i10 Winter Trip (Dec-2011): Delhi - Rishikesh - Auli - Lansdowne - Delhi

[ToughGuy]

Delhi-Rishikesh-Auli-Lansdowne-Delhi road trip in my 4 month old I-10​

Start Date: 24-12-2011
End Date: 01-01-2012
Total Days: 09 Days
Destination: Uttarakhand

Everything was all set, accommodations were booked in advance, tyre pressure checked tank filled, bag packed and we are ready for our X-Mas and New Year trip.

Planned Itinerary:

1) Day-1 & 2 Rishikesh
2) Day-3 Karnaprayag
3) Day-4 & 5 Joshimath
4) Day-6 Srinagar (Pauri)
5) Day-7 & 8 Lansdowne
6) Day-9 Back to Delhi

We are staying at GMVN at all of the above places

Our preparation

Few things which I was carrying on my Auli road trip though not got any chance to use any of them:

Map My India Uttarakhand maps purchased from flipkart



Air Max foot pump purchased from ebay for 800 bucks



Mat for traction if need arises



3Ton towing rope purchased from ebay for 500 bucks



Tubeless tyre puncture repair kit purchased from ebay for 250 bucks



Rechargeable LED torch purchased from CSD
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Apart from above things I also had spare tubes, small can, dry fruits to survive in extreme condition. I think above information will help future travelers.

Our Start

Bag Packed, My old trusted waggy top corner is not happy



Car is ready for a great ride

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Jai Mata Di!

 

[ToughGuy]

Re: I10 Winter Trip (Dec-2011): Delhi-Rishikesh-Auli-Lansdowne-Delhi

Day-1

Date: 24-12-2011
Day: Saturday
Route taken: Delhi- Meerut - Muzaffarnagar - Roorkee -Rishikesh
Destination: GMVN Rishilok Rishikesh
Start Odo: 4077
End Odo: 4334
Total KM: 257
Number of Halts: 2
Start time: 07:00 AM
End Time: 1:30 PM
Total Hrs: 6:30 Hrs
Total halt time: 1:20 Hrs

Alarm was fixed up for 5:30AM and we were able to hit the road by 7:00AM. This time we were in no hurry, as we set small targets for ourselves. We want to enjoy our holidays rather than rush into it. Our first halt was at in-laws place near AIIMS for tea and maggi; we started again from our first halt at 8:00AM.

There is not much traffic and roads were quite empty. No fog nothing, something unexpected to me in last week of December. This helps us to maintain good speeds throughout our journey. Our second break was after passing Khatauli at Mc'D, reached there at 10:30 AM, and had coffee only. Tanked up again in Rishikesh, We reached GMVN Rishilok, Rishikesh at 1:30 PM.

GMVN Rishilok is a VFM budget hotel, neat and clean got the first floor corner room with ample space for car parking. Also they have nice garden.
Overall good place to stay, had our lunch at their in-house restaurant, food was plain and simple. No plan for day 1, just rest and enjoyed the place.
Weather was good and somehow we are feeling less cold here as compare to Delhi.

Find below some random pics on the way to Rishikesh from Delhi

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[ToughGuy]

Re: I10 Winter Trip (Dec-2011): Delhi-Rishikesh-Auli-Lansdowne-Delhi

Day-1 Contd...

Find below more pics on the way to Rishikesh from Delhi

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[ToughGuy]

Re: I10 Winter Trip (Dec-2011): Delhi-Rishikesh-Auli-Lansdowne-Delhi

Day-1 contd...

Find below the pics of GMVN Rishilok, nice VFM budget hotel located at very good location approx 100-200M from main Rishikesh road with ample parking!

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Thats it for Day-1 will soon post Day-2 log!

 

[NiteshP]

Re: I10 Winter Trip (Dec-2011): Delhi-Rishikesh-Auli-Lansdowne-Delhi

Great Start.. Toughguy.
Awaiting more details.....

You said you had booked all accomodation in advanced.. did you do it yourself or had an agent who got it done for you?

Is there any website from which you can book accomodation in GMVN in advance?

