THE SPITI EXPEDITION ( DAY III : BEHROR TO BAROG )

DAY 3: BEHROR – BAROG (500 KM)

Destination:  Barog , Himachal

1.       Considering the long distance that we had to travel which included the early office going traffic of Delhi we decided to make an early start from Behror.Our destination for the day was Barog , Himachal which is a small hill town situated around 8 km away from Solan.

2.       There is a tale to the name Barog as it is common to most unique places.The town is named after a certain Col Barog of the British Army.The Col. was responsible to construct a tunnel as a part of the railway project .To speed up construction he commenced digging from both sides but because of a mistake in calculation the ends did not meet in the middle ; as a penalty he was fined Re 1 by the British Government however due to the humiliation he suffered he committed suicide and  was buried in the incomplete tunnel.The tunnel later constructed is the straightest  tunnel in the world and longest on the Shimla-Kalka stretch amongst the 103 odd tunnels that have been constructed.The town is 1560 mt above sea level ( 5120 feet).

3.       Anyways to get back to the TL , we started by 0730 hrs from Behror and our target was to reach Murthal, one of the fastest developing villages in Haryana and a place long famous for Dhabas.Soon we were speeding on the NH-8 and crossed Manesar  and IFFCO chowk exit and  approached the Gurgaon toll plaza by 0935 hrs covering a distance of 114 kms .We thereafter encountered the morning office traffic of Delhi even as we sought to bypass the city travelling through Mahipalpur and then the IG airport T 3 exit. Our path took us through Dhaula Kuan and then Pitampura metro station from where we turned right towards Sonepat. We reached Murthal by 1120 hrs covering a total distance of 186 km from Behror .The breakfast was at Satnam Dhaba where we had the ubiquitous aloo paratha with curd topped with generous home made butter and a cuppa of hot tea.

4.       We were now on the AH 2 ( part of the Grand Trunk Road) and continued through the plains of Haryana towards Karnal which we reached by 1300 hrs after 66 kms from Murthal.After the Karnal toll plaza we then proceeded towards Kurukshetra and Ambala Cantt. Kurukshetra was the land where the battle of Mahabharata was fought during which Lord Krishna preached the Bhagvada Gita . As one travels through the length of this country one realizes how much there is to see and assimilate.Every small town has a history and a story to tell , there is a place waiting to be explored and spoken about .Ambala Cantt had the army look written all over it and it houses the “2 Corps” one of the three strike corps of the Indian Army. Ambala Air Base is one of the oldest in the country . We crossed Ambala Cantt during the hot afternoon by 1430
hrs.Thereafter we stopped at Khalsa filling station for topping up fuel and to take a water break.

5.       A few words about the Grand Trunk road that we were travelling upon is I feel most essential for it is one of South Asia’s most oldest and longest major roads.It has linked the Eastern and Western region of the subcontinent  for over four centuries originating from Chittagong in Bangladesh , entering India through Howrah and then cutting across North India reaching the Wagah Border where it enters Pakistan towards Lahore and Gurjanwala and then entering Afganistan through the Kyber pass and finally culminating at Kabul, a single continuum of over 2500 kms.As Rudyard Kipling has put it “such a river of life as nowhere else exsists in the world”.

6.       From Ambala we crossed over to the Ambala-Chandigarh Expressway which is a 35 km high traffic density corridor on the NH-22.Lunch was at Sethi Dhaba at around 1530 hrs.The Dhaba was actually a let down considering the décor that was designed to attract all way farers .Understaffed and unhygienic we just wanted to get on with our journey as soon as possible.One point of note was that the publicity was top grade with mannequins depicting every aspect of Punjabi culture to huge ceiling to floor posters adorned with pics of celebrities who had mentioned about the dhaba .A point which did catch my attention was that the dhaba had organized a ambulance service and logistical support at the site of the Uttarakhand tragedy .

7.       After the lunch break our destination was Panchkula which is a satellite city of the UT of Chandigarh and also houses the Chandimandir Cantonment.The weather had changed dramatically as we approached Panchkula as we continued on the NH-22. After the Panchkula-Kalka toll expressway we were welcome to the Himalayan Expressway after covering a distance of 1778 kms from Colaba,Mumbai.

8.       The climate grew cooler as we continued on the Himalayan Expressway and soon we crossed over in to Himachal with sudden showers welcoming us to the land of the snow leopard.The road grew slippery as we encountered holiday goers from Chandigarh and Delhi who were enjoying the scenic beauty in the mild rains and were all bound towards Shimla.

9.       Our destination was Barog and we topped up fuel once again at Dharampur petrol pump and finally arrived at Barog by 1800 hrs.The Pinewood Barog run by the Himachal tourism is situated right at the summit of the hill town and has a steep ascent. A well maintained property and is a delight to stay in and offers spectacular view of the Solan Valley from the premium rooms.

