Himachal - July 2008 - Itinerary/Car/Hotel Help Needed

sb_amd_us · Mar 19th, 2008, 08:25

Hi Guys,
I'm planning a trip to India in July of this year for my family(wife and three children(Age 11 - 4 yrs)kids. Please help me finalise my trip and suggest me:

1) Good/Reliable Car Rental Company from Delhi
2) Good/Reliable Travel Agency which can book the hotels for us
3) I've already thought about hotel. If you stayed there please let me know your opinion and price range. If you've suggestion for other hotel, please let me know that too.
4) If you know a Good Food place we should stop by on our trip/place, please let me know also

Monday 7/7/2008 Night Train from Ahmedabad to Matura

Tuesday 8/7/2008 TRIP STARTS Mathura Train Station @ 8 AM - Evening Panipat - Hotel Panipat Gold

Wednesday 9/7/2008 Start Early Morning- Kurukshetra - Pehowa and then Swarghat - Hotel Hilltop by HPTDC

Thursday 10/7/2008 Swarghat - Vyasji Cave-Laxmi
Narayanji-Anand Sahibji-Nainadeviji- Nagar Castle - Hotel Castle by hptdc

Friday 11/7/2008 Nagar Castle -Rohtang Pass - Manali - Hotel Kunzum

Saturday 12/7/2008 Local Site Seeing - Relax - Hotel Kunzum
I know Hotel Kunzum is on the mall road. We live in a quiet place and would prefer to live on the mall road provide hotel is good. If someone stayed at Kunzum, please let me know

Sunday 13/7/2008 Manali -Mani Karan - Kullu Shawl Factory - Mandi - Hotel Rajmahal Palace

Monday 14/7/2008 Bhootnath Temple-Tarnadevi-Palampur - Baijnath - Dharamshala - Chonor House

Tuesday 15/7/2008 Dharamshala Site seeing - Chonor House

Wednesday 16/7/2008 Dharamshala - Kangra Fort - Dalhousie - Hotel Grandview or Hotel Mountview..PLEASE suggest which one to choose

Thursday 17/7/2008 Dalhousie/Khajjar/Chamba/Dalhousie

Friday 18/7/2007 Local Site seeing - Drop at Chakki Bank
Evening-->TRIP ENDS

Dilliwala · Mar 19th, 2008, 19:26

Phew! There is absolutely no space in your plan for any delays.
And have you looked at the map while planning 9th and 10th? Basically unworkable, unless all u want to do is drive.
I also need some clarifs in order to rework your itinerary.

1. I take it you are going to Mathura for a reason. But the trains you have mentioned don't match/connect. There is Gujarat Sampark Kranti Exp. on Mondays at 17.20, arr Mathura Tue 8.00. But you list departure from Mathura Tue 8.00? How do you intend to manage this?? In any case there is no 8 am departure from Mathura, there is one at 7.50. In other words, you can forget this connection unless you stay in Mathura overnight and catch this train next day. There is another train at 9.30 Tuesday - so is it worth going to Mathura with effectively 60 mins transit time, and what if your first train is late? What will you get to see in either case? Sorry, you have to rethink your Mathura plan. Please check on IR.

2. Do you really need to be in Panipat? If not, you shud go directly to Kurukshetra, either of the above trains from Mathura stop there. Makes it much easier for your next day's travel. And it is a MAJOR pain driving through or getting out of Panipat by road becos of highway-construction, so I'd definitely advise against staying in or driving from Panipat, if avoidable.

3. If you need to cut out Mathura becos of time constraints, there are direct trains Ahmedabad-Panipat or Baroda-Panipat-Kurukshetra.

AEROBATICHIGH · Mar 19th, 2008, 19:51

I have to agree with Dilli you are taking on one hell of a trip with regard to the time period.
Car Hire in Delhi:I`ve used Budget many times, always done a good deal for me.
Aero

Basho · Mar 19th, 2008, 20:22

It is great that you are getting up into the mountains of Himachal, but i agree with the others, you need to build in some serious relaxing time to soak up the atmosphere/scenery and recharge your batteries.

Also i would not consider getting a rental car for this journey. i would hire a taxi or car and driver. it will be much easier and safer. the roads in himachal are extremely dangerous for inexperienced drivers.

