Jammu Jammu Jammu...

Many people travel to Jammu for paying visit to famous shrine of Mata Vaishnaodevi.. So here are few places to combine some touring along with pilgrimage..

In my previous post, I have already mentioned about combining wetern himachal with Vaishodevi Yatra. So now we will focus on places within J& K.. Here is  7 day plan.covering some interesting places near Jammu.

Day 1: Reach Jammu tavi railway station & travel to Katra on the same evening. Katra is a basecamp for Vaishnodevi. Take rest after reaching Katra tomorrow you have to walk 26 kms.

Day 2: Start early in the morning if you are planning to walk all the way to temple.. There are other options also. you can ride a horse, or you can go in doli or you can take a chopper. But I personally will recommend walking..
           Dont forget to visit adhkunwari at half way..
           It will take between 3-5 hours to reach atop..
           Facilities en-route are fantastic ample shops & snack corners, sheds for resting, drinking water, clean toilets etc.. So no need to worry about anything.. just keep saying Jai Mata Di & keep walking

           Many people believe the yatra is not complete without paying visit to Bhairavnath, which is 2 kms ahead of Mata temple. You can cover entire thing in one day & come back to Katra for dinner comfortably.

Day 3: Now you have two options: Travel to Patni top & take rest at this beautiful hill station or relax in Katra, but I would suggest the first option..Dont keep very high expectations from Patni top, but I personally liked the place.. & if you visit in Nov - Feb you can enjoy the snow.

Day 4: Take rest at Patni top.

Day 5: Travel to Shivkhori caves.. Its an awesome experience.. Shivkhori is naturally fromed cave of the length more than 500 mtrs.
          As you start walking further inside the cave, the path gets narrower.. & finally when you reach the end point, you can see a huge auditorium. Its amazing experience..

Day 6: Come back to Jammu.. Do some shopping.. You can visit Raghunath Temple, Palace & Museum etc.

Day 7: Start Return Journey..

Western Himachal - unexplored & interesting..

Himachal Pradesh is one of the favourite tourist destinations in India & most of the Indians might have been to Shimla - Kullu - Manali for there Honeymoon if you take 15 years back data..

But a small state of Himachal Pradesh has many more beauty spots.. In recent past tourist inflow has increased in these places.. In this post i will take you through western circuit of Himachal Pradesh.. This is a perfect circuit for those who want to combine some tourist places along with pilgrimage at Vaishnao Devi..

One can travel till Jammu & then to Katra by State transport bus. Katra is a base village for visiting Mata Vaishnao devi temple.. After darshan of Vaishnao devi One can take a bus for Dalhousie..

This is the beginning of your Western Himachal circuit.. One has to travel for around 6 hours to reach spectacular town of Dalhousie. Dalhousie is nestled on the descend of the hilli region of Himachal Pradesh. It hosts many Boarding schools & colleges. Apart from that, it is a starting point for many treking routes & thats the reason Youth Hostel has their big accomodation facility here..

Its a perfect place for relaxation.. Just go there.. stay for 3-4 days roam around in the market or mal road.. Appreciate the beauty of nature.. thats it.. but if you are picnic spot fan.. then Dalhousie will disoppoint you..

If you read places of interest on any website.. it will typically display satdhara, panchkula, ajit singh smarak, kalatop sanctury etc.. I personally didnt find them worth visiting.. but the view of town from panchpula is amazing..

From Dalhousie one can visit Chamba & Khajiar. Again Chamba is not worth travelling if you are picnis spot fan.. but if you love the beauty in simplicity offered by nature you can cross all possible roads in Himachal.. Its amazing experience..

Khajjiar is interesting even for those who love Spots.. The soucer shaped ground of Khajiar is too good.. & its delight for those who love to click pictures in various places & angles & poses..

One can also do paragliding in Khajiar.. But be blunt at bargaining.. They may start from 2500 & come down to 1000 bucks..

After visiting Dalhousie - Khajiar & Chamba you can continue your journey to Dharamshala. Most interesting place to visit near Dharamshala is Mclodganj which is home to his holiness Dalai Lama.. The tibetian monestry at Mclodganj is amazing & if you are lucky enough you can see the Lama himself..

Then you have two options either go to Manali & then to Delhi or restrict yourself to Western himachal & take NH70 for jalandhar then on NH1 travel to Amrutsar where one can visit Golden Temple, Wagha Border, jaliyan wala baag etc..

