comes over and asks for papers. I try to get out of the car to show him the documents, which he prevents me from doing, and insists that I sit in the car. "Why is the car so dirty?" he asks. I didn't know driving a dirty car was an offence! I just tell him that we crossed some bad roads. Dinesh's licence is the first to be checked, then the car registration, insurance. All in order, he asks for the P.U.C. certificate, hoping that we would not have a current one. He looks pretty disappointed when shown a valid P.U.C. certificate. Not to be outdone, he says that the car does not have a rear no. plate! I'm shocked, get out of the car and show him the no. plate and he goes, " Lekin Bolero Ka Jidhar Rehta Hain, Udhar Nahi Hain!" Thankfully he does not pursue the matter, otherwise I would have given him a piece of my mind. He just shrugs his shoulders and waves us on. Good for him!

We complete the GVK expressway, passing the villages of Dhamikala, Bagru, Mahela, Dudu. Reach the toll plaza at the Kishangarh end at 10.31 am. Take the exit to Kishangarh and after passing the Toll plaza and the Railway overbridge, we are on the Kishangarh - Ajmer NH8. It is two lane at present, but road widening work in progress.

We pass the villages of Gagel, Ghoogra and are at the outer limits of Ajmer City at around 11.17 am. and reach the city at 11.23 am. Luckily there are proper signages all over and it is easy reaching the Dargah. The area around and leading to the Dargah is very congested, with lots of traffic, both human and vehicular. Cars can go only upto the Buland Darwaza Gate and beyond that is a 1.5 km walk to the Dargah. On the road leading to Buland Darwaza, there are numerous parking lots, mainly areas created in building/ house compounds and enterprisingly converted into parking lots. We find a decent parking place for the Bolero, ask for the charges and on being told Rs.50.00 I drive inside.

Dinesh decides to stay back in car, with all the luggage and more importantly with the camera equipment, which is priceless. Arshad and me leave for the Dargah, assuring Dinesh that we will be back in approximately 30 - 45 mins maximum. We begin our walk, with a whole bunch of visitors, devotees all jostling for space. The whole area is lined on both the sides, with shops selling everything! Shoes have to be removed before entering the main gate of the Dargah and unfortunately cameras are not permitted inside. (Hence No photos). Deposit the camera at one of the shops, from where Arshad buys flowers for offering at the shrine. The place is totally crowded with a vast multitude of people, of ALL RELIGIONS waiting to have a glimpse of the Shrine. We fall in line behind a vast multitude of people waiting for an entry into the Shrine of Hazrat Khawaja Moinuddin Hasan Chisty (RA). He was a Sufi saint who arrived from Persia and devoted his life to upliftment of the poor and the downtrodden. He was revered by the Mughal rulers of that period. Even today people from all walks of life and Religions, come to pay their respects and many to ask for favours from the Saint.

After visiting the Inner sanctum, Arshad and me step out, collect our Camera and shoes and walk back to the parking lot. We have spent nearly an hour from the time we parked and the time we got back. Unfortunately no photos of either the Dargah or the surrounding areas.(Next road trip, will be rectified!). We finally leave the parking lot at 12.20 pm. and head towards Pushkar. Our next destination is the Brahma temple at Pushkar.

We reach the outer limits of Pushkar at 12.50 pm., where an entry toll for Pushkar town has to be paid. We are accosted by a tour guide, who claims to be officially appointed by the administration (He even has an I-Card!), guaranteeing us an easy entry into the Temple premises. We politely decline and drive on, only to be met by another guide who insists on following us on his bike, saying things like, " Temple will close soon, You will have to park far away from the Temple, I know a short cut that takes you straight to the Temple via the bypass, so on and so forth!" We again decline his services and drive on and reach the RTDC hotel. I decide to go in and check for information at the reception. The gentleman there gives me all the directions to the Temple and says that there is no problem and we can take the car very near the Temple, but we should hurry, cos the temple closes at around 1.30 pm. Thanking him, I drive towards the road leading to the Temple and sure enough there is ample parking right next to the Temple. (Glad we did not hire any guide!) Dinesh and me head towards the temple, while Arshad decides to stroll around. Again no cameras are allowed in the Temple premises. The temple is one of very few existing temples dedicated to the Hindu creator- God Brahma in India and is the most prominent among them.

