The No-Mads

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the experience of vegetarian food !!!
the world of travel , as we travel the world !!!

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since it's been some time , just to refresh , we shall be chronicling our journey from kanyakumari to kashmir

we intend to keep you posted about our experiences of travel and food

hopefully our next expedition would be very soon , provided the circumstances permitting

stay connected !!!
stay safe !!!
take good care of you and yours !!!

09/10/2016

we complete one year of a fabulous journey !!! over the last one year we have experienced the happiness and joy over and over again by sharing it with our family , friends , near and dear ones !!!

the one question that has always kept coming up during this last one year is "when and where is your next trip" we have always been taking the same stand "stay connected with our page"

the plan for the next adventure is on , the next journey is being put to shape , the sojourn is all set to be timed , look out for our next post that shall unravel the plan !!!

THE NO-MADS SET TO ROCK AGAIN !!!
THE TRAILS ARE ABOUT TO BLAZE !!!
STAY CONNECTED TO ENJOY THE JOURNEY !!!

23/10/2015

DAY 11
SUNDAY ; 11-OCT-2015

DISTANCE TRAVELLED
0000 KMS / 5612 KMS

we got up earlier than usual , on a day when we were sure we did not have even an outside chance of driving or being the way we had been over the last ten days

we headed for the airport , finally giving an end to the expedition , after quite a few security checks were finally on board the flight back home

after a flying time of around six hours and a lot of recalling of moments over the flight , we landed at chennai to come out of the airport to see no one having come to receive us , was quite an anti climax to the kind of send off we were accorded and the reception we got enroute

we were in for a shock when our wives , kids and friends appeared from nowhere with a huge poster , it was an overwhelming and overawing moment for us with all the bouquets , the hugs , the handshakes all around

we had the cake cutting , and were also given a K2K memento made by the kids , which was a collage of our photographs through this journey , would be a gift we would treasure for our lives

THE NO-MADS ARE BACK HOME !!!
SIGNING OFF UNTIL NEXT TIME !!!
SNIPPETS TO FOLLOW !!!

23/10/2015

DAY 10
SATURDAY ; 10-OCT-2015

DISTANCE TRAVELLED
0000 KMS / 5612 KMS

after an adventurous , gruelling , exciting , fun filled nine days of journey , we finally had a good , long sleep of over twelve hours to wake up to bright and sunny morning after quite some time

we lazed around for some time before moving out to have a brunch at the PUNJABI RASOI and then spent some time chit chatting over coffee at the CCD

we then went to savour the beauty of the DAL LAKE and its serene surrounds , we took a shikara ride for two hours , even the shikara owner was surprised at seeing a group of four of us taking such a long ride and enjoying ourselves , that he passed comments that better be censored on this public platform

after a good ride on the lake we decided to go to the lesser visited tourist spots of the city and took our car and went around without any specific target or agenda in mind , we actually roamed around true to our name , like the nomads , to settle down for a dinner

during the course of the chit chat over dinner , we realised that we had not picked up anything for anyone after on what would be perceived as being on a holiday for a good ten days , but all this was well past the market timings

we then decided to go to the nearby village of PAMPORE , famous for its KESAR fields
and through a local contact , got a store to open again at close to midnight , picked up some dry fruits and nuts for our homes to close the day late , once again

we somehow had found an uncanny knack of driving and closing the day really late even on a day when we were supposed to have absolutely nothing to do , the experience had truly and surely rubbed into us

THE TRIP ENDS NOT THE JOURNEY !!!
THE NO-MADS ALL SET TO RETURN !!!
K2K ETCHED IN MINDS FOREVER !!!