I presume from a glance at the itinerary that you have never been to india before. it is a truly wonderful experience, but not one that you can controll.

Good luck

Dilliwala · Mar 19th, 2008, 20:27

Basho, Aerobatic means car with driver from Budget. Self-drive options are very, very limited across India right now.

AEROBATICHIGH · Mar 19th, 2008, 20:31

Hi Dilli
I`ve always done self drive from Budget car hire

Dilliwala · Mar 19th, 2008, 21:13

REALLY?!! That's news. I was just reading up on IM yesterday re self-drive and didn't see anything for Delhi. Thanks.

sb_amd_us · Mar 20th, 2008, 08:41

Thanks Dilliwala and others.

Dilliwala:
I'm arriving by the same train you mentioned in the email from Ahmedabad. Plan is to hire car/driver which would pick us up at Mathura Station and will stay with us until trip ends. Our plan was to leave Mathura by 4:00pm or so to get to Panipat by 9:00pm. Since you mentioned construction work near Panipat then I'll change my plan and take a train from Mathura around six pm which will get me to Kurukshetra by midnight. Driver would bring our luggage and meet us in the hotel in Kurukshetra next day morning around 10am...which should give him ample time to pass through Panipat. What I meant by rental car...is obviously hiring a car with a driver from Delhi who will pick us from Mathura Train Station and stay with us until July 18th evening. I've put more details in the plan and see if this is possible: Please answer these four questions if you can.

1) Good/Reliable Car Rental Company from Delhi as it would hard to hire a car/driver from Mathura unless you know one. I got a quote from one company from Delhi...Rs. 23000 for the whole trip. Is that reasonable?
2) Good/Reliable Travel Agency which can book the hotels for us
3) I've already thought about hotel. If you stayed there please let me know your opinion and price range. If you've suggestion for other hotel, please let me know that too.
4) If you know a Good Food place we should stop by on our trip/place, please let me know also

Monday 7/7/2008 Night Train from Ahmedabad to Mathura....Sampark leaves from Ahmedabad around 5:00pm and arrives Mathura by 8:00am on Tuesday

Tuesday 8/7/2008
Drive will pick us up from Train Station. Will stop in a hotel for shower/breakfast etc...and just to a short visit to Mahaban - Krishna Janambhumi- Evening Train to Kuruskshetra

Wednesday 9/7/2008 Start Early Morning- Kurukshetra - Pehowa and then Swarghat - I'm planning to spend two hours in Kurukshetra and about an hour at Pehowa.. Night stay at Swarghat -Hotel Hilltop by HPTDC. No plan to do any site seeing in Swarghat

Thursday 10/7/2008 Swarghat - Nainadeviji- Nagar Castle---Night hotel in the Nagar Castle itself. Hotel Castle by hptdc

Friday 11/7/2008 Nagar Castle -Rohtang Pass - Manali - Hotel Kunzum

Saturday 12/7/2008 Local Site Seeing - Relax - Hotel Kunzum
I know Hotel Kunzum is on the mall road. We live in a quiet place and would prefer to live on the mall road provide hotel is good. If someone stayed at Kunzum, please let me know

Sunday 13/7/2008 Manali -Mani Karan - Kullu Shawl Factory - Mandi - Hotel Rajmahal Palace

Monday 14/7/2008 Bhootnath Temple-Tarnadevi- Baijnath - Dharamshala - Night Halt at Chonor House...Again at each place on the way..We'll just spend 1/2 - 1 hour max

Tuesday 15/7/2008 Dharamshala Site seeing - Chonor House

Wednesday 16/7/2008 Dharamshala - Kangra Fort - Dalhousie - Hotel Grandview or Hotel Mountview..PLEASE suggest which one to choose

Thursday 17/7/2008 Dalhousie/Khajjar/Chamba/Dalhousie

Friday 18/7/2007 Local Site seeing - Drive will drop us off at Chakki Bank in the Evening-->TRIP ENDS

Dilliwala · Mar 21st, 2008, 20:05

Hi sb,

Ok it's much clearer now. When u said "trip starts Mathura station 8 am" naturally I took that to mean a train ride and not a taxi ride.