 

[350Z]

Re: I10 Winter Trip (Dec-2011): Delhi-Rishikesh-Auli-Lansdowne-Delhi

Nice start. Your neat approach of composing long posts into an interesting one is quite commendable. I have done a Delhi – Haridwar – Rishikesh trip although not in my own car but the plain and empty highway stretch in between was fun. Looking forward to more from your end.

Drive Safe,
350Z

 

[fusion_defusion]

Re: I10 Winter Trip (Dec-2011): Delhi-Rishikesh-Auli-Lansdowne-Delhi

A great thread, you must have really enjoyed dude!!, just a little OT the pic where you have clicked men sitting behind logs of wood, you can see the smoke coming out of two chimneys far beyond, that is daurala sugar works where i have lived for 10-15 years, my father works there :) it was a big smile on my face when i saw that pic, thanks for sharing :)

 

[mukeshus]

Re: I10 Winter Trip (Dec-2011): Delhi-Rishikesh-Auli-Lansdowne-Delhi

Nice start. Your neat approach of composing long posts into an interesting one is quite commendable. I have done a Delhi – Haridwar – Rishikesh trip although not in my own car but the plain and empty highway stretch in between was fun. Looking forward to more from your end.

Drive Safe,
350Z

Vibhor how far is Haridwar from Delhi?

Can one go upto Haridwar by car?

As i heard its a hilly region.

 

[350Z]

Re: I10 Winter Trip (Dec-2011): Delhi-Rishikesh-Auli-Lansdowne-Delhi

Driving from Delhi to Haridwar is not an issue at all. It’s around a three to four hour drive (205 Kms). Highway is constructed well but save for a few typical U.P roads with zero road manners. Yes, it’s a hilly region but no issues in driving up the car. (Here’s my Pictolog: http://www.theautomotiveindia.com/f...rishikesh-rajaji-national-park.html#post69172)

Drive Safe,
350Z

 

[TSIVipul]

Re: I10 Winter Trip (Dec-2011): Delhi-Rishikesh-Auli-Lansdowne-Delhi

Well,dear toughguy,you know buddy you have passed from just a couple of kilometers away from my home...
Anyways that's a great travelogue and your beauty is also looking good doing her duty.

Well,about UP roads I'd say:-
From Delhi to Meerut-Below average and extremely high traffic load.

Meerut-Muzaffarnagar-Check your guts,Bhagao kitna dum hai(speed up to your limits)its a good piece of road and I have done upto 210 kph at Khatauli Byepass.

Muzaffarnagar-Manglaur(UP-Uttarakhand border):The hell of the road,this road is no road at all,full of potholes.

Manglaur-Rishikesh:Quite good road,but this dual carriageway is seriously overloaded.

Rishikesh to Srinagar:Okay road,in Srinagar is great despite being hills this is good road.(Have you visited DHARI DEVI temple there?)On this road I did 130 kph in my Laura once scaring the hell out of the traffic.

That onwards:The road is narrow and needs to be widened,still its quite well paved.I visited last May to Badrinath.Current situation I don't know.

WHERE ARE THE PICS OF THE GRASSLANDS OF AULI AND THE CABLE CAR IN THE BACKGROUND?ALSO THE ROAD WHICH TAKES TO THE PLACE FROM MAIN ROAD TOO...

 

[singh890]

Re: I10 Winter Trip (Dec-2011): Delhi-Rishikesh-Auli-Lansdowne-Delhi

Hey Toghguy that's a really nice travelouge. It just recalled my old memories. I was in Dehra Dun in hostel for about 10 years and we used to go through Haridwar and went to Rishikesh many times. Nice Travelouge and thanks for sharing:-)

 

[AppU]

Fantastic cool of pics toughguy,

waiting for more pics buddy :)

 

[ToughGuy]

WOW what a response i thought members are not much interested in this section got few mores logs will share them too in different threads including my 26Hrs nonstop and solo Delhi-Pune trip in Wagon-R.

Great Start.. Toughguy.
Awaiting more details.....

Thanks Nitesh will post next installment soon

You said you had booked all accomodation in advanced.. did you do it yourself or had an agent who got it done for you?

Yes booked all accommodations in advance from GMVN reservation office located at 102- Indraprakash Building, Barakhamba Road in person.

