It was 31st evening of December 2011, when we thought of visiting Amritsar from Chandigarh. Idea was to celebrate New Year on the way and move towards Amritsar on early morning of 1st Jan 2012. This Photo Journey described this road journey from Phagwara to Amritsar on 1st Jan 2012...
There are lot of educational institutions between Phagwara and Jalandhar. And I am sure that you must have heard of Lovely University Jalandhar :) ... One of the campus is very near to Phagwara, Punjab ! Apart from universities, colleges and huge school campuses there were lot of Marriage halls on this highway. One of the photograph in this PHOTO JOURNEY will also show you the cars used in Punjab for marriages.
There are some cantonment areas on this highway. Here is one of the photograph of CRPF Gate near Amritsar. Around this region, lot of javans were cleaning the space around National Highway 1 which connects Delhi with Amritsar City of Punjab.
Folks working in farms of Sugar Cane in Punjab. Check out following link to know more about Sugar Cane - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sugarcane
Sugar Cane is one of the main crop of Punjab and there is a huge demand of Sugar Cane for sugar production. Apart from Punjab, UP has also a big Sugar industry to fulfill Sugar needs of most of the northern region of India and other parts.
National Highway 1 is a National Highway in Northern India that links the National capital New Delhi to the town of Attari in Punjab near the India-Pakistan border. This was a part of Grand Trunk Road of Sher Shah Suri, that ran from Lahore to Bengal, built on earlier roads that existed from time immemorial. National highway authority of India divided it into two parts, north of Delhi, called NH 1 and south of it, called NH 2. The highway is maintained by National Highways Authority of India. This is one of the longest and oldest highways of India. Check out following link to know more about NH-1 (National Highway 1) - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Highway_1_%28India%29
There are few sugar factories on the way to Amritsar from Chandigarh. I think the above photograph shows one of the Sugar Mill at Phagwara, Punjab, India...
There were lots of Jaggery and Orange vendors on both sides on this highway. We had some juice and Naresh also though of buying some Jaggery for his home. Above Photograph shows Naresh looking at Jaggery and thinking of the quantity he may want to take home.
During this halt for buying Jaggery, we also thought of exploring the small Jaggery Production Unit on side of National Highway 1. Above Photograph shows the machine which is used to extract juice from sugarcane and kept in a huge container for further processing.
Another Jaggery Production Unit on the way to Amritsar, Punjab. There were lot of such small units and Jaggery is generally in good demand. There is a separate Photo Journey on the process of making Jaggery out of Sugar Cane and can be checked at http://phototravelings.blogspot.com/2012/02/jaggery-production-unit-on-road-from.html
This whole stretch on National Highway, was beautiful. There were some natural caves made up of trees and green leaves hanging down... As usual there were lot of Toll Plazas on this highway as well. At times, distance between two tolls was too less and non-convincing to pay them tax.
Punjabi Limousine on the way from Chandigarh to Amritsar !!! (Not sure if these were modified versions or not...)
A limousine (or limo) is a luxury sedan or saloon car, especially one with a lengthened wheelbase or driven by a chauffeur. The chassis of a limousine may have been extended by the manufacturer or by an independent coachbuilder. These are called 'stretch' limousines and are traditionally black or white. Limousines are usually liveried vehicles, driven by professional chauffeurs. As the most expensive form of automobile ground transportation, limousines are culturally associated with extreme wealth or power and are commonly cited as examples of conspicuous consumption. Among the less wealthy, limousines are often hired during special events (most commonly weddings and funerals). Check out following link to know about Limousine http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limousine
We were confused about our feelings for fog of early morning. Naresh was completely upset as he was driving the car and I was relaxed because of scenic views from my window :) ... Although people sitting on back seat were more worried as compared to Naresh :) ... Anyways, Fog didn't last for longer period of time and rest of journey was great !
Literally vapors were moving up out of these green fields of Punjab, India !!!
This photograph is my favorite. This came out well even when it was clicked from moving car. Most of the Photographs in this Photo Journey are clicked from moving car, so excuse in case find out shakes in any of these...
A Photograph of Gate of National Institute of Technology, Jalandhar. To know more about various National Institutes of technology in India, check out - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Institutes_of_Technology
Overall this whole Road Journey to Amritsar and back to Chandigarh was wonderful with some of the closet friends & family members. After spending some time around Golden Temple, Jallianwala Bagh and Kapda market, we started our back journey. On the same night I had to come back to Delhi as Christmas vacations had ended on 1st Jan only.
So 10 holidays, around Christmas & New Year, ended well with this Road Journey from Chandigarh to Phagwara and then Amritsar. Hope to catch up with Naresh soon...
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