I'm now presenting two options before getting onto your Qs. This is based on the assumption that u did not want to stay in Panipat other than as a night halt:

If you want to go by CAR from Mathura
There really is no need to incur the unnecessary expense of going by train and the car bringing the bags next morning. The situation in Panipat is that it takes 30 mins to move approx 3 km in the centre of town (say between 8 am and 10 pm) becos of the construction work, but thereafter traffic is back to normal (whatever that means). I was advising against staying in Panipat for that reason, you wud have to encounter the above situation twice. If you have already hired a car, better to just factor this extra 30 mins in enroute to Kurukshetra, grin, and bear the delay.
The other option wud be to leave Mathura later, so as to reach Panipat at 10 pm, but you may not want to reach Kurukshetra that late. Note that the train (I take it you mean the Jhelum Express at 18.07) also doesn't get to KKDE till very late - 23.40.
Basically let's put it this way - it'll take you 6 hours by road from Mathura to Kuru all told, so you can adjust your plan for flexibility as desired.

If you want to go by TRAIN from Mathura
I'm sure that your baggage won't be so much that you and family can't handle, after all you're starting from Ahmedabad by train. So -
I think it's no point in hiring a car ex-Mathura for the whole trip. It's best to hire a local car in Mathura for the day that will meet you at the train, take you around, and drop you back for the evening train. A car for the day shud not cost more than 550-600 bucks and shud be possible to arrange at the station. (Best to check in the Mathura threads though).
Then you go to Kuru by train, and have a car meet you there for the rest of the trip.
Note: If the car meets you at KKDE station at night, that'll be an extra 200-250 bucks overnight charge right there. I presume a local taxi for the station to hotel ride wud cost less, altho I can't confirm that, so may be better to have the trip-car pick you up from the hotel next morning. Just factors to be aware of when costing.

If it becomes difficult or more expensive to arrange a car ex-Kuru (can't imagine why) and you need to arrange from Delhi, you shud do a cost comparison, i.e. (a) car Delhi-Mathura-Kuru-Himachal, and (b) car Delhi-Kuru-onto Himachal plus your MTJ-KKDE train fares and local Mathura taxi.
(NOTE: Karnal or Ambala are other places from where you can hire a car for Kuru and the whole trip. U'll have to do some research).

Your questions:
1) I can't comment on car rentals ex Delhi or the quote you received as I never use them myself, but basically you can work with Rs 8/km to get a rough idea. You shud also look in the 'Delhi' and 'Buses, Cars' sub-forums, or post a Q there.
Aerobatic mentioned Budget in Delhi, wud be worth asking.
Critical is that the driver has plenty of hill-driving experience!

2) Don't bother. They'll only charge a commission for something you can easily do yourself. More in 3).

3) Haryana Tourism hotels are generally a good option. Not five-star service obviously, but the rooms are decent and the food is generally good. I've never stayed, but have eaten in a few along the way. Here's a list of their hotels with tariffs:
http://haryanatourism.com/destinations/overview.asp
They have hotels at both Kurukshetra (no. 28) and Pehowa (no. 1).
If u wish to stay, I recommend booking directly. Their contacts are here. I wud suggest you make your bookings after you get to Amd, unless u won't have the time - July is not high season.
I'm sure there are cheaper hotels too, but I don't know any personally. Wud be a matter of driving around a bit locally. U cud also browse the 'Punjab and Haryana' sub-forum and post a Q there.

4) In addition to HT's hotels which are at various places, they also have the Oasis fast-food joints which are good for a quick meal and/or a toilet stop. Other than that, there are plenty others on the way in Haryana and HP, not to worry. U'll see them as you drive.

NOTE: In case you really want to see something around Panipat and stay the night there, HT has a hotel there too (no. 38 on web-page). Just factor in the extra time for traffic, and the necessary rearrangement/costing for car ex-Panipat.

ITINERARY
9th - There's a direct road from Pehowa to Ambala, which is what your driver shud take. More construction between Ambala and Chandigarh - so from Ambala here's the route to follow.

