MUGHAL ROAD- A DRIVE OFF THRU' HEAVEN.

        MY DRIVE OFF THRU' THE MOST BEAUTIFUL & ADVENTUROUS -MUGHAL ROAD.

Long I heard of Mughal road , its mesmerizing effect on all those who took on the challenge to drive through it.... But ,some sort of fear did kept my plan to get pospond everytime.It was Janmastami holidays this year 2014 that I and my husband thought to make it to Mughal road... Definitely its a long drive off from Jammu City ,where we presently reside ,So we planned to g
take a night halt at Poonch City which is 249km from Jammu City and then take on the Mughal road drive next morning.
INTRODUCTION OF MUGHAL ROAD:
      Mughal road starts from BAFLIAZ in Poonch district to PEER KI GALI onto SHOPIAN in KASHMIR VALLEY. It is 45kms track & pass thru' the most beautiful region of Jammu & Kashmir. 
   BAFLIAZ- BEHRAMGALA- NOORCHAB- CHATTAPANI- PEER KI GALI -
  
 The Attractive mountainous range have mesmerizing effect on reaching here.One can feel himself/herself in heaven on earth.The Refreshing meadows during summer adds beauty of the place.The road passes over pirpanjal range at an altitude of 11500ft above sea level, wich is higher than BANIHAL PASS on NH1A...

MY EXPERIENCE AS WE DRIVE THRU':

The Glacier Point on Mughal road.

CHATTAPANI.

CHATTAPANI.

    It was 8am on Janmashtami day 2014 that we started from Poonch City after having breakfast as we were aware that No food is available on the way.As we crossed over Poonch city , The SURANKOT VALLEY looked amazingly beautiful in the morning sunshine....It was much more charming that what I felt the evening prior when we came to poonch. My Camera kept on framing every angle of this beautiful valley. We headed to DEHRI KI GALI from SURANKOT ,which is also a narrow way onto BAFLIAZ. Had a cup of hot tea as we could start to feel the chill in the air.

WELCOME TO MUGHAL ROAD.

As we kept gaining height on Mughal road, the pirpanjal range kept charming us.

The Slopes of Pirpanjal range on Mughal road.

At Behrangala- The hanging pool.

Charming beauty.

NoorChab/Ahrabal waterfalls.

Driving our own car at 11,500ft high peerpanjal range was itself an experience,

The beautiful Meadow at Peer Ki gali.

PEER KI GALI.

Myself ,at peer ki gali on Mughal Road.

From topmost point of the meadows at Peer Ki gali.

Add caption

THE JOURNEY BEGAN AT BAFLIAZ.
 We were  both very excited to take onto our dream drive  and also the most thrilling and adventous drive. I was all prepared with my Canon aswell my handy cam................... wanted to frame it very well. We were not suppose to stop on the way and every corner the message read" Beware of Falling Rocks"....

Oh WOW !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I  told my husband , "hope I am not dreaming"..... I felt, if really there's a place called HEAVEN ,it should be this.... I have been travelling across, Jammu & Kashmir & Ladakh state for last 3/4 yrs, seen almost every nook & corner, except a few of places , But this is uncompareable. Wondered!!!! why this place has not found its mention on tourism guide of J&K.
 After we crossed BEHRANHALA, which is situated on the foothills of 8,600ft high RATTAN PEAK, we chanced to see the NOORCHAB,or AHRABAL FALLS..... Its really beautiful ,which charmed queen Noorjahan  that she use to take a break here on her journey across & after her bathing ,she use to use the falls water as mirror to dress herself.
We kept moving ahead as we had plans to reach Peer Ki gali by 11am . Thereafter we had to drive back to Jammu city by evening by Rajouri route. But  as we moved ahead, the road became much more steep but hardly we could feel the tiredness as it looks like a dream world all around. Next came CHATTAPANI ( GLACIER POINT).................... Just too good. Don't really know whether even my camera could do justice of framing this beautiful place..... Very difficult to take a perfect shot from moving vehicle , where the road is full of twist & turns, But surely well maintained except a few small pockets of bad road. There Checkpost on the way,Drivers have to give in writing where from they are coming & show licence too & passengers are throughly checked for their Identity......Don't know whether need to show passport for foreign tourist .
After driving a few kms its PEER KI GALI ( Truely a Heavenly place ) .......We are swimming in the big clouds of mist here while enjoying the matchless bliss of nature. The Spot of Peer ki gali is multi dimensional in beauty & attraction. History says that this place got its name because of converted hindu saint sheikh ahmed karim.