Find the complete GMVN office list in below link:

Online Reservation

Is there any website from which you can book accomodation in GMVN in advance?

Yes you can book hotel reservations online too i think they accept only HDFC or Axis bank credit card and i don't use any credit card so visit them in person. For online reservations check the above link, official website of GMVN

Nice start. Your neat approach of composing long posts into an interesting one is quite commendable. I have done a Delhi – Haridwar – Rishikesh trip although not in my own car but the plain and empty highway stretch in between was fun. Looking forward to more from your end.

Drive Safe,
350Z

Thanks 350Z, your encouragement means a lot to me i am just a beginner.

A great thread, you must have really enjoyed dude!!, just a little OT the pic where you have clicked men sitting behind logs of wood, you can see the smoke coming out of two chimneys far beyond, that is daurala sugar works where i have lived for 10-15 years, my father works there :) it was a big smile on my face when i saw that pic, thanks for sharing :)

Thanks fusion_defusion, we were stopped here by locals due to some tree cutting going on and then my wife clicked this pic. Love to hear that my pic manage to bring smile on you face keep smiling :)

Vibhor how far is Haridwar from Delhi?

Can one go upto Haridwar by car?

As i heard its a hilly region.

Yes you can drive in your own car to Hardiwar from Delhi easily, roads are brilliant now also till Haridwar no hilly roads, hills start after Rishikesh. Start early in morning from Delhi to save yourself from maddening traffic of Modinagar and take halt at Khatauli midway for food.

Well,dear toughguy,you know buddy you have passed from just a couple of kilometers away from my home...
Anyways that's a great travelogue and your beauty is also looking good doing her duty.

Thanks a lot TSIVipul for your comments.

WHERE ARE THE PICS OF THE GRASSLANDS OF AULI AND THE CABLE CAR IN THE BACKGROUND?ALSO THE ROAD WHICH TAKES TO THE PLACE FROM MAIN ROAD TOO...

We will progress day by day so wait for them to come, but don't expect snow

Hey Toghguy that's a really nice travelouge. It just recalled my old memories. I was in Dehra Dun in hostel for about 10 years and we used to go through Haridwar and went to Rishikesh many times. Nice Travelouge and thanks for sharing:-)

Thanks singh890

Fantastic cool of pics toughguy,

waiting for more pics buddy :)

Thanks AppU will surely post more pics soon.

 

[ToughGuy]

Day-2

For the second day of our journey, we booked GMVN Ganga Resort which is located on the bank of river Ganga .They got one of the best locations in Rishikesh for this hotel along with ample parking space in basement, but the only drawback is narrow approach road but overall neat and clean place.

Nothing much has been planned for this day, it’s a complete rest day for us. Wake up at 7:00AM stroll here and there and finally ready for breakfast by 9:00AM, after breakfast we started our packing and checkout at 10:30AM. As the checking time for GMVN Ganga Resort is 12:00Noon, so we utilized the free time for local sightseeing. As we being to this place numerous time so not much to explore, cursing myself why I halted here but its ok we always learn from our mistakes. I think we could have stayed after Rishikesh or in Dehradun.

Coming back to log after checkout from GMVN Rishilok we visited Triveni Ghat first and roamed around local market and then headed to Laxman Jhula, taken one side boat ride to cross the river and then visited Chotiwala restaurant in Swargashram had poori bhaaji and after that crossed the river back.

Overall it was a relaxing day, we could have explored it better but I guess Rishikesh was not a good option for us.

Plan to start tomorrow early morning for Karnaprayag,we have already booked accommodation at GMVN Karnaprayag. We are waiting for the adventurous journey coming ahead in couple of days. No news of snow and rainfall as of now.

Please find the pics for Day2 below which most of us already visited

I10 in parking enjoying the morning



Morning view from our hotel balcony



River Ganga Triveni ghat



River Ganga Triveni ghat



River Ganga Triveni ghat



River Ganga Triveni ghat



On our way to Laxman jhula



Boat ride to cross the river
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[ToughGuy]

Day-2 Pics contd:

Find below the pics of Laxman Jhula visit

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