10th - I see u've dropped the backtrack, i.e Swarghat-Anandpur Sahib-Naina Devi, which is good, but still want to see Naina Devi. In that case I suggest you stay the night in Kiratpur or Anandpur Sahib, instead of Swarghat. This circuit will also be shorter by 20 km. In other words, there's nothing to be gained by staying in Swarghat if u're going off-route anyway, and you cud still see A. Sahib. Or if u can manage it, go from Pehowa to Naina Devi, stay night at Swarghat. Next morning you can still see Bilaspur sights on way to Naggar.
Of course ideal wud be if there's something in the vicinity of Naina, but I have no idea. Maybe other members can help.

13th and 14th - I have to say they are hurried, but doable. Palampur by itself deserves a day or two!

17th - Chamba deserves better - as of now u're just marking attendance

. Either do just Dalhousie-Khajjiar-Dalhousie, or go Dalhousie-Khajjiar-Chamba, and
18th - Chamba-Chakki Bank.
(And that's without Chamba-Brahmaur, also worth seeing.)

sb_amd_us · Mar 22nd, 2008, 00:48

Dilliwala,
Thanks a lot. I'm glad I joined this forum and got your valuable input.
I think it'll be best to take option#1 if delay would be 1/2-1hour. We'll leave by Mathura by 3:00pm which should then get us to Kurukshetra by latest 10:00pm.
I specified the names of hotel in itinery. If you or anyone else stayed there, please post your experience. I checked hotel link on this forum but did not find any hotels I listed in the itinery which had reviews.

Dilliwala · Mar 22nd, 2008, 03:07

Hilltop, Swarghat and Kunzum, Manali - haven't stayed, had meal at the first - decent. HPTDC hotels are generally ok/reasonable.
Castle, Naggar - decent, good location, reasonably priced, decent food. Haven't stayed, but would if I wanted to stay overnight in Naggar.
Chonor House, Mcleodganj - haven't stayed, what I hear is: expensive but very nice. Plenty of info in this HP sub-forum, just search. U'll have to book very early, rooms are hard to get.

Mandi and Dalhousie - no idea.

HPTDC hotels can be booked directly on their website. Chonor also has a website, booking procedures mentioned. Just search in this sub-forum.

sb_amd_us · Mar 22nd, 2008, 10:47

Thanks Dilliwala,
You're a live encyclopedia for travelling in India. I've got clear idea now to itinery and what to do now. Thanks again.

sb_amd_us · Mar 22nd, 2008, 11:39

Is July 9th - July 17th a low season in Himachal Pradesh? If yes, how much discount should I expect from the list price I see on their website?
Is it advisable to book in advance at all the places I listed in itinery or I can just get there and easily get a room?

Dilliwala · Mar 22nd, 2008, 22:24

Hi sb,

India - definitely not. UA and HP. But not encyclopedia, maybe more like pocket atlas.

Very good Q u raised about discounts. In fact HPTDC have a fixed period for monsoon discounts, which are very good, 20-30% depending on location.

http://hptdc.nic.in/SplOffer.htm
Discounts are always listed on this page. At the moment they haven't updated for the coming monsoon, but the discounts are similar to what they are showing now for winter.
If i recall correctly, they start around 15th July though.
In any case I wud suggest to wait with bookings, it's correct that in July accom is not a prob. I think by June they will have listed the dates for monsoon discounts, so if not for your whole trip, u may be able to get a discount for the last part. If u book now, they will not give the discount later.

Here are more links for hotel searches:
http://himachalhotels.in/
http://himachaltourism.nic.in/hotdir/hotkhoj.asp

sb_amd_us · Mar 25th, 2008, 11:15

Thanks Dilliwala,
I'm all set for now. I'll share my experience once we come come back.