Peer Ki gali was so serene, quite chilled ,that stole our mind & heart...... Just can say WOW !!!!! after walking thru' the meadows for awhile, its time to driveback to Jammu .....We took the route instead via Rajouri from Bafliaz But road was very very bad ....it would have been better if we would have gone via Dehri-Ki gali & surankot , which is a longer distance instead. But My experience was totally mesmerising................... No fear anywhere, Very good road condition, Very safe...... To my mind , every travel enthuiast should try this dream drive journey & experience it on his/ her own.....as I could hardly explain how I felt as I took on the drive in words..... Definitely A MUST TRY for all those visiting J&K.

MY ENCOUNTER WITH THE BAR-HEADED GEESE AT PONG DAM LAKE,KANGRA VALLEY.

PONG DAM, well known as MAHARANA PRATAP SAGAR DAM, is an earth filled embarkment dam on R. Beas, just upstream  of Talwara city in the state of Himachal Pradesh. The lake created by the dam,became a renouned bird sanctuary. Pong Dam lake is the largest man made wetlands in the foothills of the Himalayas and is the home to around 43000 barheaded geese, probably half their number globally.Pong dam lake was declared a Ramsar Wetland site on account of its rich waterfowl diversity ,for conservation & sustainable use of wetlands. The large reservoir and its strategic location in the extreme NW of the northern plains have attracted migratory birds from the plains of India and central Asian countries & Siberia during Nov'-Mar'.The stretch of the Pong wetlands is 307sq kms.

Pong Dam Lake, Kangra Valley(H.P)

Pong Dam Lake View.

Pong Dam wetlands site.

As We walked ontop the wetlands site leaving the vehicle behind in the wheat field.

        Since mostly people around are not that familiar with the site, hardly someone attempts to make a visit.

NORTHERN PINTAIL.

The Barheaded geese ,at Pong dam lake wetlands.

It was a fine day in the month of feb'2014 , we thought to drive down 207kms from Jammu city to enjoy the beauty of these migratory birds. We started quite early in the morning around 7am  and drove down to Pong Dam ,via Kathua, Lakhanpur, Hajipur,Talwara ..... We were not aware that a permit is required to cross over the Pong Dam . We had to take a termporary permit from the gates,which allows only 20mins to cross over the dam & its flood gates as a hydal power station is located there. But our intentions were strictly to go to the Pong dam lake & enjoy the birds in their natural habitat. Since it was very cold & raining we were bit upset as we crossed over to the other side of the dam.(photography is strictly prohibited on the dam)...... Soon ,after we crossed the dam ,we could located the lake ,but kept wondering ,how to go close to the lake waters....
We had to struggle a bit to find out the Ramsar Wetlands site of the Pong Dam Lake ,which is almost 19kms from the Dam . As we crossed thru' a bridge we could locate the exact position & the tough job was to go up to the waters in the marshy stretch. Somehow , our friend could drive in his endevour vehicle but had to stop amidst the wheat fields on the Ramsar Wetlands site of Pong Dam Lake.... Now our job is to come out into the muddy stretches & start walking down .... It was an awesome experience; Shoes getting stuck in sticky mud , Raincoats flying off ...chilly winds &Umbrellas finding tough to pave thru' the windy stretches, above that the rains continuing its work of constant pouring....................... But my mind was fixed on to capture the moments in my lens....

 What an amazing site.... its very difficult to keep counting their nos................... But the muds were very difficult to pave our way forward.... Many a time it so happened that ,my shoes got stuck in the mud & i could not pull my legs out....& looking a the condition of our sneakers, our heart broke....should have come in gumboots ,i felt at heart.. But those amazing birds  just stole my heart away.Soon ,my husband & his friend,spreaded the tent on these wetlands stretch....Oh , God!!!!! untill U r that crazy of Nature , U can think of this amidst mud/ water/ rain . They were planning for cooking Maggi & soup.................... Just too ,romantic a moment on Valentines Day. The Soups were a blessing gift in this chilling condition, followed by hot plate of Maggi .... Cann't ask for anything more in midst of this wilderness. Just loving it ,as i recall those moments on 14th Feb' 2014 afternoon. Now , we had few more hours to keep enjoying these birds, Before we would leave back for our homes in Jammu City.

Just had an amazing Valentines Day ; would keep cherishing this memories in the years to come....................


*******ROUTE :- JAMMU CITY- KATHUA-LAKHANPUR- PATHANKOT-HAJIPUR-TALWARA-PONG DAM.

*****NOTE:- Should alway carry atleast 2 pairs of shoes & dresses and also, raincoats and sufficient food stuffs along.

****** TOTAL DISTANCE FROM JAMMU CITY:- 207kms (one way).

The Serene Beach of Ganapatiphule in Maharashtra.