18/10/2015

DAY 09
FRIDAY ; 09-OCT-2015

DISTANCE TRAVELLED
176 KMS / 5612 KMS

having spent the night in the car , we gave the journey one more twist , we decided to give this expedition a final push by attempting to complete it one day in advance , we then proceeded towards our final destination

we passed through the scenic mountain route to enter the valleys , PARADISE ON EARTH , KASHMIR

our idea was that arriving well in advance will give us some time to take rest and also enough time in hand to see around the city and spend some leisure and relaxed time with each other

the distance between PATNITOP and the our final destination SRINAGAR , was a pretty misleading one , it was infested throughout with traffic jams and the ghats made the moving ahead even slower , it finally took us a good fourteen hours to cover the final lap , though just 175 kms

lo and behold !!! we were standing in front of the famous LAL CHOWK , with a feeling of elation and pride , with a sense of achievement and fulfilment , with a sense of unbound happiness and joy

a motley group of four for friends who began this trip only for fun had actually ended up fulfilling a target , chasing a dream , driving through an experience , living a lifetime in nine days

we suddenly realised that the last two days were filled with an air of tension all along , such that we had not even switched on the music system in the car , we had not changed , we had not used any of the gadgets , we had not sung songs , we had not pulled anyone's legs , we had not had our dose of fruits and nuts , we had not done so many things which we were otherwise doing very matter of factly

after a quick visit to the DAL LAKE , we had an early dinner at the popular KRISHNA VAISHNO DHABA to hit the bed with an unknown feeling , bubbling with excitement , kind of those times when your body is tired and wants to take rest but your mind is happy and does not want to

THE NO-MADS HAVE DONE IT !!!
MISSION K2K ACCOMPLISHED !!!
STAY TUNED FOR THE DETAILS !!!

15/10/2015

DAY 08
THURSDAY ; 08-OCT-2015

DISTANCE TRAVELLED
649 KMS / 5436 KMS

after a good sleep overnight at the JEWELS HOTEL , we made our way out of the city of KARNAL , to have a staple breakfast of parathas at a road side dhaba

we then moved ahead to pass by the LAND OF MAHABHARAT , KURUKSHETRA and the buzzing town of AMBALA

we went ahead into PUNJAB and the lush green fields on either sides enroute was a soothing sight to watch for the beings of the concrete jungle like us

we steamed towards our destination passing by the CITY OF HOSIERY , LUDHIANA and the town of JALANDHAR

this part of the journey was an exhibition of contradictions with lush fields on one side and mcdonalds and dominos on the other

we then moved into the HOLY CITY OF AMRITSAR , with our stomachs rattling with noise of hunger , we headed straight for the popular , almost one hundred years old , KESAR DA DHABA , situated in the bylanes of the city

we had a sumptuous punjabi lunch loaded with butter and complete with a lassi , the server was gracious enough to take us for a tour of the kitchen of this famous eatery

we then reached the sacrosanct HARMANDIR SAHIB , popularly known as THE GOLDEN TEMPLE , where we had a good darshan and had a peep into the langar , the famous free eatery within the premises

it was very heartening to see that all the work was going about in a systematic fashion and all being done by volunteers from all walks of life , bringing out the concept of equality in true spirit

after which we visited the historic and "famous" JALIANWALA BAGH , we then made our way out of the city to drive through the city of PATHANKOT and moved to enter into the last state on our expedition JAMMU & KASHMIR

we took the call of deviating , on advice , from our planned route to bypass the city of JAMMU to reach UDHAMPUR , reducing travel distance by a good 40 kms , which in our opinion would have saved us an hour , but to our horror it was a very bad route and pushed us back by a few hours instead

we somehow managed to reach UDHAMPUR late in the night , to be welcomed by another surprise , that the city was going to be clamped with curfew in the morning and it would not be possible to leave the city , which could effectively mean that we might not be able to complete our expedition

we took another decisive call of moving ahead to the town of PATNITOP , which was a couple of hours away , reach we did and then tried to find a decent place to stay for over an hour , but in vain , with the hotels either locked or no one manning it , we were dead tired by now , we then decided to park the car alongside the road , have a good couple of hours of sleep and move ahead for the last part of the expedition

it looked to be a day destined to test our patience and perseverance in what has otherwise been a reasonably smooth sailing road trip

THE TWISTS ARE GETTING CURIOUS !!!
THE NO-MADS ARE ON !!!
ITS NEVER OVER TILL ITS OVER !!!