Mar 19th, 2008, 19:26	#2
Dilliwala Funky flunky Join Date: May 2007 Location: 28N 077E / दिल्ली Posts: 3,918	In other words, the Express Tour Phew! There is absolutely no space in your plan for any delays. And have you looked at the map while planning 9th and 10th? Basically unworkable, unless all u want to do is drive. I also need some clarifs in order to rework your itinerary. 1. I take it you are going to Mathura for a reason. But the trains you have mentioned don't match/connect. There is Gujarat Sampark Kranti Exp. on Mondays at 17.20, arr Mathura Tue 8.00. But you list departure from Mathura Tue 8.00? How do you intend to manage this?? In any case there is no 8 am departure from Mathura, there is one at 7.50. In other words, you can forget this connection unless you stay in Mathura overnight and catch this train next day. There is another train at 9.30 Tuesday - so is it worth going to Mathura with effectively 60 mins transit time, and what if your first train is late? What will you get to see in either case? Sorry, you have to rethink your Mathura plan. Please check on IR. 2. Do you really need to be in Panipat? If not, you shud go directly to Kurukshetra, either of the above trains from Mathura stop there. Makes it much easier for your next day's travel. And it is a MAJOR pain driving through or getting out of Panipat by road becos of highway-construction, so I'd definitely advise against staying in or driving from Panipat, if avoidable. 3. If you need to cut out Mathura becos of time constraints, there are direct trains Ahmedabad-Panipat or Baroda-Panipat-Kurukshetra. Last edited by Dilliwala : Mar 21st, 2008 at 18:38. Reason: speling

Mar 21st, 2008, 20:05	#9
Dilliwala Funky flunky Join Date: May 2007 Location: 28N 077E / दिल्ली Posts: 3,918	Hi sb, Ok it's much clearer now. When u said "trip starts Mathura station 8 am" naturally I took that to mean a train ride and not a taxi ride. I'm now presenting two options before getting onto your Qs. This is based on the assumption that u did not want to stay in Panipat other than as a night halt: If you want to go by CAR from Mathura There really is no need to incur the unnecessary expense of going by train and the car bringing the bags next morning. The situation in Panipat is that it takes 30 mins to move approx 3 km in the centre of town (say between 8 am and 10 pm) becos of the construction work, but thereafter traffic is back to normal (whatever that means). I was advising against staying in Panipat for that reason, you wud have to encounter the above situation twice. If you have already hired a car, better to just factor this extra 30 mins in enroute to Kurukshetra, grin, and bear the delay. The other option wud be to leave Mathura later, so as to reach Panipat at 10 pm, but you may not want to reach Kurukshetra that late. Note that the train (I take it you mean the Jhelum Express at 18.07) also doesn't get to KKDE till very late - 23.40. Basically let's put it this way - it'll take you 6 hours by road from Mathura to Kuru all told, so you can adjust your plan for flexibility as desired. If you want to go by TRAIN from Mathura I'm sure that your baggage won't be so much that you and family can't handle, after all you're starting from Ahmedabad by train. So - I think it's no point in hiring a car ex-Mathura for the whole trip. It's best to hire a local car in Mathura for the day that will meet you at the train, take you around, and drop you back for the evening train. A car for the day shud not cost more than 550-600 bucks and shud be possible to arrange at the station. (Best to check in the Mathura threads though). Then you go to Kuru by train, and have a car meet you there for the rest of the trip. Note: If the car meets you at KKDE station at night, that'll be an extra 200-250 bucks overnight charge right there. I presume a local taxi for the station to hotel ride wud cost less, altho I can't confirm that, so may be better to have the trip-car pick you up from the hotel next morning. Just factors to be aware of when costing. If it becomes difficult or more expensive to arrange a car ex-Kuru (can't imagine why) and you need to arrange from Delhi, you shud do a cost comparison, i.e. (a) car Delhi-Mathura-Kuru-Himachal, and (b) car Delhi-Kuru-onto Himachal plus your MTJ-KKDE train fares and local Mathura taxi. (NOTE: Karnal or Ambala are other places from where you can hire a car for Kuru and the whole trip. U'll have to do some research). Your questions: 1) I can't comment on car rentals ex Delhi or the quote you received as I never use them myself, but basically you can work with Rs 8/km to get a rough idea. You shud also look in the 'Delhi' and 'Buses, Cars' sub-forums, or post a Q there. Aerobatic mentioned Budget in Delhi, wud be worth asking. Critical is that the driver has plenty of hill-driving experience! 2) Don't bother. They'll only charge a commission for something you can easily do yourself. More in 3). 3) Haryana Tourism hotels are generally a good option. Not five-star service obviously, but the rooms are decent and the food is generally good. I've never stayed, but have eaten in a few along the way. Here's a list of their hotels with tariffs: http://haryanatourism.com/destinations/overview.asp They have hotels at both Kurukshetra (no. 28) and Pehowa (no. 1). If u wish to stay, I recommend booking directly. Their contacts are here. I wud suggest you make your bookings after you get to Amd, unless u won't have the time - July is not high season. I'm sure there are cheaper hotels too, but I don't know any personally. Wud be a matter of driving around a bit locally. U cud also browse the 'Punjab and Haryana' sub-forum and post a Q there. 4) In addition to HT's hotels which are at various places, they also have the Oasis fast-food joints which are good for a quick meal and/or a toilet stop. Other than that, there are plenty others on the way in Haryana and HP, not to worry. U'll see them as you drive. NOTE: In case you really want to see something around Panipat and stay the night there, HT has a hotel there too (no. 38 on web-page). Just factor in the extra time for traffic, and the necessary rearrangement/costing for car ex-Panipat. ITINERARY 9th - There's a direct road from Pehowa to Ambala, which is what your driver shud take. More construction between Ambala and Chandigarh - so from Ambala here's the route to follow. 10th - I see u've dropped the backtrack, i.e Swarghat-Anandpur Sahib-Naina Devi, which is good, but still want to see Naina Devi. In that case I suggest you stay the night in Kiratpur or Anandpur Sahib, instead of Swarghat. This circuit will also be shorter by 20 km. In other words, there's nothing to be gained by staying in Swarghat if u're going off-route anyway, and you cud still see A. Sahib. Or if u can manage it, go from Pehowa to Naina Devi, stay night at Swarghat. Next morning you can still see Bilaspur sights on way to Naggar. Of course ideal wud be if there's something in the vicinity of Naina, but I have no idea. Maybe other members can help. 13th and 14th - I have to say they are hurried, but doable. Palampur by itself deserves a day or two! 17th - Chamba deserves better - as of now u're just marking attendance . Either do just Dalhousie-Khajjiar-Dalhousie, or go Dalhousie-Khajjiar-Chamba, and 18th - Chamba-Chakki Bank. (And that's without Chamba-Brahmaur, also worth seeing.) Last edited by Dilliwala : Mar 21st, 2008 at 21:30.