10.   Odometer reading for the day . BEHROR -55867 ; BAROG - 56309

NAVIGATOR & CLOSE FRIEND

DELHI KI SHAAN

WELCOME TO MY ABODE

DINNER@PINEWOOD BAROG

LOVED IT 

WAKE UP 

THE PROMISE OF WHAT LAY AHEAD

32 LANE GURGAON TOLL PLAZA

PEACE & TRANQUILITY

RAIN FILLED

ENGINEERING FEATS STILL IN EXSISTENCE

FINALLY 

PINEWOOD BAROG

INTERSPERSED VIEW JUST LIKE THOUGHTS

INNOCENCE

KALI MAA

JUST ME 

SOLAN VALLEY

BRUNCH TIME

SETHI DA DHABA

CAREFUL DRIVING IS THE NEED OF THE HOUR

MOUTH WATERING 

DESTINATIONS GALORE

HIMALAYAN TOLL PLAZA

THE ROAD TRIP IS SHAPING UP

UNIQUE MENU CARD @SETHI DHABA

VARIED INDIA

DAY II - THE SPITI EXPEDITION ( UDAIPUR-BEHROR)

DAY II: UDAIPUR – BEHROR (600 KM)

Destination:  Behror , Rajasthan

1.       The next morning we were up by 0700 hrs and had a plan to leave the hotel by 0830 hrs .The issue of breakfast was taken care of in the Hotel booking plan itself and the restaurant opened by 0800 hrs with a buffet breakfast. I did have a well deserved sleep and Udaipur was all bright and sunny with the promise of a clear and hot day coming up. As I had done prior bookings so check out was quite simple and as the Indomitable was being warmed up, I did a quick check of the condition inside the bonnet just to verify that all looked ok and in place. The car windows were cleaned up , I had for this purpose bought a nice handy small cleaning tool from E-bay and used a glass cleaner as the soaping agent. I have learnt that a clean glass helps the driver a lot in making correct decisions on the road.
2.       We left the hotel by 0930 hrs.Getting out of Udaipur was fairly simple as we headed towards airport road which would connect us to NH-76.I had opted to taken the NH76 to Chittorgarh instead of the NH-8 which continued right through Udaipur. The reason being that on basis of what I had read from other accounts the NH-76 was fairly smooth and devoid of heavy traffic. In reality it was exactly so barring truckers there were absolutely  minimal any other kind of  traffic that we were soon zooming ahead. The highway snakes its way through interior Rajasthan offering a view of rural Rajasthan.
3.       At Nimbahera junction we turned left to continue on the NH-76.Nimbahera is a small town in Rajasthan that is known for its cement industries and limestone production. It is stated that soon it is going to become the biggest cement producing region in the country.
4.       One thing that I observed in plenty on this route was prayer flags and chunnis being sold in plenty with one shop at every 500 metre.Primarily these are purchased by the truckers who adorn these on their trucks at every possible location. I did stop and purchase a flag and wrapped it around the gear shift pedal as I have always considered it to be of critical importance and esteem for it is the nerve that transmits the driver’s intentions to the heart of the vehicle. Additionally there is absolutely no dhaba on the NH-76 from Udaipur till Chittorgarh .
5.       The heat by now was building up as we were running the AC in Mode 2 with max cooling. The Chittorgarh bypass was up by 1130 hours after a distance of 140 kms.It was definitely a slow rate of speed that we were traversing in on account of the Photo shoots that were being undertaken with regular frequency. The Chittorgarh-Bhilwara toll plaza was up by 1200 hrs .The intersection of NH-76 and NH-79 is a sight to see as we meet up with the NH-79 out here which comes arching in from a distance.
6.       Fuel was topped up at the Amirgarh filling station and soon we stopped for lunch at 1240 hrs at Hotel Vinayak Plaza which was a traditional rustic dhaba exclusively for the truckers who would eat and then rest a bit on the charpoys spread out there .After a sumptuous meal which included the now regular chaas  to be had with steaming dal and hot rotis ,we took a break of about 30 min.Our next destination was the Nasirabad bypass on the NH-79 .The scenery was drab and hot as an oven as we speeded up in the afternoon through rural Rajasthan. The Bhilwara-Nasirabad stretch is really a long ardous mind boring stretch with nothing to do except Drive On. The Nasirabad bypass was reached in 1 hour 40 min covering a distance of 134 km from the lunch break which I feel was real quick and made up for quite a bit of the lost time .At the Nasirabad bypass we then proceeded towards Kishangarh and then took the Kishangarh-Jaipur expressway which is a segment of the NH-8 and forms a part of the Golden Quadrilateral project. It is 90 km long toll accessed expressway built by GVK constructions and is the first among the Public-private partnership model.There are numerous signboards all along the NH-76 and NH-79 so even if one is travelling without a navigator the route can be easily understood. I used a combination of Map My India navigator installed in the car and Google maps on the phone.
7.       We entered the Jaipur entry toll plaza by 1720 hrs in the evening and had covered 123 km since the Nasirabad bypass. My target was to bypass Jaipur and head out on the NH-8 towards Behror.The jaipur bypass is in a real bad shape and after the smooth roads that we travelled throughout the day the sensitivity to the bad stretch was even more pronounced. We took a break at around six in the evening to have some tea and also to cool the car and clean the windows in preparation for the oncoming night journey. Fuel was again topped up at HP auto care centre for I just maintained the fuel level as high as possible.
8.       The Jaipur-Behror stretch of NH-8 is really bad as there are numerous diversions due to ongoing construction activity , so a careful lookout has to be kept on the lane in which one is driving.On top of it I believe there was some political rally that had just got finished ,so here we were stuck in massive traffic jams amidst pickups laden with people coming back from the rally , trucks loaded with stuff moving towards Delhi and no one willing to give an inch to the other on the numerous diversions that propped up with regular frequency. It really was a harrowing experience of sudden bursts of speeds as the traffic opened up and every one  raced on and then reducing drastically as the next diversion and jam came up.
9.       We reached Behror finally by 2100 hours and the RTDC Behror really was excellent when compared to RTDC Kajri.I believe it must have been an architectural site that has been converted in a hotel. We were expected so no hassles in the allotment of the room. As we had reached in time we decided to have dinner at the hotel restaurant itself which actually was not that great but then I was tired after the last stretch of driving so no complaints.
10.   The Indomitable was steaming by the time we stopped , so in a way I was glad that we had reached early , cooled it down and then shut it down for the night.ODOMETER reading : UDAIPUR – 55301 ; BEHROR-55867

