Leh by Thar

[J.Ravi]

Srinagar: Nishat Bagh aka Mughal Garden

Nishat Bagh is the second largest Mughal Garden in Kashmir Valley, the first one being Shalimar Bagh.

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On 21 September 2011 [Wednesday], we got up late, had a brunch of poori, subzi and tea and proceeded to Fairdeal Motors, Parimpora, Baramulla Road, Srinagar with the guidance of my MMI navigator for servicing of my Linea. I handed over the vehicles to the SA at 11:30 pm and got it back by 4:30 pm only. My list of works included full servicing, topping of engine oil/fluids, set right the engine guard plate, fixing of all the four mud-flaps [which my Linea lost at Zoji La] and rear right stop light bulb [which got burnt at Leh]. Except the last one, all others were attended to including a thorough wash. I paid Rs 990 by cash. Cards were not accepted there. We waited at the customer lounge until my Linea was handed over to me. We were served with tea and puff. After consuming them, we were asked to pay Rs 20!

We had time to visit Nishat Bagh, aka Mughal Garden only, which closed at sunset. We missed Shalimar Garden due to lack of time.

We shopped at the nearby Kashmir Valley Arts Emporium, my Linea had her tankful at HP petrol pump, we had our dinner at a Punjabi Vaishno Dhaba opposite HP PP and returned to Hotel Mirage. I settled the bill, packed and loaded most of the luggage in my Linea, keeping only bare minimum in the room, as we were scheduled to depart at 4 am the next day.

More to come.

 

[ToughGuy]

WOW! what a narration it just kept me hooked, waiting for next installment

 

[J.Ravi]

Srinagar to Chandigarh

Jawahar Tunnel is 2.5 km long and connects Banihal and Qazigund.

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On 22 September 2011 [Thursday], I did Srinagar to Chandigarh. We had left Srinagar at 4:10 am and reached Chandigarh at 9:30 pm including breaks for breakfast [dry fruits+nuts+fruit juice], lunch [at Vaishno Dhaba near Samba] and dinner [at Haveli near Jalandhar] and stoppage before Jawahar Tunnel for about half hour and at manned railway level crossing across NH 21. I did not take the Udhampur bypass this time. I drove through Udhampur city roads which were unexpectedly kept nice. Now, I knew the reason why most of the vehicles shun Udhampur bypass!

My MMI Lx130 navigator guided me through NH 1A via Pathankot, Dasuya and Jalandhar to Chandigarh. I knew, I could have gone via Hoshiarpur, but then, I wanted to have dinner at Haveli, near Jalandhar, which I saw on my way to Amritsar! NH 1A was 4 lane up to Mukerian and from Jalandhar, 30 km towards Pathankot. The rest of the stretches were still under construction with a lot of deviations. Crossing Dasuya town was a pain in the neck.

At Hotel KLG, Sector 43, Chandigarh, where I had confirmed reservation from MakeMyTrip, we were made to wait for more than half-hour as they didn't have vacancy. Finally, we were allotted a suite, where while we were unpacking, we were shifted to another room within 5 minutes! Apart from this goof up, the hotel was good. We drowned into sleep immediately.

To be continued.

 

[jksarkar]

Narration – Fluid
Photography – Exquisite
Effect – Mesmerizing
Effort – Titanic

Hey Ravi if FIAT ever turns around in India part of the credit will be yours.

 

[J.Ravi]

Chandigarh: Rock Garden

Chandigarh: I wanted to visit this planned city from 1970s, when I studied town planning in my engineering college, but could do it only on 23 September 2011! Anyway, it is always better late than never.

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On 23 September 2011 [Friday], we got ready, enjoyed sumptuous and delicious breakfast at Hotel KLG and left for the much-acclaimed Rock Garden.

To be continued.

 

[J.Ravi]

Chandigarh: Sukhna Lake and Rose Garden

Sukhna Lake is a tranquil tourist destination in Chandigarh.

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From Nek Chand's Rock Garden, we went to Suknha Lake, where we enjoyed a nice boat-ride. Then, we visited the famous Rose Garden. After dinner, we returned to our hotel and called it a day.

More to come.

 

[lloydofcochin]

Good going Sir with beautiful pics.

We missed out on the Gardens in Srinagar due to lack of time but there is always a next time

Btw, I have forwarded this link as well as the link to the travelogue on the other forum to the head of FIAT CorpCom in India. FIAT can't get better publicity for a Linea than this

Rated 5 Stars as well.

 

[J.Ravi]

Narration – Fluid
Photography – Exquisite
Effect – Mesmerizing
Effort – Titanic

Thanks for the superlative appreciation, jksarkar.

I have forwarded this link as well as the link to the travelogue on the other forum to the head of FIAT CorpCom in India. FIAT can't get better publicity for a Linea than this Rated 5 Stars as well.

Thanks a lot for referring the link to FIAT India and also for 5-star rating, lloydofcochin.

 

[J.Ravi]

Chandigarh: Capitol Complex

Driving my Linea at Chandigarh was fun even during peak hours on a week-day, thanks to wide roads, rotaries, service roads, ample parking space at all important places like tourist destinations, capitol complex, markets, etc., originally planned by Le Corbusier. The city was maintained clean without posters, banners, buntings of political parties and netas.

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On 24 September 2011, after a filling breakfast at Hotel KLG, we left at 8 am for a half-day drive to Punjab Cricket Association stadium at Mohali and the capitol complex. My Linea had tankful of petrol at IOC petrol pump near Hotel KLG, returned to the hotel, packed and checked out at 2 pm to Surat.

The final part is due.

 

[J.Ravi]

Chandigarh>Surat>Bangalore

I found a lot of similarities between New Delhi and Chandigarh, both being planned cities.

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The first stop was at Neelkanth, Karnal, where we had our late lunch. The next stop was at Dhaula Kuan, Delhi, for refuelling.

Notwithstanding the recent torrential rains and consequent damages to the road, I found the Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway and NH 8 further were all patched up and my Linea had smooth ride without any problem. We had our dinner somewhere after Jaipur at the same place where we had our dinner in last November. So was the case for the next breakfast and lunch on 25 September 2011.

We reached Ginger, Surat at 4 pm on 25 September 2011 including breaks for 2 lunches, 1 dinner, 1 breakfast, 4 re-fuelling stops, power nap for 45 minutes and one-hour traffic jam at Narmada bridge near Bharuch. We rested for a while and went for a walk in the evening to the nearby ISCON Mall, had street food for dinner, returned to Ginger and called it a day.

On 26 September 2011, we got up late, had buffet breakfast at the in-house restaurant to the brim, watched TV, rested, checked out at 2 pm for our last lap of journey to Bangalore. The journey included breaks for 1 evening tiffin [at Vithal Kamat's, Manor], tea at BP COCO pump near Talegaon toll plaza, breakfast at Kamat Upachar at Ranebennur attached to Reliance petrol pump, 4 refuelling stops, slow-moving traffic in Mumbai, traffic jam for more than 1 hour near Powai and 2 power naps totalling 1 hour. My Linea brought us back home safely at 11:15 am on 27 September 2011.

My sincere thanks to all of you for your kind views, appreciation, compliments, encouragement and star-ratings.

Travelogue concluded.