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Mar 19th, 2008, 08:25	#1
sb_amd_us Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: New Jersey, USA Posts: 68	Himachal - July 2008 - Itinerary/Car/Hotel Help Needed Hi Guys, I'm planning a trip to India in July of this year for my family(wife and three children(Age 11 - 4 yrs)kids. Please help me finalise my trip and suggest me: 1) Good/Reliable Car Rental Company from Delhi 2) Good/Reliable Travel Agency which can book the hotels for us 3) I've already thought about hotel. If you stayed there please let me know your opinion and price range. If you've suggestion for other hotel, please let me know that too. 4) If you know a Good Food place we should stop by on our trip/place, please let me know also Monday 7/7/2008 Night Train from Ahmedabad to Matura Tuesday 8/7/2008 TRIP STARTS Mathura Train Station @ 8 AM - Evening Panipat - Hotel Panipat Gold Wednesday 9/7/2008 Start Early Morning- Kurukshetra - Pehowa and then Swarghat - Hotel Hilltop by HPTDC Thursday 10/7/2008 Swarghat - Vyasji Cave-Laxmi Narayanji-Anand Sahibji-Nainadeviji- Nagar Castle - Hotel Castle by hptdc Friday 11/7/2008 Nagar Castle -Rohtang Pass - Manali - Hotel Kunzum Saturday 12/7/2008 Local Site Seeing - Relax - Hotel Kunzum I know Hotel Kunzum is on the mall road. We live in a quiet place and would prefer to live on the mall road provide hotel is good. If someone stayed at Kunzum, please let me know Sunday 13/7/2008 Manali -Mani Karan - Kullu Shawl Factory - Mandi - Hotel Rajmahal Palace Monday 14/7/2008 Bhootnath Temple-Tarnadevi-Palampur - Baijnath - Dharamshala - Chonor House Tuesday 15/7/2008 Dharamshala Site seeing - Chonor House Wednesday 16/7/2008 Dharamshala - Kangra Fort - Dalhousie - Hotel Grandview or Hotel Mountview..PLEASE suggest which one to choose Thursday 17/7/2008 Dalhousie/Khajjar/Chamba/Dalhousie Friday 18/7/2007 Local Site seeing - Drop at Chakki Bank Evening-->TRIP ENDS