CHITTORGARH-BHILWARA TOLL PLAZA

CONTEMPLATING

INTERMEDIATE DESTINATIONS NH 76 

DOORWAY TO BEYOND- RTDC BEHROR

I DRIVE SAFE 

HOT MEAL COMING UP

PINK CITY-JAIPUR COMING UP ON THE HORIZON

TRUCKERS JOINT

WHAT DO I SAY 

THEY ARE OUR SILENT CARRIERS 

ME 

ONLY IN INDIA 

ROOM VIEW - RTDC BEHROR 

DARWAZA OR SHOULD I SAY BULUND DARWAZA !!

PLACID AND STILL JUST LIKE HOW THOUGHTS SHOULD BE 

LIVE TO DRIVE 

SEATING ARRANGEMENT 

DAY 1: MUMBAI – UDAIPUR (800 KM)

Destination:  Udaipur

1.       The initial fascination was to make the trip to Leh and actually all my research since many a month was based on it but as 2013 came on I realized in my heart of heart that Leh was not happening this year.Anyways as I continued to sporadically read about Leh , I came across an account of a trip to THE LAND OF GODS : SPITI.

2.       As I read more on the subject I knew that this was a doable trip this year , circumstances did change in a way that I became aware of a single vision – to visit the Abode of Gods no matter how perilous would be the journey. The research went on in full steam utilising late nights  as I started researching and going thru all the data I could find. The initial itinerary was made up and revised so many times. I roped in a childhood friend of mine to accompany me : Baboo thanks for coming along , seriously your presence was invaluable at times .

3.       The final itinerary stood at close to 18 days on the road covering close to 5000 km reaching heights of 14000 -15000 feet and all in THE INDOMITABLE – THE MAHINDRA LOGAN .Well that’s what I have named it after the expedition for its attitude and spirit.

4.       The leave was sanctioned from office though again with revisions to suit office requirements , the tickets for Baboo to arrive to Mumbai were booked and I started doing the hotel reservations with careful planning. At this stage I would like to say that I really am totally floored with the amenities of the state tourism run hotels , I did experience Rajasthan tourism and Himachal tourism and both impressed me a lot . Clean rooms and spacious hotels.

5.       Initial Preparation:         The initial preparation included a trip to Decathlon to purchase essentials like a thermos flask, all terrain shoes , a foldable camp chair , gloves , head mask. I also included food items in case of emergency for a day or two. From e-bay I purchased a Belkins dual charger for simultaneous charging of mobile and navigator from the car point, a 12v heating cup to boil water , one 12 v air compressor , window cleaner , a 2 ton towing rope , d shackles. I also sourced three 20 Litre jerry cans to fill spare petrol and a 10 meter three core nylon rope. The bookings were done online and from a local visit to the HP tourism office at cuff parade. All numbers would be given by me at the end comprehensively. Few bookings were done directly with the hotels, details would be provided at the end. The car was sent for servicing to NBS international at Sewree. I explained in depth what my requirement was and a comprehensive servicing was undertaken. The only thing that I wanted to do but could not get it done was a complete change of the drive belts and bearings. The lead time was 04 days and I did not have that much time. In hindsight I should have got the servicing done earlier but somehow arranging the finance and the time slot did not work out very well. I will add at the end a total list of products purchased and details of servicing done as a source of reference including the documents carried for the trip.