The whole trip from Mumbai - Jammu - Vaishnao Devi - Dalhousie - Khajiar - Chamba - Dharamshala - Amrutsar - mumbai will take around 10 days if you take flight for jammu & then from chandigarh / delhi to Mumbai..

But if you go for relaxing 2 weeks is ideal time to spend in this circuit..

The Colourful Quandrangle of Rajasthan

Rajasthan is a famous tourist destination & people from various countries come here to enjoy rich Rajasthani culture, Royal palaces, sand dunes, forts, folk & food...
So you will find huge amount of pages written about Rajasthan on web.. Thats why I wont be writing much about beauty of places in Rajasthan but will just try to putforth how one can plan the trip..

Amer Palace Rajasthan

The first point of our quadrangle is Capital of Rajasthan thats Jaipur.. Its in the eastern part of Rajasthan & at a driving distance from Delhi.. If you are travelling from Mumbai there is good connectivity by trains & plane..

Jaipur being an ancient city there are many places of tourist interest amer palace & amer fort, meherangad fort, hawa mahal, jal mahal, pink city, jantar mantar, museum to name few..
You can also go on shopping spree... in rajasthan emporium.. one can look for beautiful carved articles, colourful bangels, saree, 100 gram rajai etc..

In Jaipur, Dalbati is must have.. One can plan visit to Agra from Jaipur before proceeding to next point of quadrangle i.e. Bikaner.. I advice 2 days of stay in jaipur & 3rd day if you want to visit Agra

Junagarh Fort

Second point Bikaner is around 350 Kms from jaipur, & in the northen part of Rajasthan..
One can cover Ajmer & Pushkar on the way.. In Ajmer you can visit famous dargah of Ajmer, & Pushkar hosts only temple of lord Brahma & is famous for Gulkand & Pushkar festival..
It takes around 6-7 hours to reach Bikaner from Jaipur.. Roads are in very nice condition but.. try to reach Bikaner before sunset.. This route is little deserted..

Our second point Bikaner is very famous for Bikaneri Bhujia & rasgulla.. Start your day in Bikaner with Chhotu-Motu ka rasgulla.. & then head straight to Bikaner palace & Bikaner fort.. after visiting these places.. One should visit Bharni mata temple which is around 15 kms from Bikaner.. Dont miss this one.. Besides Bharni mata temple, you can also visit camel farm.. One day is sufficient to visit interesting places in Bikaner but if you have extra day.. no harm in spending..

After visiting  Bikaner travel to the western end of Rajasthan.. thats jaisalmer.. This is perhaps the most amazing point of our quadrangle.. Golden sand.. spectacular golden jaisalmer fort. & an evening on sand dunes & then night in a tent near sand dunes collectively make jaisalmer a must visit place.. You can try ker sangri, gatta laddu here.. I wont go in much depth as I have written separate post on Jaisalmer.. One can halt at Pokhran on the way from Bikaner to jaisalmer.. I recommend at least 3 days in Jaisalmer

Jodhpur city

Now lets move on to Point no 4.. thats Jodhpur.. Jaipur is Pink city, jaisalmer is golden city & colour of Jodhpur is blue.. Again a very beautiful fort of jodhpur is must visit.. taking round in jodhpur market is also great fun.. One can eat many rajasthani delicacies in Jodhpur.. One shouldn't miss Pyaj kachori, mawa kachori, ghevar, Gajak to name few.. Distance between Jodhpur & Jaisalmer is around 300 Kms..

Now one can opt for completing the quandrangle by returning to Jaipur by travelling around 350 Kms more.. or one can travel southwards to Udaipur.. Another spectacular city in rajasthan.. or if you have ample days you can travel jodhpur - mount Abu - Udaipur..

Mount Abu is very beautiful hill station on the border of rajasthan & gujrat.. Whereas Udaipur offers places like chittodgarh, palace of maharana pratap, haldi Ghati, & many beautiful lakes..

So.. plan your trip.. winter is coming closer.. thats the best season to visit rajasthan.. Again my recommendation is to plan at least 10 -11 days to complete the quadrangle & atleast 14 days to add Udaipur also.. If possible, hiore your separate car instead of travelling by public transport....
and VVV Important point... dont forget your camera.. there are many things worth capturing..