12/10/2015

DAY 07
WEDNESDAY ; 07-OCT-2015

DISTANCE TRAVELLED
629 KMS / 4787 KMS

we began our day at JAIPUR , albeit a bit delayed than our desired timeline and had to wade through the morning traffic to reach the iconic monument of the city , HAWA MAHAL

we then had a quick breakfast at a nearby cart vendor and made an exit out of the city to our next base station

we had the feeling of a lot of farming activity going on as we moved ahead and also had a fun time going into the fields with scores of haystacks and riding a tractor too

we then passed through the famous fort city of FATEHPUR SIKRI to reach the CITY OF LOVE , AGRA

we moved through the chaotic stretch of the city passing by the AGRA FORT to reach one of our most awaited historic spots , one of the wonders of the world , the opulent and magnificent TAJ MAHAL

after spending some time at this glorious monument and a quick lunch enroute at the VILLAGE DHABA , we moved ahead to reach the CAPITAL OF INDIA , NEW DELHI

we passed by the famous and huge temple AKSHARDHAM , the fort of PURANA QILA , the SHANTI STUPA to reach the monument symbolising the city , INDIA GATE

after which we went to the awe inspiring residential premises of the head of the country , RASHTRAPATI BHAVAN , from where we passed by the PARLIAMENT HOUSE to make an exit , cutting across the city to move to the city of KARNAL for an overnight stay

before reaching the city we had a super delicious dinner , enroute at the PAHALWAAN DHABA

the delayed start at jaipur gave us a few anxious moments as we then had a doubt as to whether we would be able to complete our target distance , but the fantastic roads and the world class YAMUNA EXPRESSWAY , possibly the best road in the country , made sure that we achieved our target and the drive on the expressway was an amazing experience by itself

ITS GETTING CLOSER TO THE FINISH !!!
THE NO-MADS ON A FULL THROTTLE !!!
LIVE THE MOMENTS !!!

12/10/2015

DAY 06
TUESDAY ; 06-OCT-2015

DISTANCE TRAVELLED
663 KMS / 4158 KMS

we began our day at UJJAIN by having a simple and delicious breakfast at a street side shack and immediately pushed off to the KAAL BHAIRAV TEMPLE , which was an unique place where the deity is fed with liquor , and you can actually see the liquor disappear , to no one knows where

after having finished with the temple town , we moved into the state of RAJASTHAN , which was also a sort of emotional moment for us , to set foot on our native soil in the course of the expedition

we then moved to the THE FORT CITY OF RANA PRATAP , CHITTORGARH , before we made our way to the CITY OF PRITHVIRAJ CHAUHAN , AJMER , where we moved into the central part of the city and made our way around in an auto rickshaw to enable smooth manoeuvring and to help us experience the bubbly and effervescent town

we first moved to the revered AJMER DARGAH where we went through the ritual of placing a MAZAAR CHAADAR and then went to the SONIJI KI NISIYAN which is a unique spot to visit , where a whole story is told through a well laid out gold covered handicraft hall

we rounded up our tour to the town with a visit to the AJMER JAIN DADAWADI , which is one of the four most revered in the country and collected our car back to move to our next base the VIBRANT PUSHKAR

what appears to be a sleepy town to begin with , actually is one buzzing with people of all hues and colours where we visited the holy PUSHKAR LAKE and also went to the only BRAHMA TEMPLE in the world

the number of foreign tourists around the town and the variety of global cuisines available surprised us to no ends , but we decided to choose the local favourite snacks

after a wrap up of this town we headed to the PINK CITY OF INDIA , JAIPUR where we had a good dinner at the very famous SHARMA DHABA to end the day

we started this expedition as a fun and adventure trip , but we realised that over the last three days , though not intentionally , our whole trip seemed to be having a spiritual inclination , which actually went to show that a road trip in our land will somehow get you a confluence of history , spirituality and food

ITS GETTING REALLY INTERESTING !!!
THE NO-MADS ARE LOVING IT !!!
CONNECT AND LIVE THE EXPERIENCE !!!

10/10/2015

we have reached our final destination , LAL CHOWK , SRINAGAR , yesterday at 0530 pm , one day ahead of schedule , have been facing internet connectivity issues , because of which we have not been able to post our daily travel log , many thanks to all our friends and well wishers who have been trying to reach us and check on our well being

STAY CONNECTED !!!
THE STORY SHALL COME SOON !!!