6.       The D day arrived- 09 sep  and though we planned to sleep early the night before yet somehow as it was Baboo’s first visit to the city we ended up sleeping by around midnight.Consequently my aim of starting the trip at 0500 hrs got delayed as we could just not get up in time. Finally we were ready to move by 0630 hrs .Our goal for the day was the fabled city of Udaipur which was at present close to 800 kms away. We were soon speeding on the Rajiv Gandhi Sea Link as we sought to catch the western express highway which would take us out of Mumbai and on to the NH-8 towards Gujarat. The MH-Guj border near Vapi was reached by 0910 hrs covering a distance of 153 kms which included a breakfast time of 30 min @ Hotel Annapurna which is just after the Vasai municipal limits right on the highway itself.

7.       I wanted to see the Golden Gate Bridge on the river Narmada as I had read that it was a complete enclosed bridge built in 1881 by the British, hence I deviated from the the NH-8 and headed towards Ankleshwar town .The road was chaotic and quite narrow but the bridge was a sight to see and I was happy that I took the decision to see the bridge. Once we cross the bridge we are in Barauch and after a bit of searching around I managed to find the Barauch by pass that would connect with the NH-8 once again. The bypass was jammed on account of heavy traffic but  maybe in the early mornings it would be calmer for I crossed it at peak noon time. We had a simple lunch at Hotel Boston International that is just outside Barauch near to Vadadla.

8.       Thereafter we proceeded towards the Baroda bypass which arrived by 1430 hrs after a distance of 72 km from Barauch by pass. Once past the Baroda toll plaza we were ready to take the Mahatma Gandhi Expressway (NE-1) towards Ahmedabad. This is a super fast expressway which just races on towards Ahmadabad and has got exits for Anand and Nadiad. It is 96 km long and a must travel aptly maintained by NHAI and reduces the travel time between Baroda and Ahmadabad from two and half hours to one hour.

9.       As researched I wanted to avoid entering Ahmadabad , so I deviated from the NE1 and turned towards the Sardar Patel Ring Road that moves on the outskirts of the city. There are clear sign boards to deviate from the NE 1 so one does not have to worry much about this actually however from the point of view of data collation from the Baroda toll plaza the exit for Sardar Patel Ring road comes after 83 km.I had covered a total distance of 548 km by this time and we were on the road for close to 10 hours by now.

10.   I rejoined the NH-8 after GIDC Naroda , it is easy to see the NH-8 at the place where the ring road intersects the highway , there is a big roundabout .From there we proceeded towards Himmatnagar town and this stretch has bad roads and also it is one lane for both incoming and outbound traffic.

11.   We reached Himmatnagar town after a travelling distance of 83 km and topped up fuel in the car as well as two spare jerry cans (each 20 liter).Soon after proceeding for around 30 km we took a tea break halt at Hotel Way Wait. It was a good break as we cleaned up the car windows of all the dust and grime as well as took a breather since now we had to cover the remainder of the distance at night though i was not very keen on driving at night but considering the distance involved and our late start there was no other option.For the remainder of the drive the music selection was all peppy numbers and i realized that chewing gum is really good especially when one is driving really long distances and not many people in the car.

12.   The RTO post at Samalji was reached in 55 min and the GUJ-RAJ border 10 min after that covering a distance from the last stop at Hotel Way Wait of 34 km.We had a early dinner at Hotel Bhagyadoy at around 2030 hrs and it consisted of hot dal , one veggie and amazing rotis followed by chaas. A superb dinner by my standards .

13.   After the dinner break of around 40 min we covered the remaining 110 kms and reached our destination of Hotel Kajri by 2245 hrs.The landmark for the Hotel is Shastri circle at University road. The restaurant of the hotel does close by 2200 hrs so we had before hand inquired about the same and informed that we would be reaching late to the reception staff.

14.   The Odometer read .  Colaba – 54485 and Udaipur – 55301.          

                                      

ALL LOADED UP 

GOODBYE MUMBAI 

SEA LINK WELCOMES 

BREAKFAST TIME 

LOVED THE ARCHITECTURE 

GOLDEN GATE 

JUST RANDOM

NO DISTANCE TOO FAR IS WHAT I HAVE REALIZED 

A DINNER TO STAND AMONGST ALL OF THE MICHELIN STARRED RESTURANTS

HOTEL BHAGODAYA

OUR STAY @ UDAIPUR - RTDC

JUST ME 

THE NE 1

THE INDOMITABLE 

SARDAR PATEL RING ROAD