There are  lot of beaches across the huge coastline of India ,besides few exceptionally good ,untouched beaches along the coastline of Karnataka, My most loved beach site in India is the not so well known GANAPATIPHULE BEACH in the Ratnagiri district of Maharashtra. Since , i prefer calm , tranquil, clean & serene beach ,not very crowdy . Its preferred to have prior bookings at MTDC beach resort ,Ganapatiphule for its best location on the beach & beautiful surroundings...There's other private beach resorts ,of which Krishnali's location is also too good. As one drives in from Ratnagiri city & crosses Arr-

Beautiful sunset at Ganapatiphule.

The Ganapatiphule beach (a view from the MTDC resort).

The view of the MTDC resort, Ganapatiphule.

Myself , in a leisure mood at the MTDC resort, Ganapatiphule.

The Saumbhu Ganapati temple on the beach.

The view of the Arraywarry beach from the hilltop as one drives from Ratnagiri.

The Arraywarry beach, Ganapatiphule.

aywarry beach ,the road goes uphill & gives a feel as if  one will end up into the waters Arabian sea...The beaches around are too serene & the only golden sand beach in the Konkan belt.There's a saumbhu Ganapati temple on the beach & is a must recommended visit site.

The serene beach of Ganapatiphule,

Just love the beaches here.....away from all hassles of mumbai.

The Arraywarry beach from top of the hill drive...

As one drive uphill from the arraywarry beach.

The Konkan Railway ,cutting across the western ghats.

MY VISIT TO THE NABAGRAHA TEMPLE OF GUWAHATI(ASSAM).

As we mention the state of Assam in India ,the first thing that comes to our mind is theR. Brahmaputra & the famous Kamakhya temple...................... But there's another famous temple in Guwahati City ie. The NABAGRAHA temple that's dedicated to the 9 planets that governs our life's cycle......Very few of us frequent the temple that's located ontop of a hill,from were the whole Guwahati City looks very pretty. Mostly people having problem with Saturn in their  horoscope tries to make sure to visit & pray here.... Since it was our 2nd visit to the City ,I wanted to make a visit irrespective of any such believe of planetary effects....... Since the road upto the temple complex passes thru' narrow bylanes across the hill, one should start early for the darshan orelse will get stuckup in the traffic on the way itself. There's no pull/push of the pandits like that of Kamakhya temple. After purchasing the dalli( puja items including Prasad) ,we climbed up the stairs to the temple grabagraha( main temple). The 9 planets are depicted  as 9 shivling structure & placed in a circular arrangement. One can pray on their own orelse can hire a pandit to arrange for the puja. Mostly ,I saw people doing strict & elaborate puja at the Shivling depicting SATURN or SHANI God.......................... But , I preferred to do my prayers alone with heart & soul as I hardly understand those Sanskrit mantras. It was truly a great experience in whole ,So I thought to share my views with others ,who might feel good to get the divine blessing from the Nabagraha temple darshan.

Myself, infront of the Nabagraha temple ,Guwahati.

The view of Guwahati City from theNabagraha temple complex.

Inside the main Nabagraha temple sanctum.

The Nabagraha temple , Guwahati, Assam.

MY ENCOUNTER WITH THE SNOWCLAD DALHOUSIE ON CHRISTMAS..

Many of us had been to Dalhousie like me before , but to be there on Christmas & be a witness to a white Christmas at Dalhousie is luck bychance. 2 days before Christmas this year 2013, we planned to go off to Patnitop to enjoy the snow. Its was 6am in the morning that we all started from our Jammu home but soon got very upset to see a terrible traffic jam on the Jammu bypass road.............vehicles where hardly moving ahead;We had to take a spot decision ,either to drive off 100kms in 8hrs(because of very slow traffic movement)or drive off 170kms to Dalhousie in 4hrs.
    We all took a U-turn & off we go to Dalhousie,though bit sceptic to get snow there or not;We drove from JammuCity via Kathua,Mamuun,Dunera, Nainakhad,  to DALHOUSIE.

As we entered the Dalhousie limit , we were thrilled to see snow on the roadside; Now feeling happy to take the decision to drive off to Dalhousie.Soon the enthusiasm kept increasing............. What a beauty !!!! all around snow;

Our enthusiasm saw no boundary now..................

But how to drive & Where's the road to move on .........................???Crazy situation indeed.

Just kept wondering!!!!! This wasn't the same look ,that we saw of Dalhousie in Nov'2012....Its all covered in snow...............Though looks amazingly beautiful But now after continuing our stay here in Jammu city this winter, I can say that its thrilling to see the snow  covered landscape but for those live here amidst the snow , Life is very very tough to continue....................Hope all those who would love to enjoy the coming Christmas in the hills of Dalhousie ,be lucky enough like us to be a witness to this White beauty.