After our darshan, the two of us head out to meet Arshad, who is sitting in a Dhaba opposite the Temple. He has already had a glass of Chaas and he insists that we should have our lunch and then proceed further. Sounds logical as it's almost 1.45 pm. We order one Special Veg. Thali and a couple of other Veg. dishes, with Makka Roti. The food is quite delicious and filling. After washing down our meals with cooling chaas, we are ready to leave. The time is 2.20 pm.

Back on the road, have to head back to Ajmer for the onward journey. Reach Ajmer city at 2.40 pm, drive through the city, passing Ajmer Railway station and reach the Nasirabad exit. We decide against taking NH 8 to Udaipur and settle on NH 79 via Bhilwara and Chittorgarh. Reach the junction of NH 79 at around 3.15 pm. Back on the Golden Quadrilateral and immediately our average speed is up. Smooth roads once again. Pass the village of Jagpura and stop at an IOC petrol pump at Motipura at 3.22 pm. Fill up the tank to full capacity and we are on our way. Drive on, passing the villages/ towns of Bantanwad, Bijainagar, Bhilwara toll plaza, Dhunwalia, Raila, Bera and reach Nanakpura. Stop at the Bhilwara Midway on the highway at 4.31 pm., for a tea break and exchange of fluids.

We leave after a 30 min. break, Arshad takes over the driving and we are on our way to Udaipur and hopefully beyond. Drive past Raisingpura, BSL factory and are at the Gangral Toll plaza at 5.40 pm. Gangral town flashes by and next Toll plaza is at Rithola at 6.00 pm. Past the town/ villages of Bansar, Bagund, Kapasan, Gopalpura, Palkheri, Mangalwad, Rodji Ka Khera and the Narayanpura Toll Plaza at 6.42 pm. I take over the driving again, drive on past Barodia, Menar, Bhatewar, Bantheda, Dardi and the Udaipur airport at 7.07 pm. We were greeted by rains somewhere before the Narayanpura Toll plaza, resulting in the car getting a thorough wash, the first in many many days. Most of the dirt of the past few days is washed off. So the car is pretty clean now!

Reach the Udaipur Bypass at around 7.20 pm. Are greeted with a huge traffic jam on the Bypass road, stop the car and alight to see how long it will take. The line of cars and trucks stuck in the jam seems to disappear into the distance. There is a small service road, on the wrong side of the road, should we take it or not is the question? Or should we like good motorists wait in line for the jam to clear? I take the service road and move forward. Finally get a chance to get back on to the main road, find a gap again and get onto the service road on the left. Move past all the traffic, to reach the spot which is the cause of the Traffic jam. A tractor trailer, while negotiating a turn has fallen into a ditch by the side of the road, resulting in the trailer blocking the whole road. A whole load of people are trying to extricate the vehicle, but by the looks of it, will take a long time. In hindsight a good decision to violate some traffic rules!

Back onto the NH8, reach the Paduna Toll plaza at 8.20 pm. Drive on and see the RTDC Hotel Gavri at Rishabdeo on the right side of the road. Somehow manage to miss the turn and have to drive another 2 kms., before I get a chance to turn around and head back to Hotel Gavri. The time is 8.44 pm. Dinesh and me head to the reception and see a few rooms of varying prices and finally settle on an A.C room. The room is large enough, with cleans sheets and a big bath cum toilet. First priority I order tea for myself and then get the luggage into the room. When the waiter comes with the tea, we place our order for dinner.

While dinner is getting ready, all three of us freshen up one by one. Head for dinner at around 9.45 pm. We are the only guests in the hotel. Food is quite good and the quantities are sufficient. After finishing dinner we head back to our room. The journey is almost coming to an end and there is a tinge of sadness in the air. Though on the brighter side, we are heading back to Bombay and going to see our families and children after 15 whole days!

We reminiscence over the adventures of the past two weeks. It has been a good journey. We missed out on the Leh/Ladakh part of the journey, but instead we got to see the Kullu, Kinnaur and Spiti valleys! So all in all a very satisfying trip! The car supported us throughout the journey, without any sort of breakdown, through some really treacherous roads and some no roads, so that in itself is a big relief! An adventure which is to be cherished for a long time to come! We promise ourselves another journey next year to Ladakh and continue our chit chat for some more time before going of to sleep.

To be continued..................................

p.s: Should I continue with the last day's uninteresting details or should I end the blog here???? People your comments will help!

DEV BHOOMI - Day 13

16th. July 2010.

