Delhi Agra Uttarakhand(Garhwal) Trip
Summer was around and time to plan for another trip with family. As it was summer, the options were less and mostly in North India. Finalized Garhwal region of Uttarakhand(One more state added to my list of Indian states visited) and started looking for the places and options to go there. Was planning to take a flight to Dehradun directly from Hyderabad but only one option and that did not work out. Hence decided to go via Delhi which had more options and also cheaper. Booked the flight tickets first TO and FROM Delhi. Then started looking for a vehicle to roam around during the trip. Booked Ertiga vehicle for the 8 day travel. Also, blocked hotel rooms in the different places as per our planned itinerary which is as below.
8 day Itinerary for Delhi, Agra and Uttarakhand(Garhwal):
Day 1. Hyderabad to Delhi
Day 2. Agra and Mathura
Day 3. Delhi to Mussoorie Via Dehradun
Day 4: Musosorie local site seeing
Day 5. Mussoorie to Rishikesh via Haridwar
Day 6. Rishikesh local site seeing
Day 7. Rishikesh to DevPrayag and back to Delhi
Day 8. Delhi local site seeing and back to Hyderabad
Day 1(Apr 29th): The long awaited day had come and we booked a cab to the airport to start around 8:45 am and the cab was on time. It had been raining heavily since early morning and there was water logging in some places on the way to airport. As we started early had reached the airport comfortably and dropped our baggage at the airline counter. Proceeded to security check and waited for the flight which was on time(11.50 am). Had lunch in the flight itself which was pre-booked, as it was lunch time and 2 hour long flight. Reached Delhi around 2pm and the cab driver came to the airport to pick us up. Went to the hotel room, checked in, got fresh and started our local tour in Delhi.
Visited Qutub Minar, Lotus Temple and India Gate(Kartavya path) in the evening. Had some street food and came back to the hotel room. Had dinner and slept for the day. Best part of the day was the weather in Delhi which was pleasant without sun or rain.
Day 2(Apr 30th): Asked the cab driver to come early in the morning so that we can start early to Agra and Mathura which was around 4 hour drive from Delhi. Started at 7.15 am and had breakfast in a food court enroute on Yamuna Expressway. Reached Taj Mahal around 11.45 am and went to the entry gate directly as we bought the tickets online. Engaged a guide and started the tour of Taj Mahal. It was so grand and kids liked it a lot(they had already been to Bibi ka Maqbara in Aurangabad which is a much smaller replica of the Taj). There were lot of photographers who were after us to get the photos clicked which they would print out for us by the time we exit. Avoided 3-4 of them but engaged one at last who clicked a few photos and we finalized 7 of them to be printed. Went into the upper floor, roamed around and came out around 2 pm.
Did some shopping for souvenirs, Petha sweets(which are famous in Agra) and collected the photos taken. Had lunch and headed to Agra fort. It was also one of the World Heritage monuments and completed it in around 1 hour. From there, went to Mathura which is around 1 hour drive from Agra and is famous for Lord Krishna’s Birthplace. Visited the temple and were planning to go to Vrindavan but there was a pujari who insisted that we visit another temple near by(which ultimately turned out to be far) and it was further away from Vrindavan. Headed back to Delhi and had dinner on the way as the cab driver got the fuel filled(CNG). Reached Delhi around 12:30 am, wished Arya on his birthday and slept for the day. As it was already late in the night, the cab driver stayed back at the hotel as we had to start early in the morning.
Day 3(May 1st): Had breakfast around 8.30 am and started to Mussoorie via Dehradun in Uttarakhand. It was Arya’s(elder son) birthday and had a dinner in Green Valley restaurant on the outskirts of Haridwar on the way to Dehradun. The food and ambience was good. Went to Mindrolling Monastery, Tapkeshwar Temple and Robber’s caves in Dehradun before heading to Mussorie for night stay. It was a very scenic drive with lights of hotels and houses sprinkled across the hills.
Mindrolling Monastery was quite beautiful and had the car used by Dalai Lama as it was gifted to this place. Tapkeshwar temple had a Shivling on top of which the water keeps dripping throughout the year. Reached Robber’s caves just in time as it is closed to visitors at 6.30 pm and reached by 6.29 pm. Took the tickets and entered caves just in time where one has to walk in knee deep water into the caves. Kids liked it a lot. Reached Mussoorie around 8 pm and had dinner at the hotel. It was a bit far from the main mall road and took some to reach there. It was very cold even in the room and got a heater from the hotel guys for which they charged 400/- per night. It was drizzling.