Mar 19th, 2008, 19:51	#3
AEROBATICHIGH Member Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: ENGLAND Posts: 11	I have to agree with Dilli you are taking on one hell of a trip with regard to the time period. Car Hire in Delhi:I`ve used Budget many times, always done a good deal for me. Aero

Mar 19th, 2008, 20:22	#4
Basho Member Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: UK Posts: 40	It is great that you are getting up into the mountains of Himachal, but i agree with the others, you need to build in some serious relaxing time to soak up the atmosphere/scenery and recharge your batteries. Also i would not consider getting a rental car for this journey. i would hire a taxi or car and driver. it will be much easier and safer. the roads in himachal are extremely dangerous for inexperienced drivers. I presume from a glance at the itinerary that you have never been to india before. it is a truly wonderful experience, but not one that you can controll. Good luck

Mar 19th, 2008, 20:27	#5
Dilliwala Funky flunky Join Date: May 2007 Location: 28N 077E / दिल्ली Posts: 3,918	Basho, Aerobatic means car with driver from Budget. Self-drive options are very, very limited across India right now.

Mar 19th, 2008, 20:31	#6
AEROBATICHIGH Member Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: ENGLAND Posts: 11	Hi Dilli I`ve always done self drive from Budget car hire

Mar 19th, 2008, 21:13	#7
Dilliwala Funky flunky Join Date: May 2007 Location: 28N 077E / दिल्ली Posts: 3,918	REALLY?!! That's news. I was just reading up on IM yesterday re self-drive and didn't see anything for Delhi. Thanks.

Mar 20th, 2008, 08:41	#8
sb_amd_us Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: New Jersey, USA Posts: 68	Thanks Dilliwala and others. Dilliwala: I'm arriving by the same train you mentioned in the email from Ahmedabad. Plan is to hire car/driver which would pick us up at Mathura Station and will stay with us until trip ends. Our plan was to leave Mathura by 4:00pm or so to get to Panipat by 9:00pm. Since you mentioned construction work near Panipat then I'll change my plan and take a train from Mathura around six pm which will get me to Kurukshetra by midnight. Driver would bring our luggage and meet us in the hotel in Kurukshetra next day morning around 10am...which should give him ample time to pass through Panipat. What I meant by rental car...is obviously hiring a car with a driver from Delhi who will pick us from Mathura Train Station and stay with us until July 18th evening. I've put more details in the plan and see if this is possible: Please answer these four questions if you can. 1) Good/Reliable Car Rental Company from Delhi as it would hard to hire a car/driver from Mathura unless you know one. I got a quote from one company from Delhi...Rs. 23000 for the whole trip. Is that reasonable? 2) Good/Reliable Travel Agency which can book the hotels for us 3) I've already thought about hotel. If you stayed there please let me know your opinion and price range. If you've suggestion for other hotel, please let me know that too. 4) If you know a Good Food place we should stop by on our trip/place, please let me know also Monday 7/7/2008 Night Train from Ahmedabad to Mathura....Sampark leaves from Ahmedabad around 5:00pm and arrives Mathura by 8:00am on Tuesday Tuesday 8/7/2008 Drive will pick us up from Train Station. Will stop in a hotel for shower/breakfast etc...and just to a short visit to Mahaban - Krishna Janambhumi- Evening Train to Kuruskshetra Wednesday 9/7/2008 Start Early Morning- Kurukshetra - Pehowa and then Swarghat - I'm planning to spend two hours in Kurukshetra and about an hour at Pehowa.. Night stay at Swarghat -Hotel Hilltop by HPTDC. No plan to do any site seeing in Swarghat Thursday 10/7/2008 Swarghat - Nainadeviji- Nagar Castle---Night hotel in the Nagar Castle itself. Hotel Castle by hptdc Friday 11/7/2008 Nagar Castle -Rohtang Pass - Manali - Hotel Kunzum Saturday 12/7/2008 Local Site Seeing - Relax - Hotel Kunzum I know Hotel Kunzum is on the mall road. We live in a quiet place and would prefer to live on the mall road provide hotel is good. If someone stayed at Kunzum, please let me know Sunday 13/7/2008 Manali -Mani Karan - Kullu Shawl Factory - Mandi - Hotel Rajmahal Palace Monday 14/7/2008 Bhootnath Temple-Tarnadevi- Baijnath - Dharamshala - Night Halt at Chonor House...Again at each place on the way..We'll just spend 1/2 - 1 hour max Tuesday 15/7/2008 Dharamshala Site seeing - Chonor House Wednesday 16/7/2008 Dharamshala - Kangra Fort - Dalhousie - Hotel Grandview or Hotel Mountview..PLEASE suggest which one to choose Thursday 17/7/2008 Dalhousie/Khajjar/Chamba/Dalhousie Friday 18/7/2007 Local Site seeing - Drive will drop us off at Chakki Bank in the Evening-->TRIP ENDS

