Day 2: The Renault Kwid goes from the plains of Punjab to the hills of Himachal
Day 2 of the epic drive
We left our nightly sojourn in Hoshiarpur all the more charged up for the day ahead. The city of saints had been kind to us and we were well rested. Today, the Renault Kwid 29 States 29 Days challenge was on its way to the northern most part of the drive – the frequently troubled state of Jammu and Kashmir.
The drive to Pathankot
Surrounded by widespread lush green fields on either side of the highway, the drive to Pathankot was a picturesque one. Pathankot is one of the closest towns to both the Jammu and Kashmir state border as well as our neighbour Pakistan. The couple of hours that it took for the drive to Pathankot did build up our appetite and since we were still in Punjab, a breakfast of hot parathas dabbed with ludicrous amounts of white butter was in store. And while most of us paired our parathas with chai, Rohit and I were the only sensible ones to have some authentic Punjabi lassi.
Jammu and Kashmir
The entry to the state of Jammu and Kashmir was quite relaxed even though we would later learn that there was fresh political turmoil, thanks to the now publicised split between the BJP and the ruling PDP. The presence of army is strong here, all the way to Jammu, our turnaround point. This being more of a challenge than an expedition into the heartland of the state, Jammu was as far as we ventured. Which turned out to be a good thing because we later heard that the Chief Minister had resigned amidst all the political controversy and Governor’s rule had been imposed in the state.
Ignorant of all the political turmoil, we plodded on
We would have definitely wanted to stay longer to soak in the sights of the state that had earned the epithet ‘Paradise on Earth’ but the drive to Nalagarh, our next destination, was going to be an arduous task. It did take us back to Pathankot but instead of heading back down the same way to Hoshiarpur and others, a slightly longer but faster state highway took us through the small towns and their vast agricultural lands.
As we drove over the river Sutlej, Himachal Pradesh also got ticked off in the process
We did stumble upon some dirt roads but we blindly trusted the navigation. The Renault Kwid took everything in its stride as the high ground clearance helped us traverse through without any hassles. Clearly there’s a lot more of SUV-ish characteristics to the Renault hatch than just the butch looks that owners find so endearing.
But we weren’t done with the day’s drive just yet
Judging by the long drive that was in store on the forthcoming day, it made sense for us to drive a bit further to Chandigarh cutting down on close to 80km and over 2 hours of driving time for the following day. Unfortunately the two hour drive became a four hour one as the back road from Nalagarh to Chandigarh was highly populated with slow moving traffic as well as a railway crossing. We were extremely hungry, more like hangry given that our lunch spot was way back after crossing Pathankot on the way back. With a couple of tikkas gulped hastily, our day had come to an end. By then we were on the verge of crossing the magic 1,000km mark.
Stay tuned for more adventures on the Renault Kwid 29 States 29 Days challenge, right here!
