SweetCupcakes
New Member
Hi, we are planning a road-trip to Manali this January.
The goals are: Travel ≤ 8 hours daily, as we have a dog that easily gets motion sickness.
Travel on good roads, to have a comfortable ride.
Do some good stargazing by staying at places with dark skies.
And (of course) experience snowfall! We have around 21 Days in hand.
I'm curious to know if anyone would recommend me to go through Rajasthan - south Punjab, instead of the usual route suggested by google. I think driving through Rajasthan borders and Punjab will be more memorable: it will likely have darker, clearer skies & interesting stuff to see (provided the roads are good, otherwise it will be memorable in a bad way)
Here's the rough plan
Day 1: Mumbai-Ankleshwar (Fixed, as we have some work there)
Day 2* : Ankleshwar - Palanpur?
Day 3: Palanpur - Jaisalmer.
Day 4: Rest Day 5*: Jailsalmer- ??? (Maybe Bikaner? Or somewhere <8h and en-route to Bathinda, as the goal is to reach McLeodganj)
Day 6*: Stay ??? in south punjab (Please suggest)
Day 7: Reach Mcleodganj
Day 8: Rest
~~Most important part~~
Day 9: Reach Sethan (manali) Day 10: rest day 1
Day 11: rest day 2
Day 12: rest day 3 (hopefully, we get snowfall by here!)
Day 13*: Continue Sethan stay, or go & stay in Sissu, if open (Else buffer day)
Day 14*: Rest Day
~~~
15*: Leave and reach somewhere around chandigarh
Day 16: Rest
Day 17*: Reach Around jaipur?
Day 18*: Head towards ajmer or bhilwara? (Please suggest which route will be better)
Day 19*: Reach around ankleshwar? (Would be nice if the place didn't overlap)
Day 20: Reach Mumbai (one more buffer day left)
Doubts:
1. I marked days I am unsure of with a *(where to reach, if its reasonable, etc). It would be great you guys can offer me some clarity around them (especially the return from chandigarh. Some people told me mount abu road is better than udaipur)
2. Please correct me if I have chosen some bad roads in the trip (and suggest alternate places).
3. Please tell me if I should add additional rest days anywhere (for taking a break or exploring nearby areas). I tried to ensure everything is max 8 hours, using google maps—but I feel things are a bit hasty after day 15. Also, I'm really unsure of Day 5-Day 7
.4 Will the detour to Jaisalmer-south Punjab, from Palanpur be worth the few days used (that could be spent in Mcleodganj, Sethan or Sissu?) I thought since we'll have to take a break at the same places when returning, we could explore a new route instead. I am not that keen on seeing Udaipur, Ajmer, Jaipur, etc. anyways
The goals are: Travel ≤ 8 hours daily, as we have a dog that easily gets motion sickness.
Travel on good roads, to have a comfortable ride.
Do some good stargazing by staying at places with dark skies.
And (of course) experience snowfall! We have around 21 Days in hand.
I'm curious to know if anyone would recommend me to go through Rajasthan - south Punjab, instead of the usual route suggested by google. I think driving through Rajasthan borders and Punjab will be more memorable: it will likely have darker, clearer skies & interesting stuff to see (provided the roads are good, otherwise it will be memorable in a bad way)
Here's the rough plan
Day 1: Mumbai-Ankleshwar (Fixed, as we have some work there)
Day 2* : Ankleshwar - Palanpur?
Day 3: Palanpur - Jaisalmer.
Day 4: Rest Day 5*: Jailsalmer- ??? (Maybe Bikaner? Or somewhere <8h and en-route to Bathinda, as the goal is to reach McLeodganj)
Day 6*: Stay ??? in south punjab (Please suggest)
Day 7: Reach Mcleodganj
Day 8: Rest
~~Most important part~~
Day 9: Reach Sethan (manali) Day 10: rest day 1
Day 11: rest day 2
Day 12: rest day 3 (hopefully, we get snowfall by here!)
Day 13*: Continue Sethan stay, or go & stay in Sissu, if open (Else buffer day)
Day 14*: Rest Day
~~~
15*: Leave and reach somewhere around chandigarh
Day 16: Rest
Day 17*: Reach Around jaipur?
Day 18*: Head towards ajmer or bhilwara? (Please suggest which route will be better)
Day 19*: Reach around ankleshwar? (Would be nice if the place didn't overlap)
Day 20: Reach Mumbai (one more buffer day left)
Doubts:
1. I marked days I am unsure of with a *(where to reach, if its reasonable, etc). It would be great you guys can offer me some clarity around them (especially the return from chandigarh. Some people told me mount abu road is better than udaipur)
2. Please correct me if I have chosen some bad roads in the trip (and suggest alternate places).
3. Please tell me if I should add additional rest days anywhere (for taking a break or exploring nearby areas). I tried to ensure everything is max 8 hours, using google maps—but I feel things are a bit hasty after day 15. Also, I'm really unsure of Day 5-Day 7
.4 Will the detour to Jaisalmer-south Punjab, from Palanpur be worth the few days used (that could be spent in Mcleodganj, Sethan or Sissu?) I thought since we'll have to take a break at the same places when returning, we could explore a new route instead. I am not that keen on seeing Udaipur, Ajmer, Jaipur, etc. anyways