The 13th day of the road trip. This is the day we will be bidding adieu to Dev Bhoomi.

I don't see any reason to actually get out bed. How I wish I could just start all over again, drive back to Kaza, cross Kunzum La, and onwards to Gramphoo, Keylong and then to Leh! Alas that is not going to happen. Heading back to Bombay is the order of the day! Very reluctantly get out of bed. Its almost 6.30 am., and that's late by the standards we have set for ourselves the last few days! Call room service and order tea.

Arshad and Dinesh are awake, by the time the tea arrives. Time to get ready for the drive today. Plan is to reach Ajmer if possible by around 8.00 pm. Tall order I know! Should at least try for Jaipur. (Although my choice for the night halt is Behror) Order our breakfast (Bread & Omelettes again!) over the phone and we are assured that we will be called to the restaurant, once it is ready.

A little bit about the Hotel: It's a 6 story building. Our room is on the 6th floor, so is the restaurant. (Lucky for us!). Unfortunately the kitchen is on the ground floor. So all the ordered food has to be prepared there and then carted up 6 floors. Hence the reason that the waiters say, that they would call us, once the food is ready. ,

The three of us get ready one by one and pack our luggage, so that we can leave as soon as we finish our breakfast. I try out some photography, using Dinesh's camera, not very successful though! Long way to go, using a DSLR. The waiter knocks at around 8.00 am. for breakfast. We head to the restaurant and take a seat near the window. The view outside is truly wonderful. Picture postcard perfect. Any sane person would have definitely taken at least a dozen snaps, of the mountains, the fog, the city. Unfortunately we cannot be counted as sane, so no snaps. Fact of matter, I found the view nice, but crowded, unlike what we have seen over the past few days.

Finish breakfast, head back to the room, final check to see that we have not left anything behind and head to the ground floor reception to settle all our bills. Pay the hotel and food bills and leave the hotel. The time is 9.10 am. Normal working day for everyone (except us) , lots of people and cars on the road. Minor traffic jams at many places. Driving down the city of Shimla, it's hard to believe that this was once a small village. Drive past the Shimla Railway Station, starting and ending point for the Kalka Shimla Railway, one of the very few UNESCO reconized Railways in the world. Its a narrow gauge railway line running from Shimla to Kalka a distance of around 96 kms. It takes around 4.5 hrs to 6 hrs. for the journey! Maybe someday I'll try out this journey. Not today though!

Try to head out of the city as soon as possible. Nice wide, twisting and turning roads, with traffic thinning out a little as we move further away from the city. It's mostly downhill and we will be leaving the mountains soon. Reach Shoghi at 9.40 am. and stop to fill diesel at an I.O.C. petrol pump. After the Bolero has had her fill, we move on. Pass Kaileeghat, Waknaghat, Kandaghat (Interesting names) and reach the outskirts of Solan. The Mohan Meakin Brewery is on the outskirts of Solan city. For those not aware, Mohan Meakin is the manufacturer of one of India's most famous Dark Rum Brand - OLD MONK!

It's 10.30 am, when we take the bypass, avoiding the city of Solan, past the towns/ villages of Kathed, Kumarhatti, Dharampur, Jabli. At 11.30 am. we take a break a little before Parwanoo for tea. We pass Parwanoo, signalling the end of the state of Himachal Pradesh. (No more snaps hereon!) Very soon we are in the city of Kalka, Haryana State. The time is 12.00 pm. We are now in the plains, after being in the mountains since the 6th. of July. For some people this would be a time to breathe a sigh of relief, having completed a drive in the mountains, without any mishap whatsoever. We are glad that to have completed the mountain part of the journey without any mishap or breakdown, but at the same time, there is sadness. We are leaving Dev Bhoomi and now it is back to the Bhoomi of the Mortals!

Drive through the town of Kalka, past the Kaali Maata Mandir on the left, the Bus stand, Pinjore, Yadavendra Gardens and we are at the beginning of Panchkula at around 12.30 pm. Hard to figure out where Kalka ends and Panchkula begins! A few kms. down the road, the clutch develops some snag. The clutch is not engaging, even after the pedal is fully depressed. I just hope it is not a major problem and keep driving, ready to stop the moment I see a decent garage somewhere. Drive through some crowded roads, past the villages of Derra Bassi, Janetpur, reaching the Gholumajra Toll Plaza at around 12.55 pm. There is a slight detour a little further on, as there are flyovers being built on the Panchkula - Ambala section. We take the detour and pass through some quaint villages. Unfortunately could not note down the names of the villages as all the sign boards were in Punjabi (Gurmukhi) and not a single one in Hindi.