Mar 22nd, 2008, 00:48	#10
sb_amd_us Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: New Jersey, USA Posts: 68	Dilliwala, Thanks a lot. I'm glad I joined this forum and got your valuable input. I think it'll be best to take option#1 if delay would be 1/2-1hour. We'll leave by Mathura by 3:00pm which should then get us to Kurukshetra by latest 10:00pm. I specified the names of hotel in itinery. If you or anyone else stayed there, please post your experience. I checked hotel link on this forum but did not find any hotels I listed in the itinery which had reviews.

Mar 22nd, 2008, 03:07	#11
Dilliwala Funky flunky Join Date: May 2007 Location: 28N 077E / दिल्ली Posts: 3,918	Hilltop, Swarghat and Kunzum, Manali - haven't stayed, had meal at the first - decent. HPTDC hotels are generally ok/reasonable. Castle, Naggar - decent, good location, reasonably priced, decent food. Haven't stayed, but would if I wanted to stay overnight in Naggar. Chonor House, Mcleodganj - haven't stayed, what I hear is: expensive but very nice. Plenty of info in this HP sub-forum, just search. U'll have to book very early, rooms are hard to get. Mandi and Dalhousie - no idea. HPTDC hotels can be booked directly on their website. Chonor also has a website, booking procedures mentioned. Just search in this sub-forum.

Mar 22nd, 2008, 10:47	#12
sb_amd_us Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: New Jersey, USA Posts: 68	Thanks Dilliwala, You're a live encyclopedia for travelling in India. I've got clear idea now to itinery and what to do now. Thanks again.

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Mar 22nd, 2008, 11:39	#13
sb_amd_us Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: New Jersey, USA Posts: 68	Is July 9th - July 17th a low season in Himachal Pradesh? If yes, how much discount should I expect from the list price I see on their website? Is it advisable to book in advance at all the places I listed in itinery or I can just get there and easily get a room?

Mar 22nd, 2008, 22:24	#14
Dilliwala Funky flunky Join Date: May 2007 Location: 28N 077E / दिल्ली Posts: 3,918	Hi sb, India - definitely not. UA and HP. But not encyclopedia, maybe more like pocket atlas. Very good Q u raised about discounts. In fact HPTDC have a fixed period for monsoon discounts, which are very good, 20-30% depending on location. http://hptdc.nic.in/SplOffer.htm Discounts are always listed on this page. At the moment they haven't updated for the coming monsoon, but the discounts are similar to what they are showing now for winter. If i recall correctly, they start around 15th July though. In any case I wud suggest to wait with bookings, it's correct that in July accom is not a prob. I think by June they will have listed the dates for monsoon discounts, so if not for your whole trip, u may be able to get a discount for the last part. If u book now, they will not give the discount later. Here are more links for hotel searches: http://himachalhotels.in/ http://himachaltourism.nic.in/hotdir/hotkhoj.asp

Mar 25th, 2008, 11:15	#15
sb_amd_us Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: New Jersey, USA Posts: 68	Thanks Dilliwala, I'm all set for now. I'll share my experience once we come come back.