Pls Help: Laksar stopover, going to Joshimath/Auli

Soura Brata Roy

Dear All

I would be travelling to JoshimaTh for onward trip to Auli.

My train reservation is upto Laksar (ETA 23.30 hrs - Amritsar mail from Hwh).

a) Can any one guide me where to stay that night? Are there hotels in Laksar adjacent to the Station? I will be travelling with my wife and kid (6 yrs old)

b) Is it possible for me to start for Rudraprayag directly from Laksar. Is there a direct bus service/ share jeep service from Laksar or do I have to go to Rishikesh for onward journey



c) also pls suggest if there is any share jeep service from Rishikesh to Joshimath and what will be the fare and timing of departure from Rishikesh

Regards

Soura

somnath

Hi Sourabrata,

Arrival time – family tour – next day start and journey upto Rudraprayag ……. In my opinion the combination is not very comfortable . Soura, I don’t have any firsthand info regarding staying options at Laksar but generally people use to avail Akaltakht Exp. / Doon / Upasana or similar trains so that they can reach Laksar / Najibabad around moring. And then shared jeep / bus for Haridwar. I guess if you have the opportunity to change the train it will solve all the problems.

There are shared jeep / bus from both Haridwar and Rishikesh. I am not sure about the schedule and all but according to my personal experience morning (around 6 – 8 am) is the best time.

Since you are planning for Auli, please read post #12 of this thread for some handy info:
http://www.indiamike.com/india/uttar...advice-t41410/
- Hope it will help you.

Cheers.

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Skipper

Hi Soura,


Check ur arrival time at laxar.There used to be local trains from there to hardwar.Time at---1/35,4/40,6/30,10/55,13/35,16/15,20/00.U will also get car & bus,just 28 kms.Rudraprayag is highly possible if u reach within 8a.m.or u'll require a car for that.Laxar is a junction & u can stay at waiting room.Best of luck.

Soura Brata Roy

Hi Somnath

Thank you very much for the feedback.

Changing the train is not possible bcoz of the heavy booking. Infact I opted for Laksar only after I exhausted all my options of reaching haridwar directly from Kolkata.

As advised by you, I will stay the next day at Rishikesh so that we get some rest and the next day proceed to JoshimaTh directly.

Thanks

Soura

Soura Brata Roy

Thanks skipper for the info.. I will decide once I reach Laksar... The ETA @ Laksar of Amritsar Mail is 23.35 hrs.

Regards

Soura

Dilliwala

Laksar? LAKSAR? LAKSAR? (where's the "incredulous" icon?)

Whatever possessed you to book a train to Laksar, that too one arriving at midnight?
Ok, don't answer - you said you cudn't get anything better. But try to avoid it in future.

Alright, here's the deal - FORGET about staying at Laksar. And if you want to wait 2 hours, you can take the Kathgodam Dehradun Express at 1.40 to HW. I don't recommend taking road transport with the family at midnight.
But I have a MUCH better alternative (and actually the shorter way to Joshimath coming from the east, but not many people use it - connectivity. But with your midnight arrival, more than ideal) --
Get off at the previous station, Najibabad (arr 22.53). You'll lose some money (all of 8 bucks per adult in SL, 24 bucks in 3A) but I think it's worth it - cancelling will probably cost more, and rebooking is dicey with the present availability situ.
From NBD take the first available transport to Kotdwara (25 km). Worst case you may have to hire a full jeep, but IMO worth it.
In Kotdwara, stay at GMVN - good and cheap, nice peaceful setting, all rooms are triple-bed with cooler for 450 bucks. You'll be much better off than at the waiting-room at Laksar. Book it now!

www.gmvnl.com
Online booking here www.gmvnl.com/newgmvn/tour/booktrh.asp
Cal contacts for booking here www.gmvnl.com/newgmvn/online_reservation/

They don't have cooking arrangements, but the chaukidar can arrange breakfast if he knows in advance. Make sure you have dinner on the train as that late you won't get anything in Kotdwara.
Next morning you'll be rested, fresh and ready to go, and will have saved a day over the Rishikesh-stay option. Take a bus or share-jeep to wherever - Rudraprayag or Joshimath (one or two maybe), Shrinagar (3 or 4 maybe), or Pauri (plenty) and change. If you want to know schedules/destinations earlier you can call GMVN at 01382-225630, they will be able to tell you.

In case the chaukidar is still Pushkar, ask to speak to him. He's a good guy, sort out your transport and breakfast Qs with him. But book first!!

nyraghu

Dilliwala, thanks again for excellent information. GMVN Kotdwara might come in useful some day :-)

Raghu.

Dilliwala

Any time.

Soura Brata Roy

Thanks dilliwala..... thank you very much for your informative reply.. what I also liked was your style of writing( senior member rebuking a junior fellow)..... as advised by you I am planning to get down at Najibabad proceed to Kotdwara in the night and start for Rudraprayag/Joshimath the folowing morning.