By 1.15 pm we are at the junction where the NH22 meets the NH1 near Ambala City. We head towards Ambala Cantonment, keeping a hawks eye view for Puran Singh Dhaba. To our surprise below the flyover and opposite the Ambala Cantonment Railway Station we come across not one but atleast six different Puran Singh Dhaba's. In our eagerness to find the right one, we actually cross the whole stretch and have to turn back and retrace our steps. Finally we find the original Puran Singh Dhaba. (Convinced that it's the original after seeing the NDTV Highway On My Plate Logo and certificate). Frankly speaking, nothing much to write home about. Decent hot food and not very expensive.

After our lunch, I head out to look for a mechanic or ask for whereabouts of a garage to get the Clutch problem solved. I find a mechanic, who comes to the dhaba parking lot, slides under the car, opens the bonnet, slides under again, tightens some bolts and emerges saying the problem is solved. I start the car, try out the clutch and it is working fine. We ask him, if it will hold till Bombay and he says "No Problem"! We thank him and pay for his services and leave for the onward journey.

After driving for around 15 to 18 kms., the same clutch problem starts all over again. Can't but help thinking that we have been duped! Thankfully we are on the outskirts of Shahabad on the GT Road (NH1) and I spot a garage on the side of the road in line with a few spare parts shops. There are a few Sumos, 1 Tavera and a Qualis parked near the garage. All of them seem to be getting some work done. Hopefully we should find a solution to the clutch problem here! The name of the garage is Jassi Da Garage, and I drive in to be met by the owner (my presumption, Mr. Jassi) and tell him of the problem. He takes a drive and goes.. Hmmm...... What should one infer from that? He slides below the car, does some checks and comes out saying that the Sleeve Cylinder is leaking and needs to be replaced. His other query is, where the hell have you driven this car? (That' s because he emerges all covered with white dust all over his body and face!) Back to more important things and I ask him if it can be fixed/ repaired/ replaced and he says no problem. I also tell him that we would like a proper solution as we have to drive all the way to Bombay with this car. He says " KOI NAHI SIR, AAP GADDI LEKE CANEDA JAAO JI!" Well Canada maybe in the distant future, our immediate need is to reach Bombay and hopefully Jaipur tonight!

He buys the required parts from the adjacent Spare parts shop and starts replacing the damaged part. All this while we three are standing in the sweltering heat and sweating ourselves thin! It must be a good 36 degrees at least. Compare that to the very pleasant 12 to 15 degrees in Shimla this morning and you can begin to imagine how uncomfortable we must be feeling. Anyway after spending nearly an hour at the garage, the work on the clutch is done. All the brake oil is replaced with new brake oil. Jassi and me take a drive to test the car and she is back to her old self. We pay up Jassi Praji and the gentleman at the Spare parts shop and move out from the garage. The time is 3.15 pm.

We immediately cross the town of Shahabad Markanda, drive by Ratangarh, Pipli (not to be confused with Peepli, M.P.) and reach the Karnal Toll Plaza at 3.45 pm. Soon we drive by the Karnal junction and continue till we reach the Panipat Toll Plaza at 4.33 pm. On to the elevated road, with Panipat city on both sides of the highway. The road are a dream to drive on, though there are few places where some work or the other is happening and so some diversions. But all in all a smooth ride. Pass by Jhattipur, Samalkha, Sonepat, Rai and Kundla and reach the MCD limits at around 5.15 pm.

We are in Delhi now, going by the welcome sign. I decide to stop and ask for directions from this point on, so that we do not waste time in Delhi traffic (which I have been told is horrendous). An auto rickshaw driver gives us the directions and we move on. Luckily for me I see a Volvo bus with Chandigarh-ISBT-IGI Airport-Gurgaon destination board, a little ahead of me. That is exactly the route we have to take, so I immediately get in line behind the bus and decide to follow it all the way to Gurgaon. :-) These Volvo's sure move fast, I'm pretty sure we will be crossing Delhi soon. Unfortunately the Volvo bus driver has passengers in his bus, who would be rather inconvenienced if he drove straight on to Gurgaon, without halting! The Volvo moves over to the left of the road and before I know it, I'm driving past and onwards. Well the situation is not so bad, all three of us remember being on this road, albeit in the opposite direction on our journey to Chandigarh. Good to know that we are on the right road. (What really bothers me is the lack of signages giving proper directions!)

