Travelling across the state of Punjab & Haryana.

The Mustard fields across the Dhariwal-Batala-Amritsar region.

          My Diary on the drive across the state of Punjab & Haryana.

 We were driving from Dalhousie to Amritsar via Pathankot & thereafter from Amritsar to Chandigarh via Jallandar , Ludhiana , Ambala & Kurukshetra . Its a 2 days drive route ,But we intended to stay 2 Nights at Amritsar to visit the Harmandir Sahib Gurudwara on Gurupurnima day & a trip to the Wagah Border & enjoy the ceremony there ,the next evening;
       Started off from Dalhousie around 10am with a cloudy atmosphere ( as if the drizzle will start soon ,followed by snowfall)...it was very very cold  there; The route moves as :

 Myself at Chakki onto our drive to Pathankot from Dalhousie.

DALHOUSIE- -- BANIKHET--- NAINAKHUD---DUNARA--CHAKKI---BADHANI----PATHANKOT----DINANAGAR( BYPASS ROAD)---GURUDASPUR---DHARIWAL---BATALA----AMRITSAR.

 The beautiful Harmandir sahib complex.

The evening's lowering down of national flag's ceremony at wagah Border.

 The litup Golden Temple Amritsar on Guru purnima day.

 Upto Chakki ,its all mountain roads & thereafter we were on  the straight flat land drive. I was quite surprised to see the loose pebble & mud peaks across Dunara( quite dangerous, as landslide can take place any moment in this region);From Pathankot to Dhariwal , the traffic was just crazy & the road extension work ( four lanning work on ) made it more & more difficult to move ahead. After Dhariwal , its the countryside beauty to enjoy as one drives ahead ...lush yellow mustard field adorning both side of the AH roadway... Just loved it . Kept on requesting our driver to stop somewhere ,so that I could make it to the field & enjoy its beauty ,besides capturing it on my frame.

 The international border gates r opened for the ceremony at Wagah border.

 The highway drive across from Jallandar to Ludhiana.

 A roadside view at Ludhiana

 The Entry gate  to Kurukshetra City.

 The Shiva temple at BrahmaSarovar , Kurukshetra.

 Beautiful Sunset by the BrahmaSarovar ,Kurukshetra.

 Jallianwala baug memmorial , Amritsar.

    We reached  Amritsar around 6pm. Evening ,enjoyed the litup Golden Temple  & admired its harmony besides enjoying the Makkai roti , sarsoo saaj & Amritsari muttor paneer near the temple premise; A bit of shopping of Phulkari dupatta,Akrot & Patiyala churidar was in my agenda before getting back to our hotel at Ranjit avenue. Next day, after a trip to Jallianwala baug,& lunch at the langar in the Golden temple ,we had to hurry to drive down to Wagah Border,which was 40kms drive . Since ,we got our VIP passes we could drive down upto the parking near the International  trade border ,orelse ordinarily one has to walk down more than a Km to the enterance. ( Except Cameras& small clutch bags nothing is allowed inside the premise). We got out sits just next to the Wagah border gates instead of the gallery, So could capture the ceremony very well in my camcorder...Both side of the border looked to bond so well ....; Enjoyed the lowering of national flag ceremony,before driving back to our hotel .
     We had to start on our road drive early the next morning ,as we planned to visit Kurukshetra too before getting back to Chandigarh. Took NHA1 to JALLANDAR-where we planned to have a stopover at the IOC 's bottling plant & meet one of ourfriend there; This region is very dusty & we could hardly breathe well; Even as we drove towards Ludhiana,which is an Industrial belt ,our throats were choking by the amount of pollution in this region..... We had our lunch on the way at Ludhiana before entering Ambala in Haryana state.... Now starts the crazy part of driving ... the construction work of flyovers in the middle of the highway ,made traffic move in slow speed. It was almost 4:45pm when we reached PIPPLI, from where we had to enter the Kurukshetra city limit . The roads looked in its worst state & the traffic is mad rush ..... hardly any one to manage the traffic & police sitting in one corner of the roadside; People hardly use any helmet & follow any traffic rules ---------- crazy site indeed; Hardly any good hotels have come up in this part. We were in a hurry to make it to BRAHMASAROVAR which is some 19kms or so drive ,before the sunset. The Brahmasarovar is well build but maintainance is very poor...after the darshan at the shiva temple here , my husband wanted to make a visit to his Engg. college campus & Hostel ;  According to my husband ,who was visit this area after 21 yrs , though lot of changes have taken place but not well maintained.... As we entered the university campus area ,my husband was so-o excited to take me around But , I was bit tired by nowto be part of his enthusiasm. Maybe next time , will visit the place & enjoy well here . It was almost 7pm when we hit the highwayback to Ambala & than drive thru' the Expressway to Chandigarh which is 50kms from Ambala. We reached our hotel at sector 17 Chandigarh around 8:45pm , & So-o a lovely journey across came to an end & Next morning we'll be taking the flight direct from Chandigarh to Mumbai.