Can you pls give me an indication of ther travelling time between Kotdwara to Rudraprayag and Rudraprayag to JoshimaTh?

Waiting to hear from you soon.
Regards

Soura

Dilliwala

Ouch!
Rest assured I wasn't rebuking, S B, that's just my style of writing and putting extra emphasis sometimes, i.e. to grab your attention and stress that arriving at Laksar at midnight is a serious bad idea, specially with a small child. And since I happen to know that part of Garhwal quite well, I'm happy to provide the alternative. Seems my method worked.
And I CERTAINLY wasn't doing it as a "senior" to a "junior", I don't believe in this senior/junior stuff - hell, as a "junior" I've "rebuked" my share of "seniors".

Here are a few distances from Kotdwara:
Pauri - 105 km
Shrinagar - 134 km
Rudraprayag - 168 km
Joshimath - 281 km
Travelling time will depend on how often you have to change and wait. Generally you can work with 25-30 kmph for a bus and 30-35 kmph for a jeep/taxi.

I do urge you to book GMVN asap, if you haven't done so already. Usually it's not a problem to get a room as most people just pass thru Kotdwara, but in the yatra season it cannot be taken for granted.
Note: The website shows the rooms as 2-bed, but I've stayed there twice and they were 3-bed. Altho I'll be surprised if that has changed, still it wud be better to confirm directly from GMVN Kotdwara. In any case, the rooms are big and easily fit a third bed, at most they will charge for it.
Other than that, dorm accom is Rs. 100 per bed (6 beds in a dorm).

Soura Brata Roy

Thanx Dilliwala for your informative reply.. with my kid I am planning to start as early as possible and reach Rudraprayag by 11-00 am, I only hope that I get shared jeep bcoz I am a budgtet traveller and do not intend to spend too much on these aspects.
Thanks once again

soura

somnath biswas

Hi all,
I had been to Nazibabad for few hours at 2006. The station waiting room is too bad. I have one suggestion instead. Why don't Soura go upto Nazibabad and take Delhi Kotdwara passenger since he has time to spare, if he really wishes to go via Pouri. One more thing , Laksar is a Big and good station. The station master Sanyal a Bengali guy and too helpful. Last year he and Das (station master of Hardwar who stays at Laksar) helped me a lot. We had to board Jalianwala Bag Express and came at Laksar for few hours from Hardwar. Only thing is whether he will be available at night or not is a question. But the waiting room is too good to stay for few hours. Soura when you are going?

Soura Brata Roy

Hi Somnath

Thanks for your suggestion. I am leaving kolkata on 1st June. Infact after the feedbacks received from several members of this forum I changed my ticket from Amritsar Mail to Akal Takht express and my ETA at Najibabad is 9 am.
If situation permits I might proceed to Rudraprayag the same day where I will spend that night. Alternatively I might stay at Kotdwar and start for Joshimath the following morning.

Regards

Soura

somnath biswas

That's great. So you can proceed to Pauri via Kotdwara. At 10.00 am or so, you will get a local train for Kotdwara or go there by taxi. Then by cab reach Pauri. It's a nice place. From there you will get bus/cab for Rudraprayag via Srinagar. Return via Rishikesh/Haridwar. Enjoy your trip.

Dilliwala

The 4041A Mussoorie Express from Delhi to Kotdwara arrives in Najibabad at 3.50 am and it doesn't leave till 5.10 am. Which wud mean S B and family waiting almost all night at the station to start with, and then in the train for over an hour, when they cud be sleeping in a comfortable bed in KTW instead. And you yourself have said the waiting room at NBD is bad so I don't understand your recommending it in the same breath?
S B hasn't said he WANTS to go via Pauri, just that all things considered including a small child and night-time arrival, as I outlined in my first post, Najibabad/Kotdwara is much the better option compared to Laksar/Haridwar.

If Laksar were the only option in the general area the station retiring room wud be fine (I guess), but it isn't the only option, as I have outlined. It's off-route and staying there all night just to get to Haridwar in the morning makes no sense, both time- and comfort-wise.

Anyway, as I see S B has changed his bookings:

Quote:

Infact after the feedbacks received from several members of this forum I changed my ticket from Amritsar Mail to Akal Takht express and my ETA at Najibabad is 9 am. If situation permits I might proceed to Rudraprayag the same day where I will spend that night. Alternatively I might stay at Kotdwar and start for Joshimath the following morning.

Whoa, that changes a few things.
In that case, don't bother with staying at Kotdwara, you'll comfortably get to Rudraprayag by evening. You might even be lucky to catch the Delhi-Pauri UA Transport Corp bus which passes thru (don't know the schedule, ask around). Otherwise just take the first transport available to wherever and change, as I suggested previously. I wudn't bother waiting for a local train unless it were arriving within 30 mins of your train. Ideal wud be if you get one vehicle Kotdwara-Shrinagar.
In case your train arrives too late to get to R'prayag same day, then I suggest head for Pauri (not many hotels, but nice and cool) or ideally Shrinagar (plenty of hotels, major transport hub, but hot ).