Decide to again ask for directions to the Airport/ Gurgaon at a traffic signal and a kind gentleman driving an Indica, suggests that we follow him. That's a relief, I just have to follow the car in front of me, even though it means weaving in and out of traffic with a Bolero. But then anything KAREGA to avoid the Delhi traffic right? A few kms., later, I see the driver of the Indica waving his hand out of the car. Assuming that he wants us to follow him, I move in behind him. I get a feeling that we are heading more and more into the city. The maps we have, say that IGI and Gurgaon is more or less towards the right side and we are heading straight! Unfortunately the driver was telling us to turn to the right at the signal, which I mistook as a sign to follow him. Bygones, we ask him what we should do now, and he tells us to follow him till a certain point and take a turn at the India Gate on to Akbar Road, then to Teen Murti Marg, Sardar Patel Marg and Swarna Jayanti Marg, which will lead us to the airport. We note down all the points on the map, thank the gentleman and move on. Its almost 5.45 pm.

And then we are hit with the full force of Delhi traffic. We cross India Gate turn onto Akbar Road and see a long line of cars, bikes, buses etc. The traffic just doesn't seem to move. We spend quite some time in the traffic jam, hoping no Delhi cops stop us! (Out of state, very dirty looking mud splattered Bolero and three guys). Follow the directions on the map to the "T", with Arshad guiding me all the way, while Dinesh takes his 40 winks. Finally reach the 1st. Gurgaon Expressway Toll Plaza at 7.05 pm. A distance of approximately 50 odd kms. from one end of Delhi to the other in about 1hr. 40 mins.

Pass the 2nd. Gurgaon Toll plaza, Manesar goes past and we pull into a Petrol Pump to refuel, the Bolero with diesel and us with teas! Its nearly 7.45 pm, when we leave afetr the tea and fuel halt. On the NH8, we reach the Shajahanpur Toll Plaza at around 8.55 pm. Its almost 9.10 pm., when we enter Behror. I suggest that we halt for the night at the RTDC Motel. Arshad reasons that Jaipur being only around 130kms. from here, we should drive on. I lose the vote 2:1 and off we head towards Jaipur. Pass Kothputli at 9.30 pm. Drive by the towns/ villages of Paota, Shahpura, Manoharpura and reach the Daulatpura Toll Plaza at 11.00 pm. Hoping to find some sort of hotel/ motel/ place to stay on the highway we keep driving for nearly 25 mins., with no luck, till we finally reach the Jaipur exit.

Decide to take the exit and head into Jaipur, rather than taking the flyover and moving away from the town. No guarantees of finding any accommodation on the highway we feel. As soon as we turn into Jaipur city and a few metres ahead, we come across Hotel Shiva at 11.25 pm. The place looks decent. We drive into the compound, Arshad and me go up to the reception to check for availability and see the rooms if possible. The receptionist shows us the rooms, which according to us are good enough with a working A.C. , cleans bedsheets, etc. We decide to take the rooms, haggle a little over the room rent, finally settle for a little discount.

A little matter of having dinner has been forgotten and after having got a room for the night, we suddenly realise that we all are very hungry. We ask the receptionist about a place to eat nearby and he suggests some Dhabas down the road, but we should hurry as they are likely to close. We immediately start the car and head out, passing a couple of Dhabas on the right and a few on the right. Finally we settle on Sharma Dhaba (Incidentally they own Hotel Shiva too, which we came to know later) on the right side of the road and park there. Order our food, a little bit of Punjabi and a Rajasthani Dish and Naans. Everything is either too oily or dripping in Ghee/ Butter. No complains from any of us, jsut glad that we are getting food at this late hour. The Dhabas seem to be the only places that are open. The rest of the city seems to have gone to sleep a long time back!

Finish our dinner, pay up (Very expensive dinner in my opinion) and head back to the hotel. Take out the essential luggage from the car and head up to the room. The receptionist has been kind enough to have put on the A.C., while we had gone for dinner, so we enter a pleasantly cool room as compared to the temperature outside. Dinesh and me take a bath one after the other, Arshad just washes and changes and we hit the bed. All of us are too tired to even put on the T.V. or discuss tomorrows plans! Everything can wait! Sleep is what we need.

