Leh Ladakh Tour – My Travel Journey (6)

We restarted our journey to Leh Ladakh in morning from Chandigarh. Before heading towards the Leh Ladakh we visited Nek Chand’s Rock Garden as it opens in the in the early hours around 9 AM. It is one of the most architecturally acclaimed tourist spots in India especially in Chandigarh. It is one of its kinds of park dedicated to artefacts made from waste materials collected from homes and nearby industries. The maze like concept of Rock Garden really adds to its beauty interconnecting sections of garden full of sculptures and art pieces. Soon we headed our way to Leh Ladakh, the next destination on this path and our next stoppage for a while was Kullu.

Situated at the height of 1220 metre from the sea level, it is one of the most popular hill stations of India. The main approach road to Kullu and further to Manali is built along the River Beas so the whole journey is no doubt equally mesmerizing as destination. Kullu is like any other holy places of north India better known as ‘Valley of Gods’, because it said to be home of God, Goddesses and many sages. Rupi Palace or Sultanpur Palace is one of the major tourist attractions of Kullu, famous for its miniature paintings and combination of pahari with colonial architectural designs. Though there is a prior permission required from the royal family to visit the palace. Some other tourist attractions in Kullu are Great Himalayan National Park, Roerich Art Gallery, Bijli Mahadev Temple, Jagannathi Devi Temple and Basheshwar Mahadev Temple etc. Among which Bahaeshwar Mahadev Temple has some extraordinary Pahari style stone carvings. As the name suggests Roerich art Gallery consist of paintings and other art work of famous Russian artist ‘Roerich’.

Importantly Kullu valley is situated at the centres of greenery and hills on all side which makes it one of best place for mountain trekkers and nature lovers. Also Hindu festival Dussehra celebrations of Kullu are famous worldwide. We planned to stay in the Kullu itself for a day and next day we continued our journey to Leh Ladakh.

Meanwhile if you wish you can surf through these links for best travel deals, car rental deals, discounts and tour packages on Leh Ladakh –

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Leh Ladakh Tour – My Travel Journey (5)

We reached Chandigarh soon, meanwhile I explained to them (Australian touring group) that though Leh Ladakh is no less than any other town in terms of technological resources but credit card functionality and ATMs are still bit problematic aspects. Actually there are very limited ATMs for cash withdrawal catering huge population, resulting in long queues often and credit card acceptance is also limited to fewer shops only so it is advisable to carry cash and do the necessary shopping beforehand in Chandigarh or Manali itself in order to save oneself from credit card acceptance ordeal in Leh Ladakh. Using ATM or credit card in Leh Ladakh should to be the last option.

We planned to take halt in this city for night stay, meanwhile we had some time but Chandigarh had lot to offer like Government Museum and Art Gallery, Shanti Kunj, Garden of Fragrance, International Dolls Museum, Sukhna Lake, Nek Chand’s Rock Garden, The Rose Garden of Chandigarh, Butterfly Park and Leisure valley etc. but we planned to visit only 1-2 destinations in Chandigarh, our priority was Government Museum and Art Gallery. We had our lunch in car itself to save the time to reach Government Museum and Art Gallery on time as it closes down at 4.30 P.M. in the evening. It is the only place where one can see some of the rare collection of art including painting and sculpture of Pahari, Rajasthan and Gandharan. Most of these collections were brought from Lahore in 1948 post partition of India. The Museum has four major parts i.e. the art gallery, the national history museum, the national gallery of portraits and the Chandigarh architecture museum.

Then we spent later part of the evening near Sukhna Lake which is 3 KM long manmade lake originated from Sukhna Choe stream. Though we were bit late for the water sporting activities like boating, water skiing and yachting etc. but overall it was soothing to have a slow walk nearside. Then after a little shopping trip from sector 17 market we all landed in our respective rooms to start our journey afresh tomorrow morning to Leh Ladakh.

Meanwhile if you wish you can surf through these links for best car rental deals, discounts and tour packages on Leh Ladakh –

www.indiagoldentours.com/india-car-rental.html
www.northindiatravelservices.com/car-rentals-india/delhi-car-rental.html