Day 4(May 2nd): The hotel room had a balcony and beautiful valley view. Woke up in the morning around 6.30 and spent some time in the balcony and went for a walk. Took some photos and came back to the room. Started off to Kempty water falls and there were some very good views on the way with clouds around. Visited the water falls where it was drizzling a bit and took photos for Arya and Arnav in a photo studio near the parking for which they charged 200/- which I thought was on a higher side. The falls fell into a small pond surrounded by shops and one can get into the water there. But we did not enter the water.
Started to Company Garden which had colourful flowers, water fountains, kids rides and a wax museum. Visited all in the light rain and went to the mall road which is considered to be the main road in Mussoorie. Had lunch in a local restaurant and tried the Pahadi thali with local delicacies. Went till the end of the road and came back to the room. From there went to Lal Tibba scenic point which had to be reached through small steep roads. The point was good with a view of all the hills and greenery around.
Day 5(May 3rd): Started via Sahastradhara near Dehradun towards Haridwar where we were planning to take a dip in the river Ganga as it was the last day of Ganga Pushkaralu. There was a ropeway at Sahastradhara and the view was beautiful from the top. Bought 2 sarees which were made of Banana silk and headed towards Haridwar.
It was raining heavily all along the way from Mussoorie to Haridwar and we were thinking how to go for the Ganga snan but luckily the rain stopped just before we reached the Har ki Pauri where there were arrangements for the Ganga snan. Had a dip in Ganga and had lunch in a restaurant near by Har ki Pauri on the way to Mansa Devi temple. The temple was on a hill and were planning to take a ropeway to the top but there was a lot of rush with a waiting time of around 1.5 hrs. So went by walk which took around 25 mins and came back to Har ki Pauri to witness the Ganga Aarthi which had a packed crowd. Then headed to the hotel in Rishikesh. Checked about the river rafting but were informed that kids below 14 years are not allowed. So had to change the plan for next day.
Day 6(May 4th): Woke up early in the morning and went for a walk to Lakshman Jhoola(which was closed for renovation) and came back to the hotel room. Went to Kunjapuri Devi temple which was on a hill top and around 40 kms from Rishikesh. The drive was very scenic and there were around 300 steps to the temple from the parking spot. From there, headed to Thrill Factory which had few adventure rides. Arya & me went for the Giant swing and Arya &d Arnav went for Rope courses. Then all 4 of us went for Bowling and had lunch there itself. Arya did his rope course within 11 mins and got a free sandwich for doing it under 15 mins. Kids enjoyed a lot and headed towards Triveni Ghat for the Ganga Aarthi. Visited Neergarh water falls on the way and did not go deeper as it was time for the Aarthi. After Aarthi, went to Ram Jhoola which is a cable bridge and two wheelers were also going on it making it very crowded. Came back to the hotel room after that.
Day 7(May 5th): Woke up in the morning and went to Bhoothnath temple for a walk. Came back to the room and checked out. Headed to Devprayag which is the confluence of Bhagirathi and Alaknanda rivers to form Ganga hence the starting point of Gange on the land. Visited Vashishta Cave on the way which was on the banks of river Ganga and could see the boats doing river rafting. The drive was amazing along the river Ganga in the hills and at the Confluence visited the Raghunath temple which is said to be very old around 1000 years or more and Lord Rama is believed to have done penance here after killing Ravana. Did Ganga pooja at the Sangam Ghat where the two rivers meet and headed back to Delhi. Bought a few pulses that were grown locally in the hills.
On the way back thought of visiting Chandi Devi temple in Haridwar but could not because of the traffic jam on the way. So visited the Bharat Mata Mandir which is more about India and 5 floors. The street was full of temples but could not visit all because of time constraint. Reached Delhi around 10 pm and checked in to the hotel booked in the morning.
Day 8(May 6th): Finally, last day of the trip. Checked out of the hotel, kept all the luggage in the vehicle and started for Delhi local site seeing. Went to Humayun’s tomb first which was one of the World Heritage sites. From there, went to Jantar Mantar where it started raining all of a sudden and we had to rush back to the car. Went to Red Fort which was quite big and also the place where the National flag is hoisted on India’s Independence day. Chandni Chowk shopping area was just opposite Red Fort. So did some window shopping, had lunch and headed towards Raj Ghat. The place was full of memorials of all the great leaders. From there, went to the Akshardham temple which was our last destination before heading to the airport for return flight to Hyderabad. It was really huge and fantastic. Came to the airport around 5.30 pm and thanked our driver Mr.Shyam Singh who was with us throughout the trip. All of us enjoyed the trip thoroughly and memories made for the life time. Please check out my other road trips here.