To be continued..........................

DEV BHOOMI - Day 12

15th. July 2010.

A very fitful nights sleep. The Razaais that most of the hotels have are really warm. I'm sure that even when it's really cold, sleep under one of these and you will be warm. It's 6.00 am. when I wake up. As usual, have kept the water heater on throughout the night, in the hope of getting hot water in the morning. Am not disappointed, the taps have hot water. Time for every one to get up! I go out looking for the kitchen staff, so that we can order tea. I step out and as has been happening, there is no one around. Hopefully some one appears soon.

Go back to room, Arshad and Dinesh are both awake. We decide to clean the car from the inside. All the accumulated dirt/ dust, etc., of the past 11 days, needs to be cleaned. We would like to operate the A.C. on the drive today, at least on the stretches which are bad, especially the road from Karcham onwards. It would be prudent to at least wipe out the dust, so that we are not breathing the same, when the A.C. is in operation! I go and start the cleaning operation, Dinesh and Arshad join me after a few moments and remove all the luggage and begin cleaning too. We decide to empty the Jerry can of Diesel into the car tank. Again 3 people required, 2 to lift the cans and 1 to hold the funnel! Finish the cleaning, well almost, not the greatest of jobs, but good enough! The outside cleaning can wait. It's going to get dirty on the road anyway!

This cleaning is a tiring job. Head back to the room and first requirement is tea. Luckily for us the people in the kitchen are up and about. We ask for teas in our room. Dinesh take a bath and is ready before the tea arrives. Arshad and me finish our teas. Its nearly 8.00 pm, by the time Arshad and me have our bath and get ready. For breakfast, we have ordered Bread Omelettes and Aloo Parathas. We head to the restaurant to have our breakfast. Breakfast is over by around 8.40 am. We are ready to leave Nako. Settle all the bills for the room, teas, dinner and breakfast.

Start from Nako finally at 9.00 am. Past the helipad and the Centre View Dhaba, and proceed further towards Khab. Pass the village of Khab, after lots of winding, steep, descending roads at around 9.55 pm. Reach Titankhud Bridge and the Dubling turnoff at 10.05 am. NH22 begins from this point onwards. Cross the Tripeak Eagles Army camp DET, which is just before the village of Pooh at around 10.15 am. The roads are pretty decent all along, with some bad stretches. We encounter a minor landslide somewhere between Pooh and Spillow, which is being cleared by a bulldozer. A small wait of 6 mins. and we are on our way.

Reach the Mati Dhang Durga Mandir and the Police check post at 11.12 am. All the car papers and details are checked and noted down. Arrive at the town of Spillow at 11.20 am. Stop for teas at Hotel Himani for around 15 mins. Have tea and are back on the road. Cross the bridge over River Akpa at 12.15 pm.

Pass the village of Ribba, across the Kassang Bridge, Pangi Nallah and reach Powari at around 1.10 pm. On the way we go past the GREF HQ at the outskirts of Powari. We halt at the same dhaba, that we had breakfast at, on the way to Kaza. We order Chole Chawal (Basmati if you please!). Dinesh decides not to have Chole and makes himself some jam sandwiches. We buy a pack of Lays wafers to go along with the Chole Chawal. (in lieu of Papad!) Surprisingly the food is very tasty and filling. We leave after around 35 mins., after paying up.

We cross the Shontong Bridge at around 1.45 pm. The progress so far is quite good, even though the roads are pretty bad because of the Baspa II hydro-electric project work going on. We cross bridges over the Rivers Baspa and Satluj.

Past the villages of Cholling and Tapri (no did not halt :-)!) and we reach Bhavanagar by around 3.05 pm. We stop for tea at Lutuksa village, just outside of Bhavanagar. Leave after a 12 min. break. Drive past the villages/ towns of Pangi, Nigulsari, Chaura, Badhal, Jeori, Ratanpur, Jhakri and are at the start of Rampur town at around 4.35 pm. We were supposed to be spending the night at Rampur. All through the drive from Nako to Rampur, the shock absorbers/ suspension have not acted up even once. And we have crossed many bad patches. Maybe the suspension will hold up till the next big town or maybe even till Bombay! We decide not to stay at Rampur and try to head further towards Shimla. The roads hereon should be good and Shimla is roughly around 140 kms. from Rampur. We should take a maximum of around 3 hrs. to cover that distance. So Shimla it is then!

