Rainbow of Thoughts!: Ready, Steady & Here I Goooo!!!!

Ever since company_6's amazing Lonavala-Matheran trip, we all were raring to plan something very similar once again. The Republic Day long weekend seemed like an apt time to do so; but getting all 6 [read 8 - as two of us have tied the knot] people at one place, on one date, is fast becoming more of a dream. Why? Because, one is in the US, one has just come back from the US & is already planning to go again, one doesn't have enough leave balance [ya a baggage that always comes with high paying jobs], couple # 1 is to celebrate their 1st marriage anniversary this weekend [congratulations in advance guys], and couple # 2 is already holidaying in Malaysia....woooof, we certainly are a bunch!!

But the only one who is 'stuck' in Indore is I, and is more restless than anyone else for an outing. So putting off the company_6 outing for some other 'suitable' date, I decided to challenge the mountains on my own, and carved out a serene trip to Northern India - to the lands of Warriors, to the Dev Bhoomi, to the City of Temples and to the Capital City. Yea, yea some of you got it right - Punjab, Himachal, Jammu & Delhi are on my list. It's going to be a week long trip commencing Jan 24, and I will be traveling to Amritsar in Punjab, Dharamshala, McLeaodganj & Kangra in Himachal, Patnitop & VaishnoDevi in Jammu and then a day long city tour of Delhi, before coming back to Indore on Feb 1. But why these places?

When I was planning the trip to North, I couldn't leave Amritsar out [even though it is a detour for the rest of the locations] for the very history of this place - no Indian can forget Dyer's massacre at Jaliawallah Bagh. Golden Temple & 'Lowering of the Flags' ceremony at Wagah Border got Amritsar on the itinerary on its own.
The tough part was selecting places to visit in Himachal, as this could well be one of the most beautiful regions of India. Hill Stations galore in this part of the country and it had to be something more than a mere hill station to be on the itinerary. Dharamshala, McLeoganj & Kangra just had that bit extra to their credit - Headquaters of Dalai Lama & Tibetan Monuments.
You can't visit North in winters and not hope to see fresh snow; that is why PatniTop, which is 'loaded' with snow these days [yippee am already excited about snow'wo'man], appears on my list.
With 25 years of committing sins, I think I needed to visit the holy abode of Maata VaishnoDevi to absolve all my wrong doings.
Given that Delhi is my second home, I can kick my butt for not visiting places like Red Fort, Qutub Minar, Lotus Temple and the likes, in all the numerous visits I have had to Delhi over the years. So it's a natural fallout of all the beating my butt took, that Delhi appears on my ToGo list.

Over the past one week I have spoken to a whole lot of taxi operators, travel operators and people who have been to these places before; I visited numerous forums and travel websites; dug deep into the rail, road, political & physical maps of Northern India; and burnt midnight oil trying to gather as much information as possible about these places. And with the preparations in full swing [got a backpack, a bigger memory stick for my digicam, loads of winter wear, tickets for the round trip etc.] the excitement is reaching its peak. I just can't wait for the day to pass, and board the north bound train tomorrow.

Oh! ya and my companions on the trip....a backpack and my school buddy Nitesh!!

COMING SOON: Travelogues of my trip to the North!