Had to visit Ranchi for a day for some work, turned it into a 7 day road trip because that’s what travelheads like to do.
BHPian jimnylife recently shared this with other enthusiasts:
Post the trip to Uttarakhand https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/trave…m-glacier.html this trip was lined up starting Jan 1, 2025.
Had to visit Ranchi for a day for some work, turned it into a 7 day road trip because that’s what travelheads like to do
Day 1 – Ghaziabad to Varanasi – 850 kms 11 hours
Started at 3am because google was showing a journey time of around 13 hours and I had booked a cruise at 6pm so didn’t want to risk missing it. Took the Gzb-Greater Noida-Yamuna Expy-Agra LKO Expy-Etawah-Kanpur-Prayagraj-Varanasi route. Alternate was to drive via the Purvanchal expy but that route was left for the return journey.
Yamuna Expy has reduced the speed limit to 75kmph for the winters due to fog so it was a slow and boring journey there. 80% of the Yamuna expy was fog free, 10% with moderate fog and 10% with very dense fog. For non visible reason, the Agra ring road was closed on our side and had to drive on the wrong side for 7 odd kms to climb onto the Agra-LKO expy. Did not encounter any fog on the Agra-LKO expy though which has a comfortable speed limit of 100 kph.
First brunch break at Kanpur-
Reached Varanasi at 2pm sharp and checked into the Railway officers guest house bang opposite Varanasi Junction. Took rest for an hour and set out for the cruise. Cruise was 1000 INR per person for a duration of 1.5 hours including 20 mins stop at Dashashwamedh Ghat for the Ganga Aarti. It departs from Haridas Ghat and it’s not advisable to drive by own vehicle there due to traffic. Tea/Coffee and cookies were served complimentary. The cruise passes by all the ghats and info is also given about important ghats. Though the Aarti is not visible from close, it’s recommended for people who would not like to bargain and be among a sea of people and sit and enjoy the cruise.
Link to book – https://alaknandacruise.com/Home/index
Images from the cruise –
Axis ghs aarti-
The more popular Dashashwamedh Ghat Aarti-
Kashi Vishwanath corridor-
NAMO Ghat-
The ship-
Post the cruise went for Kashi Vishwanath darshan. Entered at 8pm and out by 9-15pm. During the day was told that it took 4-5 hours.
Street food for dinner- Didn’t visit the now famous Kashi Chaat Bhandar (after Ambani wedding) due to the extreme crowd and waiting.
Lassi-
Tamatar Chaat, Dahi Puri and Aloo Tikki
Paan banaras none-
Day 2 2 – Varbara block set
Left at 7-30am to be at Sarnath in 25 mins. Were among the first ones to enter the Archaeological site on that day. I’ll let the photos do the talking for Sarnath-
Base of the Ashoka pillar-
Lion pillar- National Emblem of India
Dhamek stupa-
Photos from the time of discovery-
The complex
Some info
Wat Thai temple-
Visit
Some monasteries nearby- An annual debate of monks from all over the world was in progress at one of the monasteries and it was a new experience to see the debate in Tibetan language.
Took 3 hours to cover all nearby archaeological sites and Buddhist temples. Left for Ranchi at 11am. Reached Ranchi at 7pm, checked in and went for a stroll and dinner.
Day 3 – Ranchi to Netarhat via Lodh Falls
Ranchi to Lodh falls took around 5 hours with some great countryside views. I observed that people in Jharkhand like to picnic and enjoy being outdoors. Everywhere I could find people having picnics on the riverside, lakeside, damside, highway side etc the roads were great all along and I was excited to drive on mountain roads other than the Himalayas.
Some views of the countryside in JH
Kind of mountains we see in hampi.
Continue reading BHPian jimnylife’s post for more insights and information.