Drive on, past the villages of Nogli, Nirsu, Dattanagar, Bhadrash, Nirath across Kaali Mitti Pul, Sainj, Kingel, Batola, Kumarsain, Odi and reach the town of Narkanda at 6.15 pm. Stop for teas at the end of the town and move on towards Shimla after 15 mins. The road is two laned and we are keeping a good speed. The road reminds me of NH 17, turning, twisting all the way. Only difference being the altitude. We are much much higher than the Konkan region. The views are just awesome. We pass the villages of Kandiyate, Shilaru, Matiana. The sun is about to set and we halt to take a few photos.

We leave after around 25 mins. Pass the village of Barawan Sandhu and the town of Theog at around 7.30 pm. While driving we also discuss the possibility of staying in Kufri. Sounds like a good idea. Reach Kufri at 8.00 pm. By mistake I take the road leading to Chail, assuming that all the hotels will be on this road and not on the main highway! Reach HPTDC Lalit Cafe after around a 2 km. uphill drive. Wrong decision to come up this road. Stop to ask directions from a shop near the Cafe, which is about to close down. We are told that the next hotel is at Chail, which would roughly be a 35 km drive. We decide to head back down to the highway and try our luck there. Drive down to the highway and come across a few hotels on the main road. Dinesh goes and checks out a couple of them. Not too pleased with what he has sen, he suggests that we should head on to Shimla. The options there will be much better.

We reach the tunnel before entering Shimla at 9.00 pm. Pass through the tunnel and are in Shimla town. The first thing that strikes me, are the amount of people around and the traffic. After having been in areas, where we would be lucky if we saw people for many kms., let alone seeing cars, this crowded city is like a big shock. I park the car at the side of the road and Arshad & Dinesh get down and go to find out information regarding HPTDC hotels, where we can spend the night. They return after around 5 mins, with all the required information and directions. Arshad takes on the role of a navigator, guiding me through the streets of Shimla.

Shimla is really a very big town, make that a city. You can see the city sprawling along the hills. We reach the HPTDC hotel after 8 mins. Arshad goes to find out availability, rates, etc. In the meantime, Dinesh spots a photo-op and takes his camera and is off to shoot some snaps. In the distance, Shimla by night looks really cool.

Arshad returns after some time saying that there no big rooms available, the only one available is too small and not worth the price they are asking. We decide to head out and find some other place to stay. As soon as we are out of the compound and reach the main road, we come across a couple of people waving their hands frantically, asking us to stop. I ignore them and then I begin to wonder, if I had committed a traffic violation. Since I did not see or hear a cop trying to stop me, i kept driving, only to be accosted by the next set of people waving! I decided to stop and check what it was all about. Imagine my surprise, when 3 guys come running across the road, with visiting cards and photos of hotels! All of them are Touts/ Agents. Anyway we decide to have a look at what they have to offer. Couple of places they suggest sound promising. One of the guys gets into the car to show us around. We stop at the first hotel, Hotel Brightland, park the car and Arshad and me go inside to check the rooms, cost, etc.

Decent place, with parking available (which by far is the most important thing in Shimla) in the premises. We decide to take the room. Pay the advance at the reception and come back to the car to take out our luggage and park the car in the proper parking place. At the reception, we are told that the restaurant kitchen will close at 10.30 pm., so we should order our food soon. We ask them to send us the menu in the room, so that we can order our food, and freshen up by the time it is ready.

We enter the room with our baggage and for the first time we see a fan in a hotel room after Chandigarh, that was way back on the 5th. of July! Its a double bedded room, with an extra chaise lounge which doubles up as an extra bed. We ask for extra bedsheets, covers and pillows. We all freshen up one by one and are ready to attack the restaurant for dinner. An observation while at the restaurant, this whole hotel and probably most of the hotels in Shimla are mainly for Honeymooning couples and the likes! All the tables in the restaurant have candle and the rest of the lighting is very dim. It is not as cold as Kaza or Nako out here, but there is a chill in the air.

Its nearly 11.00 pm., when we finish dinner, sign the bills and head back to our room. Spend some time viewing photos that Dinesh has downloaded onto his laptop. Switch on the TV, browse through channels and finally stop at a channel showing a Bond movie. You Only Live Twice starring Sean Connery, if my memory serves me right! Hop into bed, to watch the movie while lying down. No idea when I passed over into dreamland.

To be continued...............................